For the past 3 years, I’ve been a normal college student… got my own apartment near campus an hour away from home, came home some weekends and spent time with my family who I’m pretty close with.

But now my parents are going through a divorce. My dad just up and left my mom with a fixer-upper house and everything. My mom is requesting that I move back home and help her out. She says that me living on my own is a luxury in college vs commuting the hour (even though I am paying all of my own living expenses) and that I can help her around the house and help her not to be so lonely.

I have enough stress at school. My mom can be very demanding and moody at times. I love her dearly but I just don’t want to move back home to wait on her hand and foot. I have been going home sometimes and have listened to her vent all the time.

I know some people who would drop everything to help their parents, then I know others who stray as far away as possible. I guess I’ve always been in the middle… Am I selfish to not drop everything to accommodate her in a rough time?

Explain the difference between fixed expenses and discretionary spending? Provide at least three examples of each.

Explain the difference between a voluntary income deduction and an involuntary income deduction. Provide at least two examples of each.

Describe what living within your means means. If you’re not currently living within your means, what are two ways of starting to do so?

List three ways of increasing your savings.

If your take-home pay is $24,000 a year, what is the maximum amount per month that lenders want you to spend on your housing expense?

Name three items that are necessities and three items that are luxuries.

What is the difference between secured debt and unsecured debt? Give an example of each.

What’s the difference between a charge card, a credit card, and a debit card?

When you pay off an outstanding balance on a credit card, should you close the account? Why or why not?

What is the most significant component of your credit score? What percentage does it add to your total credit score?

can anyone please help…..

Black Palms
Mike Tkachuk

PREFACE
The feeling of regret and anger washed through me as I watched the world of artificial happiness turn into a dark and morbid place. If I could go back to the beginning I knew I would not have done things differently, but I wished someone would force me to a stop. The friends that I once thought I had, I have not seen for what I think was over a month. I have had thoughts that I was on the wrong path many times, but I threw those thoughts away and enjoyed the absence of life that I was undergoing.
The golden sparkling spectacles that represented sand were turning into fiery charcoals. The green grass that was exactly ten meters away from sparkling ocean water was turning darker and darker and the ocean itself was not filled with water but the reflection of all the bad and evil thoughts that are going through my mind. It wasn’t only my haven changing, it was also me. I felt all the happiness that I previously felt running through my veins leave completely just to get replaced by demonic thoughts and wants, no not wants needs for more.

1. LIFE REMAINS LUCID
The wind is gently blowing the warm but cool air as if it was making a countdown for me to jump back into the warm pool water, surrounded by teenagers of my age. This is what I live for, the loud music playing in the background, the alcoholic beverages being passed around as if they were candy, not one person has had too much to drink, but we all are at the point where shyness is not a problem and energy and fun has corrupted our minds. As I take three long strides and make a perfect dive into the refreshing but warm water, I awake.
I should have realized that one person’s reality is my dream. As I stretch I realize that the worst reality has just entered my mind, today is the first day of school. A feeling of anger and mostly sadness runs through me, giving a heavy feeling on my chest. I get up and grab my asthma breather and inhale. As I take a couple of deep breaths I force myself to stand up. I walk toward my window and all I see are groups of friends walking towards the school bus engaged in descriptions of the summer fun they had. I close my eyes and repeat the same words I have repeated since grade school.
“Just a little bit more”
As I say these words I once again gain a little bit of power. I only have one year left of high school and then I can make my own life, things will change. The one thing that paid off for not having many friends were the good marks that I was receiving, which are supposed to lead you to a better future, but that meant little to me, I would at anytime trade my three point seven average for a couple of friends and a hangout spot.
I walked toward my dresser and browse through the large pile of clothes I have. Clothes were never really the problem, I buy a new wardrobe for every single new style the kids in school start to wear. I already got this month’s style through the deep observations I make, usually out of my window due to the fact that I don’t get out much. I put on the jeans that no longer are too large or too tight for me, and an expensive shirt with many interesting designs. As I walked down the stairs of my three story mansion I could hear my parents already engaged in an argument, I have learned to ignore this because of its frequency, wondering why they have not had a divorce yet. I have not even shed one tear in my life for their fighting, it has never bothered me, they were never much of parents to begin with. All they did was drive me to school and make me food, I don’t even remember the last time we had a conversation lasting longer than a few minutes. As I walked into the large sun roofed kitchen I noticed the maid has already laid out my favorite cereal, I slowly poured the chocolaty cereal first followed by the milk. I looked at the clock and let a minute pass by letting the cereal get the right amount of moisture and sogginess.
“Let’s go I’m going to be late” I yelled hearing the echo that has begun to annoy me long ago, hearing a premature voice is not always fun especially when it is your own.
As my mother walked into the kitchen I noticed that her soul was crying but she was holding it in and keeping strong, my mother was a strong women, she has never depended on anyone else including me and my father, I think the reason why she is not the loving mother you see on television is because she has been through things that people only see on reality television. We used to be close before she became the vice-president of her realtor company, she told me many stories of her childhood many including her not having a home to live but still going to school and getting everything out of life she needs.
I put on my four hundred dollar Nike sneakers and walked out the large wooden door. On my drive way sat 3 luxury cars and a small sports car I was promised if I finished high school with an above three point five average. Lurching side to side in my mother’
for the rest of the chapter tell me through e-mail, any help would be greatly appreciated.

by the way The world’s tallest building has been opened with a dramatic fireworks ceremony in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

The Burj Khalifa was revealed to be 828m (2,716ft) high, far taller than the previous record holder, Taipei 101.

Known as the Burj Dubai during construction, the tower has been renamed after the leader of Dubai’s oil-rich neighbour, Abu Dhabi.

Last month, Abu Dhabi gave Dubai a handout of $10bn (£6.13bn) to help it pay off its debts.

Construction of the Burj Dubai began in 2004, at the height of an economic boom.

Clad in 28,000 glass panels, the tower has 160 floors and more than 500,000 sq m of space for offices and flats.

This great project deserves to carry the name of a great man
Sheikh Mohammed

The tower also lays claim to the highest occupied floor, the tallest service lift, and the world’s highest observation deck - on the 124th floor.

The world’s highest mosque and swimming pool will meanwhile be located on the 158th and 76th floors.

Technical challenges

The opening ceremony, held 1,325 days after excavation work started, was attended by some 6,000 guests.

Though not complete on the inside, it was officially opened by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Burj Dubai
The Burj Dubai dwarfs its neighbouring buildings

In a surprise move he renamed it Burj Khalifa - after the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan.

Sheikh Mohammed described the tower as the tallest building ever created by the hand of man.This great project deserves to carry the name of a great man. Today I inaugurate Burj Khalifa, he said.

Sheikh Mohammed also unveiled a plaque inside the tower bearing the new name.

A dramatic fireworks and lights show took place around the tower while a screen displayed its exact height, which had previously been kept secret.

At 828m, Burj Khalifa dwarfs the 508m Taipei 101 and the 629m KVLY-TV mast in the US, the tallest man-made structure. Its spire can been seen 95km (60 miles) away.

We weren’t sure how high we could go, said Bill Baker of Skidmore, Owings Merrill, the building’s structural engineer. It was kind of an exploration… a learning experience.
Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, the developer behind Burj Khalifa, told the BBC that the building’s design had posed unprecedented technical and logistical challenges, not just because of its height, but also because Dubai was susceptible to high winds and was close to a geological fault line.We have been hit with lightning twice, there was a big earthquake last year that came across from Iran, and we have had all types of wind which has hit us when we were building. The results have been good and I salute the designers and professionals who helped build it, he said.

BURJ KHALIFA IN NUMBERS
Man stands on Burj Dubai observation deck
95: distance in km at which its spire can be seen
504: rise in metres of its main service lift
57: number of lifts
49: number of office floors
1,044: number of residential apartments
900: length in feet of the fountain at the foot of the tower, the world’s tallest performing fountain
28,261: number of glass cladding panels on the exterior of the tower
In pictures: Building the Burj Khalifa
Tower: facts and figures

The design incorporates ideas from traditional Islamic architecture, while the open petals of a desert flower were the inspiration for the tower’s base.

Burj Khalifa will be home to 1,044 luxury apartments, 49 floors of offices and eventually a 160-room Armani-branded hotel. Around 12,000 people are expected to live and work in the tower, which is part of a 500-acre development.

However, investors are facing losses even before the tower is completed because property prices in Dubai have slumped amid the global economic crisis.

Some apartments were selling for $2,700 per sq ft, but are now going for less than half that. Analysts say it will be particularly hard to lease office space because few companies can justify paying premiums for luxury.

The BBC’s Malcolm Borthwick in Dubai says developers are holding back on new flagship projects, so Burj Khalifa could mark the end of an era for skyscrapers in the Gulf - at least in the short term.

Hi im 18 and after going real estate shopping with my aunt and uncle i realized even with a college education I wont be able to afford my own luxury home till im 50 or older. Im talking 750000 to 1 million dollars. where i live in Los Angeles that is the norm. and i dont plan on moving east. Anyway. I just finished up my job during the holidays and i made about 750 dollars.
I was looking for a stable investment for 500-750 dollars. Something that is slow growing but financially profitable. Any suggestions?
no gold. (too expensive)
no stocks. (really risky)
I already have a CD… sorta slow.

I like to think of myself as fairly mature about many things, but unfortunately I’m still not an adult in a lot of ways. Right now, I’m trying to gain perspective on how much money the average family gets by on, and how much things cost. I’m a university student right now, and I’m preparing to walk into trap; salaries in my chosen field max out (15 years exp + masters degree, etc.) around $60k - $65k per year. I think that’s decent enough, certainly nowhere near poverty, but can it give me a good middle class life?

Right now I live a privileged life. It’s just my dad and I living here, and we haven’t always had much money but five years ago they finally gave him what he deserves. He doesn’t tell me exactly what he makes, but I think it’s around $200k. So, my uni tuition, housing rent, etc. are all paid by him and I won’t have student loans to pay.

I know that I can’t expect this kind of luxury when I’m financially independent and working entry-level jobs, or even when I’m his age and making less than half what he does. I also hope to have a wife and kids some day. Just for the sake of example, let’s assume that my future wife spends many years as a stay-at-home-mom. How well would I be able to support a family on 60k?

Would I be able to have a decent house (rather than tiny shack or apartment)? Would my kids be able to enjoy the luxuries that I do/did (High quality food, Playstations, computers, digital TV, keeping the home renovated, etc.)?

Thanks

the way The world’s tallest building has been opened with a dramatic fireworks ceremony in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

The Burj Khalifa was revealed to be 828m (2,716ft) high, far taller than the previous record holder, Taipei 101.

Known as the Burj Dubai during construction, the tower has been renamed after the leader of Dubai’s oil-rich neighbour, Abu Dhabi.

Last month, Abu Dhabi gave Dubai a handout of $10bn (£6.13bn) to help it pay off its debts.

Construction of the Burj Dubai began in 2004, at the height of an economic boom.

Clad in 28,000 glass panels, the tower has 160 floors and more than 500,000 sq m of space for offices and flats.

This great project deserves to carry the name of a great man
Sheikh Mohammed

The tower also lays claim to the highest occupied floor, the tallest service lift, and the world’s highest observation deck - on the 124th floor.

The world’s highest mosque and swimming pool will meanwhile be located on the 158th and 76th floors.

Technical challenges

The opening ceremony, held 1,325 days after excavation work started, was attended by some 6,000 guests.

Though not complete on the inside, it was officially opened by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Burj Dubai
The Burj Dubai dwarfs its neighbouring buildings

In a surprise move he renamed it Burj Khalifa - after the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan.

Sheikh Mohammed described the tower as the tallest building ever created by the hand of man.This great project deserves to carry the name of a great man. Today I inaugurate Burj Khalifa, he said.

Sheikh Mohammed also unveiled a plaque inside the tower bearing the new name.

A dramatic fireworks and lights show took place around the tower while a screen displayed its exact height, which had previously been kept secret.

At 828m, Burj Khalifa dwarfs the 508m Taipei 101 and the 629m KVLY-TV mast in the US, the tallest man-made structure. Its spire can been seen 95km (60 miles) away.

We weren’t sure how high we could go, said Bill Baker of Skidmore, Owings Merrill, the building’s structural engineer. It was kind of an exploration… a learning experience.
Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, the developer behind Burj Khalifa, told the BBC that the building’s design had posed unprecedented technical and logistical challenges, not just because of its height, but also because Dubai was susceptible to high winds and was close to a geological fault line.We have been hit with lightning twice, there was a big earthquake last year that came across from Iran, and we have had all types of wind which has hit us when we were building. The results have been good and I salute the designers and professionals who helped build it, he said.

BURJ KHALIFA IN NUMBERS
Man stands on Burj Dubai observation deck
95: distance in km at which its spire can be seen
504: rise in metres of its main service lift
57: number of lifts
49: number of office floors
1,044: number of residential apartments
900: length in feet of the fountain at the foot of the tower, the world’s tallest performing fountain
28,261: number of glass cladding panels on the exterior of the tower
In pictures: Building the Burj Khalifa
Tower: facts and figures

The design incorporates ideas from traditional Islamic architecture, while the open petals of a desert flower were the inspiration for the tower’s base.

Burj Khalifa will be home to 1,044 luxury apartments, 49 floors of offices and eventually a 160-room Armani-branded hotel. Around 12,000 people are expected to live and work in the tower, which is part of a 500-acre development.

However, investors are facing losses even before the tower is completed because property prices in Dubai have slumped amid the global economic crisis.

Some apartments were selling for $2,700 per sq ft, but are now going for less than half that. Analysts say it will be particularly hard to lease office space because few companies can justify paying premiums for luxury.

The BBC’s Malcolm Borthwick in Dubai says developers are holding back on new flagship projects, so Burj Khalifa could mark the end of an era for skyscrapers in the Gulf - at least in the short term.

* 5 hours ago
* - 4 days left to answer.

I’m 15 years old. Okay.
1) I had a very close friend in 1-3 grade. We did everything together. All of a sudden, she didn’t come back for 4th grade at our school and didn’t answer my calls ever again. I was devastated and it took me until 8th grade to get over it completely.
2) I started to help out at a dog kennel around 4th grade and raced sled dogs. We got a dog from them that was an older retired one. Instead of kenneling him like they did his whole life, we let him live in luxury so to speak. While I was on vacation, he got sick and stopped eating. Well, he coughed up part of a leash so we think he might have pulled a leash through his crate at night and chewed it up. My parents opted not to do surgery because he was 10 years old and might not survive it much less live long after that even if he made it through. I was devastated when I got home. The owners of the kennel now hate me because it is somehow my fault that he died.
3) I traveled with a show dog breeder for a few years and helped them out at shows. Well, they hate me now. I am not sure why but I think it is because they think I don’t appreciate all they did for me and that I got a pet quality dog instead of a show dog when I had the chance to get another dog.
4) My dad hates me because I’m basically a disappointment…I don’t really know how, but I just am. When I got back from a dog traveling thing the exact words that came out of his mouth were, Things were so much better when you were gone. We had a blast….this proves that you are the source of our family’s problems.
My siblings sometimes hate me but I consider that normal. haha

But yeah, is it normal to just have people randomly hate you? I’m not talking about a parent that is upset after I do something and then gets over it. I’m talking about a parent that is constantly putting me down, insulting me, and blaming me for many things I don’t do.

Am I an over reactant teen or am I just a terrible, hate-able person?

Thanks!

In a response to a question, I read The richest man is the one with the fewest needs. This was credited to the Bible. Although I did not find the verse that says this, or says something like this, this does sound like something that could be found in the Bible. And is a very meaningful statement.

My question is not one of religion. And, for those who will have trouble understanding that, I say again, my question IS NOT one of religion. It is how we perceive our needs, and what that statement really means. And do try to avoid confusing wants with needs. We all need water, a lot of us want it in a bottle.

Take two men. The first is what we would call well off, meaning that he has a home, has transportation, food, clothing and the means to sustain himself. The second man is destitute. Has no home, has to walk anywhere he goes, rummages for food, his clothes are thread bear and has no job or means to sustain himself.

In the example I have given, I have shown two men in different circumstances. Both have the same needs. Yet one has his needs met, while the other has not.

While we can all clearly see that the second man has many needs. At this writing it is 28 degrees(F) outside. The second man would definitelyneed shelter and proper clothing, as opposed to these things being a luxury. And he, like anyone, needs food. These are issues of survival. And he needs a means to sustain himself. Be that a job, the ability to trade work for food or clothing (another form of a job), or even the means to hunt, or farm for food (still a form of work).

With the first man, we tend to see him as not having any needs. He has shelter, a home. He has clothing and food. And he has the means by which to maintain this condition.

But do not both men have the same needs? They both need food, clothing, shelter from the cold. The only difference is that one has his needs fulfilled while the other does not. Actually, the need for food is met in the second man’s case, else he would be dead. But to illustrate my point I am saying that his need for food is not met.

The phrase The richest man is the one with the fewest needs would convey the idea that he who does not need a car, 57 TV, a fancy home, etc. would be the richest man. And I can see the logic in that. We all know that having riches can tend to complicate life. Take a pleasure craft, for example, you have to maintain it, fuel it, insure it, pay for a place to keep it and so on. Therefore, enforcing the idea of The richest man is the one with the fewest needs.

Yet in my example, the first man would most definitely seem to have the fewer needs, as his are met. While the second man seems to have more needs, as his are not met.

So, I ask this for your philosophical enjoyment: Once our needs are met, are they no longer needs? And what would be a more accurate description of the intent of The richest man is the one with the fewest needs? Could it be that we confuse wants with needs?

My current hairdo is bleach blonde on top, and dyed brown underneath - my natural hair color is mousey-brown.
My last hair appt was in May, so the blonde is less platinum and more yellowish now, and the brown is pretty much faded. My hair grows very fast, so my roots are a good 3 inches at least.

Would dying all of my different-colored/bleached hair all over produce uniform results? Do I need to strip the bleach from my hair, as I’ve heard? If so, how? I’m trying to not have to go to the salon, as such luxuries aren’t as readily available to me as they used to be.