Posted on 08/31/2017 7:30:43 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
That's actually a good deal for DC. Is it in a "good" neighborhood?
Thanks for the encouragement.
I keep shortcuts to a couple of flight schools on the home desktop.
I’ll forget if I don’t.
Hell, I don’t have a cellphone. That’s 80 bucks a month right into my 401K. 7 year old laptop, 5 year old Mac. No worries.
I must be crazy.
I could have swore before I clicked on this link that it said 10 thing the Middle East can’t afford anymore who paragraph
picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue
Economically depressed area. 1000 sq ft, no crime at all. I don’t think they’ve had a murder in that county in 3 years. 40 min commute to work for both of us. She grew up in that town and wants a weekend getaway house.
Spectacular mountain views. It even has a TV antennae.
including congress
Yes. Very close to Dulles.
I don’t care how much you make, you have to pay into your retirement as fully as you can and learn to live a lifestyle with what’s left over. I have purchased factory certified used cars the last two times around and it works out great- 1-2 year old car with all of the new car depreciation taken out. Even making $150K per year I was living paycheck to paycheck.
Exactly. But RINOs are right behind them. The only difference is one gives it you in one orifice the other does you in another. At the end of the day they don’t even buy you dinner.
The high cost of homes/renting in the major renters are caused by fed easy money policy.
The way it works is that the cheap money has to have somewhere to go. One of those places is investment in real estate by hedge funds.
They focus their investments on “hot” markets like NYC, DC, LA, SF, SEA creating a buying frenzy.
They ignore Des Moines, Iowa or Columbus, OH.
Normal people need to stay away from markets where the hedge funds go to feed.
“The planes cost then what an SUV costs now so it seemed within reach, then. Not now.”
You can still get a plane for less than an SUV if you shop around and know what you are looking for. Not a new plane. New planes have more fancy avionics than they use to and they got more expensive. Used planes are still reasonable.
You can actually learn how to fly on MS flight simulator. They even make rudder peddles and yokes for the thing! If you can land a Cessna 172 on MS Flight Sim the real thing is a piece of cake. I’ve done both and the real thing is so much easier. You spend 40 hours on MS flight simulator before you go to the air park your primary instructor will be impressed on how well you do the first day. Plus take your written, and pass it, before you even take 1 hour of flight lessons with an instructor.
Here’s the list:
1. Vacations
2. New vehicles
3. Student loans
4. Emergency savings
5. Retirement savings
6. Medical care
7. Dental care
8. Skipped paychecks
9. Child care
10. Going to the movies
List is mostly a crock. Most of this is simple budgeting and prioritizations.
#s 1,2, and 10 are nice to haves - don’t do them till you can and save to allow it. And for god’s sake don’t go into debt over these.
#3 isn’t required. I know plenty of folks that have worked their way through college or put it off till they had the money saved.
#4 Pay yourself first for the emergency fund. We’re talking middle class with as defined in the article 30% of income as disposable - they are using $1000/month as disposable. A few months of proper budgeting and frugality and your emergency fund is funded.
#5 pay yourself first for retirement. Once 4 is addressed at a slower but constant rate.
#6/7 Ok some folks have it harder than others and not everyone has really good insurance. But if you take care of yourself and don’t overdo alcohol, drugs, and smoking. And you maintain a decent diet and try to get some exercise then the majority of this is maintenance which you can get checkups for a fairly decent rate without insurance and is usually covered 100% with insurance as preventative. Then it is only emergencies and accidents - which happen - which is what the emergency fund and insurance is really for....
#8 Missed paychecks. Having the emergency fund in #4 addresses #8 which is only talking about if you lose your job basically.
#9 Child care. This is a choice and has less to do with income and more to do with short term choices. Only required for a certain period of time until the kids are old enough to manage themselves appropriately then they can become ‘latch-key’ if there isn’t a stay at home parent. Planning for your kids makes it easier but not everyone is that prescient.
#10 see above with #1
It is all about foregoing instant gratification, putting a plan together, and staying disciplined.
Did they list Obamacare Premiums?
We pay $2,000 a Month for two Adults, early 60’s.
(Make that $1,987 a Month to be exact)
We can’t afford it, but we pay it.
It's sad that your daughter is flushing 300 dollars a month down the toilet. I can't imagine why anyone needs a smart phone. If your daughter invested $300 per month into an investment fund, or even a bank account, at the end of five years she'd have a nice little downpayment on a starter home.
I’ll have to see about the software and peripherals. Guess I’ll check the world of Amazon unless somewhere else is better.
Thank you for the advice. I always learn something new here.
This was an LSA, new, the only LSA I’d have considered at the time. Very stable high wing, very conventional looking, very easy to fly, Rotax, very good avionics. No night flying, though, not at the time although I believe they’re set up and approved for it now.
What makes you the expert on this? What facts do you have, to insist that middle class people CAN afford all of those things?
I have always thought of myself as middle class, and I cannot afford most of the listed things. And I do not have 1/3 of my net pay available for “discretionary spending”.
If it flies, floats or. . .
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