Hey you guys derailing the dog thread -- get in here ...

[elwoodtrix]

@THAT Gurl I'm in NorCal, Eastbay right now. In front of my GF's house, there's an apartment complex. 615 sq ft Studio apartment-$2400 a month.
https://www.zillow.com/apartments/hercules-ca/aventine/5k3JhP/

 

[retrieverman]

I haven’t kept up with the dog thread, so I’m not sure what’s going on (and don’t really care).
I was 100% debt free for many years, but I had to borrow money to buy the house in Alfalfa county. I borrowed $182,500 in April 2019 on a 20 year note and owe $18,575.16 as of today.
I know quite a few people that make a lot of money and are broke because of their lifestyle. My wife and I joke all the time about the fact we still (in our mid 50’s) don’t really have a lifestyle. I’m fortunate to have married a woman that appreciates simple things in life like me.

 

[Shinneryfarmer]

Just posted in the dog thread and then seen your title. I thought I was being singled out.
But @THAT Gurl keep on talking and spreading the truth. I don't understand living beyond your means and then constantly complaining how you can't afford to do anything. My house, farm is paid off and has been for 15 years. No vehicle payments or any money owed to anyone. And before someone says we'll you have utility bills, phone bill etc. Yes I have those but as of today they owe me. I average my electric bill and other bills and pre pay 6 months at a time. When I see a bill with one month's credit left I send another 6 months.
It was a blessing when I ended up with Covid In ICU then home, then back in the hospital with blood clots. Then home on oxygen for 4 & half months unable to work.

 

[Pstmstr]

MSN

Ok I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS about why this fella is being a whiny ***** but the most important one is who the **** spends $540,000 on "an apartment"??

For example, I didn't buy my house until I was in my 40s, pissed my realtor off because I wouldn't look at anything over a certain price, which was WELL under what I could qualify for, and took out a 30 year note to make SURE I could afford the payments if something happened and I lost one of my 3 jobs.

Y'all accuse Boomers of always living beyond their means ... And that may be for some of us, but there are plenty of us who did not (live above our means). Seems like a solid case of pot kettle kettle pot here.

Again, why is he not making $10k/month doing whatever all these tictokkers are doing?

Just know that y'alls' carrying on about how different things are now than they were then doesn't solve anything. I know kids who are sharing apartments with 3 and 4 other kids their age in order to afford the rent. My question is if you are doing that to make ends meet why the **** are you in the newest, most expensive apartment complex in town instead of in a more moderately priced apartment where you can actually put a little of the money you make back for emergencies?? Why are you hitting town every Friday night instead of watching Netflix at home?? Or better yet studying something that interests you AND makes you more upwardly mobile in the job market?? Why do you have to DoorDash in every night instead of eating sammiches and chips?? And splurging on a Bud Light??

I mean seriously ... All this angst is not getting anyone anywhere ... I'm still retired, and you're still going to work at one job that doesn't pay well but also doesn't make you leave your pacifier (your cell phone) in your locker. Seems to me like you are exactly where you WANT to be or you'd be doing your damnest to get out.

Yep. They’re a sad member of the I can’t or I won’t generation. A malignant cancer invading America. Some young people do what it takes while many just make pathetic excuses for their own poor choices.

 

[Pstmstr]

I won’t get the whole mess started again because the haters will just get their panties in a wad but I talk to a lot of people that have lived beyond their means and some have seen the light. There is a way to succeed in life and it isn’t all that difficult for those who set their minds to it. Work is a 4 letter word to some people but they sure don’t mind the 5 letter word of credit. Student loans is a hot topic now with payments resuming soon. It’s someone else’s fault they borrowed money for a degree that won’t get them a decent paying job. Accepting responsibility for one’s own actions seems to be uncommon these days.

 

[THAT Gurl]

Just posted in the dog thread and then seen your title. I thought I was being singled out.
But @THAT Gurl keep on talking and spreading the truth. I don't understand living beyond your means and then constantly complaining how you can't afford to do anything. My house, farm is paid off and has been for 15 years. No vehicle payments or any money owed to anyone. And before someone says we'll you have utility bills, phone bill etc. Yes I have those but as of today they owe me. I average my electric bill and other bills and pre pay 6 months at a time. When I see a bill with one month's credit left I send another 6 months.
It was a blessing when I ended up with Covid In ICU then home, then back in the hospital with blood clots. Then home on oxygen for 4 & half months unable to work.

Right?? I'm gonna regret saying this cuz Grumpy is one of those guys who doesn't know and doesn't care about keeping up with the finances around here. That is both a blessing and a curse.

But I spend less than we bring in -- even without my salary I had at JoAnn'a before my accident and my most recent grocery store salary -- which was less than half what I made at JoAnn's because hard as I try I cannot do the same amount of work as I could before I got hurt.

I made plenty of mistakes -- a lot of them even after Grumpy and I got married. Some because we were both so over-extended from divorces/break-ups and because I wanted to give him and the kids (his and mine) everything they wanted but it didn't take long for me to pull my head outta my ass ...

Now we spend less than he makes and that will only get better here as time goes on. House will be paid off soon. And my gardening/farmyard backyard has already paid for itself -- I am actually breaking even because I am selling eggs and have more customers wanting than I have eggs to sell. While I worked at the grocery store I filled up 2 freezers with meat of all kinds for pennies on the dollar and freeze-dried so much produce I couldn't even start to list it here. I literally only buy bread and ice unless I'm wanting to splurge -- like for the ginger for the tomato soup I canned today.

And that will also get better. After the remodel next spring I will have an outdoor room to grow plants in all year long and am looking forward to buying -ZERO- fresh produce from the store. Now I have the time -- all I need is the knowledge -- I'm guessing maybe within 5 years. Just in time for them to haul me away and stick me in the old folks' home.

And I still want some more ducks. They don't eat more than chickens and I can sell those eggs for an extra dollar or two a dozen.

 

[Frederick]

MSN

Ok I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS about why this fella is being a whiny ***** but the most important one is who the **** spends $540,000 on "an apartment"??

For example, I didn't buy my house until I was in my 40s, pissed my realtor off because I wouldn't look at anything over a certain price, which was WELL under what I could qualify for, and took out a 30 year note to make SURE I could afford the payments if something happened and I lost one of my 3 jobs.

Y'all accuse Boomers of always living beyond their means ... And that may be for some of us, but there are plenty of us who did not (live above our means). Seems like a solid case of pot kettle kettle pot here.

Again, why is he not making $10k/month doing whatever all these tictokkers are doing?

Just know that y'alls' carrying on about how different things are now than they were then doesn't solve anything. I know kids who are sharing apartments with 3 and 4 other kids their age in order to afford the rent. My question is if you are doing that to make ends meet why the **** are you in the newest, most expensive apartment complex in town instead of in a more moderately priced apartment where you can actually put a little of the money you make back for emergencies?? Why are you hitting town every Friday night instead of watching Netflix at home?? Or better yet studying something that interests you AND makes you more upwardly mobile in the job market?? Why do you have to DoorDash in every night instead of eating sammiches and chips?? And splurging on a Bud Light??

I mean seriously ... All this angst is not getting anyone anywhere ... I'm still retired, and you're still going to work at one job that doesn't pay well but also doesn't make you leave your pacifier (your cell phone) in your locker. Seems to me like you are exactly where you WANT to be or you'd be doing your damnest to get out.

this generational **** doesn't make sense to me. there were bums and **** back 100 years ago too.
it's not like back in your day everyone had 3 jobs and saved well. you only hear the successes, the failures are ignored.

there are plenty of folks in 2023 who do work 3 jobs and bust their ass. some things are better than they were, some things worse. it's definitely true it's harder for the average man to get by now than it was in the past.

i wouldn't argue that busting your ass like that is some kind of virtue in and of itself. i think it's commendable if you make that sacrifice to support your family, but it's not a virtue it's a burden.

it's easy to criticize other people without having to walk a mile in their shoes. most of our decisions aren't logical like that, most folks had **** parents and never learned emotional control and discipline. some people have mental health issues. sometimes i wonder how much control we really have, or if we just have the illusion of control, and our own personality, genetics and upbringing decide a lot of the outcome.

 

[Shinneryfarmer]

Right?? I'm gonna regret saying this cuz Grumpy is one of those guys who doesn't know and doesn't care about keeping up with the finances around here. That is both a blessing and a curse.

But I spend less than we bring in -- even without my salary I had at JoAnn'a before my accident and my most recent grocery store salary -- which was less than half what I made at JoAnn's because hard as I try I cannot do the same amount of work as I could before I got hurt.

I made plenty of mistakes -- a lot of them even after Grumpy and I got married. Some because we were both so over-extended from divorces/break-ups and because I wanted to give him and the kids (his and mine) everything they wanted but it didn't take long for me to pull my head outta my ass ...

Now we spend less than he makes and that will only get better here as time goes on. House will be paid off soon. And my gardening/farmyard backyard has already paid for itself -- I am actually breaking even because I am selling eggs and have more customers wanting than I have eggs to sell. While I worked at the grocery store I filled up 2 freezers with meat of all kinds for pennies on the dollar and freeze-dried so much produce I couldn't even start to list it here. I literally only buy bread and ice unless I'm wanting to splurge -- like for the ginger for the tomato soup I canned today.

And that will also get better. After the remodel next spring I will have an outdoor room to grow plants in all year long and am looking forward to buying -ZERO- fresh produce from the store. Now I have the time -- all I need is the knowledge -- I'm guessing maybe within 5 years. Just in time for them to haul me away and stick me in the old folks' home.

And I still want some more ducks. They don't eat more than chickens and I can sell those eggs for an extra dollar or two a dozen.

One day at a time, everyday make a little progress and stay vigilant toward your goals. With commitment all is possible.
My wife freaked when I bought the farm and our payment tripled what our previous mortgage was. Instead of 30yr note I did 15yr, worked my butt off and put every spare dollar I could scrounge toward the principle. I paid it off in 7yrs and 5 months.

 

[Shadowrider]

this generational **** doesn't make sense to me. there were bums and **** back 100 years ago too.
it's not like back in your day everyone had 3 jobs and saved well. you only hear the successes, the failures are ignored.

there are plenty of folks in 2023 who do work 3 jobs and bust their ass. some things are better than they were, some things worse. it's definitely true it's harder for the average man to get by now than it was in the past.

i wouldn't argue that busting your ass like that is some kind of virtue in and of itself. i think it's commendable if you make that sacrifice to support your family, but it's not a virtue it's a burden.

it's easy to criticize other people without having to walk a mile in their shoes. most of our decisions aren't logical like that, most folks had **** parents and never learned emotional control and discipline. some people have mental health issues. sometimes i wonder how much control we really have, or if we just have the illusion of control, and our own personality, genetics and upbringing decide a lot of the outcome.

No it's definitely different now. I can't count the number of people I worked with who got in deep **** when they lost their overtime. Not the job, just the overtime. All the angst when they had to sell the boat, Harley, 3/4 diesel 4x4 with an 8" lift and most of the guns was epic. Some didn't and ended up losing their homes and then their wives.

Contrast that to my grandfather who went through the great depression in the '30s. He learned then not to spend every dime you made and to put some back from every check. Always, always, always, even if it was only pocket change. Going without things you wanted was a fact of life. There was no social security, sick leave, or paid vacation. If you didn't work, you didn't eat. Now you go to McD's and pay with a credit card and pay later. Oh yea, they didn't have those either...

 

[dennishoddy]

Intentionally stayed away from the dog thread for the most part.
We love dogs but are dog free since our last had to be put down. With our roaming lifestyle where home is where we plant our feet, dogs can be a burden. We will have dogs later, but not now.
So, I missed the drama that evidently developed with someone that just can’t make it in this world?
Typically that is because of poor decisions made early in life and carried further into adulthood.
The policy of you can’t have it until you have earned it has fallen on deaf ears for a couple of generations now. Government handouts, boomer parents hovering over their kids like helicopters, and so on has contributed to what is happening now.
Parents didn’t teach the kids to get out and work to make some money while going to school.
After school, 8 hrs a couple days a week on the job is a burden to them. Do they ever think to ask for extra hours or to fill in when someone is sick, or take night callouts? Probably not. It would interfere in their social life where they go to a restaurant and never talk to each other, only text. We have watched that exact scenario In Tulsa. At the end of the meal they hug and go their own ways.
Most seem to think they should be hired as the CEO of the company they work for and not have to work their way up the ladder.
Skilled labor jobs are beneath their status in life, so they continue to flip burgers until the CEO gig comes into fruition.
Meanwhile boomer parents that had their kids earn that allowance, stay home when they were out of money, made them get a job to pay the insurance on that vehicle and learn skills have kids that aren’t whining and are working to make that money.
So I just described how I raised my sons. Today they are both doing fine financially, oldest sons kids are working two jobs each during the summer to pay for that car they will get this fall as well as the expenses related to future maintenance on the vehicle in savings.
What we have in America is a parenting problem.
Parents who don’t raise their children to be self sufficient and develop the work ethic to remain solvent financially in this current world.
Yes, there are going to be exceptions as there is to every rule, but overall, I see parenting first being the issue and passing it down to succeeding generations. The government handouts to buy votes is running a close second. Indoctrination is a powerful tool in the wrong hands.