All CEOs are bastards or something
Avocado toast is a big fat waste of money and I don’t take anyone seriously who buys it then complains they need more.
But this flies in the face of the great American delusion that everyone can white knuckle their way through large crises arising from systemic failures or engineered on purpose by oligarchs.
Exactly. We need more flying in that face. Like bricks
My first apartment (without roommates) was $600/month I think. I just check the present day at it rents for $1400! The mortgage cost on my first house (small/low cost of living area) was only $1000/month.
I just don’t know how young people are affording housing these days.
I rent my parents’ other house and just pay carrying costs. It’s still $2800/month because of location. Trust me, it’s a much better deal than it sounds…
Well, most don’t. Just let them enjoy abuse at home.
“Have you tried simply having more money?”
Life’s really easy when you’re born rich and white.
If you’re born rich it doesn’t matter what color you are. The difference is probably being born middle class and white, that’s probably where you reap the most benefit from systemic racism. Being born poor, doesn’t matter, the cards are forever stacked against you.
My parents, 35000 dollars for a two bedroom, 1 bath house 3 acres of land in the middle of BFE back in the 80’s
Today, 3 bed, 1 bath house with less than .25 acres, 200k
With inflation something comparable to my parents house in BFE, because it’s not changed all that much, should only be 100k.
And the recent minimum wage increase to 13.75 an hour passed by the people is in process of being revoked by Republicans.
And I do get tired of visiting home and taking to people that spout off the ‘back in my day’ bs.
BFE?
Acronym for being in the middle of nowhere.
“Bum Fuck Egypt” or some odd variant of that.
I’ve heard of “Butt Fuck Nowhere.” But never BFE or Egypt.
It’s been around a long time, at least since the ‘80s. You can now add it to your vocabulary.
Or not if noone knows what it means and it makes no sense.
It means out in the middle of nowhere. Most people know what it means, looks like it is just you here who doesn’t.
And you know the person that literally asked. And all the people that upvoted him. And if you look the comment saying he’s never heard of it has more upvotes than the comment saying it’s common. Brilliant analysis that it’s only me lol.
I don’t care, you do you. Nobody’s making you do anything. Plenty of people do know, so not like your lack of knowledge limits anyone else’s usage.
Sounds like “I enjoy being indecipherable, not my problem!”
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Everybody I know knows what BFE is. Ask around.
It does make sense. It’s hyperbolically saying it’s so far away it might as well be in Egypt.
A lot of us in the Midwest say BFI, with I being Iowa. Think it has more to do with none of us wanting to be in Iowa.
the recent minimum wage increase to 13.75 an hour
Have higher standards
Seriously. I’m sick of this let’s-beg-for-an-itty-bitty-change nonsense. If rent near me is $2000/month, and that’s supposed to be 1/3 of my pay, then I should be making $6000 per month ($72k per year!)
Assuming I worked a full 40 hours every week, with 4 full weeks in a month, that means I’d need to make $1,500 per week, which breaks down to $37.50 per hour (before taxes, as well as before payments for employee benefits, garnishments, etc.)
I don’t live anywhere fancy. This place is an average apartment with too little parking and too many centipedes. Thankfully, I am not paying the entire rent by myself at this time, because I don’t make anywhere near $37.50/hour.
If $13.75 was the wage of somebody who worked a full 40 hours/week, for 4 weeks, they’d only make $2,200. Total. That’s it. For the entire month.
If your fight for a new minimum wage is starting with a number less than 30, you’ve already lost.
I see a lot of folks here saying “based on inflation since X, item Y SHOULD only cost Z.” I want to point out those inflation numbers the government gives out every year are complete bullshit. Inflation has been WAY more than 30% over the last decade and a half or so (not you but someone above mentioned 30% as the inflation number since the aughts)
They change their basket of goods to artificially deflate inflation numbers, it is way way way higher than the 2% a year that they claim is the average. Add greed on top and you get the crazy insane prices we see today. For a 2% inflation to really work for everyone and not just the rich assholes then minimum wage needs to increase proportionately. Should force minimum wage up the stated inflation rate once a year. So every year min wage increases by 2% (or more depending on the actual inflation rate).
Please, I’m begging you, please call Habitat for Humanity. Don’t make assumptions based on what you think you know about the program or have heard, just fucking call.
Worst case scenario: You spend an hour at the initial meeting and discover it won’t work for you. The other scenario: You end up owning a brand new home (or one refurbished to brand new) at cost.
Because my es-wife picked up the phone, I now own my own home at $600/mo., 19-year mortgage. Took us right at a year to complete the program and have keys in hand.
Be glad to answer questions, but there are variations according to the local outfit’s way of doing things.
She correct i worked making 6 bucks an hour in early 2001 and had my own apartment. Was 300 a month. Today fucking 1,000 for the same place. Bullshit not even close to what it should be.
I’ve thought about begging a similar outfit for that kind of help - I just got my first apartment on my own six or so months ago, and I’ve always been on the edge/dependent on others for help.
Do they ever help single people? I’d do anything just to have my name on a place. I’ve slept in a car before and I never want to be in that position again.
Perhaps you and a friend could pretend to be a couple? Doesn’t matter their gender or sexuality.
Oh uh hey, andros_rex, wanna go out? We can take a nice, romantic drive to a Habitat for Humanity’s interview.
I started at $1,400 in 2011. That went up to $3,200 by 2023 for the cheapest place in a worse part of town.
I had to move to an entirely different city. Fuck San Diego. Shitty ass city.
My last apartment was 1500 a month and I made a huge jump to buy a house with a 2500 a month mortgage. Seems crazy at first, but in 5 years that same shitty “luxury” apartment is going to cost at least 2800 a month.
You can’t get there buying cars and phones you can’t afford either.
The phone that you use every day, that is required to function in daily society, and is the NUMBER ONE priority when you’re homeless, aside from maybe obtaining legal documentation?
That cell phone?
OMG, would people get off the friggin cell phone thing already. People buy all kinds of things they can’t afford. Money management would help with that. That was my only point. But if we HAVE to talk cell phones then fine. High end phones are over $1k. I just bought one for $200. To a person with little money, yeah cell phones too.
As you type this, people in poverty who had their state-sponsored cheap telephones so they could get callbacks for work and take care of their families, are getting notified that the program has been canceled and they have to now somehow pay for their own phones on top of every other fee and expense that increases when you’re poor.
It’s also kind of hard to not pay for your car when you live in it. Speaking from experience.
That’s truly terrible but I don’t know what that has to do with money management, which is the only point I’m trying to make. I agree on the rest of all of this.
I don’t know what that has to do with money management,
That’s because I don’t think you actually understand the conversation. We’re talking about the difficulty of poverty, you’re thinking “money management” and that REEKS of someone who’s never actually been poor. You do not get it. You should be ASKING QUESTIONS and not dispensing life-advice about money to people who have been through actual hardships you clown.
Nice strawman you got there, goes well with all the avocado toast I buy instead of using it for a mortgage payment.
The highest priced iPhone, all max specs, is $1600.
If you get a new one every year, and trade in the previous year’s, you’ll probably get around $600 trade in value. So we’re talking $1000/year for the highest priced phone.
On a monthly basis, we’re talking $83/month. That’s like a rounding error on rent, utilities, and food, much less transportation and health care.
And, more realistically, people are buying $800 phones once every 2 years, maybe seeing something like a $600 net expense spread over 24 months, for $25/month.
Phones are like the one thing that are cheaper in 2025 than in 1985.
Hell yeah, grind away for basic necessities. Bet you’re a dream to talk to at parties.
That argument is stupid, because usually people need a reason to save for. Now rent is so high that people can barely save, and houses are so expensive that even if they do and get a credit with their staggering student debt, they’ll never be able to afford it.
So what do people do? they just enjoy the small things, because they know they’ll never have the big ones.
It’s not stupid, you’ve just stupidly misinterpreted it.
I believe you’ve mistakenly interpreted it to mean that I disagree with the premise that people have been priced out of the things we’ve come to believe are the standard of living now. That’s not what I was objecting to.
My point is that money should ALWAYS be managed. If you have no money, then, well I guess it manages itself. But if you have very little money, you shouldn’t be buying s $60k car you can’t afford. You buy a $3k car you can. Saying, I can’t afford a house so I’m going to go into massive amounts of debt to buy a car to make up for it, is the REASON you need to manage money.
The Ratio says it’s actually pretty stupid. The percentage of people who can’t afford a home purely because they bought a $60k car is going to be absolutely minuscule, but it’s a great dog whistle for trying to lay the blame at the feet of personal responsibility.
It’s a whole lot more than you think.
It’s a whole lot less than you think.
No, it’s not. It’s not measured in the decimals of percentages, so it’s significant.
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No, your take is very stupid
you just avocado toast even harder. Now you not only over generalized people, and willfully ignore the cause of the problem.
You then turn items that are essential to life in society into irresponsible luxuries. If you can’t afford to rent there is no such thing as an affordable phone/car.
The point of the post is that it’s not merely impulsive spending and you went, “nah, it is just that”
A $60k car and a $1600 cell phone are NOT essential for life and I didn’t just “nah, it is just that,” the argument. You’re just having reading comprehension problems.
Let’s drop to your level. Are you stupid enough to believe that people don’t buy things they can’t afford? If you only have even $10 to your name and you need food, you go to the most economical grocery store you can get to and maximize your purchases. You don’t walk into Starbucks and order a latte. The OP implied that because there is as larger economic problem at hand, money management isn’t an issue. They are ALWAYS both an issue.
And yes I understand that the problem is that people have to manage $10 now instead of $1000. It was not my intention to minimalize that.
You invent a scenario, and applied that to all people who struggle then? Context be dammed? Damn, sounds like a bad take.
The OP context is “older generations say that things are easy, when they had it easy. But here is an example that shows that things are not equal by a long shot.
Then you show up with a ‘if people would just stop eating avocado toast, they would have it just as easy’ ignoring the message in the OP and the systemic issues that not only make owning both your stated items a necessary component of life, but makes everything much more expensive.
A stupid take. Do struggling people own $1300 phones or expensive cars? Maybe there are some but not a lot. You fucking just dammed everyone struggling over just the possibility, inventing a character flaw on an entire class of people.
A very, very stupid take.
People who come into posts about struggles of poverty preaching “money management” are people who have never had to actually survive a day in their life and have always had an allowance or income they could depend on. I appreciate you mercilessly calling this user’s BS out.
There is no such thing as a $3k car, those days are gone. If it’s going to be something that is expected to start and drive every day without major repairs that are overdue, you need to spend closer to $10k.
I know this because I recently bought my sons some used cars. Used 2006 Volvo was $6k in about as good of condition it could be for the age and miles. Still needed a bunch of little things that quickly added up. New tires ($800), PCV breather system ($120 did myself), new ignition coils ($200, did myself), brakes ($80, did myself), etc. If I wasn’t doing my own work, it would have been 3x the cost.
I also bought a 2013, nearly identical car to the 06. It needs far less, put tires on it, still has an evaporative emissions leak causing a check engine light. Not going to fix that.
I buy $1k cars sometimes, but they usually don’t run. A $3k car will be usable if you know how to turn wrenches, have space to work, and own multiple other cars for when it breaks down.
$10k barely buys a reliable car in most markets these days.
There is no such thing as a $3k car,
Yes there is …
My 2009 honda fit cost me 5k 3 years ago and has needed no repairs at all… You can go lower pretty easily…
Used car markets are highly localized markets and depending on demand in the area can fluctuate wildly, just because you got a steal on a 14 year old car 3 years ago doesn’t mean other people aren’t struggling to find an affordable used car now.
Your take only gets stupider the more you try to explain it.
My point is that money should ALWAYS be managed.
Is that what you think people are talking about in here? money management?
You are truly too dense for any of this. Fortunately for you, you probably have never been touched by actual hardship and I hope that continues for you. The rest of us have had to deal with the very worst our nation can throw at us.
Ok. Troll go ahead and keep believing what you want. You will always be right.
Troll
You don’t even know how words work huh?
A troll is someone who doesn’t believe what they say they’re just trying to make you mad.
I believe STRONGLY that you’re too dense/young for this conversation and I WHOLHEARTEDLY believe that you should back out of this topic and learn more about other humans and how civics works and a host of other broad topics so you can be a better person and not get your ass kicked someday for saying some offensive shit around people who have lived a lot more than you.
This isn’t trolling, it’s actual advice, you need to get your head on better. Nobody cares about your stupid “life philosophies” about money. Put that shit on a wooden carved sign hanging over the kitchen sink, but out here in the real world, it’s far more complicated and people face a lot more problems than your stupid phrases and 2-dimensional witticisms. Lose literally fucking everything to some medical bills then get back to me, let me know how fair the system is then.
We had to give up entirely on affording a house. There are ROOMS for rent at $1200 here. This used to be a low COL area until COVID. We had low infection rates so a ton of people moved here and we don’t have the infrastructure to support them. We’ve been priced out of what living space we did have and since there’s still the illusion it’s cheap to live here, it’s almost impossible to get a living wage.
If I’m not mistaken Liz Ryan is a former fortune 500, has been a consultant to several multibillion dollar companies like IBM, and at one point might have been appointed by the Biden Admin to run Youth Counseling services?
IDK, but I’m not convinced she’s struggling with rent or groceries and she doesn’t seem to pick the correct side in US Politics.
She doesn’t have to be struggling herself to see other people’s struggles and try to amplify their voice.
Even when people are millionaires, it’s a reality that they likely can’t just turn over their whole fortune at once to fix things. I’d generally guess people like this donate a lot to programs trying to fix these issues.
So because she’s not personally struggling, she can’t analyze the situation?
Whenever you see a message promoted and shared at large scale you have to try to analyze what it is they have to gain and what steps they’ve taken to achieve it.
They’re not promoting the obvious solution. They make massive amounts of money just by maintaining this image as a megacorp consultant and an author. Smells like grift, that’s all I’m saying.
Except she is identifying the problem and kinda the solution. You are just complaining because… you don’t like her. Her analysis was fine, your “analysis” was “idk” and ‘but but but she must be bad’. It’s kinda weird. Something tells me I just should peace out of this conversation.
You sound like a Maga right now.
Said the person complaining that someone pointed out that its getting to expensive to live and that avocado toast isnt the issue
Are you implying that the CEO of a company that consults for IBM is struggling to get by?
She never said she struggled
Shes likely not renting as the CEO
She also says it in past tense
I dont know what her life was like before hand
Dude. Your entire “analysis” was : this person might possibly have a bias so what they’re saying must be wrong. Which is an idiotic conclusion. Bring skeptical is fine. But assuming everyone who could have a motive must therefore be lying is a good way to never gain any information at all because literally everyone who says something online has a motive to do so
I never claimed they were wrong in any way, shape, or form. I said it smells like a grift and we should be aware of their position.
You just called someone maga because they said she was right regardless of what her personal situation was…
It’s right there. You’re not going to trick people in forgetting what was already said.
Rent isn’t linked to inflation, it’s linked to your income. The income you are able to gain in the area goes partially to the real estate in that area.
You can’t compare it to easily imported goods from china. Who don’t work for an amount that you get paid.
Inflation occurs regardless and they are saying what today’s equivalent is for comparison because if they just said “$310” everyone would go “yeah but inflation blah blah.”
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
Guess what, having real estate in countries that had booming economies was a good investment. Having the exact same real estate quality in shithole economies would be a bad investment.
Go to Indonesia, buy a house for 20k euros.
Guess what lil bro, you’re gonna earn a lot less money 👍🏻
If there’s an economy that allows you to generate a higher net worth. MOVE THERE
Fucking hell, literal refugees can do it. But lazy Americans nah they just cry
Anyone whose response is “just move” is so profoundly blinded by the combination of a complete lack of imagination and unbelievable privilege as to not be worthy of further consideration in a discussion. Have a good one.
Idk broski, my passport is so strong I can be your neighbour tomorrow. But why would I live in a shithole like that
Someone who doesn’t know the difference between a passport and a visa 😒
Basically where you’re from will make it easier to either travel or move. Belgian passports are pretty good. On top of that, being educated and having capital will make getting a residency quite easy.
Didn’t you hear? PASSPORT VERY STRONK
so brave
Idk what you answered this to 👀
Your nonsense was removed for a reason. Leave me alone
Ok and assuming this person was probably in the 80’s where minimum wage was about half what it is now… that means the $310 should be $620… which it isn’t.
Just compare median income with median rent over the span of time in various places of the world. Make a study like that, or find one that did this. That’s useful information.
“In 2023, 1.1% of hourly paid workers in the USA earned the federal minimum wage or less.”
Okay minimum wage+50¢, woopie. It’s someone’s first apartment. For rent. This is not median levels of income. This is first quartile at best. Median income shouldn’t even be renting.
But sure, they have data on quintiles, so let’s use upper limit of the first from 1985 (~10k) and 2022 (30k) is 3x so even at that, it should be $930. https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/household-income-quintiles
The data is on household incomes which is less ideal than individual income but whatever.
Ignoring if it’s the same apartment from the 80s to now that’s 40 years older, and I doubt it’s been kept up to date, so it should not be worth anywhere near as much, but you know, whatever.
Have to say it is very fun watching you dismantle their hand-wavy bullshit on their terms lol
That approach should be the standard, not talking bout minimum wages when it’s clearly just a symbolic euro. Your country doesn’t have a real minimum wage so you cannot use it in calculations.
👍
Aight, now you need to figure out why this is the case. Real estate went up in value. Why is that?
Your country has a lot of capital. Like 550k euros per adult. In a country of 230 million adults or such. It’s all residing at top 1 to 10% because they live in USA for its legislature.
If you change the legislature then they’d flee to other parts of the world. Such as Ireland.
I’d say go and learn French and move to France. They have the highest taxes in the world. Bonjour Duolingo, comment çava?
Well then it’s good we kept the minimum wage at $7.25 which is why inflation never happened.
“In 2023, 1.1% of hourly paid workers in the USA earned the federal minimum wage or less.”
Come on broskis, you’re not paying me for economy lessons. I want you to entertain me properly
you’re not paying me for economy lessons.
And we’re still getting ripped off.
Profit incentive seems to be important. I have no problem giving misinformation if you people can’t figure things out.
There’s a great answer that you folks could use to look at this subject.
You should ask yourselves why the situation is what it is. How it relates to other areas in the world.
Do some research.
I’d do it, but you’d have to pay me and you don’t have any money 😬
Could I pay you to shut up instead? I think that’s a better use of my money.
Saving money on food to buy a guillotine is personal finance.
We have scrapyards and bulk pickup. Reuse materials and save some dough
Maybe there is a financing plan in installments. Klarna or something…
Trade and barter with your fellow proletariat and create the tools.
Have tools, need wood.
Have wood, need hands. Sounds like we have a start!
Now kiss. Get your hands on their wood.
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