“There’s this wild disconnect between what people are experiencing and what economists are experiencing,” says Nikki Cimino, a recruiter in Denver.
“There’s this wild disconnect between what people are experiencing and what economists are experiencing,” says Nikki Cimino, a recruiter in Denver.
What are those “somethings” that pop up every few months?
Broken phone, hot water heater, HVAC, fridge, washer, dryer, toilet, stove, oven, microwave, tv, personal computer, new shoes, new clothes, friend is getting married, friend is having a baby, the car needs a new set of tires, the car was rear ended, windshield was shattered by a rock that kicked up off the road on my way to work, need a new lawnmower cause the second hand Toro mower’s gas powered engine is shot, property taxes went up because home values went up, kids got sick and went to the doctor, dentist appointment found a cavity, accidentally sat on your glasses, suit doesn’t fit anymore and you have a funeral to attend, older windows on your house built in the 90’s are starting to go bad, storm damage to your out of warranty roof, deck needs to be rebuilt because the old wood is starting to dry rot, time to replace the bed(I know you’re supposed to replace them every 8 years, but you went ahead and stretched 15 out of this one because you’re frugal)…must I continue?
New shoes and new clothes should be part of your budget. You shouldn’t be blindsided by this.
Everything else, do some reseaech into ‘emergency fund’. You need one before you start investing, else yes you’ll be dipping into your investments the moment you need some extra cash and you might end up loosing money if the market has gone down when you sell.
That’s the point. Financial security is extraordinarily tough to come by so people can’t set aside the money for an emergency fund and invest. It’s not just poor budgeting, everything is getting more expensive for the middle class. Five years ago, my fiancee and I could buy 2 weeks of groceries for $100 at Aldi. Its doubled in that 5 years. Ironically, the most stable consumer good in the last 5 years has been gas and republicans bitch about that too.
Youbare mixing things up.
Groceries have gone up, no one is questioning this, we all feel it.
When questioned about what your emergency, unexpected expenses were, that made you dip into money that you had invested, you listed real emergencies (cavities) and stuff that should be in a budget - new shoes.
Read about personal finance. You have money that you spend as part of your budget bills, shoes, rent etc.
if you manage to have any left, you put them against an emergency fund, typical recommendation is you try to build a nest that allows you to leave for six months.
Then if you still manage to have any left, you start investing.
It looks like you did the wrong way, invested money that you actually needed.
Also, if you are redoing your deck and don’t have an emergency fund, toubare living on the edge. Shit happens like lose your job and break a leg and you don’t have money to pay your mortgage. But at least you have a new deck.
This is basic personal finance, has nothing to do with the price of groceries and you are not poor since you obviously have extra disposable income that you are using wrongly. The other guy isnright BTW you don’t need a new bed ffs, if you have money to throw away start building an emergency fund.
But obviously this is lemny and my logic is in the way of the narrative that the greedy corporations are causing everyone to leave one pay check to another. Hence all the downvotes.
…or zoom out and see the hypothetical scenarios I listed as exactly that. Hypothetical scenarios. You can sit and nitpick probably about half, but I came up with all of those things in about 4 minutes. You’re not getting down voted because this is Lemmy and corporations=bad or whatever. Corporations and their executives making way too much money tax-free is the popular opinion world wide. If they’re billionaires after a 45% tax rate, then holy shit! Good for you CEO! But that’s not what is happening. They’re making billions and paying 0% on it because they’re investing it and borrowing money from banks against their company. That’s why the democratic party has won the popular vote for decades. Everyone is able to see this and are tired of getting fucked by the wealthy and Reaganomics. The middle class is paying 13% on $40K while Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are paying less in total taxes while earning multiple billions. I shouldn’t have to forgo a $250 tv in order to invest for retirement. Quality of life should be rising along with technology. There was a point at which interior lighting and electricity was a luxury and wasn’t necessary for daily life. Should that mean that I should be expected to go without in order to invest? No, it became a public necessity due to it’s net benefit to society. There’s a huge benefit to society each being able to turn on the news/sitcoms/movies in their own house. It allows children to see the outside world and become familiar with pop culture, noteworthy news, documentaries etc. It isn’t just an entertainment box that melts your brain and destroys your cornea…
Let’s entertain your deck criticism for the fun of it, what happens when you have a few friends over? You’re standing on the deck grilling for everyone and the railing someone is leaning against breaks and they fracture their leg? Sure you could have repaired the deck, but you chose to save a few hundred dollars. Now your friend has a hospital bill for $40,000 because he needed reconstructive surgery for a displaced fracture. He doesn’t have the money and would lose his house if he goes into medical debt, so he has to file a claim against your home owners insurance. They tell him to scram because it’s YOUR fault the deck was falling into disrepair. You’re expected to keep up with the maintenance of your house. Now he’s forced to sue YOU for the money. So do you spend the $1000 to repair your deck or do you risk someone getting injured on your property because you don’t have an “emergency fund” and Jim Cramer told you the only way to get rich is by investing and letting your money work for you.
Look I hate ceos profits like anyone else here. But you are right you chose shitty examples to cry poor, and they make less and less sense as you keep going.
If you knew what making ends meet means, you’d stop with this deck nonsense. You wouldn’t have friends over when you can’t afford to buy groceries, or if you know your dexk ia not safe. And you’d understand that you are privileged, are making choices with your money, and are winging because you are wasting it - new deck, new shoes, new clothes and new bed.
But sure keep going. Redoing your deck is a basic human right, how dare anyone on lemmy challenge that.
No need to continue. I see a bunch that could have been postponed or omitted.
Like what
Stove, oven, and microwave are redundant; it’s convenient to have all of these but you don’t need all of them. The TV, also, is a luxury item. I don’t know what part of your friend’s wedding you paid for, but that’s not a necessity either. Did the person who rear-ended your car not have insurance? A gasoline lawnmower is excessive, get a push mower. Attend the funeral in less-expensive clothing. Windows starting to go bad haven’t actually gone bad. Deck wood starting to dry rot doesn’t mean it’s nonfunctional, and even if it is a deck is not a necessity; get rid of it instead. Replacing your bed “just because it’s time” is weird, was there actually something wrong with it?
I’m not saying it would be awesome to cut or postpone those expenditures. But you said you had to take your savings out to do these things, and that doesn’t seem true to me. You chose to take your savings out to do those things. If you value those things more than you value having savings, fine, that’s your choice. But “Investing is for people with a lot of excess cash” isn’t true. You could have chosen to have savings instead in exchange for a less expensive lifestyle.
What are you doing to those appliances that’s making the break down so rapidly, anyway? I’ve got a microwave that’s lasted me at least a decade. I’ve never had a TV or toilet “go bad.”
I generally agree with you. Just want to address this one point.
Newer appliances break down at a much faster rate and are more difficult to repair than those made a decade ago. Planned obsolescence. Your microwave hasn’t broken because it’s a decade old.
Well, the internal light did burn out, and for some strange reason it can only be replaced by half-disassembling the whole microwave so I never bothered. The internal light doesn’t help the microwave do its job.
Perhaps if it does eventually fail in a more meaningful way I’ll look into getting a second-hand one, if the newer models have such a propensity for breaking down.
In many cases the tradeoff is worse energy efficiency for older models, but it still pencils out to get an older one most of the time.
Free Microwaves show up all the time on Craigslist or buynothing groups btw.
This post is weird. I get it prices have sky-rocketed I can see it myself (australia), and I am sure some people are really suffering.
But here it’s getting ridiculous, look at me I’m poor i can barely make ends meet after I redid my fucking deck and I bought a new TV.
And if you say something that goes against lemmys narrative (corporations bad) the downwotes start flowing.
Another person in another thread is complaining about the price of grapes. In north America, when it’s fucking spring and they are out of season. Tried buying fruit that is in season? Yes it’s price has increased but ffs use your brain.
Yeah. The bit I find particularly weird is how you’re “supposed” to replace your bed every 8 years. I’ve never heard this and it makes little sense. Replace your bed when it needs replacing. They don’t have expiry dates on them, do they? If the mattress gets dirty there are ways to clean them. Use good sheets and that should keep the mattress clean to begin with.
I think a lot of people don’t understand what being poor is really like.
Or what saving money means.