Mother Of All Whore Threads Non-VIP Edition v.1

I make the average salary ( And sometimes, I splurge and get my hamburgers with cheese)! My 1 bedroom 800 sq/ft apartment is like $1600, and I think the main thing making it even remotely comfortable is that I don't have a car payment. I live close enough to bike to work, so I'm not out in the cold if the Civic fails to start -- but I do definitely have to stay hypervigilant about my car, I don't think I can actually afford another one right now.
God damn. I was paying $1800 cnd for a 5 bed 3 bath house!
I don't know how I did it but I was living on $50k for a while while having a car loan($250ish?) and a mortgage of $1,100, $200 hoa, with then all your other monthly needs and feeding/taking care of a dog($100ish a month).

**** was tight! Super frugal on groceries and barely did anything fun. Funny enough when I starting dating, I could def tell those $50-$70 date nights would add up quick! This was like 10 years ago? maybe a couple less???


I can't imagine doing that now.....

I can’t remember spending less than $75 for a “Date Night”. The Wife and I try and go to Dinner a couple times a month and it definitely adds up. Doesn’t help Chicago is terribly overpriced.
Oh man. We spend like over 100 a weekend on date nights.
W-wait a minute

H-how much are you guys making

I mean, you know... If you're comfy sharing :eek:

Starting to think I should give it all up and live somewhere else lmao
Haven't worked a full year at my new place yet.
Besides the Dell's do you enjoy what you do?
It's not always about the money. I know I'm the minority and I understand you need money to survive but it's not always about that.

I'd rather be making $60k and enjoy my job (of course able to pay bills) over $80k and hate my job and be miserable.

But that's just me.

Also you have to take into consideration that Foo, Stiletto, Janzen, Nomar and myself (maybe some others too) have a significant other (IE: dual incomes).
Dual incomes are great.
Saw a funny meme about adults having to have 3 significant others to live comfortably now.

Some reason I didn't get any notifications for the thread for the past two days.
 
That was before COVID. You can't afford a mortgage.
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Mother in law bought a bag of ice for her water because there's never enough ice in the freezer. But that's because I'm the only that makes ice for some reason.

Make ice? What is this 1970? Don't have an ice maker? Lol

Dual incomes are great.

Some reason I didn't get any notifications for the thread for the past two days.
Dual Income No Kids (Dinks) :thumb:

Notifications? Huh? Guess you don't come to the forum multiple times a day like me. I don't need no stinking notifications!
 
Three?! Care to share? Don’t need specifics. I’ve always been interested in picking up a side hustle but can never land on anything concrete.

It's not a big mystery. I have 2 passive incomes and one job/salary. My passive incomes are a benefit from a 25yr military career. So, I collect a pension from my service and I get disability through the VA. Individually, they're not much; but all combined, it adds up.

I'm a Cubeoid, have been a Cubeoid for the last 6 years. I don't hate it, mostly because even though I'm in a cube, my job involves moving around campus frequently.

Can I come live with you

I'm a quiet sleeper
I won't eat a lot

Nah, I'm good. I'm trying to get to that empty nester phase of life. :rotfl:
 
Make ice? What is this 1970? Don't have an ice maker? Lol


Dual Income No Kids (Dinks) :thumb:

Notifications? Huh? Guess you don't come to the forum multiple times a day like me. I don't need no stinking notifications!
I've had two fridges with ice makers both came with my houses. First one back in Ontario had the water line hooked up but I could never get the ice maker to work. Never looked into fixing it.

Rental house fridge has one but no water line hooked up. So I have to make it the old fashion way.

Kids don't take much money. At least not yet.
 
It's not a big mystery. I have 2 passive incomes and one job/salary. My passive incomes are a benefit from a 25yr military career. So, I collect a pension from my service and I get disability through the VA. Individually, they're not much; but all combined, it adds up..
Similar to my Older Brother then. Retired from the Navy a few years back and currently works at an Ace Hardware out of boredom. Lived with his Mom for a couple years while transitioning from San Diego to “Chicago”. Also a Silent Partner in a couple businesses so he’s good.
 
Similar to my Older Brother then. Retired from the Navy a few years back and currently works at an Ace Hardware out of boredom. Lived with his Mom for a couple years while transitioning from San Diego to “Chicago”. Also a Silent Partner in a couple businesses so he’s good.
Yeah, same idea. I retired from the Navy last year. I'm still trying to find a job that I enjoy (currently working as a contractor supporting the Army, nothing wrong with it, pay is decent, but I kinda want to get away from DoD) and a way to generate more passive income (such as your brother being a silent partner in things) but haven't come up with much. I'm not very creative so I don't have any intellectual property of my own, I haven't created my own 'product' that others would be interested in, and I haven't got any ideas for my own business to peddle my wares (and, since I'm the sole income for my family, I tend to be a bit risk averse). But, like with most things, they're often born out of sudden opportunity and recognizing things as such. I know it'll take time but that's just it, that is the one commodity we cannot get more of, so I want to try and find that for myself sooner rather than later.
 
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Cubicle warrior here … 17 years in design engineering. DINK - engineering, interior design, all told about 5x national average annual income w/ 70/30 split. $3500 monthly mortgage, $400 Acura payment, $400 Jeep payment, $700 monthly utilities!!!, and Acura insurance is killing me at $280/month.

Date night a couple times a month often $50-150 depending on place we go. Try to live frugally otherwise, cook at home most nights. Seattle area is massively expensive to live in and we’re stuck because we wouldn’t be able to afford our own home should we ever want to move. But a house in my neighborhood in 2024, you’re looking at dropping $1M and an $8-10k monthly payment. That’s nuts.
 
Seattle area is massively expensive to live in and we’re stuck because we wouldn’t be able to afford our own home should we ever want to move. But a house in my neighborhood in 2024, you’re looking at dropping $1M and an $8-10k monthly payment. That’s nuts.

Yup, that's the same thing that happened to us last year. The house we had in VA, we bought for under $300k at about 3% in 2020; we sold it for a little less than double what we owed after 3yrs ownership which gave us a decent margin to apply towards our current house after paying everything off. But, this house, we paid more than what we sold our previous home for at nearly double the interest rate (just under 6%). So, you might be asking why we moved if things were better before. The problem was, it was in VA and when I got out of the military, I would lose my status of being able to keep my home of record and be forced to either move or become a VA resident (which means taxes . . . A LOT of taxes). Since I was able get a job, we chose to move to my home state of FL (no state income tax, no tax on military retirement, no luxury tax on vehicles, etc.). Things are noticeably more expensive than what they were in VA when we left; however, when I reach back to folks still there, they say things have gone up there as well, to nearly the same amount (I was just chatting with a friend last week, his car insurance is about the same as what I'm paying in Central FL, similar policies and what not). My point is, it may not be as unachievable as you think; but, that mortgage payment probably has the biggest potential to be a huge factor if you're not able to make enough on the sale of your current home, relocate, and then find an equivalent home at an affordable rate (without insane interest). It is different for everyone and I truly understand the consternation with not wanting to push the envelope when things are fine (and, I lived in the Seattle area from '05-08, I loved it out there, my wife, not so much).
 
The more I read on what you all are sharing, the better I feel about our "plans" when it comes closer to retirement(or the US goes in the shitter before then) that we move out of the US to try and enjoy our time after work.

From my moms experience and from what research I have done. Living outside the US would allow the best bang for your buck to enjoy life, travel and basically afford to live and not work. With a main point of having a home overseas that can be paid in cash....no mortgage.

We talked to our "tax guy" about retirement and having savings for the future. He basically summed it up and told us to have $300-$500k in savings and not have a mortgage. Seems a little low to me but that amount in the bank would last a lot longer outside the US.



Mind you, I don't dislike the US. Its provided me WAY more opportunities than if my family would have stayed in Argentina. But with having family live in various countries, my eyes are open to other opportunities.
 
Yeah, that is an option too. I have friends that are doing that for a similar reason, lower cost of living, lower cost of medical care, same net income (essentially). But, one thing I'd recommend you ask your 'tax guy' is how that will work if you earn money in the US (based on where your money is saved and/or invested along with your citizenship) but live in another region of the world, how do you file taxes? From my cursory understanding talking with friends, you essentially get hit twice for taxes; basically, you pay US federal income taxes and what not (based on where the money is) and then you pay taxes to your host country (based on where you are). That may still work out in your favor and there are a lot of 'what ifs' in that statement as every country is different; but, could definitely be a factor in that decision. I know a couple of my friends were looking at a few different countries (I think Italy and Mexico were two near the top of their list) as they provided the best overall 'value' in terms of income, cost of living, taxes, and citizenship considerations.
 
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The more I read on what you all are sharing, the better I feel about our "plans" when it comes closer to retirement(or the US goes in the shitter before then) that we move out of the US to try and enjoy our time after work.

From my moms experience and from what research I have done. Living outside the US would allow the best bang for your buck to enjoy life, travel and basically afford to live and not work. With a main point of having a home overseas that can be paid in cash....no mortgage.

We talked to our "tax guy" about retirement and having savings for the future. He basically summed it up and told us to have $300-$500k in savings and not have a mortgage. Seems a little low to me but that amount in the bank would last a lot longer outside the US.



Mind you, I don't dislike the US. Its provided me WAY more opportunities than if my family would have stayed in Argentina. But with having family live in various countries, my eyes are open to other opportunities.
where out of country?

wife and i want to move to costa rica but i fear the kids would be affected in a negative way.
 
dont you all start talking about retirement planning.... im still dealing with the fact that after all my education and schooling im only 4.5 years into my first and only out of training job.

there is no retirement plan for me, unless i get into independent consulting,
 
dont you all start talking about retirement planning.... im still dealing with the fact that after all my education and schooling im only 4.5 years into my first and only out of training job.

there is no retirement plan for me, unless i get into independent consulting,
Ethlar’s fresh bread, smoked bbq, bistro and desserts opening soon
 
Some of you guys certainly make a lot of money though.

Edit.
Neighbor just gave us permission to use his beach access.

Back story. Our landlords have a house in front of our rental that is ok the ocean but stated we can't use their beach access so we spent a summer and a few weeks this year driving to a beach. Now we can just walk to the beach. Makes that $47k a year rent more worth it.
 
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