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Buy Local? LOL. I make $60K a year and can barely afford to buy electricity and water for my 2 BR. Fuck off with buy local – maybe concentrate your efforts on raising the standard of living around here so that people can actually affford to support you as opposed to asking them to rob Peter to pay Paul (I.e. you). —Get your Buy Local Heads out of your Buy Local Ass
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2014.
Buy local, organic, free range, fair trade, etc, are euphemisms for be ready to get robbed.
THE CAVIAR EATER
You can’t buy local, to say nothing of barely affording to buy electricity and water for your 2 BR, on $60K a year? What do you eat, caviar?
Avatar #97: “Newsweek” magazine for June 6, 1944. (“Another astounding achievement,” The Coast)
A pleasure as always,
Cheerio!
Subsidize my existence, local business person! Why are you trying to work for yourself like a chump, when you SHOULD be advocating for cheaper utilities so that I don’t have to. How did you even get to making 60k you stupid, stupid asshole?
Obviously never shopped at the farmers market where produce is local, FAR superior to any of the Big Grocer’s crap, with better prices.
I buyz local… right from da gas station up da skreet.
We pay $6 a flat (30 eggs) from the people who have their hens running around their yard…so 20 cents an egg. Not sure what they sell for in a grocery store for the factory farm ones.
I do know our local corner store sells them for 7.50 for a flat of free range, if they can get them.
Usually they can’t. Honey, berries, apples, turnip,carrot, potato, all the usual locally raised produce is definitely cheaper than the super markets at exit 8 on the 102. Its also cheaper off season to go to the veggie store out by nine mile river, or the one across from Curly’s in Enfield for your veggies as well.
I find the ‘local’ produce is highly marked up at the major grocery stores out here, again unsure what goes on in the city.
I’d also like to point out there are lots of week end sales at the local legions by the lovely ladies who fund raise there & who make awesome home jams & jellies, beets, pickles etc etc etc & compared to a jar of a similar product in the supermarket, cheaper & IMO much tastier.
So local isn’t always a more expensive option
You make $60k a year and you’re whinging? If you can’t manage on that, something is severely fucked up.
60K is not a bad income for this part of the country and should not leave you barely affording the basics. I can understand there not being a lot of luxuries you could afford but really, heat and water for a two bedroom?
You are overspending if you are finding yourself in a bind. When I was earning 60K I was single with no dependents and managed quite well.
Local means you’ll charge me more and I’ll not be able to get things I really want…
“Local” purchasers are now banned!
60K = less than 3K a month cleared. I’ll show my paystub to prove it.
– what does a 2 BR go for in the city? 1300?
– Electric heat would cost you avg of $200 a month
– You need a car because you can’t effectively travel in this city on public transit.. not to mention if you’re making 60k a year, you’re probably expected to be able to travel to and from work and meetings freely… so even for a cheap car plus insurance you’re talking 300 a month, at least
– Gas, while getting cheaper is still an arm and a leg, and you use a lot of it around here, so be conservative and say $200 a month
– You have to eat, if you’re lucky a single person can do it at $200 a month
– If you’re making 60k a year, you need to be in communication – basic internet will run you about $100 a month – throw in a cell phone and you’re up to 200 a month.
where are we now… $2400
What am I forgetting – oh yea, you’re probably also paying for parking at your work and or condo… throw in another $100 or more
Your health plan here is prob the shits, so you’re on at least $100 worth of anti depressants a month here…
No matter what anyone says, you still spend money on incidentals like condoms and deodorant… cause the last thing you want to do in this local economy is spawn… you prob spend 100 a month on essential personal items. If you rag, add that in too…
… $2700….
that leaves $300 disposable… one night downtown with cabs.. and there ya go.. blew the monthly budget….
everyone who says you should be able to live the high life on 60k a year here is full of it… and have obviously never tried it / had the opportunity. You can’t have a 60k a year job and shop at the sally-ann and rely on public transit with no cell phone or internet… you’d get fired for being constantly late, not presentable and not able to travel to your work commitments.
1) get a roommate
2) Used car
3) flip phone
4) Basic internet does not cost that much. FibreOP, maybe, but not basic.
1+2+3=+$1,000 in disposable income.
Anyway, onto “buying local”. Buying local also means buying “in season” which means buying cheaper, on average.
If you think local/organic is no different than non-local/non-organic. Compare the taste and texture of ground beef from Getaway Farms versus Walmart/Superstore. Huge difference. And I’d bet my life savings on which is most likely to make you sick.
Cognitive disconnect?
I think that the progenitors of this bitch and “Pissed off landlord” are both cut from the same cloth. They suffer from a not uncommon disconnect between reality and their heightened expectations (or sense of entitlement).
In the former case, OB is making a better than average income and, assuming s/he is a single person with no dependents, should be living a reasonably comfortable life. Instead, I suspect that s/he is greatly overextended financially due to excessive spending and monthly financial commitments to obtain what s/he thinsk s/he deserves. I worked with such a person. She would brag about her very expensive new SUV while typing out a “letter to the editor” to the Herald complaining that milk had gone up 5 cents a litre. It’s hard to muster any symapthy for people like that and even harder to believe that they feel deserving of any sympathy or support.
In the latter case, I can’t blame a landlord for looking out for their own interests but the disconnect is that s/he is so delusional as to expect a groundswell of support from an audience that, with a few exceptions, makes do with far more modest means.
In both cases I don’t begrudge their good fortune (I consider myself very fortunate) but their “putting on the poor mouth” is very unseemly and, to my thinking, displays a disconnect between their understanding of their fortunate circumstances and their expectations as to what they deserve.
Dis No Fool’s budget:
Get a Darkside apartment Rent = 650 bones
Get some bus tickets = 20 doll hairs
Pizza minis and perrier (big 8 brand) = 10 bucks
Liquor – molson cold shots 8 pack – 12 buck
Weed 3 g = 25 doll hairs
Basic internet & landline bundle = 80 bucks
You pocket over 2 grand per month on my financial savings plan. Dats $24,000 a year in your pocket! You wasting a lot of money trying to keep up with the joneses. Now you be jonesin.
Um. I live in a great part of the city annnnd I pay $1100/month for a three bedroom including five appliances and heat and hot water and underground parking. It’s a newer concrete building with great management. I have a car, but it’s a late model volvo that’s paid for (1996 model, runs great), but I take the bus to and from work and it’s really no problem.
I have a sizeable student loan and I manage just fine on less than 60k. If you’re killing yourself over paying for your 2br on 60k, you should really consider moving because you are obviously living above your means.
Holy friggin hell OB is a sad sack.
Here are some savings for you from someone else who makes 60k a year, lives very comfortably, and has money left over to save or to splurge on fun trips, etc:
1) get a 1br and shop around. Nice apartments can be had for less than $1100.
2) $200/mo in electricity? Are you running an aluminum smelter out of your apartment? Doing number 1 should also save a few bucks in heading costs, and then if you need to save more try turning the heat down a degree or two.
3) Citywide Communications. Eastlink internet resold for $47 (tax in)
4) Shop your cell plan. I have a smartphone with data and pay $50/mo (taxes and fees in)
5) Da fuck you spending $100/mo on essential personal items? Are you washing yourself in Evian water?
6) Cook your own meals from scratch. I eat VERY well and don’t spend more than $50/mo on groceries. Some of that is shopping local.
7) Give up on nights downtown with cabs. Seriously, are they that fun now that you’re done university? Buy yourself an expensive bottle of wine/beer/spirits and have your friends over. It’ll be a fraction of the cost of DT, but the nice booze will make you feel like a king and you’ll get some use out of your $1300 apartment.
Really, you sound like someone who is lazy with your money and finds it easier to blame local businesses for your problems rather than taking responsibility and making any changes in your life.
OP crying the economic blues about earning 60 large per annum is kind of mawkish to be sure.
But this whole Buy Lòcal Pledge`that The Scroat is pushing is just risible, at best, and smacks of groupthink cultishness.
Where and how I spend the money that I work for is my business, and nobody elses.
Personal choice, based on whatever factors are most pre-eminent to the individual.
I was doing some Christmas shopping yesterday on the waterfront. Gave some cash to a local business that puts out a unique product that I`m happy to spend money on. Had lunch at a franchise based out of Atlanta that has two locations in the municipality. Loved it.
Purchased some products manufactured offshore from a couple of independent businesses on SGR
I got value for my money and I got what I wanted. End of story. No SJW pats on the back for this happy consumer.
EEEEUUUUUUUWWWWWWWWWWW!
If I had a smartphone, I`d be doing some online cat-shaming this morning.
Picture my avatar (Who isn`t The Countess but could be) with the heading. “Starfleet Cat leaves Klingon in front of Christmas Tree“
Need pricey blended coffee beverage to deal with P.T.S.D.
I call bullshit on eating “VERY well” for 50/month on groceries, I can’t even feed my dog good food for that. If all you eat is dumpster food with rice and beans, maybe. Fuck, one fucking whole chicken cost 12-15 dollars.
Like a Tsar’s robe, Puffy’s winter coat requires a certain delicate maintenance.
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
“LOL. I make $60K a year and can barely afford to buy electricity and water for my 2BR.” Get your Buy Local Heads out of your Buy Local Ass
In the famous words of Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake!” She was speaking, of course, of the starving people of Paris. Look what happened to her. Maybe the same will happen to the poster. Here’s hoping.
Avatar #98: TALAR NI SVENSKA?
A pleasure as always,
Cheerio!
A Gun to Your Head?
I think the OB is over-reacting to what is essentially just an awareness campaign. I don’t see anything wrong with making people aware that there are some local options that they could consider. Nobody is going to hold a gun to your head or try to make you feel guilty if you don’t buy local. It does help to keep money circulating in our economy and provide jobs but you can pick and choose which things you will support and even feel free to ignore it entirely. No need to get your nickers in a knot.
It’s like the panhandlers on Spring Garden. It can be a bit annoying when a newby or a one-timer gets a bit overly agressive but, for the most part, they are just making you aware of their existence and you can choose to ignore them if you want.
Speaking of newby and one-timer panhandlers, the tried and true method used by the “professionals” is to simply stand there with a cup and, at most, utter simple phrases like “Have a good day!”. If I were you I wouldn’t fiddle with a smartphone with my free hand, be overly agressive, or show up with a hand written sign. In my opinion, thsoe things mark you as a dilettante or transient and you probably won’t last long on the mean streets of Hali. Hope this helps.
you need intelligence, time and money to be able to live well cheaply. but of course it can be done.
people with low self esteem spend money on impractical/wasteful items to make themselves feel ‘rich’.
stupid people spend money unwisely because they can’t figure out how to spend wisely.
people who believe they have no spare time, or who truly have no time are willing to spend money for convenience items.
I work hard for the money I earn, so I don’t like the idea of someone else getting it without giving me as good value as I gave my boss. a little glitter n glitz advertising will not persuade me to hand over $$.
I buy local products that give good value, that mirror my own work ethic. eg. why freely give my money to a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a multinational company where the board members have gold plated toilet seats because their great advertising lures the masses to buy some stupid, disposable, glittery piece of shit ‘thing’ or to buy a mega pack of barely recognizable chicken wings globbed in ersatz sauce from an agribusiness where they hire sadists for cheap and grind up baby chicks to feed the chickens while they live their brief lives in abject misery. thanks, but no thanks. I buy my chicken from a farmer who lives a half hour away, who has a dog I can pat on the head and whose chickens (and cows, because I buy dead cow from him too) are worth the slightly higher price than wallymart because there is absolutely no comparison in quality.
however, it is still much cheaper than buying some prepared gunk. with a cupboard full of spices and half a brain I can surpass any prepared or restaurant meal.
and why on earth would i value myself so little that i would be willing to throw money away on pithy kiwis in January, or tasteless tomatoes shipped 3000 miles or, god help us, on what i saw in a flyer yesterday. specially packaged ‘mini’ potatoes so they cooker faster on ‘busy work nights’. and people buy this shit.
it doesn’t just apply to food, same with renting vs owning. how many people prefer to give money to someone else for the short term of having a nice apt rather than paying themselves by buying a crummy place and fixing it up over the years. you know, after 10 years of renting, you have nothing. after 10 years of paying your own mortgage, you have a nice sum. but of course, you have to live cheap while saving up a down payment, and then buy well within your means, and that usually means buying a smaller place that needs attention. maybe you’d be brushing your teeth at the kitchen sink because the bathroom is taking 6 months to reno. maybe you’d have to tape sheets of plastic over some draughty windows to save heat while you replace them one by one. or god forbid your light fixtures have brass trim. it takes planning and self denial. but keeping the goal in mind.
the idea of crippling yourself with a huge mortgage to get a new place ‘with granite and stainless’ is insane to me. and anyway – there again you are flinging money at some company that lured you in with glitter n glitz.
and zeit – talk about disconnect. it is not ‘good fortune’ to become a landlord. (or most likely to have a job that pays 60K) good fortune is when a bag of money falls on your head from a plane flying overhead, or when you win money on a lottery. good fortune is when you are born with a pleasing face instead of a big schnozz or crossed eyes or no chin. and good fortune can be being born into a rich family and handed everything. but the landlord from other post is most likely a guy who did without a lot of stuff to save up for a down payment on his first house. then did without to pay it down as fast as possible. then used the equity as down payment on another place, which he rents out to pay the mortgage. you keep doing that for a few decades and you get “good fortune’ in the eyes of people who don’t have a clue.
some disciplined people can do the renting thing and put money away but that is rare. i think our meaty here is one of them.
re op’s lament about making 60K and not being able to afford to ‘buy local’ oh do shut up. its not a matter of not having enough income. its how you choose to spend it. and like the others here, i suspect unwisely. the ‘buy local’ exhortation is just that. its a good idea, its a sensible thing long term for everyone. its not ‘buy local or we keel you!’ thing. if you don’t want to, don’t. but to whine that you cannot afford to and that someone should be putting money in YOUR pocket, oh shut up.
^^ BDM, I agree with most of what you are saying except for taking slight umbrage with the self-made wo/man diatribe. Some of us, myself included, are fortunate enough to be born with aptitudes that make financial success possible, familes that encourage and/or financially support our education and development, etc., etc. Many people get the short end of the stick and experience very little good fortune in this regard. They can, and often do, rise above their challenges but many have a much harder time getting ahead.
I’m not assuming that you or the OB were handed anything on a silver platter or didn’t work hard/sacrfice for whatever you have. I’m just saying that it is necessary to be recognizant that those who are successful most likely have been “fortunate” to have been passed on qualities, attitudes, confidence, or other characteristics that make their success more likely. i realize we are getting down to semantics but it is important for all of us to have a realistic view of ourselves and others.
no, I believe that one’s success in life is 90% self driven and 10% what you were handed. one can be born into a lovely family and be a twit, and one can be born with 10 strikes against and still thrive. yes, ‘success’ is easier if you have intelligence ( but not too much) good looks and straight teeth but it’s not necessarily easier. sometimes one’s fortunate birthright is a handicap/crutch that hinders personal growth. I am usually surprised when I meet someone worthwhile who was born into ‘fortunate’ circumstances.
third world peoples aside. some places you just don’t have a hope in hell.
lets say I believe time and place of birth are the most of ‘fortune’.
Lol, “success”. Whatever the fuck that is, because nothing in life is more suggestive than ” success”. Typical babyboomer ideology of “success” is a house, a pension, and the arrogance to think they have the right to say to everyone who doesn’t measure up to their standard of playing hippy that “I did it, why can’t you”. Truth is you are sheltered by the system you have set up for yourselves that, coincidentally, will be paid for by later generations. If your generation had even come close to paying for your supposed ” success”, you’d be as broke as fuck. Don’t worry though, we got your back, your “success” depends on it!!!!
“I believe that one’s success in life is 90% self driven and 10% what you were handed”. I believe that this is at odds with the enormous developmental literature on the relative roles of “nature versus nurture”. Try pitching your beliefs to a room of geneticists.
Also, counterfactual anecdotes (“one can be born into a lovely family and be a twit”) do not supersede facts, such as the fact that being born into a lovely family increases one’s odds of achieving socially-defined success in life. Well-to-do “twits” can also be CEOs.
Shit MD said: “Typical babyboomer ….. arrogance to think they have the right to say to everyone who doesn’t measure up to their standard of playing hippy that “I did it, why can’t you”. “
The boomers are a prime example of being “fortunate”. Simply by virtue of the size of the cohort and the economic and social conditions of the time they enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, affrodable education, easy career advancement, and so on. However, this success came at the cost of consuming disproportionate amounts of the planet’s resources and racking up enormous government debts that future generations will struggle to pay down.
I am part of this cohort but I find I am not often of like mind with my fellow boomers. They expect top notch government services and health care but whine constantly about paying their share of taxes.
To be honest, I find many of them to be smug, arrogant, selfish pricks. But, other than that, I guess they’re okay. 🙂
Technically, Boomers did not “set things up for themselves”. Boomers were born during a post-WWII boom, during which time an adult WWII-cohort advocated for social insurance and expansions of investments in public services like schooling and health care. Mandatory schooling predated the Boomer cohort by up to 60 years. The GI bill granted educational upgrading and subsidized post secondary schooling to WWII veterans, thereby inducing an expansion of public education infrastructure that would eventually benefit the Boomer spawn of its intended beneficiaries. Nationalized public pensions, while means tested, originated in the 1950. The seeds of a national unemployment insurance (present day employment insurance) program were planted during the Great Depression. Tommy Douglas, the founding father of socialized health care, was born in 1904 and was Premier of Saskatchewan through the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Boomers likely had little direct influence on his policy making, just as young people today have little influence on political matters. If anything, Boomers helped to sustain a program that had already existed or had partially existed before they were even born.
^^The historical origins of goverment programs aside, it can’t be denied that the baby boomers used and continue to use their electoral power, due to sheer numerical advantage, to promote whatever programs and policies are most to their own personal benefit. So, regardless of any criticisms of young Trudeau himself, it’s great to see a new, hopefully more visionary, generation ready to take power.
when you’re born, you have no choice which generation you get. you deal with it
PG, exactly right. I love when your kid says “I didn’t ask to be born” shit. Well kid, here’s news for you. Your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc, never asked to be born either but they were and they dealt with it. So suck it up buttercup.
Easy to say when you’re a boomer……….
As for the OP, you clearly need to manage your money better if you can barely pay for essentials on a 60K salary. Before I left NS, I was making half that and I was still able to pay my damn bills without much struggle.
Not everyone WANTS to own. My parents owned houses and when my dad retired, they sold their house and they now rent. And they are happier than pigs in shit. Who wants to spend their retirement maintaining a house when you’ve already spent your life fixing up and maintaining houses? Carefree life++
This is getting out of hand. The more you make, the more you spend. I earn a pay check to spend it all. Seriously, what good is money if your not enjoying it? That is unless you’re all Uncle Scrooge like and have a money bin to swim in. You can’t spend shit when your dead!
I also know the OB which could make this a work of fiction 🙁
what is this fixation on material success? ok, I will take some responsibility for not spelling out my idea of success but I did use quotation marks at one point, plus any regular here knows what my usual philosophy is.
when I say that I am surprised to find a WORTHWHILE person who was born with a silver spoon, I mean ethically, morally, interestingly worthwhile. not a sum total of his/her financial holdings.
and 90/10 the 10% refers to your early childhood environment. ie: if you were beaten regularly and perhaps punished by being locked in a dirt cellar with all the bugs that should only account for 10% of your eventual life, UNLESS you want to sit there and wallow in it and blame your crappy childhood for everything, exerting yourself never. I believe that each of us has the ability to overcome at least some of our childhood, either in a good way or a bad way
Again, your claims are at odds with developmental models of capacity formation, such as the development of determination and resiliency (the opposite of wallowing), which hinge much more on “early life conditions” than you’re willing to credit.
lol, darn right I am not willing to accept the latest psych fad. I read ‘beyond freedom and dignity’ around same time as clockwork orange came out.
I don’t think it should give parents free rein to demoralize their kids on the idea that ‘if they have inner toughness they will overcome this rotten childhood’ – parents like that should be sent back in time and sterilized. but damned if we should flop paws up and whine about ‘influences’.
now back to the topic at hand. op. buy local potatoes, carrots, turnips and/or cabbage (yep, I am on my soapbox so be prepared to get a sudsy enema once again) and local chicken and cheese, then start roasting those lovely veggies with a bit of spice and olive oil. poach one half chicken breast , shred over the vegs, crumble some of that spectacular local feta and feed 2-4 for under 10$. that 20$ chicken can last 4-5 2 person meals.
“poach one half chicken breast , shred over the vegs, crumble some of that spectacular local feta and feed 2-4”
2-4 what??? 8 year olds?
half a chicken breast isn’t even 1 meal let alone several…
you don’t NEED to snarfle an entire chicken for one meal. this is a healthy, filling, satisfying and delicious low cost meal. it makes a mountain of food on your plate, smells delicious and tastes divine. honest dood.
I should have added the Balkan yogurt, which can be bought on sale and then frozen.
you can eat WELL for low cost. you can also eat like a roman and pay through the nose. always a choice.
(the local chicken I stock up on are HUGE with none of that cheap chicken slimy crap on them)
Yeah, because one chicken breast between two adults in a single meal is definitely a “healthy and satisfying” amount of protein, especially if one is a physically active individual.
I’d look like I was on Survivor if I ate at your house there, Molly.
^^ you always claim to be a die hard cyclist – that puts you in the athlete camp. of course you need more protein than a typical person. i didn’t offer a meal for someone with gluten thingamajigs either, or vegan, or diabetic or kosher or any other specialty requirement.
swap for tuna…
a HEALTHY amount of tuna and is much cheaper.
Like 2 cans… per person.
“you don’t NEED to snarfle an entire chicken for one meal.”
Phhhht – of course you don’t NEED to.
That’s what makes it so enjoyable.
OB. Remind me not to leave you to look after my investments. You must be destined to become a politician.
“60K = less than 3K a month cleared??
Your taxes are fubared. I took home more making less without deductions.
$300 for a night downtown? I had a great time, at a bar, watching UFC for $15 last weekend. Cheap pitcher was more than enough.
Shit sucks. Shit’s expensive. But I just got off EI and had to survive on less than half of that on the peninsula and did just fine.
You must be eating out daily and drinking an ungodly amount of liquor to be that broke.
That being said, I 100% agree on the shop local thing. I’ll buy local if it’s feasible, but I’m not lowering my standard of living to raise that of backyard chicken farmers and gluten free nonsense.
I’m diabetic and I eat well without spending a ton of money.
The meal you described, Molly, and the food you share that you’ve cooked on the bookface are all nutritious meals I could definitely fit into my diabetic diet plan. I also have a bowel disorder that makes eating tricky, but I manage on a budget!
And as far as grocery shopping goes, I think one thing no one’s mentioned is the wonder that is Costco. You don’t even need a membership to shop there! Just find a buddy who has one and either go shopping with them, or ask them to pick up a gift card for you – you don’t need a membership to shop there when you have a gift card.
I buy most of my meat, there. They have FANTASTIC meat that can be broken down into individual packages and frozen. I can buy a package of top sirloin steak and the six pieces it comes with are so big, I usually cut them in half for one meal. Their chicken breasts are HUGE and I find a whole breast a bit too much for me, so I’ll make a bit extra for a lunch meal the next day if I’m making a dinner out of their chicken breasts. They have nice hunks of atlantic salmon and white fish and great breakfast sausages. Really inexpensive per pound/kg and good quality! I’ve been told their pork is great, too, but I don’t eat pork that much, usually chops and ham every so often, and I buy that at the grocery store when the mood strikes.
You’ll pay a bit up front, but if you stretch it out over the meals you’ll get, it’s worth it.
And if you buy fresh veggies and fruit from farmer’s markets (I like Farmer Clems on the Bedford Highway), and you store them properly, you can get a lot of bang for your buck. I mean, at one point honey crisp apples were $3.99/lb at the grocery store, and $1.99 at Farmer Clems. Also, avoid a certain ‘fruit-ique’ for produce. I’ve had nothing but crummy quality from them the bunch of times I’ve gone there (both HRM locations).
If you know how to cook relatively well, and you don’t buy a lot of prepared crap, you can eat really cheaply. Thankfully, cooking is one of my talents, and I’ve been doing so on my own since I was 5. I am thankful because I realize not everyone has the talent to do this.
Sorry, that should have been $50/week for good food, not $50/mo
Who wants to spend their retirement maintaining a house….
LMFAO, no they’d rather give a huge pile of cash to a landlord, every year .
LAZY, comes to mind ….but so many people are. When i hear the ‘maintaining the house excuse’ for people who have full mobility, but care only for themselves & their comforts . Those who will be the first to be complaining when they have spent everything they’ve saved & demand the nanny state pay their way.
IF you have ‘fixed’ your home up nicely, what is their to “maintain “?????
My steel roof, will be under warranty until I’m well over 110 (I strongly suspect i won’t be around when the warranty expires)
My windows are 3 pane low E gas , argon filled (& were replaced a couple at a time….cause they are pricey) will be in great shape long after I’m dead. Anyone know how often you need to replace steel clad buildings ?
My mortgage is now paid….It’s costing me about $40.00 a month for rent (AKA property taxes)
My oil/firewood bill for 2013 was under 1200 dollars, electricity is around $100.00 every 2 months,
Even the cheaper rents in the Darkside are a hell of a lot more expensive than that.
OH dear , I have to cut my lawn & move some snow …. what an awful maintenance cost that is ….I would be much happier paying through the nose , to live in a building filled with strangers (many of them busy bodies) than having the awful responsibilities of Maintaining My Home ….
When one looks at a decent apartment in the city , spending $1000.00 is the low end price of that & you still have expenses.
12000.00 a year pays for a fucking pile of maintenance & the best reason Not To Rent ….when I kick off.
I have a real nice piece of property that can go to the sellers block & be an inheritance for my grand kids. Exactly what are apartment dwellers leaving for their loved ones ? Probably , funeral expenses ! After all who has the available cash to prepay their funeral costs when rents due again !
Oh , yeah those of us who aren’t paying through the nose for rent.
Isn’t buying local a way to increase the standard of living in our community?
Sorry you have such a hard time managing your comparative wealth, but putting money back into our local economy is exactly how the regional standards get raised.