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Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

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Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#381

Post by kaybe »

chiph wrote: post #271
kaybe wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Old home appliances are basically free. If you don't care too much for recency and efficiency, you can just pick one up from a neighbor here. For example, the city website where you can register to get large trash items taken away links to a platform where people post what they want to give away. It's full of old furniture and appliances, and only costs you some time and transport method. I'm surprised sometimes, rea…

There's a bunch of videos on YouTube of how to repair washing machines, clothes dryers and dishwashers (repairing refrigerators usually needs special tools & training). A good example is the cast aluminum bracket supporting the drum in modern front-loading washers. It commonly corrodes and breaks, and is often the reason why the machines get replaced. It's about a $120 part that will give your $1500 washer another 3…

Long live youtube academy!

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#382

Post by dawnerd »

astura wrote: post #380
dawnerd wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not so sure about that. My brand new house in the Portland metro was cheaper than comparable older houses. I do get screwed a bit on taxes but they’re still lower than they were at my house in California for the same price. Overall I’m saving money. Going on three years and the only expense I’ve had in upkeep is air filters. Also both new homes I’ve bought were in existing neighborhoods. Not all new homes are in…

You can be as "not sure" as you want, data doesn't lie https://www.trulia.com/research/new-home-smell/ Portland happens to be among the metros with the smallest new house premium at 14%. Thats still $28,000 premium on a 200,0000 house. Sure "not all new homes" are in new developments, but the vast majority of them are. Most neighborhoods simply don't have empty lots to build on, they don't exist, any new homes are te…

I’m guessing trulia is looking as asking price because that’s definitely off based on actual experience shopping around. Because of property tax being much lower, older homes can ask a lot more. Sure new developments here are asking 600k+ for a tiny condo but they’ve all been reducing prices. In my part of town my house was more than 50k lower than an almost identical copy of my house down the street that’s been here for 10 years.

Besides, I never said all new homes were cheaper so I’m not sure why you’re even trying to argue it. Shop around and you’ll find a deal.

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#383

Post by asdff »

refurb wrote: post #310
uuwp wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually think capitalism is the problem. It's the best form we know to organize a society, but it has the serious problem when money tend to stick or gravitate towards bigger chunks of money. I'm making well over 300k and can afford a decent house that I'd have to pay off my entire life. What if I had 30M and was too lazy to start a business? I would just buy 30-40 nice houses in my area and would rent them. 10 ye…

If you spent 30M and bought 30-40 houses to rent out, you would be contributing to society by risking your capital to provide housing for renters. There is no certainty that you’d double your money in 10 years.

You aren't contributing to society if you charge more for rent than mortgage and maintenance, you are a parasite.

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#384

Post by asdff »

refurb wrote: post #312
claydavisss wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the 1950s in the US were a unique blip in all of modern history. at no other time before or since did a working class population have it so good.

Having most of the Western world destroyed except for your own country certainly helped.

It was a time when the U.S. kept the worlds manufacturing jobs warm before they were outsourced to these rebuilt places.

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#385

Post by asdff »

Spooky23 wrote: post #53

There is a way out. Use cash. My wife and I struggled with this, we do well and found our expenses increasing with our income. Our solution was to take a small windfall (tax refund) to bootstrap two months of basic expenses, and dump money from direct deposit into a specific account. We did that to get current. That eliminated many dopey expenses (Starbucks, shiny things in the grocery, etc). It’s harder to spend mon…

There are credit cards where you can get 4% cash back in places and pay no annual fee. If you have switched to cash only in an effort to save money, does this outweigh a 2-4% discount on every purchase you make?

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#386

Post by notSupplied »

myself248 wrote: post #265
wutbrodo wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure lack of healthcare and low wages _is_ the main issue[1]. As the parent comment points out, it seems like that would lead to a pretty different pattern of this phenomenon. It seems to me that there's a couple broad categories that can lead to paycheck-to-paycheck living: 1) Poverty, at the level where spending on a reasonable floor of basics (food, shelter, education, leisure) leaves little for savings. T…

> at percentile X would substantially improve their financial security if they spent as much as percentile X-10 This is spot-on. It's worked for me -- I didn't have a solid handle on my finances when I moved out of my parents' place, so I lowballed and found a place I knew I could afford even with a pretty pessimistic view of financial discipline. Nine years later I'm living in the same place, and I've gotten a raise…

All of those corners you've so frugally cut can be drowned out by the difference between a 3% raise in rent and a 10-15% in rent, or a uncovered medical expense, or a child you're not prepared to have, so I really doubt too many Netflix-esque subscriptions is really the reason why so many seemly middle class income people are living paycheck to paycheck.

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#387

Post by moorhosj »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #148
moorhosj wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huge difference between living paycheck to paycheck because you struggle to afford basic necessities and living paycheck to paycheck because you took out too large of a mortgage. In one case you have an asset to sell if needed.

The trouble is, in America the bigger mortgage often comes with a better school district.

Maybe more people should rent.

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#388

Post by kenmicklas »

zozbot123 wrote: post #184
kenmicklas wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly the problem. It would encourage unsustainable sprawl to a massive degree.

Unsustainable sprawl is a side-effect of high rents. When rent is low, people tend to cluster naturally in order to minimize their costs (and hence, the burden they exert on the surrounding environment) because they can afford to - you see this happening even (perhaps especially) in tiny rural villages and towns, not just in the wealthiest cities.

Yes that is exactly what I am saying. UBI would raise rents and therefore encourage sprawl.

Re: Living paycheck to paycheck is disturbingly common

#390

Post by refurb »

asdff wrote: post #383
refurb wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you spent 30M and bought 30-40 houses to rent out, you would be contributing to society by risking your capital to provide housing for renters. There is no certainty that you’d double your money in 10 years.

You aren't contributing to society if you charge more for rent than mortgage and maintenance, you are a parasite.

Why? If Apple charges more than the cost to manufacture a iPhone, are they a parasite?

If not, what’s the difference? The are both offering a good.

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