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I moved to Washington DC for a job that paid $36,000 a year. It was the only job I could find after college and it was in my field. I did not know how pricey the area was. I worked hard, lived in the ghetto because it was only
1200 a month. I got tired of the ghetto and decided that 1500 a month would give me peace of mind.
I have become promoted and now I make $42K a year afterputting 5 years in. I am offended that you would dare judge how I spend my money!
Yes things are tight for me. Let me tell you. My cousin works full time at Home Depot in your lovely FAIRFAX and makes $10/hour. He said that the employees told him that they don't pay much more than that. I guess he can look forward to making $12 hour in the future. Meanwhile he busts his butt and then he busts his butt at another job for a total of 60 hours a week and he is still HUNGRY all the time. And he is paying student loans off.
Don't talk about what you dont know. You don't know what we go through. Don't you dare tell me that I am wasteful or that my cousin is lazy and living in luxury.
Sorry, I forgot that bank tellers and hotel workers and hairdressers were supposed to make as much as a doctor, lawyer, or high paid contractor just so they could live in the same neighborhoods as them.
Look, I empathize with your situation, but let's be realistic. If you're a hairdresser making $30k/yr, you have to find somewhere that is reasonable for YOUR budget. That might be a studio apartment way on the outskirts of the metropolis, but that is the position you're in. If you want to live in a $500k house, go be a doctor or a lawyer. Or you can do what I'm doing and move from a high COL area in Denver, CO to a low COL area in Metro Detroit. As much as I love living in Denver, I can't keep up with rent going up every six months while also trying to meet my financial goals. So I'm moving back closer to home.
You know nothing of my situation except that I don't live in the hood because I would be afraid to.
What I am telling you is the reality for many Americans. I didn't say what anyone should be paid- I am sorry that you missed the point. You were the one who mentioned that the salaries should make up for the housing costs. My point was that they do not for many people. Don't bring up a point and then completely change the subject when your point is addressed. That's annoying and a poor tactic.
The overall message was that one should not be so arrogant. You don't know everyone's situation and neither do I. However, I do know that it's foolish to go about bragging how far $50K could go towards buying a house if only people were more modest. The reality for most is that 50K is not going very far in many areas.
Good for you that you are able to move to Metro Detroit. You do realize that everyone does not have that option to move to another area? That's like me going in the unemployment forum and saying how foolish people are for being unemployed because if they would just use their skills then they could start up something and be making more than they would in a job. That's not fair, and that is not accurate because everyone has different skills, different situations, and different opportunities presented to them. Perhaps I should criticize you for not making enough to keep up with a high COL area. I mean if you had the initiative, surely you should be able to drum up at least $10K a month because it's really not that hard. Live with the basics, invest the rest, flip a few things, and you would be all set. Pretty soon, $10K a month will look like extra money.
I don't feel that way, but many people do. Unlike most people- I have compassion for those who are struggling. I have no reason to blame them, tell them to cut off their internet, or anything else. All it takes is one bad event for anyone's life to completely change.
I am not poor, I have never been poor, but that doesn't mean that one day I won't be. All it takes is one medical disaster or something else. So I keep my mouth closed because I don't like the taste of feet. Maybe others should do the same.
How many television sets did your great-grandmother have? How many times a week did she eat out at a restaurant? How many vacations per year did she go on?
The secret to living on one income is to LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS, not spend like your in Congress. My guess is that even though your great-grandmother was a secretary back in the 1920s she did not spend like people do today. Please correct me if I am wrong.
20yrsinBranson
living within her means!
I see this all the time and nothing has changed.
In 1950 the average size of a new house built in the United States was 948 sq. ft. and it had a one car garage. Do you want to venture a guess why the average house built in 1950 had but a one car garage?
How many of you remember the days when the phone you used was a party line? How many of you even know what that is?
We had a single black and white television without cable. If we were lucky we got 3 channels. In the 50's I spent a lot of my time in Sturgis, SD (this was the time before the town became known as the Harley Davidson town) and we got one channel out of Rapid City. Black and white (of course), it came on the air at around 8:00 AM and went off air at 10:15 PM after the news being replaced by the Indian Head test pattern. How many of you remember that?
We did not have air conditioning. In the summer when it got really hot we put fans in windows.
We did not have video games, computers, internet or cell phones.
It was the days before credit cards so in many cases debt was impossible. If you wanted to purchase something you saved up your money.
We ate at a restaurant maybe twice a year but I don't think it was that often. The fact is restaurants were few and far between, nothing like today, and noting was open 24 hours either. Where I lived if you wanted to eat at a restaurant you ate before 8:00 or waited to the next day.
I never remember a pizza being delivered.
Yep, these were the good ol' days so fondly looked back on by people who weren't even alive.
Let's look at it another way. In 1950 the average annual salary in the United States was $2,992
You too can live on $28,823,26 per year if you go back to living the 1950 lifestyle; no phones, no cable, no computer, no cell phones, no air conditioning, no two car families and never, I mean never, eat at a restaurant fast food or otherwise. Also, do what was done in 1950, when you buy that car but it used because credit was not available. Pay cash, no payments.
Today the median household income in the United States is $46,326. In California people have a hard time understanding that yes, 50 percent of our population live on $46,000 or less a year. Even today, all the elixirs and remedies being thrown around fail to focus on income and the big brother of income, solid employment. Dual earner households have a higher median income at $67,348.
If you are feeling bad about the boomers remember in 1950 life expectancy for women was 71.1 and 65.6 for men. Why is it so many geny's think the 50's were the best of times and somehow we boomers robbed them of their time in the sun?
You know what I remember a lot about the wonderful 50's? Polio and that kid on the block who lived in an iron lung. Ah, wonderful times, wonderful times!
All the geny's and genx's whining about we boomers who robbed you of our wonderful future don't have a clue to what you are talking about. Never before in the history of the world has anyone had an easier time in life then you do now.
You know nothing of my situation except that I don't live in the hood because I would be afraid to.
What I am telling you is the reality for many Americans. I didn't say what anyone should be paid- I am sorry that you missed the point. You were the one who mentioned that the salaries should make up for the housing costs. My point was that they do not for many people. Don't bring up a point and then completely change the subject when your point is addressed. That's annoying and a poor tactic.
The overall message was that one should not be so arrogant. You don't know everyone's situation and neither do I. However, I do know that it's foolish to go about bragging how far $50K could go towards buying a house if only people were more modest. The reality for most is that 50K is not going very far in many areas.
Good for you that you are able to move to Metro Detroit. You do realize that everyone does not have that option to move to another area? That's like me going in the unemployment forum and saying how foolish people are for being unemployed because if they would just use their skills then they could start up something and be making more than they would in a job. That's not fair, and that is not accurate because everyone has different skills, different situations, and different opportunities presented to them. Perhaps I should criticize you for not making enough to keep up with a high COL area. I mean if you had the initiative, surely you should be able to drum up at least $10K a month because it's really not that hard. Live with the basics, invest the rest, flip a few things, and you would be all set. Pretty soon, $10K a month will look like extra money.
I don't feel that way, but many people do. Unlike most people- I have compassion for those who are struggling. I have no reason to blame them, tell them to cut off their internet, or anything else. All it takes is one bad event for anyone's life to completely change.
I am not poor, I have never been poor, but that doesn't mean that one day I won't be. All it takes is one medical disaster or something else. So I keep my mouth closed because I don't like the taste of feet. Maybe others should do the same.
The bolded part. I never once referred to that. Typically, it is the case that salaries are higher in certain areas due to COL, but that is not always the case. I realize that. I don't know why you're going off on some tantrum about what I said. I'm usually the one pointing out that wages have stagnated and the labor market is crappy. I think you're just finding reasons to spout off on me, when you should be directing your anger at those that really don't give a crap about you.
I never thought wages were that terrible myself. I was in the Army for awhile and saved my deployment money and then got married when I got out. I've never had a job that paid more than $40,000 a year (neither has my wife) but we've got MORE than enough saved up to pay for a home IN CASH (in Maine at least). We're planning on having 3 or 4 little tikes running around in the next few years though so we're looking at having to buy something in the 4-5 bedroom range so we're gonna continue to wait...
...a smaller home though we could easily afford. And I've only really been saving money since like 2007. Just get a job, find a partner, and save. Stop with all these ridiculous trips to India and all the other dumb stuff our generation does with their money.
...a smaller home though we could easily afford. And I've only really been saving money since like 2007. Just get a job, find a partner, and save. Stop with all these ridiculous trips to India and all the other dumb stuff our generation does with their money.
Depends on what your priorities are. I'm single now and I don't see myself settling down in the near future or maybe ever. If you want a house and a family, sure. Save away for that sort of thing. If that's not your cup of tea, what you do with your money is your business. As long as you're putting away money into savings/retirement accounts of course.
You too can live on $28,823,26 per year if you go back to living the 1950 lifestyle; no phones, no cable, no computer, no cell phones, no air conditioning, no two car families and never, I mean never, eat at a restaurant fast food or otherwise. Also, do what was done in 1950, when you buy that car but it used because credit was not available. Pay cash, no payments.
Today the median household income in the United States is $46,326. In California people have a hard time understanding that yes, 50 percent of our population live on $46,000 or less a year. Even today, all the elixirs and remedies being thrown around fail to focus on income and the big brother of income, solid employment. Dual earner households have a higher median income at $67,348.
Which is why I don't understand how some people believe you can't afford a house on 50K. Crap, if you can make the down payment, you're practically paying the same as renting an apartment in this area when you sign for a mortgage.
I think some folks were born into an upper middle class lifestyle and thought that's how it's supposed to be for everyone.
Depends on what your priorities are. I'm single now and I don't see myself settling down in the near future or maybe ever. If you want a house and a family, sure. Save away for that sort of thing. If that's not your cup of tea, what you do with your money is your business. As long as you're putting away money into savings/retirement accounts of course.
Sure, everyone has their own cup of tea I suppose, but I don't know too many people who'd rather rent than own.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,641 posts, read 11,950,599 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hughbay
Sure, everyone has their own cup of tea I suppose, but I don't know too many people who'd rather rent than own.
I have to jump in here. I have owned a house for over 15 years and I am putting it up for sale in the fall and renting for my foreseeable future. Owning a house is a scam. Had I continued saving my money and NOT put it into a house, I'd be far better off --oh, and that's assuming I put my $ in a savings account or cds.
I put 20% down and the mortgage + interest were easily affordable. Then property taxes went up. Then insurance went up. Then a pipe burst. Then the roof needed replacing. Then the heat pump went up--twice. Then the wiring needed to be replaced. Then I had another major plumbing issue. Then the windows needed to be replaced. Then the bathroom had to be re-tiled (water leak behind a shower--that one was lovely). Don't even get me started on the carpet replacement and re-painting. I still haven't had a chance to update my 90's kitchen. I've replaced all appliances at least once. Then there's the HOA fees and the fact that they can make you repair things (or fine you) on a moment's notice. Good luck trying to find a community without an HOA--at least in my area. This doesn't take into account all of the time I spend on these stupid little projects.
I tried to console myself by telling myself that at least I owned my house and could do what I wanted with it. Wow. Nope. Seems there are all kinds of laws and HOA bylaws that limit what you can do with and on YOUR property.
I think the whole American dream that includes home ownership is one of the biggest scams going in this country. I'll never, ever buy again. While it's true I'm gonna walk away with a pretty good chunk of change--I could've had far more had I NOT bought a house.
I know that many will disagree with me and that's okay. Best of luck to you.
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