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Started By
Message
re: Today’s cost of living
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:14 am to Koolazzkat
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:14 am to Koolazzkat
Deleted
This post was edited on 9/24/26 at 11:16 am
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:15 am to Koolazzkat
quote:
The company I work for doesn’t give cost of living raises and it shows. More people have bailed on them in 2026 than any previous year. I’m currently trying to get away too.
Sounds like the federal employee right now
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:23 am to couyon2
quote:
Sounds like the non-LEO/ICE/Border Patrol/Armed forces federal employee right now
FIFY
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:25 am to AUVet21
quote:
All this makes me really think of people who don’t have great jobs and how in the heck they can afford to scrape by if they have kids. I honestly don’t know how they do it.
They either scrape by and survive or they don't. And they can complain about it if it makes them feel better. Maybe Santa Claus will come in December and make things all better.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:29 am to lsufball19
quote:
Obviously I'm being sarcastic but not really, housing costs could be less if people would settle for shelter rather than luxury.
quote:
houses were constructed A LOT better in 1970 than they are today and no they were not a bunch of 1000 square foot shelters. A lot of homes today also have formica counter-tops, fake wood floors, and cheap everything.
Most million dollar homes today are built with cheaper materials overall than modest 3 BR ranch style homes in the 70s.
Maybe they spruce it up with some upgraded toilets, countertops and faucets but it can be pretty surprising to see the cheap materials and workmanship on most huge new homes.
This post was edited on 9/24/26 at 12:37 pm
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:30 am to lsufball19
quote:It's a head scratcher.
with gas prices over $4/gallon, how much money are you really saving doing that while also spending 10 hours of your week commuting to and from work?
Let's take a look.
Assume affordable gas should be $2/gal. Assume the commuter's car gets 25mpg. Assume his commute is now a whopping 50 extra miles per day.
That lengthy commute costs him an extra $4/day more than would have been the case with $2/gal gas.
This post was edited on 9/24/26 at 11:32 am
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:35 am to wm72
quote:WTF are you guys smoking? List the materials you think you are talking about. Seriously.
Most million dollar jones today are built with a lot cheaper materials overall than modest 3 BR ranch style homes in the 70s.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:46 am to Hoyt
quote:
I've been fortunate overall, but still not cash flowing to my liking. Bought my first house in 2012 for $50k. Sold it in 2020 for $110k, which was honestly too cheap. Bought current home for $225k with a 3% interest rate. Have a stable job and make solid money for my location and age. I'm in rural north Alabama in my mid-30's. Have a decent savings (nothing to brag about), Roth IRA with about $18k-$20k, and a 401k with just over $200k. However, my truck is 8 years old and paid off and I eat breakfast, and lunch (most days), at home. Single income household with a child. Things cost too much and wages have not kept up, but people spend so much on foolishness. Credit card debt and BNPL (buy now, pay later) companies such as Klarna are reeking havoc on American households.
You sound a lot like me.... I have a really great job 6 fig salary...a reasonable house that cost 215,000 with a 4% rate (wife wants to move but I refuse to set that pile of money on fire) and we have one kid. Not going to lie, being single income for a few years felt rough. Had enough to easily cover bills and a few fun things here and there, but put off purchasing a new car waaay too long. Before my son came along... I dont put shite on cards or buy now pay later, we've stopped ordering in on Friday's I cook instead... me, my wife and son pack lunch everyday...one outing a weekend, one vacation a year and honestly we're doing fine...I'm never anxious about bills, I can handle surprise expenses, but I struggle to see how people do meaningful investing/saving or do things like go to disney these days. I just don't have the room for that.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:49 am to NC_Tigah
Parents spoil their children (guilty myself), but most spend themselves into oblivion (credit cards and buy now, pay later) so kids can play travel ball, go on multiple vacations, and have 87 needoh toys, iPads, etc. Also, husbands are too weak to keep their wives under control. I was at a volleyball match last night and there were probably 50 vehicles in the parking lot that cost over $60k each. This was in rural Alabama. Massive SUVs. Some husbands spend a lot too, but women and their vehicles, $10 iced coffees everyday, shopping, trips, wine nights, eating out, etc. is insane. My favorite part is how many of them now want to do all of this and revert back to the 1950's/1960's philosophy of being a stay at home mom. They want the lifestyle, but want to stay at home and not make the sacrifices. Most do not cook. It's mindblowing.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:55 am to Tigersforthee
quote:
If you're expecting sub 3% mortgages to ever happen again you are gonna be sorely disappointed. Those who lucked out during those 3, or so, years grabbed a one time ever rate.
My mortgage rate is 2.75%
quote:
We had planned to move by now but with our rate we may end up just staying here forever. Wasnt our original plan but I'm not leaving this rate easily.
Same here. I bought a lot in 2022 and everyone keeps asking me when are you going to build? I guess I will build when I can pay cash for the house.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 11:59 am to NC_Tigah
quote:
WTF are you guys smoking? List the materials you think you are talking about. Seriously.
MDF cabinets, composite or even plastic doors, cheap trim, all drywall walls with shoddy finishing work etc
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:05 pm to Supermoto Tiger
I have 2.25% and will be leaving it next year, but will not have a new mortgage
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:08 pm to kywildcatfanone
quote:
I have 2.25% and will be leaving it next year, but will not have a new mortgage
That's what I am trying to explain to my wife. When we move our next house will cost, what we sell the current one for.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:26 pm to AUVet21
When we bought our house in 2009, my uncle (who was a mortgage broker at the time) told me we were nuts to be buyers. I’d say we did pretty good for ourselves…we got a good rate which allowed us to pay it off 15 years later, got Obama’s 1st time homebuyer check, and the house is now worth nearly 3x what we paid.
Our kids have grown up and with us getting older we are at a point where we’re trying to decide whether to renovate our 2500 sq ft tri-level for the long haul or sell and buy a 1500-2000 sq ft ranch style house for our remaining years. We’ve all but finalized going with the renovation because the value in trading down just isn’t there.
My advice would be to look at the total cost. How much will you save in gas by moving? How much is the time you’ll be saving worth? How do the schools compare? Everything can be expressed/converted to a monetary cost. Sit down with your wife and run the numbers. Is it really that much more expensive in the long run???
Our kids have grown up and with us getting older we are at a point where we’re trying to decide whether to renovate our 2500 sq ft tri-level for the long haul or sell and buy a 1500-2000 sq ft ranch style house for our remaining years. We’ve all but finalized going with the renovation because the value in trading down just isn’t there.
My advice would be to look at the total cost. How much will you save in gas by moving? How much is the time you’ll be saving worth? How do the schools compare? Everything can be expressed/converted to a monetary cost. Sit down with your wife and run the numbers. Is it really that much more expensive in the long run???
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:34 pm to NC_Tigah
quote:Yes, because putting an extra 10,000+ miles on a vehicle each year has no impact to maintenance costs and frequency of replacement.
Assume affordable gas should be $2/gal. Assume the commuter's car gets 25mpg. Assume his commute is now a whopping 50 extra miles per day.
That lengthy commute costs him an extra $4/day more than would have been the case with $2/gal gas.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:36 pm to NC_Tigah
quote:
Assume his commute is now a whopping 50 extra miles per day.
If you're living an hour away, you can double the miles
quote:
Assume the commuter's car gets 25mpg
why would I assume that?
What I would imagine is the commuter living an hour (or more) away would be filling up their car twice a week. An 18 gallon tank is going to run $72 to fill up. That's $144/week or $7,488/year or$624/mo in gas.
To put that in perspective, my commute is maybe 5 minutes. I fill up once every 2-3 weeks. That's ~$1,248 in gas money spent over the course of a year, or $100 per month.
So the guy commuting from an hour or more away is spending $500 per month more on gas than I am and he's also devoting 2 hours or more of his day driving. The commuter is also putting exponentially more miles on his car, which results in more maintenance on the car ($) and shortening the life of the car ($$$). Doesn't sound like a great trade to me
This post was edited on 9/24/26 at 12:37 pm
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:39 pm to wm72
quote:So you've never lived in a 1970's constructed home?
Composite or even plastic doors, cheap trim, all drywall walls with shoddy finishing
Re: Composite or even plastic doors?
Really?
1970's builders routinely installed cheap thin veneer hollow-core interior doors that may have weighed 15 lb in total. Baseboards were thin 3" high pieces with a shoe moulding. Crown moulding was nonexistent. Thin 1/4-inch plywood sheets featuring a decorative face veneer used for interior wall accents were nailed directly to studs with no drywall backing.
Todays homes have better drainage/waterproofing requirements, better engineered foundations, far better quality shingles and flashing, vastly better energy efficient multipane windows, far better insulation, more efficient/sophisticated HVAC systems, fire resistant materials, better appliances, etc. Even things which might seem to favor 1970's homes like engineered vs natural lumber actually provide more optimized framing, better connections than 1970's comparisons.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 12:52 pm to lsufball19
quote:For the same reason I assume you struggle with math? It's the logical assumption.
why would I assume that?
quote:25 mpg seemed to get your panties in a wad.
spending $500 per month more on gas
So lets drop the number to 20mpg.
$500 in $4/gal gas would put your fellow at 2500 extra miles per month -- roughly 100miles per day beyond your commute. I'm just guessing, but I'd bet no one here was talking about twenty-five 100mile commutes per month.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 1:08 pm to BabyTac
quote:
BabyTac
It is incredible how unlikeable you are.
Posted on 9/24/26 at 1:12 pm to NC_Tigah
quote:
2500 extra miles per month
or 30,000 extra commuting miles per year. You seem to be discounting the 6 additional oil changes you're going to need per year, so add another grand or so to your regular maintenance cost. Then you can enjoy buying new tires every year and a half. And all the other problems that will inevitably come up putting that many miles on your car. And good luck driving that vehicle more than 5-6 years.
So again I ask you, how much money do you really think you're saving by commuting that far to work every day? And forget having any down time before and after work. You're going to be spending that time on your daily commute.
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