thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 19, 2021 8:42:59 GMT -5
What We Spent in a Month nyti.ms/3fwORDJSix American families open their doors — and their wallets — to show us how much life costs. Do any of these family seem somewhat comparable to you?
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on May 19, 2021 9:35:30 GMT -5
These articles always drive me nuts. You're struggling but spend $2400/month on food and $380/month on cell phones?
I can't find any that really compare to me at all...maybe the Chavez family...but it's confusing. Some have 401K and investments and others don't. It seems like some are going off gross and others net?
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jeffreymo
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Post by jeffreymo on May 19, 2021 9:44:47 GMT -5
Our situation probably most resembles the Coleman/Stewart-Isaacs family. A big chunk of their monthly allocation goes to investments/savings. Their rent/utilities are pretty close to our mortgage/utilities. Our cell phone, groceries, and restaurant expenses are less but we have 3 kids vs their 6.
I’m worried about the Desper and Bibbus family. They are living way beyond their means.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on May 19, 2021 11:38:16 GMT -5
I couldn't find anyone really close to us on the spending side. The grocery bills for most of them are more than we get from DH's pension! Of course, I'm aware that feeding teenagers is like trying to fill a black hole. I don't remember ever spending that much in two months for DH and me. Maybe one May when we were initially filling the beer fridge? I agree that the Desper and Bibbus family are way too close to the edge. Her extra money from her mom's death will run out and they'll be in trouble.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on May 19, 2021 12:05:49 GMT -5
I couldn't find anything close to us either. I know living in the Midwest is less expensive, but based on what some of those households are spending, I could've saved nicely, and retired years ago...
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resolution
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Post by resolution on May 19, 2021 12:19:39 GMT -5
It seems like the expenses are mixed up between monthly amounts and lump sums, like the one family that has 2500 down for a dental expense but commented that they put $500 down and are paying monthly. I wonder how much of the larger amounts are just one time stimulus check spending and how many are really monthly.
I identify the most with the Tran family, minus the student loans and the car payment.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on May 19, 2021 12:22:57 GMT -5
These articles always drive me nuts. You're struggling but spend $2400/month on food and $380/month on cell phones?
I can't find any that really compare to me at all...maybe the Chavez family...but it's confusing. Some have 401K and investments and others don't. It seems like some are going off gross and others net?
Yeah the $1250 to the church "but we're struggling" on the part of the Tran family blew me away. I'd have quite a fat savings account if I had that much money just to give to the church on a monthly basis. If you're struggling maybe donate less? What kind of God lets you burn for all eternity because you don't give 10% of your income to a church?
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resolution
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Post by resolution on May 19, 2021 12:27:26 GMT -5
These articles always drive me nuts. You're struggling but spend $2400/month on food and $380/month on cell phones?
I can't find any that really compare to me at all...maybe the Chavez family...but it's confusing. Some have 401K and investments and others don't. It seems like some are going off gross and others net?
Yeah the $1250 to the church "but we're struggling" on the part of the Tran family blew me away. I'd have quite a fat savings account if I had that much money just to give to the church on a monthly basis. If you're struggling maybe donate less? What kind of God lets you burn for all eternity because you don't give 10% of your income to a church? I didn't pick up a struggling vibe from them at all. They talked about the importance of saving and why they were investing in out of state rental property instead of the California market, and said the law school loans were almost paid off and not really noticeable anymore.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on May 19, 2021 12:36:58 GMT -5
Also probably the Coleman Isaacs because of savings and moderately frugal spending The first family Desper Bibbus is terrifying and seems might end in bankruptcy Almost $800 monthly for pet routine care (about 50% of their grocery bill) and $900 restaurant Is that really $477 rental for the game table or $47 Either way a waste
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 19, 2021 12:48:52 GMT -5
I don’t get these $300+ cell phone bills. There are cheaper ways to have a cell phone. Our Ting bill is $40/mo for 2 phones, we also have Ooma as a landline to call outside the US. That costs $100/year.
Our expenses are nothing like any of these, not even close. Hell, our pet bill for 2019 kenneling (where we were on 4 x 3-5 week trips) didn’t come close to the nearly $10k/year they paid for their dogs!
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on May 19, 2021 13:21:53 GMT -5
I hate these monthly expense things too. I don't like it that the expenses they list are rather haphazard. And I wonder if the "month" they chose makes a difference? My March 2021 "spending" was close to 9K (personal property taxes and personal insurances all due at the same time - and ALL one or two time a year expenses). My typical month expenses (not including pretax 401K and health insurance) is about 5K per month (mortgage, utilities, grocery, Roth contribution, other Sinking funds (prop taxes, insurance, vacation, holiday spending, season tickets)) For the month 5K hits my checking account and then it's gone. I don't use any of my paycheck money on the rentals - they are paying for themselves at this point (and building "sinking funds" for future things like a new roof or some other maintenance). I'm gonna go with the Coleman Isaacs being the family I most Identify with (even though I'm single). I don't have their income nor do I have their monthly spending... but when I look at their monthly expenses and their family size (and how the money is distributed across expenses) I am tempted to say that we share quite a few of the same "values" when it comes to money. AT 10K per month in expenses that's 120K per year That said the Desper & Bibbus family finances terrifies me. A month with 8K expenses - that's 96K per year in expenses. Even if they typically have 6K month expenses with a few 8K months - that's still an astonishing amount of income needed to maintain it.
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on May 19, 2021 13:25:23 GMT -5
It also looks like it's a "this is what we paid THIS PARTICULAR month", not a monthly budget amount. Like the one with a paid off house has nothing for property taxes.
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susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on May 19, 2021 13:43:33 GMT -5
These articles always drive me nuts. You're struggling but spend $2400/month on food and $380/month on cell phones?
I can't find any that really compare to me at all...maybe the Chavez family...but it's confusing. Some have 401K and investments and others don't. It seems like some are going off gross and others net?
Yeah the $1250 to the church "but we're struggling" on the part of the Tran family blew me away. I'd have quite a fat savings account if I had that much money just to give to the church on a monthly basis. If you're struggling maybe donate less? What kind of God lets you burn for all eternity because you don't give 10% of your income to a church?You couched your argument in extreme terms. I don't think the mother stated that the family would burn in hell if they didn't donate but rather that it was important to her as a Christian. I think most of us waste more than 10% of our income . . . going out to eat, fast fashion, liquor, sporting events, etc. I try to remind myself of this, not just when I am donating to the church but when someone asks me for a donation to charity. Did Penny really need 2 new squeaker toys? Did I have to spend $9 on a book just because my library didn't have it and I wanted to read it? $25 to take me and a four-year-old out to lunch? Spending is individual. That's why these articles are so worthless. Giving money to God first is a little like the advice we get to pay ourselves first for savings. No one ridicules someone for saving for retirement even if they then say they are struggling.
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daisylu
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Post by daisylu on May 19, 2021 13:51:01 GMT -5
I don’t get these $300+ cell phone bills. There are cheaper ways to have a cell phone. Our Ting bill is $40/mo for 2 phones, we also have Ooma as a landline to call outside the US. That costs $100/year. I totally understand it. The area we live in and travel to work and school from there are only 2 providers who have reliable service, and they know it. My kids did not get cell phones until they got their licenses. Add in that we live in the land of either dial-up or cell signal for internet and our 4 phones, home internet, and satellite TV (oh yeah, no cable this far out & no antenna signal) and our bill is a whopping $400/month. But our LCOLA allows us to do well in other areas.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on May 19, 2021 14:00:27 GMT -5
We're $200 just for internet. There are only two providers here and they price accordingly. Where are you going to go? I was kinda hoping maybe the pandemic would break the monopolies due to the increased need for internet access but I was wrong on that count.
For my cell phone provider though I have a lot more options. We're with Cricket for $80 a month. Gwen has Straight Talk because I wanted her to understand owning one currently is a privilege, if she abused it I wouldn't buy more minutes. This was a test run for having a phone. Now that she's in middle school I'm going to move her over to our plan. Still won't be $300 a month though.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on May 19, 2021 14:06:32 GMT -5
I moved my DH over to my account from his parents recently. I had to switch my plan to do it and lost my discount. Until the end of the year, it's going to be $200+. There's a $42/month payment for DH's phone and it will be paid off at year end.
I know Verizon is not cheap at all but the service is rock solid in all the places I need it. Sprint has just never been all that reliable in WV. I'm there at least monthly and I would like to have service in the rural stretches since I'm traveling alone 9/10 times.
I could get an extra $20 off with auto bill but I'm not a fan of that.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2021 14:14:29 GMT -5
You couched your argument in extreme terms. I don't think the mother stated that the family would burn in hell if they didn't donate but rather that it was important to her as a Christian. I think most of us waste more than 10% of our income . . . going out to eat, fast fashion, liquor, sporting events, etc. I try to remind myself of this, not just when I am donating to the church but when someone asks me for a donation to charity. Did Penny really need 2 new squeaker toys? Did I have to spend $9 on a book just because my library didn't have it and I wanted to read it? $25 to take me and a four-year-old out to lunch? Spending is individual. That's why these articles are so worthless. Giving money to God first is a little like the advice we get to pay ourselves first for savings. No one ridicules someone for saving for retirement even if they then say they are struggling. "Waste" is a matter of opinion, isn't it? Taking a 4-year old out to lunch (or, in my case, my upcoming trip to take 3 small kids for haircuts to a place that's more expensive than my cuts at Great Clips because they cater to kids) also supports small businesses and provides jobs. When my finances were more modest- trying to keep the bills paid in HCOL area when my husband was unemployed, later as a single mother with big mortgage and private school bills- I donated less than 10% to my church. Now I donate more. I'm not trying to buy my way into heaven. I struggle with whether it's good to donate money to pay the church mortgage and keep the HVAC running instead of donating it all to food banks, but I want the church to be there for people who don't have the funds to support it but want to be part of a Christian community. None of the families in the article had finances similar to mine. It's easy for me to sit in my ivory tower and pontificate about how SOME people probably shouldn't have had quite that many kids, or wonder why people who are struggling have two big dogs and spend $$ on karate lessons for their kids or why a guy who owes back CS went and had two more kids with his "fiancee" but they're all hard-working people. They just made some decisions I wouldn't have on their positions.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on May 19, 2021 14:22:58 GMT -5
The vet one surprised me. I know there are human medical clinics that do that in exchange for not expecting you to have insurance. Had no idea there were now vet clinics doing that too.
I suppose depending on how large a breed your dog is and what type it is that may even out cost wise if the grooming they mentioned is included in that price.
For us it would make no sense. Once a year for shots/physical and it costs us less than what it did to adopt her from the pound. We'd pay far more in fees than we have ever paid in a year for vet expenses.
Wonder what happens if you discontinue paying the fee? Do they honor up to what you paid or do you lose that money?
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on May 19, 2021 14:28:16 GMT -5
I don’t get these $300+ cell phone bills. There are cheaper ways to have a cell phone. Our Ting bill is $40/mo for 2 phones, we also have Ooma as a landline to call outside the US. That costs $100/year. I totally understand it. The area we live in and travel to work and school from there are only 2 providers who have reliable service, and they know it. My kids did not get cell phones until they got their licenses. Add in that we live in the land of either dial-up or cell signal for internet and our 4 phones, home internet, and satellite TV (oh yeah, no cable this far out & no antenna signal) and our bill is a whopping $400/month. But our LCOLA allows us to do well in other areas. But you're combining internet, phone, and satellite TV to get that $400. That first one was at that for phones alone which is nutso.
Still, even if only Verizon or Sprint or whatever works near you, the discount places like Ting, Mint Mobile, etc use those towers. You just have to pick a compatible service. Like, I could never use Cricket Wireless because they run off of AT&T which sucks here.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on May 19, 2021 14:55:00 GMT -5
My vet really pushes their care plan, which runs around $100 a month for a healthy 4 year old cat. The price goes up as the cat gets older. It has limited coverage so there would be additional charges if the cat got really sick. I have not signed up for the plan and I just pay for appointments as needed.
I figure I am already paying around $100 a month for food, litter, toys, and vaccines, so I can see how that could really go up if you have a lot of pets.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on May 19, 2021 15:14:09 GMT -5
I know grooming at my vet is insanely expensive. Without my knowledge DH approved them shaving Sabah while we were on vacation. He did not bother to get a quote before agreeing. Imagine my surprise when there was an additional $200 added to the bill. Took her to Petsmart . .. not even close and they did a better job.
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susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on May 19, 2021 15:36:47 GMT -5
You couched your argument in extreme terms. I don't think the mother stated that the family would burn in hell if they didn't donate but rather that it was important to her as a Christian. I think most of us waste more than 10% of our income . . . going out to eat, fast fashion, liquor, sporting events, etc. I try to remind myself of this, not just when I am donating to the church but when someone asks me for a donation to charity. Did Penny really need 2 new squeaker toys? Did I have to spend $9 on a book just because my library didn't have it and I wanted to read it? $25 to take me and a four-year-old out to lunch? Spending is individual. That's why these articles are so worthless. Giving money to God first is a little like the advice we get to pay ourselves first for savings. No one ridicules someone for saving for retirement even if they then say they are struggling. "Waste" is a matter of opinion, isn't it? Taking a 4-year old out to lunch (or, in my case, my upcoming trip to take 3 small kids for haircuts to a place that's more expensive than my cuts at Great Clips because they cater to kids) also supports small businesses and provides jobs. When my finances were more modest- trying to keep the bills paid in HCOL area when my husband was unemployed, later as a single mother with big mortgage and private school bills- I donated less than 10% to my church. Now I donate more. I'm not trying to buy my way into heaven. I struggle with whether it's good to donate money to pay the church mortgage and keep the HVAC running instead of donating it all to food banks, but I want the church to be there for people who don't have the funds to support it but want to be part of a Christian community. None of the families in the article had finances similar to mine. It's easy for me to sit in my ivory tower and pontificate about how SOME people probably shouldn't have had quite that many kids, or wonder why people who are struggling have two big dogs and spend $$ on karate lessons for their kids or why a guy who owes back CS went and had two more kids with his "fiancee" but they're all hard-working people. They just made some decisions I wouldn't have on their positions. Uh uh. Buying name-brand purses, shoes, etc. also supports small businesses and provides job. That argument doesn't wash. You know what waste is . . . it is spending money unnecessarily. I assume your grandchildren need haircuts, that it isn't a skill you can do yourself. There are degrees of necessities, but I gave specific examples to make it clearer what I meant by waste. For some people, giving to their church is necessary. They fervently believe that everything belongs to God and that they are giving to Him what is His. No one is required to believe this, but I think a little respect is in order for those who do. Not more respect . . . just the same respect that you would give to a son or daughter who believes that it is his/her duty to help support parents or a dog owner who goes into credit card debt to pay for surgery that a pet needs. As I said before, spending is so individual that comparisons to people like these are worthless. They don't share our individual priorities. By the way, Great Clips cuts children's hair.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 19, 2021 15:39:42 GMT -5
If you combine our cells, Ooma, cable and internet, we are at about $250 for all of these services. Our cable and internet are about $200 combined, but if we drop cable I think our internet goes to $150. Where we are, we get no service for local channels even with an antenna so Comcast does have us by the short and curlies. I check local channel access about every 6 months or so, but it has been a flat goose egg.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2021 15:45:39 GMT -5
<snip> I assume your grandchildren need haircuts, that it isn't a skill you can do yourself. There are degrees of necessities, but I gave specific examples to make it clearer what I meant by waste. <snip> By the way, Great Clips cuts children's hair. Ah, but Great Clips doesn't have miniature Jeeps, motorcycles and Disney Princess vehicles where you can sit and watch videos as they cut your hair! If you combine our cells, Ooma, cable and internet, we are at about $250 for all of these services. Our cable and internet are about $200 combined, but if we drop cable I think our internet goes to $150. Where we are, we get no service for local channels even with an antenna so Comcast does have us by the short and curlies. I check local channel access about every 6 months or so, but it has been a flat goose egg. I'm at $70 for Google Fiber plus $14 for Netflix, $18 for Ting and a bit under $4/month for MagicJack, so a little over $100/month. I know Google Fiber isn't available in every area. It would be interesting to "unpack" the phone/TV/Internet bills in the story; I'm sure some of the families have multiple streaming packages and a phone for each kid over age 10.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on May 19, 2021 15:55:41 GMT -5
These articles always drive me nuts. You're struggling but spend $2400/month on food and $380/month on cell phones?
I can't find any that really compare to me at all...maybe the Chavez family...but it's confusing. Some have 401K and investments and others don't. It seems like some are going off gross and others net?
Yeah the $1250 to the church "but we're struggling" on the part of the Tran family blew me away. I'd have quite a fat savings account if I had that much money just to give to the church on a monthly basis. If you're struggling maybe donate less? What kind of God lets you burn for all eternity because you don't give 10% of your income to a church? Evangelicals? Baptists? Some make it a requirement to belong to the church to tithe at least 10%.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on May 19, 2021 15:55:55 GMT -5
I looked. I regret looking. All of those families were much larger than my own two-person household. I learned nothing and now I am in a bad headspace.
Why did I look? I've known for twenty years that looking at such articles, even when they are about six different families, never do me any good.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on May 19, 2021 15:58:38 GMT -5
"Waste" is a matter of opinion, isn't it? Taking a 4-year old out to lunch (or, in my case, my upcoming trip to take 3 small kids for haircuts to a place that's more expensive than my cuts at Great Clips because they cater to kids) also supports small businesses and provides jobs. When my finances were more modest- trying to keep the bills paid in HCOL area when my husband was unemployed, later as a single mother with big mortgage and private school bills- I donated less than 10% to my church. Now I donate more. I'm not trying to buy my way into heaven. I struggle with whether it's good to donate money to pay the church mortgage and keep the HVAC running instead of donating it all to food banks, but I want the church to be there for people who don't have the funds to support it but want to be part of a Christian community. None of the families in the article had finances similar to mine. It's easy for me to sit in my ivory tower and pontificate about how SOME people probably shouldn't have had quite that many kids, or wonder why people who are struggling have two big dogs and spend $$ on karate lessons for their kids or why a guy who owes back CS went and had two more kids with his "fiancee" but they're all hard-working people. They just made some decisions I wouldn't have on their positions. Uh uh. Buying name-brand purses, shoes, etc. also supports small businesses and provides job. That argument doesn't wash. You know what waste is . . . it is spending money unnecessarily. I assume your grandchildren need haircuts, that it isn't a skill you can do yourself. There are degrees of necessities, but I gave specific examples to make it clearer what I meant by waste. For some people, giving to their church is necessary. They fervently believe that everything belongs to God and that they are giving to Him what is His. No one is required to believe this, but I think a little respect is in order for those who do. Not more respect . . . just the same respect that you would give to a son or daughter who believes that it is his/her duty to help support parents or a dog owner who goes into credit card debt to pay for surgery that a pet needs. As I said before, spending is so individual that comparisons to people like these are worthless. They don't share our individual priorities. By the way, Great Clips cuts children's hair. The 10% tithe is actually biblical. From my POV, if everything is God's and whatever I have comes from God, why does "God" need 10% back?
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Opti
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Post by Opti on May 19, 2021 16:01:13 GMT -5
I looked. I regret looking. All of those families were much larger than my own two-person household. I learned nothing and now I am in a bad headspace.
Why did I look? I've known for twenty years that looking at such articles, even when they are about six different families, never do me any good.
I won't look then. Its the NY Times so it will be based on above average income families and ignore that 60% of households are one person or two person households. (And even though it would be interesting, they will not include the finances of someone living in an illegal basement apt in the 5 boros.) Its human interest porn.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on May 19, 2021 16:55:31 GMT -5
We finally have a decently priced internet service here. It's $50 per month, but we have good service almost all the time. For a semi-rural area, that's a big change from what we dealt with for six years.
We use Verizon for cell service because we get better service in our area with them. I had Sprint when we moved here and calls dropped all the time or I'd have no service. My sister has AT&T and has the same problem here. Verizon isn't the cheapest, but it's the most reliable. Texas either just passed a bill or has a bill up for review to increase broad brand services in the rural areas. That will be a big help for a lot of people. I think that's part of how our internet provider got built. They are fiber optic towers that provide wifi service to anyone who can see a tower. They're putting new towers up every month, so there are more and more customers who can use it.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2021 17:04:56 GMT -5
I have no idea what we spend in any given month as a household. Except for a joint savings account that we contribute to equally, but don’t use, we handle our finances separately. I don’t even know how much we spend on groceries combined. We sort of have an unspoken “don’t ask, don’t tell” agreement, because we both regularly have money going to things the other doesn’t necessarily agree with. On my side, it’s my house that should be a rental property that at least almost pays for itself, but doesn’t. As long as our “other” stuff doesn’t keep us from handling business IRT our lives together, we just let it ride and don’t talk about those things. The bills are paid, the house is maintained and repaired as needed and we both are saving for retirement and have individual savings in addition to the joint savings. So, whatever. I’m curious now though, about how much we spend combined, on the basics. I can say though, that in a normal month, I don’t spend even close to what the lowest spender in the article did. I don’t even net that much. So if I spent that amount or more in one month, I either spent money on something I’d been planning and saving for, fixed something on my car or house, or I’d received some snowflake money from somewhere and spent it. My net income is less than half my gross, between normal deductions and what I have automatically going to retirement and other savings. It’s also less than $4k/month, which I think was the lowest in the article. I can and do pay all of my “bills” out of that though, and still feel like I have it pretty good with what’s left over. I can’t just ball out, but I can do and have some of the things I want. But I also don’t have minor children. They cost a lot of money.
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