How do you afford life?

[Scott Parker 27]

MY wife and I both make above average salaries. Combined about 130k. We bought a house just before the crazy inflation. The house is worth 5 times what we paid these days. But we are still pretty much paycheck to paycheck. The only upside is that we can get a lot of credit. So if something bad happens, we could likely make a deal and cover it. Basically we can get anything we need, but not so much what we want.

I'm in the same boat as you in a career similar to one my parents had and I make about the same as they made in the early 00's. Wages aren't keeping up. Also I'm not above shopping at the dollar store for some extra shit I want.

 

[Oblivian]

Correct. We’re not at the point yet where college isn’t worth it. Also, this isn’t an instance in which you would want to use the median and not the mean. There aren’t a few college grads making a shitload more than the rest and skewing the average. There may be a few people who dropped out of college though, like Mark Zuckerberg, skewing the average for high school grads. But the mean is sufficient for this purpose.

Additionally, I would try to look at what working at a rail yard, or working construction, or whatever would cost you in terms of medical bills over a lifetime vs. working in an office. Although, office politics tend to have their own set of costs on someone’s mental health. Still, it would be interesting to see that. I’ve read a lot of economic studies on this stuff and have never seen anyone take that into account.

The railroad workers around here have an incredibly high rate of divorce and bankruptcy, so that's a good point. They are on the road most of the time which can kill marriages. It also seems that they spend like crazy.

 

[n...not crazy]

Marry up!

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

I feel bad for those who live in greater london and are on minimum wage, a shit hole studio in croydon is between 500-700 quid. I really dont know how people survive with poor paying jobs. Im not suprised more and more young people are having kids to get houses and stuff.

I used to live on minimum wage, paying £400 for a rented room in Ealing.

It can be done. I don’t drink nor was I particularly social outside of work so I’d normally have a bit of money left over. I didn’t pay council tax, WiFi or any bills either. I did pay bills when I moved into a £750pm studio flat in Hounslow but then again, I had my GF covering half of it and the minimum wage had risen by then.

Quality is generally pretty poor in these places. My rented room was infested with bedbugs to the point where I spent my first night sleeping on a train, whilst stinking of expired insect killer and picking bedbugs out of my work suit from time to time. The first flat the GF and myself moved into had a rat problem, leaked and the neighbours were dire. After a year we moved to the £750 flat mentioned above that was under a flight path and had broken heating, which caused problems with condensation and damp, and the connector heaters that did a piss poor job keeping the place (the bed only) warm...ish...led to the electricity bill being around £150 per month.

It’s not only the flats that are expensive, but a month and a half’s worth of security deposit is now the norm and agency fees tend to run to around £400-600. The flat where I am now is around £800 and is too small, but it is warm and the area is nice.

I’ve moved six times in six years, nine in eight. I didn’t pass my driving test until I turned 30, because I didn’t see myself being able to afford a car.

I have a better job now and my wage will go up as soon as I pass probation, but I am really hesitant about the idea of having children. I don’t want to bring a life into my world, at least until I have my own property.

 

[astrozician]

I'll try to sum it up:

1) Stop caring what other people have
2) Stop thinking you need to impress people with what you have
3) Provide a product or service for which people will want to pay you for; the more the merrier
4) Spend less than what you make
5) Invest what you can ; Roth IRA recommended
6) Use credit as sparingly as possible
7) Learn to do as much on your own
8) Keep some cash on hand for emergencies

It's not brain surgery.

 

[ralphc1]

No one actually ran on the platform of trickle down economics.

During the campaign of 1980, Ronald Reagan announced a recipe to fix the nation's economic mess. He claimed an undue tax burden, excessive government regulation, and massive social spending programs hampered growth. Reagan proposed a phased 30% tax cut for the first three years of his Presidency. The bulk of the cut would be concentrated at the upper income levels. The economic theory behind the wisdom of such a plan was called supply-side or trickle-down economics.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/59b.asp

It was hotly debated between the Reagan camp and the George H W Bush and /john Anderson in the Republican primaries before the 1980 election. Bush was constantly calling Reagan's plan "Trickle Down Economics". All it did was about triple the national debt.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

Every time I’d try to do something with money (I tried gold bullion), I’d have to spend my savings or sell my gold to pay for it. Moving as often as I have has really kept me on the breadline, but I’m hoping that I can settle and get some money behind me.

Making money whilst being poor is hard, especially if you are renting.

 

[ralphc1]

I think I got 100% RoR this past year... overall, not just one holding.

If you haven't cashed out, you haven't gotten any return.

 

[TheWobbler]

I used to live on minimum wage, paying £400 for a rented room in Ealing.

It can be done. I don’t drink nor was I particularly social outside of work so I’d normally have a bit of money left over. I didn’t pay council tax, WiFi or any bills either. I did pay bills when I moved into a £750pm studio flat in Hounslow but then again, I had my GF covering half of it and the minimum wage had risen by then.

Quality is generally pretty poor in these places. My rented room was infested with bedbugs to the point where I spent my first night sleeping on a train, whilst stinking of expired insect killer and picking bedbugs out of my work suit from time to time. The first flat the GF and myself moved into had a rat problem, leaked and the neighbours were dire. After a year we moved to the £750 flat mentioned above that was under a flight path and had broken heating, which caused problems with condensation and damp, and the connector heaters that did a piss poor job keeping the place (the bed only) warm...ish...led to the electricity bill being around £150 per month.

It’s not only the flats that are expensive, but a month and a half’s worth of security deposit is now the norm and agency fees tend to run to around £400-600. The flat where I am now is around £800 and is too small, but it is warm and the area is nice.

I’ve moved six times in six years, nine in eight. I didn’t pass my driving test until I turned 30, because I didn’t see myself being able to afford a car.

I have a better job now and my wage will go up as soon as I pass probation, but I am really hesitant about the idea of having children. I don’t want to bring a life into my world, at least until I have my own property.

I had to leave london altogether. Bought a house up north when i got offered a new job. My mate is renting in croydon and paying 650 for a studio and it has no form of heating and the shower is garbage and the bath takes an age to fill up. When I go down to stay I have to sleep in my clothes and have to take my winter duvet as he really cant afford to heat the place everyday lol.

 

[kahiljabroni]

Correct. We’re not at the point yet where college isn’t worth it. Also, this isn’t an instance in which you would want to use the median and not the mean. There aren’t a few college grads making a shitload more than the rest and skewing the average. There may be a few people who dropped out of college though, like Mark Zuckerberg, skewing the average for high school grads. But the mean is sufficient for this purpose.

Additionally, I would try to look at what working at a rail yard, or working construction, or whatever would cost you in terms of medical bills over a lifetime vs. working in an office. Although, office politics tend to have their own set of costs on someone’s mental health. Still, it would be interesting to see that. I’ve read a lot of economic studies on this stuff and have never seen anyone take that into account.

I work for the railroad and I can tell you that it's nowhere near as taxing as real blue collar jobs. In fact, a good portion of rr workers have the same issues as office workers. .. Being sedentary for too long. It all depends on what your duties are. ..There are track gangs, and behind the scenes guys that work their asses off. But for myself and the majority of rr jobs it's a cushy job that pays well.

I will say there is a huge divorce rate and alot of people that don't take care of themselves especially with the older workers. And a high rate of spending like a retard and being broke.

 

[syct23]

Economics class was destroyed ITT..

"Hey guys, remember when whoring yourself out for a cheeseburger used to cost a nickel..

"Why so much now days?

 

[Fugazy]

I design and operate computer systems for a variety of different applications. On paper, at least.

Gotcha very cool brah

 

[therealdope]

A 650 Ninja is still about 7500-8000k.
350K for a house? Yeah, you can get that as well. Just depends where you want to live.

Also, there was an article about pick ups about two years ago --- funny that TS mentioned pick ups. They pointed out that an entry level Dodge Ram truck hasn't really increased in price ($25,000) since 1990 but a 2015 Ram truck was lighter, better fuel efficiency, better handling, air con, more accessories, better audio, better seats, ... it's kind of amazing. So in 25 yrs the price is the same and the truck has improved dramatically.

 

[marioh]

i afford life in the city by having a skill set that employers are looking for, and having a work ethic and skill set that justifies the money i get paid.
the nice thing about being in IT is that my skill set is applicable for almost every single business out there. worked for a software company, insurance company, and now a media company. as long as there are computers and dumb humans who use them, i will always have a job if i so choose.

 

[MaureenCretis]

Few architects in IT that i've encountered are extremely hands on. Most seem to have a cushy job more so in meetings and having to give some presentations once in a while. The only issue is that they can be on the chopping block quite fast if the company has some financial struggles and making $200k+ a year might need to be justified if hard times hit.

Year after year, I have no idea why they haven’t binned me already. The music will stop one day, and I’ll have to find work elsewhere, I’m sure.

 

[MaureenCretis]

<shrug> it doesn’t matter what you do or don’t think.

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

Learn a trade, join a union, buy a house, retire in 20 years.

 

[TestosterOWN]

Pretty sure majority of people are in a huge amount of debt.

 

[crocoppertones]

I work three jobs and save like a beast.. but yeah:

You know it's hard out here for a pimp!

 

[Oblivian]

My pay structure is pretty nice. I have my salary and then do profit sharing each quarter. My salary is more than enough to live and still save money, so the profit sharing allows me to splurge if I want to. We are also a dual income house.