61–70 of 92 posts
What the title should read is "couldn't afford a lifestyle I felt was befitting someone making six figures in the bay area"
"a niceish $40,000 car," ish. High on the list of signs that you've bought far too much into lifestyle inflation is thinking that a car costing 70% of the US median household income is only "nice-ish."
I have a cushy tech-job yet still drive the hatchback I bought fifteen years ago for $2000. Choices...
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People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline. They don't realize that nice things take a while to accumulate. Yes my parents drive a Prius. But growing up in a family with 5 other siblings, they pretty much drove beaters. And our house started with, as we so fondly called them, the seven ugly carpets of the world. And those were slowly replaced over time. The house we lived in until I w…
> People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline I don't think that's telling the whole tale. Soon after my parents got married in '74 they bought their first home, brand new. It cost 5 years of my Dad's salary at the time (a new teacher). So with the two of them working, they paid it off in just over 3 years. Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individua…
Are you living in the Bay Area? Is that why medium home prices are so high?
I think the point is: his salary while not high by SF was high in nearly any other location in the US. In any other location, he and his family could live how they wanted. In any other location, have a $40,000 car instead of a $10,000 or less car is a perfectly reasonable. In any other location, eating out more than once a month would be perfectly reasonable. Having a expensive hobby racing cars is reasonable, just n…
Spending 40% of your annual income on a car while supporting an entire family on that income is grossly irresponsible, regardless of the geography.
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"a niceish $40,000 car," ish. High on the list of signs that you've bought far too much into lifestyle inflation is thinking that a car costing 70% of the US median household income is only "nice-ish."
Lets take the product of Silicon Valley, the Tesla. Even take the cheap one at $35,000. I don't think that is much to expect in a lifestyle also considering you make more than most people. Henry Ford back in the day raised wages and cut hours because he noticed not even his employees had money or time to enjoy his product. I think Silicon Valley is at this same point. Work your butt off to not enjoy life. If your sin…
I don't know, it seems like a lot of this guy's problems are totally within his control. I sort of assume he's the only income source for his family, but also has an expensive hobby he doesn't want to give up and also wants to live a life of (somewhat) luxury. I mean, I get it, kids and the Bay Area are expensive, but I think there are better examples of "the cost of living in the Bay Area is out of control" than a g…
I make 6 figures, drive a 16yo car (2000 accord FTW!), take public transpiration to work, brown bag lunch. My partner works part-time to take care of our child. My home is the right size for what we need.
Why does this guy have to live in a Bay Area? No one is going to weep for you, buddy. You made bad life decisions and you need to deal with them.
EDIT: spelling
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If you're working a high-end job (one that not many people would qualify for, presumably), making well over $100,000 per year (FAR above the average family income in the US), then why should you settle for a near-poverty lifestyle?
Let's not exaggerate. $100K/year in the Bay Area (as a single person) isn't living it up, but it's not "a near-poverty lifestyle." It's a "living in the East Bay with roommates, commuting at least an hour, (very) occasionally going out," lifestyle but it's eating good food with a roof over your head. If that sounds like poverty, well, you should see real poverty sometime.
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But part of the reason he was paid so much was because he lived in the Bay Area; Facebook wouldn't pay nearly as high salaries if they were based in the Midwest. In "any other location," he still might not have been able to afford hobby racing, and it's weird to act entitled on the one hand and not acknowledge the other, as if the salary is deserved solely based on the work he's done, and the cost of living is a comp…
He says he's just slightly north of $100k (six figures) which I assume somewhere around $125. I'm certain he can get a similar salary in many parts of the country if he's a good SRE, at the very least: Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, Dallas, Austin, DC, NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, San Diego, LA (those are the markets I'm familiar with from my job searches). Other cities might be slightly lower, but still right around $100…
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> People want the nice things their parents had, but not on the same timeline I don't think that's telling the whole tale. Soon after my parents got married in '74 they bought their first home, brand new. It cost 5 years of my Dad's salary at the time (a new teacher). So with the two of them working, they paid it off in just over 3 years. Go find me a house for sale now that's less than 10 or 15 years of an individua…
My home is 2-3 years of my annual salary. So is most of my co-workers. Yes, that is probably not true for a teachers salary (although my first home was definitely within 4 years of a teachers salary.) Are you living in the Bay Area? Is that why medium home prices are so high?
Canada/Australia.
Pretty much anywhere you want to live houses are insanely expensive. Upwards of $450k for a 2-3 bedroom built in the 60s.
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When you support an entire family on a single income, spending 30% or 40% of your annual pay on a car is irresponsible. No "ifs," "ands," or "buts." That's just bad financial planning. It's a totally unnecessary luxury that holds the potential to burden the entire family. Additionally, your definition of "middle class" is quite peculiar. The median wage in the United States is less than $30k. The median household inc…
Does no one here buy cars? I forgive you. A $40k car will likely come with a 5yr loan that's cheaper than student loans. That'd actually be $8k/yr+interest... which is not 40% of your salary. Find something else to judge the guy for.
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Let's not exaggerate. $100K/year in the Bay Area (as a single person) isn't living it up, but it's not "a near-poverty lifestyle." It's a "living in the East Bay with roommates, commuting at least an hour, (very) occasionally going out," lifestyle but it's eating good food with a roof over your head. If that sounds like poverty, well, you should see real poverty sometime.
You could probably do better than that. East bay rents aren't that high (yet) and I'm guessing Facebook has shuttle buses.
Live by yourself, and you won't find a decent place for less than $2k/month anywhere. Accounting for taxes, that's about $40K/year, which is more than someone with a $100K income should be paying for rent if they want to stay financially stable.
And while Facebook might have East Bay shuttle buses (though I don't think they do to any meaningful extent), what about all the other companies that aren't Facebook?