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« Last post by tower912 on Today at 12:59:27 PM »
I get it. Michigan was ahead of the curve for the last great recession. Nasty contracts dropped my take home down 15%. It took me to 2016 to match my take home pay of 2005. With a mortgage. And Catholic schools. And a surprise kid at 40. Hell, there was a 5 year stretch where I was worth more if I died in the line of duty. I did not let my wife know that.
Hang in there.
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« Last post by dgies9156 on Today at 12:58:51 PM »
Either you got very unlucky or spent a whole lot of money on improvements that didn't increase the value of your home. Because over that 28-year period, the housing price index in the Chicago market more than doubled.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CHXRSA
The Chicago market appreciation was not uniform. Some communities saw huge increases. Some didn't. In our Central Lake County neighborhood, a couple who bought a home for $320,000 right after we did sold for $550,000 in 2008. The couple that subsequently purchased the home for the $550,000 sold for $440,000 in 2018. That was typical for Central Lake County in those days. What happened was that a large-scale housing development in nearby Vernon Hills, one of the biggest in Illinois, opened for construction right when we bought the house. The development is just now being completed. We did put in a new kitchen, finished the basement, redid two bathrooms, replaced two air conditioning compressors and two furnaces. We replaced one cedar roof and one outdoor hot tub. We also replaced every window in the house with high-efficiency windows. Most of the house had hardwood floors courtesy of us. What didn't had new ceramic. Central Lake County has lost a number of large employers in recent years, which affected the value of our home. Allstate, in Northbrook, hired significant numbers of folks from our area, as did several pharmaceutical firms (including Abbott Labs). All have cut back or moved elsewhere. It's possible from our old neighborhood to commute downtown every day, as Metra served it, but it took 1:25 door-to-door.
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Not being combative just providing more context.....
100% agree on where you choose to live, and when you bought your house. I bought last year after a divorce. The mortgage rate for the first house we bought was 3.7% in early 2022. The one I bought after the divorce was 6%. And I received better than average rates both times. But the rates getting worse certainly cost me some money and refinancing when that's an option will help. And obviously having a second income in the future will be beneficial.
Re: necessary expenses....the only two that are unnecessary are YouTubeTV and the 7% I'm putting towards my 401K
Mortgage, property taxes, electric, WiFi, water run me over $3K per month/$40K per year. Add in food, transportation, healthcare....it adds up quickly.
At $95K per year, I could not afford decent child care unless I sold my house and did not contribute to my 401K. I'm certain you're correct that others are managing, but I'm not sure how.
My guess is that their cost of housing is less, or they aren't saving for retirement like you are. And, unlike what Goose said, I wasn't suggesting you were irresponsible with money or anything. Just curious.
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I don't get it. We've been told by the media that colleges have been making billions off the slave labor. Multi-million dollar buy-outs are merely rounding errors to schools. $500k to MU is like you and I being charged twice for fries at McDonalds. Whoop-de-doo.
Or maybe, just maybe, not all parties to this discussion have been 100% honest?
I don't think you're being 100% honest with this take either. I think generally when people talk about schools making billions, they are talking about college football in general making billions, not every individual school within the FBS making billions. And those billions are nowhere close to being evenly distributed. College football making billions and the existence of cash-strapped athletic departments can both be true. For the elite schools, multi-million dollar buyouts are merely rounding errors. I don't know about MU but to a school like Bama, $500K is not a significant amount of money. Slave labor is inflammatory and insensitive to the horrors of actual slavery, but the general point that many athletes were grossly underpaid compared to the value that they brought is accurate.
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« Last post by BM1090 on Today at 12:46:05 PM »
Thanks y'all. I want to be clear, I'm living fine. I am comfortable. I'm grateful for my salary, my job and my life.
But I am not able to save nearly as much money as I thought I'd be able to given my salary and lack of overall debt now that student loans and my car are fully paid off. Just trying to add some anecdotal experience to the discussion.
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"to the other guy's malevolent authoritarianism"
now that is rich-better hide your gas stove and get your weekly jab
you braniacs put this doofus in and i'm not even near as smart as all you guys and i coulda told you weekend was no good. he hasn't gotten anything right in 50 years of public office
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Ranges-Gas-Ranges/N-5yc1vZc3oyLooks like you can get some free home delivery by this weekend.
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You asked for Phoenix and Scottsdale, so I doubt you're planning to head far out to the East valley...but there's a breakfast place in Apache Junction that is fantastic -- Toast. It's a hike if you're not planning to be out that direction anyway. But if you are in the neighborhood, I recommend it highly. We actually ate there three times the last time we were in Phoenix. I ate something different each time - each meal was delicious. In the times that I've been there with a number of different people, nobody has ever been disappointed. And I introduced my Phoenix-area family to the place and they've returned a number of times. P.S. Ask for the habanero hot sauce. You're welcome.
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« Last post by BM1090 on Today at 12:43:39 PM »
I'm not doubting you, but I know plenty of people who make less than that, and who are both paying mortgages and raising a family.
I think this depends greatly on where you are choosing to live and what you, and others, would call a "necessary expense."
Not being combative just providing more context..... 100% agree on where you choose to live, and when you bought your house. I bought last year after a divorce. The mortgage rate for the first house we bought was 3.7% in early 2022. The one I bought after the divorce was 6%. And I received better than average rates both times. But the rates getting worse certainly cost me some money and refinancing when that's an option will help. And obviously having a second income in the future will be beneficial. Re: necessary expenses....the only two that are unnecessary are YouTubeTV and the 7% I'm putting towards my 401K Mortgage, property taxes, electric, WiFi, water run me over $3K per month/$40K per year. Add in food, transportation, healthcare....it adds up quickly. At $95K per year, I could not afford decent child care unless I sold my house and did not contribute to my 401K. I'm certain you're correct that others are managing, but I'm not sure how.
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« Last post by tower912 on Today at 12:42:14 PM »
We will likely disagree on the root cause so I won't get too much into my thoughts on that, but I couldn't agree more with your second sentence. I'm 33, earn just under 100K per year, and with my mortgage payment, utilities, and other necessary expenses, I barely have any spending money.
I have no idea how people with kids are surviving. Or those who make closer to the median income. Unless we make major changes, which I doubt happens, a higher and higher percentage of Americans are going to struggle relative to the past.
Hang in there.
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« Last post by Goose on Today at 12:40:30 PM »
BM
Take note that Fluff thinks you are not being responsible with your money. As for me, I appreciate your situation. Unlike many on here, I do not think you are alone. Keep the faith.
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