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I started being better off in 1980 when I got my forever job with Oregon Fish and Wildlife. we had to live in hatchery housing which was a mixed blessing. Basically, I was on the job 24/7, but rent was about $90 per month. I bought a house in Eugene, Oregon for $94,000 in 1995 and sold it in 2000 for $194,000. With that money we bought a house in Oakridge Oregon for $132,000. We didn't move into the house until 2011 when I retired, but in the meantime we did an $80,000 renovation and have a beautiful house. I got a nice pension and started collecting SS at 62 which I have never regretted. Life is great now and I look forward to every day.
A lot of truth here, but it also depends on where you are. You're in a high COL coastal state. I'm in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee.
I was looking for work in the winter of 2009 going into 2010. While I did find something (which was better than a lot of my peers who ended up unemployed), it was only $15/hr or so, and I had to drive a hundred miles roundtrip per day to get that. With gas hovering around $3.50/gal when I graduated in 2010, there wasn't much leftover.
You can get a small house here for next to nothing, but the problem is that most of the jobs here are low wage, $10-$15/hr junk jobs with few benefits. If you're a white collar professional, there are only a handful of places to work.
One of the jobs I applied for was in Blount County, TN. It was a white collar professional degreed job and started at something like $34k iirc. They didn't call me back.
While housing was indeed cheap, that's not much money to work with even in a low housing cost environment.
One of the jobs I applied for was in Blount County, TN. It was a white collar professional degreed job and started at something like $34k iirc. They didn't call me back.
While housing was indeed cheap, that's not much money to work with even in a low housing cost environment.
Yep. A lot of out of area people don't understand this.
Sure, housing is relatively cheap here, but it's not the cheapest place in the country or anything, and most of the rest of your daily expenses are about the same as they are anywhere else.
A ~$17/hr income is not a lot to work with no matter where you are.
Yep. A lot of out of area people don't understand this.
Sure, housing is relatively cheap here, but it's not the cheapest place in the country or anything, and most of the rest of your daily expenses are about the same as they are anywhere else.
A ~$17/hr income is not a lot to work with no matter where you are.
Yep, what it comes down to is the percentage of income people spend on housing and how much is left over for discretionary spending.
I live on the fringes of the NY metropolitan area and while housing is much cheaper here than in NYC or the inner suburbs, there's virtually no public transit and the average commute is like 40 minutes. Much of the savings from the cheap houses just goes to transportation instead (car maintenance, gas, etc.). The ones who often have it made bought their homes 20-30 years ago when they were much cheaper. One of my co-workers bought her house for $300K in the mid-90s. Today that house would sell for at least $600K. Meanwhile homes in far-flung, less desirable areas have barely appreciated or even lost value.
Yep, what it comes down to is the percentage of income people spend on housing and how much is left over for discretionary spending.
I live on the fringes of the NY metropolitan area and while housing is much cheaper here than in NYC or the inner suburbs, there's virtually no public transit and the average commute is like 40 minutes. Much of the savings from the cheap houses just goes to transportation instead (car maintenance, gas, etc.). The ones who often have it made bought their homes 20-30 years ago when they were much cheaper. One of my co-workers bought her house for $300K in the mid-90s. Today that house would sell for at least $600K. Meanwhile homes in far-flung, less desirable areas have barely appreciated or even lost value.
That's a benefit to being in or near a major metro area.
My parents bought their house in 1998. It's probably worth 180% of the original purchase price. Keep in mind quite a bit of improvements have been made to the house.
Homes here basically appreciate at the rate of inflation. A friend of mine from high school moved to Nashville in 2009 after graduating from pharmacy school. He bought a house in a then questionable urban Nashville neighborhood because it was close to his work. He sold out several years later, bought a home in another part of Tennessee in cash with the proceeds from the Nashville home, and has never had a mortgage since. It was just right place, right time.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
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Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
A lot of truth here, but it also depends on where you are. You're in a high COL coastal state. I'm in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee.
I was looking for work in the winter of 2009 going into 2010. While I did find something (which was better than a lot of my peers who ended up unemployed), it was only $15/hr or so, and I had to drive a hundred miles roundtrip per day to get that. With gas hovering around $3.50/gal when I graduated in 2010, there wasn't much leftover.
You can get a small house here for next to nothing, but the problem is that most of the jobs here are low wage, $10-$15/hr junk jobs with few benefits. If you're a white collar professional, there are only a handful of places to work.
Worse off. I'm still not making as much as I made when I graduated college in 2008 (and was laid off a year later). I've been underemployed since, doing call center work. I pretty much feel like my life is a failure.
It sucks that we are entering another recession, this one even worse than the last.
Last edited by bawac34618; 08-05-2019 at 11:33 AM..
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