GENERAL TOPIC: The cost of living!

smutek · Post by **smutek** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:37 pm

Yup, the cost of living is insane. My Wife and I rent a two bedroom, single family house in a pretty nice neighborhood in Baltimore City for $500.00 a month. The landlord could get $1500.00 a month for this place easy but fortunately for us she is a good friend of ours.

However, we are about to move in with her Dad next month. Reason is, even with the cheap rent its really hard to get ahead. We are trying to buy a home and it's pretty much impossible. So, by our calculations, if we move into her Dad's place we will be able to save around 18k, possibly more, in one year.

With that we will be able to have a larger down payment, get a lower interest rate, and if we are lucky will only end up paying 300k (after the interest) for a 150k house.

Craziness.

Benshik · Post by **Benshik** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:44 pm

Moscow, the new world champion!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5117480.stm

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 2:52 pm

eyeknow wrote:
ethios4 wrote:Ahh, kickin back in Oklahoma in my nice 1700 sq ft, 3bedroom, 2 living room home for $625/mo.

now, is that rent or mortgage?

Rent. Mortgage would be about the same on this house. Nice part of town too...close to University.

funknotik · Post by **funknotik** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 7:51 pm

Meef Chaloin wrote:
pilcrow wrote:
Meef Chaloin wrote:there's a good reason for all of this, and its by no means an accident.
freemasons? the Illuminati? Paul Wolfowitz? Da Vinci?

..sorry, just amusing myself.

no just economics. how many people live most of their lives with debt? how many people do you know without a credit card? I meant that its no accident that the cost of living is slightly more than what everyone gets paid. How do you think banks make their fortunes?

Yeah i understand it's economics, but it seems very difficult just to subsist. I'm not even talking about being happy, I mean its hard just to scrape by every month. the truth is i can move to hialeah. But Hialeah is like Florida's asshole, you can get a 3 bed 2 bath apt for like 500 a month. But the area sucks in general, it's also a flood zone. MIAMI ranks as the 57th most expensive city in the world according to this http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm
There is nothing particularly fantastic about miami either, it's not like we have theme parks like orlando or anything. Orlando is actually cheaper....Im stuck at my parents house for now. I moved out before but it was an efficiency and the people who owned teh house where never there. I payed like 400 a month and most of the time they would forget to collect rent. They since moved away and i was forced back into this hellhole.

Miami has one of the highest homeless populations in the US, I believe it is 4th after flint michigan, which has the highest population of homeless. I think its the illuminati.....or crude oil prices?

D K · Post by **D K** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:55 pm

arlington virginia.
2 bedroom, 1.5 bath.
545 thousand dollars to buy.
1,700.00 a month to rent.
seven years ago the same house was under 200k.
i'd leave here, but my wife will be teaching here for two
more years. then we're out!

Meef Chaloin · Post by **Meef Chaloin** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 9:17 pm

funknotik wrote:I think its the illuminati.....or crude oil prices?

is there a difference

12micsn1 · Post by **12micsn1** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 10:38 pm

The cost of living trully does suck where ever you live, especially in places where inflation, taxation, crime, corruption, illegals, poverty, supply/demand and overcrowding are major concern. Every major city around the world is becoming more and more a burden for the average citizen live in. To the point, people are paying more for less an putting up with the BS of out of the control living environmentor leaving period.

The other problems young people face, is not having a real financial education or economic road map in modern times to see whats ahead of them to avoid the potholes of debt as much as possible to better save therehard earn money for the future ahead of them. Largely this due to the collectivist pigs known mostly as our government, banks, corporations and elites who long since realise that it is not feasible to have educated society who are very frugal and independently free of the system but to have as many ignorant in-debt slaves of the system as possible to feed a few at the top.

It just gets worse and worse as time goes by where education, housing, and other expenses are going to cost millions in fortunes. Its no wonder why so many problems exist because people cant seem to afford the minimum an the collectivist pigs on top keep it that way as almost a conspiracy. This also bares the grim reality of why socialism and communism seem to be making a strong return, an capitalism/materialism is becoming the system which to demonise mostly by the left who prefer the alternative systems.

As long as people are not finanicial educated an are unable to find a decent career path thats lucrative to afford the the out of control cost of living, an adapt to the many other numbers of problems life will continually to get worse for every generation that proceeds the other. One would think someone cares enough to figure this out by now but its no accident the collectivist pigs have a hidden agenda all along to keep a many people down as long as they live high on the hills carefree of your problems. Then again, I could just be BSing about all this or im the collectivist pig giving you the raw deal of reality of living off the fat of the lamb. An you to can one day join along once you discover how to do so.

TekMonki · Post by **TekMonki** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:23 pm

Try living in NYC, particularly Manhattan.

I had a friend that paid $950 for . . a room. Yup, a tiny room in a tiny ass "2 br" apartment with a sorta living room that most people would tend to call an entry-way and/or foyer. The kitchen? A stove and a sink (add a little more space to that foyer/LR).

M. Bréqs · Post by **M. Bréqs** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:33 pm

funknotik wrote:MIAMI ranks as the 57th most expensive city in the world according to this http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm

A major factor is the geographic boundaries.

I live in Ottawa, and I can tell you that while it ranks as the cheapest city in Canada (according to Funknotik's link), it's actually expensive!!!

The geographical boundaries for "Ottawa" were artificially spread wide, so that a significant portion of our "city" is empty farmland and undeveloped land. The actual cost of living is so high that military personnel and RCMP officers (mounties) who are posted there get a special suplement just to deal with the cost of living - because on a standard income across the country, they would starve their families in Vancouver, Toronto and Otawa.

Anyways, I have little patience for people who live in trendy neighbourhoods or expensive cities and complain about either

1. jobs
2. cost of living

That's supply and demand. If the labour market is cool and the real estate market is hot where you live, so the solution is to move. I hear that it's pretty cheap in the Midwest USA, and you practically have to hide from jobs in Alberta Canada.

jamester · Post by **jamester** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:05 am

smutek wrote:Yup, the cost of living is insane. My Wife and I rent a two bedroom, single family house in a pretty nice neighborhood in Baltimore City for $500.00 a month. The landlord could get $1500.00 a month for this place easy but fortunately for us she is a good friend of ours.

However, we are about to move in with her Dad next month. Reason is, even with the cheap rent its really hard to get ahead. We are trying to buy a home and it's pretty much impossible. So, by our calculations, if we move into her Dad's place we will be able to save around 18k, possibly more, in one year.

With that we will be able to have a larger down payment, get a lower interest rate, and if we are lucky will only end up paying 300k (after the interest) for a 150k house.

Craziness.

Word. I just moved out of Charles Village, and I'll probably never be able to afford living there again! The new condos going up are starting at $400K for a one bedroom!

I used to always say that for all its faults, at least it was easy to live comfortably in B-more. That is quickly changing, as it is in a lot of areas. I'd love to move somewhere cooler, but of course it'll only be more expensive than it already is here...

DeadlyKungFu · Post by **DeadlyKungFu** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:59 am

$1900 to rent a 2.5 bedroom in the mission district, another $175 for a parking spot down the street (former gas station lot.)
Pros: We've got great bars and restaurants nearby (great takeout, cheap eats to 4 star meals, the burrito was literally invented 2 blocks from here), short commute to work and it's a $10 cab ride to most of the city. Best weather in town. I haven't left the city limits for months.

Cons: higher crime rate, no garage, graffitti and odd smells, people passed out on my stoop (and it's not me). I keep my place locked up and keep my wits about me, car break-ins is the only crime I've been personally affected by.

Looking to soon get into a nice little $700k fixer upper in the city.

I probably wouldn't do this with kids, we'd move to somewhere else on the coast, or somewhere in the bay area.

Oh yeah, and nobody in SF has air conditioning, it's 10pm and this place still hasn't cooled off.

TekMonki · Post by **TekMonki** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 6:45 am

Where in the mission? I used to live at 16th/Dolores a few years ago.

And AC!?

It's SF!!!!!!, come visit NYC, the humidity is unreal for a west-coaster, even 3yrs on sometimes.

D DAS · Post by **D DAS** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:46 am

i pay 900 a month, utilities and secure parking included. it is a 1 bedroom with a nice view and is centrally located. next to the ocean,work, food, strip clubs,surf lockers and everything else waikiki has to offer. others units in my building now go for 1500 but i have an in with the landlord. i can't complain, i am used to paying up to live in nice places. the cost of living will continue to increase in the upcoming years, drastically. but thats a whole other political story that i am not going to ignite.

peace

d~

me view

DeadlyKungFu · Post by **DeadlyKungFu** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:52 am

D DAS wrote:i pay 900 a month, utilities included, and secure parking. it is a 1 bedroom with a nice view and is centrally located. next to the ocean and work. others units in my building now go for 1500 but i have an in with the landlord. i can't complain, i am used to paying up to live in nice places. the cost of living will continue to increase in the upcoming years, drastically. but thats a whole other political story that i am not going to ignite.

peace

d~

me view

On behalf of myself and everyone else who's read your posts and seen the ass shots from the beaches you surf on...

FUCK YOU.

How's the job market?

D DAS · Post by **D DAS** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 10:03 am

hey don't get sassy with me fu. sf aint a bad place to be. i, like all of you can live here as well. i am not special. i am a high school drop out, ex- addict who decided to start making the right choices in life, i now manifest what i want through my thoughts.

job market is here, what do you do? it is a small island and evryone knows everyone through one person or another. maybe i can hook you up with da kine.

and what ass shots are you speaking of, what beaches? i have no pictures of secret beaches that are only accessible if you are fortunate enough to have a boss with a helicopter that flies you to places that resemble heaven on earth. don't know what your speaking of

beaches, huh, what an imagination