tom169

Or if you're like me: have the house at 67f and run ceiling fans.

This months electric was $180.

Jerseygirl

Good grief...I'm glad I'm not married to you...your house is like a fridge. Late 70's for me...except the bedroom...65.

anotherlimey

Frosty in the bedroom I see.

Zzmark:

$240 to insure one car?.... that's crazy talk.

petitefrancaise

My daughter is in a cabin in Colorado at the mo. She told me that she has to close the bedroom window at night because otherwise it gets a bit chilly.
Jealous, moi?
1. she gets to open windows
2. cold at night.

Can I move? Please?

OldJuddian

I was shocked at the cost of phones here, especially as my kids are now needing them. However it dos not need to be expensive, my youngest has a $50 smartphone (BLU R1 HD from Amazon) and $10/month from RedPocket. This plan will not suit everyone, but is cheap!

Jerseygirl

We have patio windows in the bedroom. Apart from summer I have them wide open during the night...even when it's -20C outside.

zzrmark

Apologies to all, I was trying to remember what the figures were off the top of my head late last night and suffered a major brain fart. $70 a month on the 2010 F150, bizarrely enough $72 on the 2004 Accord and a little more on a 2005 Accord (youngster accounts for that one being higher). Policy is about as fully comprehensive as it gets.

petitefrancaise

I wrote this in response to a post in the immigration forum but decided it would be more appropriate here. The original post was about paying $200 a month for a pool service...

It's a bit of a rant so be warned...



Maybe it isn't a lot of money to have someone take this work off your hands?
$50 a week for someone to test your pool water, throw in some pH adjuster, top up the pucks in the dispenser and empty the skimmer baskets? Backwash the filter if necessary (?2/3 times a year).

We all have automatic pool cleaners/vacuums so that is the hard work taken care of.

It takes me 5 minutes a day to test the chlorine.add more bleach and empty the skimmer baskets.

In France, when we first got a pool I tried to find someone who would come and do a pool service - mostly because I didn't have a clue and was a bit put off by it. The pool stores almost laughed at me. Almost everyone I knew had a pool but it is so easy to look after a pool that no-one would think of paying for it. Like window cleaners - everyone does their own or gets their cleaner to do it.

There is a slippery slope here in the US that I've noticed. You start getting people in to do everything. Cleaners, gardeners, pool maintenance, air con maintenance. People don't even change their own oil and filters in their cars - they'll pay for someone to do it. Having a car more than 3 years old ? wow! How brave...
Before you know it, you have people coming on BE asking if $60k is enough to live on and everyone says that's going to be tough. The same person mentions using a bike to work and people throw their hands up in horror. Yet plenty of people do it. I see people cycling all the time, despite the Texas attitude to it. They're not usually fat and unhealthy either. Funny that.

Maybe if you work long hours and earn loads of money you want to justify getting someone to do all this work. As a self-employed person, I'd have to earn about $330 to have $200 left after all deductions (65% is what we're advised to put aside) to pay a pool guy. I don't earn $165 an hour so if it takes the pool guy 2 hours a month to look after my pool, I'm clearly in the wrong job. It's not skilled labour, it's not tricky, it's not a horrible dirty job, it just takes a few minutes a day. About the same time as flossing and brushing your teeth.

Seriously how many hours do people have to work in order to get all these services? How many hours do you work to pay for your expensive lease car? For the insurance for that 2nd car? For the petrol for that 2nd car? I'd rather use the money to go on holiday, or put into my retirement fund, or the kids college funds.

I'm really not attacking anyone here, I'm not, it's just a rant that I think sometimes we all sleepwalk into an expensive lifestyle.

Jack8602

I think for the majority it's not a question of how many hours you work, but how much you get paid for the job you do - I earn 6 figures and work 40 hours a week. sometimes less, sometimes a little more. It balances out.

I have a new lease car which i plan to chop in next year and upgrade to something more luxury - I've just spent close to $10k on my own skydiving gear, and next year I'll be buying a house (once the credit score gets to the 700's!) So what if someone has an expensive lifestyle? live and let live.

I moved to the US with my job and got around an 85% pay rise - And i fully plan on having fun with that for a few years!

Everyone's different, i have no kids (nor do the wife and i plan on it) and minimal debt.

petitefrancaise

well, you are very lucky and young by the sounds of it!

My daughter expects her starting salary after college to be very high. Even as a second year intern at FB, if her salary were pro-rated she earns $90K. She will have no college debt. Her plan is to work for 5 years, keep her expenses down to student levels and save enough money to invest so that she can choose whatever she wants to do without worrying about money. The brightest mathematical minds don't always want to make more people click on links.

Pulaski

"Second car"? Why would you only have two cars?

chawkins99

The same reason she doesn't pay a pool guy $200 a month... $$$

petitefrancaise

No! I just can't believe that people pay so much for something that is so easy. Mind you, a lot of people don't floss and brush their teeth either (ex-hygienist!!). How much do you think I could charge for doing that for people on a daily basis? New business idea?

One of our other regular BE posters has bought an e-bike which she uses instead of a car whenever she can. I'm really tempted by one of those.

I cannot imagine why people would want more than 1 car per adult. Money?Sense?

tom169

Because for some people $200 is worth having the extra couple hours a month.

Pulaski

I think it was Paul Daniels, the late magician, who said he would usually pay for anything that saved him time, because no matter how wealthy you are, you still only get 24 hours in a day.