I spent $130 on Christmas presents in Oregon (San Diego, San Francisco: real estate, car insurance)

[zdg]

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

That property tax thing seems awesome for the folks who can buy homes! I've looked into a few colleges in California but I think the only place I would be able to afford to live is somewhere like the Inland Empire. It's a cool place but not necessarily San Diego or LA.

Well, no, of course not.

But like literally every other square inch on the planet, the desirable parts are expensive for a reason -- people with resources are willing to pay for it.

When I got out of college, I had no skills whatsoever so I took a job as an accountant (no CPA license at the time) in El Paso, Texas making $27k a year. I had a wife, a kid, and a mortgage in the town we had to leave so I could take the job. Did it suck? Yes, yes it did. We ate Hamburger Helper without the Hamburger and a ton of ramen. Every month we had to decide which pink utility bill to pay in the hopes that the other one wouldn't get shut off. Did it suck? Yes, yes it did. Do I empathize with people who have to go through this? Very much so.

With no financial backing other than a few credit cards, I started a business and worked 16 hour days building the business until we could afford to move to Houston. Then, three years later, NYC. Then, three years later, we sold the business and retired to California (WHEN...WE...COULD...AFFORD...IT).

So, do I feel for low or no income people? I do. Do I think there's no way out of it other than complaining about it online? Um, no. So to the OP and people like him, quitcherbitchin. America has a ton of problems...the ability for its citizens to make money isn't one of them.

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by JoanCrawford

That property tax thing seems awesome for the folks who can buy homes! I've looked into a few colleges in California but I think the only place I would be able to afford to live is somewhere like the Inland Empire. It's a cool place but not necessarily San Diego or LA.

I believe the expression is "having champagne tastes on a beer budget"!

[zdg]

Sorry; this thread was about taxes, not income (before I hijacked it).

So let's bring it back to taxes. Oregon has the single highest tax rate for a single person making $26,000 a year in the United States (5% higher than the tax on the same person in California). That's $1,300/yr more on that person. So much for your big sales tax savings.

Listen. I know we do this every five minutes in here, but here we go again...every single state gets their revenue from somewhere. Texas gets it from outrageous property taxes, Nevada gets it from gambling (a voluntary tax or tourists and the desperate), and Oregon gets it from income tax. If you genuinely, honestly believe that you are taxed unfairly in California, there is a shockingly simple solution -- move to a state that convinces you it has solved your tax problem. Then you can pretend that the government is no longer the reason your life sucks and we can stop hearing about it.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by mateo45

I believe the expression is "having champagne tastes on a beer budget"!

That applies to me! I can always spot the item that costs the most. 'Course, it doesn't come home with me. Still, life is good.

[mateo45]

^ ^ Hey, no worries, I could find the local Costco in my sleep (lol)!

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

And Oregon has no sales tax so if I had bought those presents here I would have squandered $13 in taxes. $13 thrown out the window so that public employee union members could have their lavish pay, pensions, and health care. And beautiful new houses and new cars.

Yes! And we thank you. Oops! I was in management so I didn't belong to a union. Oops again! Our house was built in 1989 and is a modest 1480 sq. ft. Our car is a 2007 Honda Accord. Guess it's time to buy new, bigger and better with our lavish pensions. But I thank you sincerely. It's obviously more than you ever did for us for keeping the state rolling despite the Legislature you continue to reelect.

[SoCalbound12]

California has very expensive places, and very cheap places, you know like every other state. Even Kentucky for instance has "expensive" places to live when you factor in wages. If I were to transfer to my company's location in eastern Kentucky, yes the housing prices and COL would be much lower but I'd make about a 1/3 of what I make now. Hell I could take a two step promotion and still make less than 1/2 of what I make. So yeah the houses in Winchester, KY are cheaper but I'd be making a lot less.

Really though all of these threads are tedious. The fact of the matter is there are 49 other states in the U.S. so if you find California less than satisfactory you can move to one of them. California has a higher COL because millions upon millions of people live here, they somehow find a way to make it here despite the "communist" government, and plenty of people want to move out here. Desirable places to live come with a price tag, and 38 million people find California desirable.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

And Oregon has no sales tax so if I had bought those presents here I would have squandered $13 in taxes. $13 thrown out the window so that public employee union members could have their lavish pay, pensions, and health care. And beautiful new houses and new cars.

I am a community college adjunct faculty member in southern California. I absolutely do not have a beautiful new house, but rather a decent studio in Pasadena. I have a new used Toyota Corolla because my Subaru Forest was at 240,000 miles and falling apart when I traded it in a year ago. I am able to cobble together enough community college teaching work to make a full time work week throughout the year and make about $50,000.

I am in a pension system, and I could qualify for health benefits, but my monthly premium would be the same as the PPO I have been grandfathered into. (Luckily I almost never get ill, and rarely need medical treatment so my premium is cheap).

Do you want to take all this from me to? Do I deserve to be at the poverty line because I am not in a job that "turns a profit"?? Should I throw a few bucks in your face as apology for the taxpayer I fleeced so I could have some resemblance of a middle class lifestyle?

Now, I understand that was a little hissy fit, and maybe you didn't mean it to be interpreted as such. But if you are wondering why republicans don't get elected, maybe you should consider communicating things in a way that doesn't create division.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

And Oregon has no sales tax so if I had bought those presents here I would have squandered $13 in taxes. $13 thrown out the window so that public employee union members could have their lavish pay, pensions, and health care. And beautiful new houses and new cars.

Why are you assuming they have beautiful new houses and new cars? The public employees I know struggle with rising rents, and buy used cars. But somehow I get the feeling that the truth isn't something you were looking for...

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

V8Vega, you are a beacon to all of us forced to live under the oppression of this hellish state. A veritable gulag. Next time I need $100 bucks of whatnot, I'm driving the 700 - 800 round trip miles or so to Brookings to save not only the nightmarish tax, but to also do my part in decapitating the insatiable beast of government!

lolol! I needed these laughs today. This thread is a real hoot.