Nickel and dimed everywhere these days

[Anonymous]

I get it. I feel like everyone has a hand out these days. I am done tipping at counter service restaurants, for one - I don’t even feel bad about pressing No, especially when I get attitude or slow service which is the norm at such places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

Can you seriously not find any "fun activities" that are free or cheap in your area?
I live in a very beautiful area. We don't belong to a gym, because we prefer to walk and be outside with nature. Within a 30-45 min drive, I can get to 25+ awesome hikes of varying levels. We have friends over to our home and just "be together" and enjoy each other's company. Typically we cook (and wine, there is always win) and make a day of it. So beyond the cost of food and drinks (which we were having anyhow if it was just the 2 of us---everyone brings ingredients for their dishes and we cook at home), it's free fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is false, sorry. Horses are so, so fun. So is being next to the ocean. Lakes are icky.

+1

Yes, if you cannot afford a trip, then it's not fun. But if you have a good budget, are saving well for retirement and college and other necessities, if a 10 day trip to Hawaii and staying in a luxury hotel is your thing, then go for it. I can say it is definitely worth it for me. But if you don't want to spend that much---still go, rent a condo (Without an ocean view to save more money) and still enjoy all Hawaii has to offer ($800/night for a room versus $250-300 plus you have a kitchen). Iv'e done it both ways many times, and both are great. But there is nothing quite like a luxury hotel on the water in Hawaii, where you are pampered all day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the "middle class". We pay either the true price or inflated price for everything.

That's not middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is false, sorry. Horses are so, so fun. So is being next to the ocean. Lakes are icky.

+1

Yes, if you cannot afford a trip, then it's not fun. But if you have a good budget, are saving well for retirement and college and other necessities, if a 10 day trip to Hawaii and staying in a luxury hotel is your thing, then go for it. I can say it is definitely worth it for me. But if you don't want to spend that much---still go, rent a condo (Without an ocean view to save more money) and still enjoy all Hawaii has to offer ($800/night for a room versus $250-300 plus you have a kitchen). Iv'e done it both ways many times, and both are great. But there is nothing quite like a luxury hotel on the water in Hawaii, where you are pampered all day

I agree that some vacations are simply better. The key is to consciously choose where you want to spend your money. We just went to Europe over Winter break and spent a fortune, but it was worth it. We stayed in a nice mix of luxury and mid-tier places. But I won't spend money on designer handbags or pro football games. Those just aren't worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is false, sorry. Horses are so, so fun. So is being next to the ocean. Lakes are icky.

+1

Yes, if you cannot afford a trip, then it's not fun. But if you have a good budget, are saving well for retirement and college and other necessities, if a 10 day trip to Hawaii and staying in a luxury hotel is your thing, then go for it. I can say it is definitely worth it for me. But if you don't want to spend that much---still go, rent a condo (Without an ocean view to save more money) and still enjoy all Hawaii has to offer ($800/night for a room versus $250-300 plus you have a kitchen). Iv'e done it both ways many times, and both are great. But there is nothing quite like a luxury hotel on the water in Hawaii, where you are pampered all day

I agree that some vacations are simply better. The key is to consciously choose where you want to spend your money. We just went to Europe over Winter break and spent a fortune, but it was worth it. We stayed in a nice mix of luxury and mid-tier places. But I won't spend money on designer handbags or pro football games. Those just aren't worth it to me.

Exactly! You have to pick what you spend on. We spend on professional sports--Hockey, we have great seats ($350/seat/per game). For us it's worth it. We love going and it's so much fun. But we can afford it and it brings up pleasure. We also attend NBA games, MLB and NFL games (just don't have season tickets to those). But I'm with you on the handbags---not my thing. But I get if someone gets great pleasure from owning a $2K whatever purse, then go for it. I'd rather spend on trips to Europe or the beach

[Anonymous]

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.

What’s the modern day word for a large group of food? Eggs yesterday were $8. They were never higher.

[Anonymous]

I'm convinced that Trump meant "sundries," which he had heard in some meeting or other, but is too demented to remember the word.

[Anonymous]

we are a two income family and law over 7 figures and this is nothing new. I’ve always had the mindset that I hate being ripped off so i don’t.buy crap that’s not worth it. Our 4k\mo mortgage is our biggest monthly expense and then we spend another 8k on the rest of life. We burn though about 10% of our gross income a year. Not hoarding money, but investing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm convinced that Trump meant "sundries," which he had heard in some meeting or other, but is too demented to remember the word.

Or he's an out of touch idiot who has never bought "groceries" in his life.

I don't know why, but out of all the many, many stupid things he says this one sticks with me.

[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.

Posts like your point out how addicted we are to stuff. A person is talking about cutting back and you have turned them into a cave dwelling anti social odd ball. You're the crazy one here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get it. I feel like everyone has a hand out these days. I am done tipping at counter service restaurants, for one - I don’t even feel bad about pressing No, especially when I get attitude or slow service which is the norm at such places.

A local Jersey Mikes is the worst for this. They are actually hostile if you don't tip. Neither I nor my family have eaten there in almost a decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Frugality is liberating. It speeds up your path to financial independence, it allows you to unchain yourself from consumerism, and to spend more time on productive activities that are free or cheap.

Not one mention of fun anywhere in there.

Totally subjective on what that is. I really hate concerts and only go when someone drags me along, I wouldn’t even go for free otherwise. The fact they can cost hundreds is an even better reason not to go.

Meanwhile I can have a blast playing a video game that came out 15 years ago, watching a movie at home, working out, or hiking a few hours.

It must suck to be the kind of person who can only find amusement by spending $$$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get it. I feel like everyone has a hand out these days. I am done tipping at counter service restaurants, for one - I don’t even feel bad about pressing No, especially when I get attitude or slow service which is the norm at such places.

A local Jersey Mikes is the worst for this. They are actually hostile if you don't tip. Neither I nor my family have eaten there in almost a decade.

Tipping is out of control. I tip for a restaurant (18-20%), and for take out/fastfood I pick up (10-12%)

But now a local specialty grocery store (in a massive tourist area---I live 4 blocks away and frequent it) asks for a tip at checkout, and often the damn machine won't respond to the pen so you have to ask for help to not tip. But I refuse to tip, as it's literally their damn job. They are not doing anything special.
same for the local loose leaf tea shop. I'm not tipping for you to put 2-4 oz of each type of tea into a bag. That's literally what the shop does. Minimum wage is $20+ and you are just doing your job.

[Anonymous]

The biggest problem is that every single media outlet is becoming subscriber based. I get that media is expensive to run but it used to be you could read a paper left on a train or watch the evening news and feel fairly well informed. But now, unless you subscribe to a bunch of places, you can't get decent information. I strongly believe this has contributed to where we are today and if I were a wealthy influencer, I'd buy a website and have no paywall.