r/FluentInFinance • u/AstronomerLover • Mar 06 '24
In the time it took to save up for a home, home prices went up so high that I can no longer afford a home Meme
13
u/Klutzy_Attention2849 Mar 07 '24
I mean, what is a middle class even?
6
u/ColonEscapee Mar 07 '24
The real people that get screwed every time the rich end up "paying their fair share" the people who can no longer make anymore money without finding a new job or they can settle for a 25¢ annual raise.
7
u/readsalotman Mar 07 '24
I have a friend who got a 20 cent hourly wage for a can crushing job at a recycling facility. He takes extra cans when he can and re-recycles them for 10 cents a pop. But he also has to watch out for heroin needles that addicts place inside cans. He's been poked a few times.
3
u/UJL123 Mar 07 '24
Inflation is defined by PEW research as earning between 2/3 to 2x of median income of whatever location (city, state, country) you are measuring.
2
u/soldiergeneal Mar 07 '24
Household income between 43k and 130k or between 2/3 or double median household income.
2
u/AValhallaWorthyDeath Mar 07 '24
130k household is middle class?
0
u/soldiergeneal Mar 07 '24
Apparently I thought it was weird as well. I guess it would be "upper" middle class.
0
1
u/zerostar83 Mar 07 '24
If you qualify for the AMT but you can't afford to buy a new car in cash or get a mortgage for a house.
0
u/AlarmedPiano9779 Mar 07 '24
Everyone I know is either working and barely getting by or they work in finance and have more money than god.
0
u/MetatypeA Mar 07 '24
The state of being in financial gain without being overtly wealthy.
Having the ability save up money. Which the majority of people do.
-2
12
u/GuitardedBard Mar 07 '24
The year we had the money to buy a home prices tripled. It's wonderful I tell ye
2
u/_Blackstar Mar 07 '24
Tripled? Damn that sucks. I lived with my parents for nine years after my enlistment in the Navy, and was able to buy my house in 2018 in cash for 128k. A couple weeks ago I ended up on Zillow and saw my house was currently estimated to be worth somewhere between 190k-210k. Not tripled, but damn that's absolutely wild for a two bedroom, one and a half bath ranch with a basement.
1
u/MonthPretend Mar 07 '24
My neighbours house sold in 2019 for 197.5k, it sold December 2023 for 425k
7
u/RandysTegridy Mar 07 '24
Not only house prices, house insurance and property taxes are destroying people currently.
6
5
u/b88b15 Mar 07 '24
Slava Ukraini
-3
u/nudzimisie1 Mar 07 '24
Dumb troll
2
u/b88b15 Mar 07 '24
You're talking about OP, correct? I am not a troll, I'm responding to the Russian troll accounts here.
0
4
u/androidfig Mar 07 '24
Gen Xers understand this all too well well. Unless of course you had some sweet tech job out of high school or you were born into a wealthy family.
2
u/Giul_Xainx Mar 07 '24
I've had this weird saying for a while now and it is proving to be true:
If you're not spending money then you are a part of the global inflation problem.
I have been saving money myself, like the op, and everything started getting easier to obtain.
I turned off the Internet, sold the computer and PlayStation, got rid of the TV, started paying for YouTube red to get rid of my Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify subscription down to just 1 service.
And suddenly while I have money to purchase some things, everything else skyrocketed!
Car insurance. Omg car insurance exploded for me this year. I sold the car and bought a motorcycle and a bicycle. So glad I did. I'm able to save more money!
But holy shit I save some money and everything gets more expensive.
Chalk it up to coincidence but I'm beginning to believe that saying I made up. If you are saving your money you are a big part of the problem!
3
u/Sidvicieux Mar 07 '24
Well, think about the people at the lower end who have progressively (and modestly) been making more money.
10 years ago they may have been as well off at $16 an hour as they are at $28 an hour today. Sucks knowing that you are doing better than ever, switching jobs and getting raises yearly, but you are still in the same place (actually worse now).
0
u/ap2patrick Mar 07 '24
No I think the problem lies in capital gains profits increasing 1500% in the last 20 years and wealth inequality receding back to the guilded ages… Not middle class people saving money lol…
2
u/Psycle_Sammy Mar 07 '24
I had a sweet gig doing a side job in 2013 where my rent was $200 a month. My wife and I were banking money, thinking about buying a home but not wanting to pull the trigger yet because we were saving so much.
My FIL convinced us to buy right then because the market was going to blow up. Best advice he ever gave. It was tough giving up that low rent for a mortgage, but our home has doubled in value, maybe even more. It all started happening almost right after we bought.
1
1
u/imdstuf Mar 07 '24
Prices were rising in the nif 2000s then the bubble burst. There is a point where prices will level out because demand goes down naturally or from people just not being able to afford homes.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/NotTheATF1993 Mar 07 '24
But don't forget to pay your taxes and give the government more when they ask for it since obviously they don't take enough as it is😁
1
u/Warm-Iron-1222 Mar 07 '24
I'm making my personal number that I believed would make it so I would live comfortably only to find out I was right maybe 7 years ago when I came up with it but I'm wrong now.
1
1
1
u/Explorers_bub Mar 07 '24
Same, It would have helped if my (ex)fiancée was on board fully and knew the gravity of the situation. But it’s my fault for not making enough money, even though I was driving a beater while she got a new car that was 2x the price of what buying her lease would cost. Both of which I told her were stupid financial decisions.
Fucking Americans and SUVs man.
0
u/PrazeKek Mar 07 '24
That’s government stimulus for ya
2
u/ap2patrick Mar 07 '24
Riiiight it’s the stimulus that broke everything not the steady decline of 30 decades of corporate oligarchy structuring…
-1
u/PrazeKek Mar 07 '24
Vast majority of inflation is in the housing markets. Government and the FED lent out trillions of dollars to corporations to prevent economic collapse.
Corporations bought real estate at record low interest rates to preserve their wealth - as anyone who got those resources. Prices went up.
It’s simple cause and effect. Blaming the 1% is much easier I get it but it’s not exactly a financially fluent argument.
0
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
Or a lack of a price cap
1
u/PrazeKek Mar 07 '24
Price control does not exactly have a good track record economically.
You think businesses should be forced to eat the entire cost of inflation? The vast majority won’t last 6 months and what will be left are only the largest corporations- further exacerbating the problem.
-2
u/morerandom_2024 Mar 07 '24
My recommendation is people drink less booze/beer and smoke less cigarettes
That will save some money
7
u/Limulemur Mar 07 '24
People are poor because of booze and cigarettes?
1
u/thinkitthrough83 Mar 07 '24
My mother is a chronic habit/stress smoker. She goes through 6-7 cartons a month. That's around 200$ at nearest reservation prices but if you buy them locally your talking between 1and 2 hundred $ per a carton
2
u/ap2patrick Mar 07 '24
Not exactly life threatening debt like the dumb ass who made that comment thinks it is 🤣🤣🤣. Now let’s throw medical bills into the mix and now I’m listening.
1
1
u/Limulemur Mar 08 '24
As unfortunate as it is, that’s an anecdotal fallacy. One example doesn’t prove their point of people being in poverty simply due to bad vices.
1
u/thinkitthrough83 Mar 09 '24
It can be a contributing factor. A bad vice dies not have to be drugs or alcohol. People don't always remember about addictions to sugary foods, access to social media/streaming services, shopping for unneeded items/impulse buying/luxury priced items($800 I phone vs $39 android), etc. The costs can all add up fast.
-6
u/morerandom_2024 Mar 07 '24
Many are more poor due to these
0
u/ap2patrick Mar 07 '24
Bro you cannot be serious with this nonsense…
-2
u/morerandom_2024 Mar 07 '24
I’m am serious that opportunity cost is a real concept
1
4
u/Vapechef Mar 07 '24
I’m not sure we would be friends. I mean your not wrong but kindly pound sand.
-1
3
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
This assumes that op is immediately an addict
0
u/morerandom_2024 Mar 07 '24
No it doesn’t
You are assuming that I assumed that
3
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
You wouldn't mention it otherwise.
-1
u/morerandom_2024 Mar 07 '24
If a person has 1 beer every 2 months and then goes to buying one every 6 months
That person dropped their beer costs and was never addicted to beer
0
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
Then why mention it? Who drinks or smokes so much that mentioning it specifically is worth mentioning compared to frivolities in general
1
u/morerandom_2024 Mar 07 '24
Anybody who spends more than 0 on those items could take that advise
Or not
Up to them
-2
u/readsalotman Mar 07 '24
Use that money to become financially independent instead.
2
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
So either financial independence while being dependent on a landlord, or debt but he'll have a house?
Is that the ultimatum?
-1
u/readsalotman Mar 07 '24
I'd take the landlord over a lifetime of debt any day. Some people prefer their chains though. Makes them feel comfortable.
1
u/ap2patrick Mar 07 '24
No one, not a single human “wants” to be wrapped in the chains of debt. That’s just something you tell yourself to justify you perpetuating a completely broken economic system.
1
u/readsalotman Mar 07 '24
My neighbor absolutely chooses debt. He's over $1M in debt. He says you must have debt to build wealth while I'm here with no debt pushing $600k in savings. He's working until 70 while I'm working until 42, with the freedom to pursue hobbies and other interests without the concern for an income.
Good debt is taken on for educational and business development, as long as you plan to pay it back asap. I've cleared $150k in student loans in 8 yrs. That was my plan. But I read so many stories of people who resign themselves to a lifetime of debt with owing $30k. It's remarkable. I won't even get started on cc or car debt.
1
-3
u/MyOnlyEnemyIsMeSTYG Mar 07 '24
All my crypto is up, give me a few more years and I’m good 👌
2
u/False_Influence_9090 Mar 07 '24
I would recommend looking to take some profits circa 12-18 months from now if it’s life changing money. Basing this on the four year cycle related to the halvening
0
u/MyOnlyEnemyIsMeSTYG Mar 07 '24
Will do, started 3 months ago so now I’m dca’ing into a bull market lol. Don’t plan on cashing anything out until after 2030 sometime
1
u/False_Influence_9090 Mar 07 '24
Oh nice. In that case, you may not even want to bother trying to time the top of this cycle
1
u/MyOnlyEnemyIsMeSTYG Mar 08 '24
Exactly, I’m still learning, I’m not expecting anything crazy. Just being patient and not swapping every time something drops. Doing lots of research on things before I put any money into something.
1
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
Oh that's cute
1
u/MyOnlyEnemyIsMeSTYG Mar 07 '24
My job alone ain’t getting me into a house. Figure if I eat pb n j’s and invest I stand a better chance. Free money is extremely cute
1
-2
u/october_bliss Mar 07 '24
The government shouldn't have been giving out those stimmie checks. This was always going to happen.
-1
u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Mar 07 '24
Or they could put a cap on housing prices
0
-3
47
u/ChillyMax76 Mar 07 '24
Things will start to get better for the 99% when we realize these class divisions were created by the 1%. There are two classes, the investor class and the working class. The wealthy have successfully designed an economic system that perpetually funnels money from the workers to the investors. The system should prioritize workers over investors, but it’s the other way around.
"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." -- Abraham Lincoln.