Nickel and dimed everywhere these days

[Anonymous]

My small bills are the same, but my large bills are even larger. Car insurance went up 30%, health insurance went up 10%, and my stupid pool dues went up 30%. This might be our last summer at the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump said @ today’s presser that egg prices are down 59% and that groceries (that old fashioned word, I know) are also down. So, relief coming soon, I’m sure any day now.

That repeated weirdness about "groceries" like WTF

What’s wrong with the word “groceries”?

Trump said yesterday that it was “old-fashioned.”

Probably because nobody has spoken about groceries in his life since childhood. He gets meals. Dining service. Catering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College tuition for my current freshman came out. Increase of 6%!! Meantime, the college is sitting on billions of endowment funds. Ridiculous, but what choice do I have? DD is happy but we're going tighten up in all other areas.

The feds are cutting $$ to the universities—so they may be tapping into those endowments. Also, those endowments will under-perform or shrink in a recession/depression. Get ready for increases on everything—everyone’s passing it on to the consumers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:luxury spending is an expensive therapeutic accomodation for people who can't form rewarding human social relations.

I see it in my extended family. We have a mix of high income and low income, and high spenders and low spenders. The high spenders , whether they are rich and spending a ton, or poor and spending more than they earn and getting subsidies, are not enjoying themselves more than the people who spend less than the most they can.

A complicated Instagram-worthy international trip or driving to a restaurant is ice as a rare or occasional treat, but as a regular occurrence, isn't more rewarding than a middle-class lake retreat or spending that 60 minutes in travel time cooling dinner as a family.
A family you enjoy, and staying physical healthy, is the best luxury.

Thank you for this. I have felt that cutting back has been rewarding in its own way but I am still stuck in the phase of craving and missing the spending. But I see the truth in what you wrote and will keep going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wait till the tariffs hit. Maybe FORD should make a better product if they want people to buy their POS cars.

Ford trucks sure seem popular.

Not even all Fords are assembled/built in America

Ford Maverick: Made in Hermosillo (Mexico)
Ford Bronco Sport: Made in Hermosillo (Mexico)
Ford Mustang Mach-E: Made in Cuautitlan (Mexico)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My wealthy friends have always been cheap - multimillionaires buying used clothing on Primark or going on holiday to a beautiful place in Africa, but staying at a local hotel with no amenities rather than the expat-oriented luxury hotel cheap. I loved them for it but always was happy to shell out for the expensive hotel ... now, I am embracing their lifestyle.

When you suck billions out of the economy overnight, it sucks even more money out of the economy. It's called the money multiplier effect - every dollar the USG spends creates 5 or 6 dollars in the economy. And if the government stops spending, and the money supply goes down, people like us have less to spend so my family will spend nothing. The good news is that it turns out my family likes curried lentils.

Being careful with spending is how they became wealthy in the first place. It's tempting to spend up to one's income, but that results in little net worth. Accumulation of wealth requires spending well below income, which can be done by anyone at any income level, if they have the discipline and don't yield to indulgence in wants over needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of people are feeling the same way. My credit card bill last month was at a level not reached since the last 10 years before I had kids. So yeah everyone is cutting back a lot. I think this is going to start showing up in economic data.

Same! I started a thread on all the money I'm saving and, boy, were certain people mad! I was told I don't care enough about federal workers. At least some of the people in the thread had more normal reactions.

But, yeah, my credit card bills have been lower than normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Not really.

The anticonsumption thread on Reddit shows a lot of people are buying less. Trump is really effing up because spendy people will change their behavior for good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wait till the tariffs hit. Maybe FORD should make a better product if they want people to buy their POS cars.

Ford trucks sure seem popular.

So they have one popular model, whoopie. How many times had Ford declared bankruptcy now?

The problem with Ford getting more marketshare is that a lot of people value reliability and they already pay a premium for it to get a Honda or Toyota. Compare used car values, the difference is eye boggling. Making Hondas and Toyotas even more expensive via tariffs is not going to make that segment of the consumer suddenly interested in buying Fords.

Ford and Tesla are the only American carmakers that have never declared bankruptcy.

Ford has factories all around the world including the USA, as do Honda and Toyota.

Tesla is backed by US government subsidies and speculative capital. It's too young to go bankrupt.

Tesla is definitely funded by the US Government. It's a Welfare Queen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be selective. I don't tip just because someone gives me the opportunity in a self-serve environment. I don't go to concerts or sporting events because the prices for admission are way disproportionate to the entertainment value. Travel can be done in ways which need not break the bank, but you need flexibility. You can have a perfectly satisfactory lifestyle while exercising good judgment with regard to which expenses provide good value and make sense, while turning away from money grabs which don't provide a good value.

+1 We really cut back during the pandemic because things were closed and also inflation spiked.

We don't go to concerts or professional sporting events anymore either because the cost isn't worth the enjoyment. Travel carefully planned in advance can be done in more affordable ways. But yes you need flexibility with travel dates, locations, types of accommodations, and maybe a couple nice dinners out but not every meal $500+.

I've been trying to be more mindful of how I spend my money the last few years. It's still worth it to me to spend on the occasional meal out, but I'm more selective. It's really easy to mindlessly blow $400 for our family of five on grabbing food or ok-but-not-amazing activities in one weekend. We're trying to avoid that because I don't find much joy in going to some average restaurant just because we're out and about and hungry. We pack snacks and sometimes lunch or dinner so we don't get stuck having to pay $85 for lunch at a mediocre fast casual place.

Some fun things we do are meeting friends at a park for a picnic while the kids run around, meeting up at someone's house for a potluck, bike rides with friends, taking the kids to a free bike park, and of course just having people over to the house. If we go to a playground then we pack snacks.

We also do a mix of kid activities. Each kid gets one activity that costs more money, then another 1-2 inexpensive activities like scouts.

We're in good financial shape, but the stress of spending so much money takes away the enjoyment for me.

[Anonymous]

Maybe we should barter skills to avoid paying tax. Is there any such groups?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you going to just swim through your gold coins like Scrooge Mcduck?

I mean, I get it, prices are very inflated. But making yourself into a miser as a one person protest isn’t going to change that. It’s just going to isolate you, make you grumpy and cause you to miss out on cool things in the prime of your life.

Not really.

The anticonsumption thread on Reddit shows a lot of people are buying less. Trump is really effing up because spendy people will change their behavior for good.

I feel that way already. I used to shop online for fun - for many years! I haven't bought a single piece of clothing/makeup/shoes in 3 months. We used to go out for meals multiple times a week - now we go out once, and it's a cheaper place. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, and it isn't, but I honestly haven't done that since college years ago. And I don't miss it at all. I was spending to indiscriminantly, and I'm not less happy now. I can't imagine I will go back to how I was, ever. I will go back to spending on travel, but I'm not doing that now!

[Anonymous]

Our daycare just announced a 15% price increase! It’s unsustainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we should barter skills to avoid paying tax. Is there any such groups?

This is how it used to be. Neighbors helping neighbors, keep the taxman out of it. I don't know of any formal barter networks but that's a good idea.

I personally keep the taxman out by using the library, shaing and using hand-me-down clothes, toys and equipment. And buying used whever possible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare just announced a 15% price increase! It’s unsustainable.

Today? Wow, seems like they could have waited a little while. We ended aftercare because I was part of the federal RIFs. They said multiple families have quit for that reason. Between trickle down effects from that and the tariffs, it is going to be tough in DC for a while.