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44GuitarBoy 2 years ago
I'm beginning to realize the detrimental effects of lifestyle inflation. When we moved into this apartment in December 2019, I was working at AT&T and Staples, easily making $2,000 a month on top of Sierra's job which paid around $1200 a month. So, $3000ish a month. Well now I make maybe $1500 a month after expenses. Ever since I was laid off from Staples last year, it has been a consistent struggle to pay for all of our bills on time. We even have an unpaid gas bill that is now in collections. I dunno how we're gonna heat this place in the next few months. We can get space heaters I guess, but I also want to try to buy insulation supplies for the windows and front door.

But man buying a new car for myself in 2020 was a bad idea. At $327 a month plus another $160 for insurance, that's literally an entire week of pay just going to my vehicle. I hate it. We'd have been better off just replacing the $3,000 battery in her hybrid and installing a backup camera and new infotainment system.

We're just holding out until she finishes paying off her car, which will be in October, November or December depending on how much she can put towards the car. But definitely by December if she just makes the minimum payment. That's $263 a month saved then. Then we want to remove comprehensive insurance from her car for a little while because we will be legally able to. Maybe another $30-$50 a month saved. But she will also be turning 25 in October, and with both of us at 25, we could try to reshop insurance again, hopefully saving more money.

Lifestyle inflation sucks, and now all I wanna do is DEFLATE like hell. Cut corners where I can, save money. Because this breaking my back delivering to people and just scraping by is getting old, and I'm so tired. I'd like to get a new job, but I'm just too far down the rabbit hole to the point where I just legitimately don't see myself working for anyone besides myself. That, and in order to qualify for a mortgage I need 2 years of self employed work history. I'm already halfway to 2 years, may as well keep going. Ideally I'd like for us to save enough money to refinance my vehicle, but if we do that, we'll have to hold off even longer on buying a house or renting a new place. I'm also worried that eventually our landlord will jack the rent to some ridiculous price, so as much as I hate $327 a month for the car, it may be better to just move out of here once we amass a few thousand dollars. And if we do finally get out of this tiny box of an apartment next year, I have fully embraced the idea of living in a trailer park; preferably on a corner lot since they have extra land. I'm not white trash, I just don't want to work my life away, especially with how expensive single family houses are. Plus you can always pay to move a trailer if we decide to buy an actual plot of land.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but man, it buys you the freedom and lifestyle you need to BE happy.
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70.:A-MAN:.
2 years ago
@umer936 things are getting '08 up in here.
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62umer936
2 years ago
As for the rest of lifestyle creep... Yeah that one's a well known one too. And it's much worse with the super high inflation both here and around the world rn... It's good that you're looking into it critically though. Hopefully you get to stable positions soon.
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62umer936
2 years ago
And the reason I say it's a scam is because it (especially now) is super bad for so many people. 46% of US car loans are underwater (owe more than the car is worth) [source: https://www.consumerreports.org/car-financing/many-americans-overpay-for-car-loans-a8076436935/]. A system everyone has to buy into that half get stuck in is basically a scam.
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62umer936
2 years ago
Car loans are one of the scams of the US imo.

I think car salesmen are too good. So fliping many people end up with way more car than they should have at loans way longer than they expected. I bought a car last year and one salesman almost convinced me on it. I totally could afford it but the loan was too long. He did the whole bring manager over and everything and I decided that if it can't go lower, then it's too much car for me and walked out (after having been to 5 other dealerships that month and that being the only car that had my interest).

Ended up getting something I'm way, way happier with at 1/3rd the price of the other.
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44GuitarBoy 2 years ago
@.:A-MAN:. Yessir, I grew up in a rural area. I don't think I could ever live in the heart of a city. Way too many people that can give you crap haha
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70.:A-MAN:.
2 years ago
@GuitarBoy dang that stinks. And I'd also take the tradeoff of no space, so I get it lol
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44GuitarBoy 2 years ago
@.:A-MAN:. BRO WE JUST GOT A NOTICE. $900 starting next month. A $105 increase. Landlord said in the letter he's been meaning to raise it since February.

I guess it's justified though. Townhouses in downtown Reading, PA are going for $1200-$2000. We're in the suburbs and still paying less, and water, sewer, lawn care, and trash are all included. But we have like no living space lol. I guess it beats getting shot or stabbed in that hell hole city though.
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70.:A-MAN:.
2 years ago
Dang right, man. My rent just went up 25% and even though I can afford it, it stings. Idk how you can get out, but hopefully you can figure something out.
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