Who has money for other stuff

[hammer]

Do you older guys on here feel like costs/expenses/prices have gone up way more than wages??? I know my Dad was making $50,000 a year back in the 70s...before I was born and he lived really well and had a BMW..now alot of single guys are still making $50,000 a year or less and living pretty much paycheck to paycheck..add a wife and kids to the equation and I don't know how some people do it. I guess bypassing going out for meals, travel and non-essentials. Young Adults have so much more now..everybody has a computer, cell phone, internet service, DVD collections, some have fancy TVs...and alot of people go crazy on their credit cards. I know most people my age save nothing. I have some savings but if I were to lose my job..I'd be screwed..good thing I have job security..

Is 44 being an "older guy"?

In any case, YES...expenses have been going up way more than wages for several years now. The climb's been especially bad in the past year, I try not to think about what the routine stuff (groceries, utilities, etc.) costs because I like having normal blood pressure. :angry:

I don't remember having too much in the way of "toys" growing up, but back in the 70s it seemed like one could make a comfortable living off of a non-union blue collar job. Don't know how people do it nowadays...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Is 44 being an "older guy"?

In any case, YES...expenses have been going up way more than wages for several years now. The climb's been especially bad in the past year, I try not to think about what the routine stuff (groceries, utilities, etc.) costs because I like having normal blood pressure. :angry:

I don't remember having too much in the way of "toys" growing up, but back in the 70s it seemed like one could make a comfortable living off of a non-union blue collar job. Don't know how people do it nowadays...

Some say that having a 4-year college degree now is equivilent to a high school degree in the 70s..there simply aren't enough skilled professions for all the people graduating from college...and yes 44 is an older guy...you were Wang Chonging it when I was playing with He-Man..lol

I feel for the ladies that work at the local diner..my bill is always like $7-8 and I feel like I need to leave more than a normal tip because they hardly make any money..15% of $8 is only $1.20...so I leave like $3..but still..does that extra buck or two really matter..and the people making the least money are generally the people busting the most ass with no savings to fall back on..

 

[jaywbigred]

I make good money and am lucky to be in an industry that is (mostly) recession/depression proof. Same for the girlfriend. I am not married, I do not have a mortgage, I do not have kids, not even a pet. I have sucked it up and lived at home for a couple years since school ended. Sure, it is embarassing be a 20-something and living at home, but I feel it has been the responsible thing to do financially. I pay for all my own groceries and other expenses, so its really just a bed for me. Plus there is the added benefit of being there to help my mom with my 93 y/o grandfather and my bipolar brother.

I save 6% of my salary for retirement, plus a 3% match from my employer. ~50% of every paycheck goes right to savings and a little bit of self investing. The rest goes to food, car insurance, healthcare, car payments (prob. made a bad decision there, car is a touch expensive, maybe $100 to much per month), and entertainment, including skiing (also golf, and the beach).

I should have enough to ski the same # of days as last year, though we may not go out West (or go for a shorter amount of time).

I like to use the fall as a savings period. We weekend roadtrip a lot in the summer visiting friends, going to the beach, camping, etc..so the lady DVRs a ton of shows, and though we spend plenty in the winter/spring skiing, and I spend some playing golf in the summer, come late August I am golfed out, and all fall we save money staying home, watching college football, the DVRed shows, eating in, drinking in (gotta love a hearty IPA in the fall while watching college football!), and so on.

We start skiing later than a lot of people on this board, primarily for economic reasons (i.e. waiting for 80%+ of the mountain to be open, if we are going to spend the gas money, lodging, lift tickets, etc to go), so we have a pretty strong savings period from late August through late December.

I was lucky to graduate from school with no debt, via family saving well, my scholarships, and choosing grad schools based on tuition price, not just reputation.

However, I am now BACK in school, so that is def. an extra expense that is making it tough to keep saving at a high rate. AND, I guess I am at that age where a lot of my friends are starting to get married, so I have a lot of expenses this year, i.e. a tuxedo, 4 wedding presents, some associated hotel expenses, 3 bachelor parties, and so on. That has probably hurt me more than anything. Ignoring the divorce rate, I look at these as 1 time expenses though, so should be okay in the long run.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

. AND, I guess I am at that age where a lot of my friends are starting to get married, so I have a lot of expenses this year, i.e. a tuxedo, 4 wedding presents, some associated hotel expenses, 3 bachelor parties, and so on. That has probably hurt me more than anything. Ignoring the divorce rate, I look at these as 1 time expenses though, so should be okay in the long run.

Tru-dat about being at the age when everybody around you gets married. So far I only know of one wedding I'm going to in June and that will be $300 for a night at the resort where the wedding is and gift. A bachelor party in Vegas this spring is a possibility..lodging is cheap out but you can spend alot of money at the BJ(blackjack) tables..

 

[drjeff]

I make sure that I keep pictures of my kids on skis as my desktop wallpaper on my office computer. It keeps me focused about why I work long hours, because the enjoyment that I get seeing them on the hill having fun makes some of the other lifestyle descions that I make worth it budget wise.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I make sure that I keep pictures of my kids on skis as my desktop wallpaper on my office computer. It keeps me focused about why I work long hours, because the enjoyment that I get seeing them on the hill having fun makes some of the other lifestyle descions that I make worth it budget wise.

When you have client with halitosis and chunks of tarter are flying everywhere..I was thinking about it earlier..Dentists make alot of money but it's for a reason..hazard pay..

Some hairdressers who normally get $15-30 bucks a cut..cut hair for dead people at about $100 a pop..plusses of that is no smalltalk required..minusses is no tip.

 

[drjeff]

When you have client with halitosis and chunks of tarter are flying everywhere..I was thinking about it earlier..Dentists make alot of money but it's for a reason..hazard pay..

Dentist's(atleast younger ones) also have LOTS of student loans(think 3 bedroom/2 bathroom 1800sq. ft house mortgage sized student loan payments) and very high overhead expenses too (and my practice accountant is going to tell me that at our quarterly meeting tommorrow AM )

 

[hardline]

Dentist's(atleast younger ones) also have LOTS of student loans(think 3 bedroom/2 bathroom 1800sq. ft house mortgage sized student loan payments) and very high overhead expenses too (and my practice accountant is going to tell me that at our quarterly meeting tommorrow AM )

wasn't there a thread a while back where you talked about all the debt you acru?

 

[gorgonzola]

arrgghh....we were planning a trip out west this year but the hard reality of adding a 16 year old driver, the impending thought of college tuition and the general suckyness in the cost of living increases has got us basically freezing spending somewhat and adding alot of stress to our household as of late...

 

[billski]

arrgghh....we were planning a trip out west this year but the hard reality of adding a 16 year old driver, the impending thought of college tuition and the general suckyness in the cost of living increases has got us basically freezing spending somewhat and adding alot of stress to our household as of late...

just go into denial. Tell yourself that your kids will bail you out:blink:

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

just go into denial. Tell yourself that your kids will bail you out:blink:

You can always do a steezy ski trip on your credit card...lol..I'm still paying off last season..doh:blink:

 

[billski]

You can always do a steezy ski trip on your credit card...lol..I'm still paying off last season..doh:blink:

:flag:ATTA BOY! THAT'S THE AMERICAN WAY! :flag:

 

[Geoff]

Do you older guys on here feel like costs/expenses/prices have gone up way more than wages??? I know my Dad was making $50,000 a year back in the 70s...before I was born and he lived really well and had a BMW..now alot of single guys are still making $50,000 a year or less and living pretty much paycheck to paycheck..add a wife and kids to the equation and I don't know how some people do it. I guess bypassing going out for meals, travel and non-essentials. Young Adults have so much more now..everybody has a computer, cell phone, internet service, DVD collections, some have fancy TVs...and alot of people go crazy on their credit cards. I know most people my age save nothing. I have some savings but if I were to lose my job..I'd be screwed..good thing I have job security..

In the last decade? Hell yes. My personal expenses are all out of whack with government-stated inflation rate over the last decade. If I look at my ski expenses, my condo fee is 4x what it was in 1998. My property taxes are 4x what they were in 1998. Health insurance if you pay for it yourself is 2x what it was in 1998. Energy costs are obviously 3x to 4x what they were in 1998. Wages in high tech haven't tracked that at all and they probably didn't even keep up with the government-stated inflation rate.

Compared to the late-1970's, real wages are up significantly though the growth flattened out several years ago. Don't forget that we had 18% inflation in the 1970's so $50,000 then was a lot of money. The CPI when you were born in the late-1970's was around 0.60 indexed to 1982 prices. Today, the CPI is 219. The dollar buys a quarter of what it did in 1979 and $50K then is like earning $200K now.

 

[deadheadskier]

The dollar buys a quarter of what it did in 1979 and $50K then is like earning $200K now.

In more recent times, I would suggest that a dollar today buys half of what it did in 1999 and 50K then was like earning 90-100K today. I specifically remember in college thinking that $50K would afford you a comfortable living, especially in VT. Back then you could get a decent house in Stowe for 140K.....now, better bring double that to start

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

:flag:ATTA BOY! THAT'S THE AMERICAN WAY! :flag:

It sure is...actually the true American way is paying off one credit card with another..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

In more recent times, I would suggest that a dollar today buys half of what it did in 1999 and 50K then was like earning 90-100K today. I specifically remember in college thinking that $50K would afford you a comfortable living, especially in VT. Back then you could get a decent house in Stowe for 140K.....now, better bring double that to start

For 300k you won't get alot in Stowe...In Morrisville or Barre..you could have a spectacular house..Since 1999 alot of things haven't doubled...Rent for apartments definitely haven't doubled..I'd say it's up 50-60 percent though. Food at restaurants hasn't doubled. Back then $15 bought you an Ayers Rock Strip Steak at Outback..now it's like $20. In 1999 a pizza was like 10 bucks and it still is now..maybe a little more..a shirt from Kohls or Macys is probably less now..same with sneakers...because they're all made in China or Bangladesh.

 

[deadheadskier]

For 300k you won't get alot in Stowe...In Morrisville or Barre..you could have a spectacular house..Since 1999 alot of things haven't doubled...Rent for apartments definitely haven't doubled..I'd say it's up 50-60 percent though. Food at restaurants hasn't doubled. Back then $15 bought you an Ayers Rock Strip Steak at Outback..now it's like $20. In 1999 a pizza was like 10 bucks and it still is now..maybe a little more..a shirt from Kohls or Macys is probably less now..same with sneakers...because they're all made in China or Bangladesh.

....gas has tripled

Booze at many restaurants has doubled. It was pretty common to get domestic beers in the bars for $1.50, now they're $4.

...maybe doubling is an exageration....but not by much

 

[ccskier]

I make sure that I keep pictures of my kids on skis as my desktop wallpaper on my office computer. It keeps me focused about why I work long hours, because the enjoyment that I get seeing them on the hill having fun makes some of the other lifestyle descions that I make worth it budget wise.

My thought exactly. I also work the way that I do to provide a good life for my family. I do not want my son to have to worry about anything.

 

[Razor]

Do you older guys on here feel like costs/expenses/prices have gone up way more than wages??? I know my Dad was making $50,000 a year back in the 70s...before I was born and he lived really well and had a BMW..now alot of single guys are still making $50,000 a year or less and living pretty much paycheck to paycheck..add a wife and kids to the equation and I don't know how some people do it. I guess bypassing going out for meals, travel and non-essentials. Young Adults have so much more now..everybody has a computer, cell phone, internet service, DVD collections, some have fancy TVs...and alot of people go crazy on their credit cards. I know most people my age save nothing. I have some savings but if I were to lose my job..I'd be screwed..good thing I have job security..

Not much comparison. Today is much more difficult. I was making $7500/year in 1974 when we bought our house for $34,000. On that my wife was able to stay home with the kids and we paid all our bills. Try doing that today.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

....gas has tripled

Booze at many restaurants has doubled. It was pretty common to get domestic beers in the bars for $1.50, now they're $4.

...maybe doubling is an exageration....but not by much

With inflation at 8 percent across the board..prices double every 9 years..from 1999-2008...inflation has been more like 3-5percent..but anything delivered on a truck which is alot of items have seen prices go up the most lately..

I feel like prices rose the for in this decade than the 90s but less than in the 80s..for those 3 decades combines..prices of gone up 400 percent according to Geoff so that means prices have been doubling about every 15 years on average..that means those $4 draft beers will be $16 in 30 years..will we be making 4 times as much in 30 years??? I hope..