Why are people still buying stuff?

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Nobody can travel, can't go out to eat, drink, or catch a movie. Can't spend all that money on normal stuff, so there's a bunch of cash sitting around. Time fro a new bike!
 
In the last three months, I’ve flown more than I have in the previous year. I cringed a little when I looked at the credit card bill.

but maybe if I keep this up, I can get a wife approved airplane too.
 
cgrab said:
Have you looked at Hertz? They are selling their stock.
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Its a particular vehicle and trim I am looking for, not something a rental car company would buy. Very common vehicle (Camry), just not in a version Hertz would order.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Ok, so it is not just me then.

Now the $64,000 question is, when and how is this going to end?
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When the government runs out of ink and paper.

(they already ran out of coins it seems)
 
So let me get this straight, you want to be able to buy stuff, but other people can't. Is that what I'm getting out of this? :D
 
It's worth noting that there are still deals out there, it's just a question of which realm and where you look. New vehicles are probably not one of them, but we've found a good value on the deck and we got a really good value on the shop. That may be a transient thing, but I expect you still have some businesses and areas where people are trying to keep their backlogs booked to keep going.
 
EdFred said:
So let me get this straight, you want to be able to buy stuff, but other people can't. Is that what I'm getting out of this? :D
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Uh, yes. I thought that would be obvious.:rolleyes:
 
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All of this makes me wonder if now is a good time to sell the airplane. Wasn’t planning on selling but f I can get $$$$ for the plane that I paid $$ then might be a good time. Get back in later or start building the RV 14. Anyone want to start a bidding war for a Low time 1975 Arrow II
 
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Juliet Hotel said:
Give people free money and they're going to spend it. Pretty simple.
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Which is kind of the whole point of these stimuli, etc, right? It's better it gets spent than sitting in a bank account
 
There's an interesting sociological aspect to this too.. many of the younger crowd being impacted by this (sub 40) have never had to face real macro level challenges or adversity in their life.. individual personal stuff aside, these people had no (real) war, no draft, no threat of Soviet destruction.. this is the first time globally that the instant gratification the iPad generation has gotten used to can no longer have that. People need an outlet for that.. can't go on that vacation to Italy you had planned? Time to go hog wild at Amazon. Can't go out to dinner for two months.. time to go out every night when the restaurants open back up.. etc

**and yes, lots of people in the lower economic income thresholds make more money on unemployment.. and since it's free money you might as well spend it. <- that really doesn't bother me, that's kind of the whole point of it. That money is better getting spent going out to eat and buying stuff as opposed to being locked away in a savings or checking account. Maybe not the most financially prudent, but from an economic perspective you want people spending their money
 
Tantalum said:
Which is kind of the whole point of these stimuli, etc, right? It's better it gets spent than sitting in a bank account
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I think the real question is whether the stimulus money will be enough to tide the economy over until things either re-stabilize (not necessarily at the high levels they were at before, but also not at levels akin to the Great Depression). The fact that we're back down to 11% unemployment with jobs continuing to get added would indicate that it may, but we also know there are some entities (especially in aviation) that are set up for major layoffs come October if things don't get extended.

We had a very odd situation coming into this pandemic, but the conditions for it may work out in significantly lessening the blow vs. what it could be. I'm certainly not smart enough to know what will happen with certainty, and I think most people who claim they're smart enough to know aren't smart enough to know, either.
 
steingar said:
Nobody can travel, can't go out to eat, drink, or catch a movie. Can't spend all that money on normal stuff, so there's a bunch of cash sitting around...
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:yeahthat: Nothing to do, no place to go, everything cancelled, quite surprising how little money one spends during the lockdown situation. Sort of a forced savings program for some I suppose.
 
steingar said:
Nobody can travel, can't go out to eat, drink, or catch a movie.
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If only that were true. My company is struggling for staff to cover the work all this month due to guys taking vacation time. I've got several guys taking time off this month to travel for gatherings (weddings, reunions, camping etc). We're still deciding if we're going to opt to shoot ourselves in the foot and require them to quarantine at home for 2 weeks when they come back before returning to work (and thus be short handed longer) or shoot ourselves in the foot by letting them come right back to work (and thus risk being even more short handed if they infect coworkers).
 
No one can travel...lol...I've been all over the Midwest.
 
Tantalum said:
There's an interesting sociological aspect to this too.. many of the younger crowd being impacted by this (sub 40) have never had to face real macro level challenges or adversity in their life.. individual personal stuff aside, these people had no (real) war, no draft, no threat of Soviet destruction.. this is the first time globally that the instant gratification the iPad generation has gotten used to can no longer have that. People need an outlet for that.. can't go on that vacation to Italy you had planned? Time to go hog wild at Amazon. Can't go out to dinner for two months.. time to go out every night when the restaurants open back up.. etc

**and yes, lots of people in the lower economic income thresholds make more money on unemployment.. and since it's free money you might as well spend it. <- that really doesn't bother me, that's kind of the whole point of it. That money is better getting spent going out to eat and buying stuff as opposed to being locked away in a savings or checking account. Maybe not the most financially prudent, but from an economic perspective you want people spending their money
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Retail therapy cures what ails you...
 
I'm a corporate lawyer at a pretty large firm, where I focus my practice on M&A work for multinationals. A lot of our work skid to a halt for a week or so in mid-March when the world ended, but then our attention quickly shifted to advisory work (force majeure issues, MAE, etc.), then M&A picked right back up by mid-April. The consultants ("experts", of course) assured us about the same time that our M&A volume would be down at least 85% from last year, but that hasn't been true so far. Fingers crossed it holds, but while 2020 is shaping up to be a bit behind 2019, it will still be a good year by all reasonable measurements. Plus, our costs are way down (much less travel, particularly international travel, no conferences, junkets, etc.). When the firm does well, we do well.

Our state was "only" locked down about 6 weeks or so, but living was pretty cheap then. Unexpected savings, plus times are still pretty good at the law shack. And there's still less to spend money on, particularly international travel, etc.

Went to Amelia Island for the 4th of July weekend; the resort was definitely just as overpriced as any other major beach holiday weekend - we asked, and they were at full capacity (not a modified reduced capacity). The restaurants were as full as they were permitted to be (one, called Salt, was fully booked every night for the next 3 months, and had a 100 party waiting list for any opening - sooo, we didn't manage to eat there!), and the highways were packed last Sunday with people heading home. I don't know anything about anything, but based on that background and witnessing plenty of discretionary spending, it seems to me that many, if not most, people are doing just fine all things considered. We'll see what happens.
 
steingar said:
Nobody can travel, can't go out to eat, drink, or catch a movie. Can't spend all that money on normal stuff, so there's a bunch of cash sitting around. Time fro a new bike!
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Speak for yourself.

We've certainly been dining out, shopping, attending church, traveling, etc. And we're seeing lots of others doing the same.
 
GRG55 said:
That's not travel...;)
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True. My largest discretionary expense in the past few years had been international travel, now shut down. I took one airline trip within the country, but it wasn't expensive and paid for with travel points. I haven't been to a sit-down restaurant, and have only taken out a handful of times since shutdown. I mostly only went out to eat as a social activity, and I can't see people I know doing that right now, even if restaurants were open for indoor dining. Many are afraid, especially those who liked to go to expensive places (which I only went along with, but would never choose). Actually I don't miss it. I can keep myself fed even though cooking is not my thing either.
 
DFH65 said:
My son has been substitute teaching working a few days a week making about $100 a day. He is now getting $150 on unemployment and with the extra 600 a week he is making $750 a week. In the last few months he bought a new computer, all the accessories, an ipad, an apple watch and has managed to put a bunch in the bank. Of course he hasn't seen fit to start paying the back rent he owes me yet. Guess I need to get on that.

ETA: Oh yeah the $1200 stimulus as well.
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I wish someone would give me a $1200 check for nothing.
 
The savings from not commuting is probably significant for many folks. I normally commute 80 miles round trip every day, but I have been working from home since March. At 60 cents / mile, not doing the commute works out to a savings of about $10k per year for me. Not too shabby.
 
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Half Fast said:
Then you could go to Tractor Supply and buy baby chickens. That way you'd have money for nothing and chicks for free.
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Half Fast said:
The savings from not commuting is probably significant for may folks. I normally commute 80 miles round trip every day, but I have been working from home since March. At 60 cents / mile, not doing the commute works out to a savings of about $10k per year for me. Not too shabby.
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One can save a pile of money staying at home.....o_O
 
Half Fast said:
The savings from not commuting is probably significant for may folks. I normally commute 80 miles round trip every day, but I have been working from home since March. At 60 cents / mile, not doing the commute works out to a savings of about $10k per year for me. Not too shabby.
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I've been to work everyday through this whole ordeal. We manufacture hermetic electronic packaging and most of our orders go to T1 defense contractors, and most of those orders are DPAS rated. Thus we work.
 
RyanShort1 said:
Also if you think there's a crash coming, some people prefer to have their "money" in assets vs the bank. I'm looking at a plane, too...
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Assets are not a depreciating car, boat, bike, RV, plane etc.

Assets are stocks, good, silver, real estate etc. this is where I have been throwing every extra penny into I can scrape up.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Assets are not a depreciating car, boat, bike, RV, plane etc.

Assets are stocks, good, silver, real estate etc. this is where I have been throwing every extra penny into I can scrape up.
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I'll be sure to update my books at work to remove vehicles and other depreciating assets since they "aren't assets", lol.
 
steingar said:
Since you're an MD and know SO much better!
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What I do know is this:

I know more people who have been diagnosed with it that DIDN'T have it, than have actually had it. Why were they diagnosed? Extra money from the government for each patient. Also, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the more people you test, the more people you are going to find positive. Testing was not as widespread as it was early on. The only testing that was being done here was if you had SEVERE symptoms, so the positive number was only for those. Now the testing is widespread, and anyone can get it. I know people who are voluntarily being tested without symptoms. Workplaces are requiring it weekly. I'd look for a refund on your PhD if you can't figure out that more testing = more "confirmed" cases.

Of course you also think you can beat my ass, so that pretty much explains how much that PhD is worth.
 
Half Fast said:
The savings from not commuting is probably significant for many folks. I normally commute 80 miles round trip every day, but I have been working from home since March. At 60 cents / mile, not doing the commute works out to a savings of about $10k per year for me. Not too shabby.
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What I haved saved on is bowling. Because evidently using my own ball, my own shoes, also spreads it. I was bowling 4 and 5 times a week. A couple drinks each time I go...

A lot got saved.
 
I am in the market for a new truck and blow away how little inventory there is right now. Thought it was a buyer's market at least for vehicles...wrong.

I do know that RV and boat sales are BOOMING. Was kicking myself for not selling travel trailer that had been sitting pre-pandemic figuring I lost a lot of value...wrong again...I got $2500 more than I was expecting pre-pandemic and sold in hours. Granted I negotiated a killer deal when I bought it but only lost $2k in value from towing it new off the lot two years ago. I call that a win.

Also thinking about offloading the boat to cash in on the rush since that is also just collecting dust and I am priced in a high demand sweet spot.

Everyone is looking for something to do since they are not blowing they money on travel, vacations, and entertainment and those that can afford those things are the least affected by the pandemic and find themselves with a lot more discretionary income as the lifestyle has changed since it all exploded.
 
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Bad timing on the OPs part. Just got to know how to squeeze the deal ...

I bought vehicles in early April when everyone was freaking out. Have purchased quite a few in the past and have relatives that own a dealership (no I didn't go through them). Deals were MAXED out, there's a technique for getting actual dealer cost, their hold back etc. Also waited to the end and got higher than Bluebook on the trade-ins (not hard to do I know), AND cranked another discount on the Ford by taking their finance incentive and paying it off in one payment.

Bought a brand new ATV years ago for HALF what they were selling for locally ... only catch was having to re-jet the carb for my altitude. Rode it for several years and could sell it for more than I paid due to the low initial cost.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Depending on which stimulus you may be talking about, no tax on it. I'm thinking about that $1200 they sent out.
First reference I found: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2020/are-stimulus-checks-taxed.html
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I’m referring more to the extra $600 a week for unemployment.

but do you really believe that the government isn’t going to recoup that money at a later date?

Bottom line for me, though, is that regardless of how much money is poured into the economy, any incentive not to go back to work will delay recovery.
 
And this is why the USA doesn't have it under control.
EdFred said:
What I do know is this:

I know more people who have been diagnosed with it that DIDN'T have it, than have actually had it. Why were they diagnosed? Extra money from the government for each patient.
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How do those people know they didn't have it, but were diagnosed as being positive? This sounds like the story that was floating around about the MD who gave hydroxychloroquine to all his patients and they all recovered the next day. someone on the Blue Board claimed they knew the doctor. That same "doctor" must have practices all over, since the same story is "sourced" from different cities;)

EdFred said:
Also, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the more people you test, the more people you are going to find positive. Testing was not as widespread as it was early on. The only testing that was being done here was if you had SEVERE symptoms, so the positive number was only for those. Now the testing is widespread, and anyone can get it. I know people who are voluntarily being tested without symptoms. Workplaces are requiring it weekly. I'd look for a refund on your PhD if you can't figure out that more testing = more "confirmed" cases.
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Yes, there is more testing, there are more hospitalizations, too. I suppose you think people go to the hospital just for fun. furthermore, we have been testing nationwide at the same level for some weeks now, and the percentage of positive results have been increasing.

EdFred said:
Of course you also think you can beat my ass, so that pretty much explains how much that PhD is worth.
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Do you pull your talking points from Fox news? I hear the exact same things from there, except for beating up people.
 
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