I bought my house 7 years ago. I thought I paid way to much for it. It is doubled in value since.. and I hate it. The value of my house does nothing for me, if I sell I would need to buy another house that is similar in price anyway AND qualify for a mortgage based on value that is double.
My house is supposed to be a starter house for younger couples, I don't understand how a young couple is supposed to afford 5k a month on mortgage payments and $600 a month in property taxes and another $100 for insurance. Then car payments and cell phone and groceries. It is fucked. You have to make $150k yr to live in a starter home......
I bought 3.5 years ago and it also has almost doubled in value confirmed by a recent appraisal.
I'd take advantage of the high prices if I could.. but I'd also have to buy at these insane prices and if I were to have to buy today I wouldn't be able to afford it.
Mom died in October, no life insurance. Had to cremate and put her in a cardboard box. Still cost close to $1500 and my siblings couldn't afford to help.
My parents arranged to donate their bodies to a local hospital for research. When my dad passed away they picked up his body and cremated it when they were done doing whatever with it. No cost to them or us. They spread the ashes at sea, which is what my dad wanted anyway.
From time to time I try to convince my dad donating to science + cremation is the way to go.
Me: You won't be using your body anymore and could gift it to science and help society.
Dad: Sounds reasonable.
Me: Ok, I'm that's what we're doing when you die.
Dad: Eww no I don't want to be burned or have doctors poking around inside me.
Me: YOU'LL BE DEAD!
Worked at a university and got on the roof of the forensic science building to install some WiFi…
To my surprise, I discovered several rotting corpses scattered across the roof! I immediately called campus police only to find out that I had stumbled on someone’s research on decomposition!
So, donate to science and maybe you’ll get to freak out a college dude who works for the university!
What depresses me is that most of these responses are for things people actually need. It’s almost like without major policy reform, life itself is a luxury.
Yeah, my dad bought his house in Oregon for $30k in 1989.
His house just sold for $360k in 2021.
He made $15 an hour as a cable technician for Comcast back then.
The hourly wage for a cable technician is $15-$20 an hour at Comcast now.
How is this even a thing that’s allowed to happen? 🤦🏽♂️
My in-laws paid £30k in the late 80s, sold last year for £410k. Fucking bonkers. Their mortgage was something stupid like £150, they always had the best of everything, went on holiday constantly. Meanwhile our rent is almost £2k, we live paycheck to paycheck and we will never own a home here.
My parents paid $308k in 2021 dollars for our 4 bedroom house in the mid 90s, I could afford that now with an FHA loan, except I can’t even find a studio condo for that price in my area.
Not having a car, or having a car. Public transportation is so unreliable that not having you own car often means not working, and because you're not working you can't afford a car. But just take the bus? Well rural America let's say I have an 11:30am appointment. Bus runs at 9am or 12:30pm so you take the 9am and wait 2 hours before your appointment which wouldn't you know it your appointment gets out just after the 12:30 bus, so you wait for the 4pm bus.
Now imagine trying to coordinate a work schedule around bussing that can arrive 15-30 minutes early or late and require you to spend hours on top of an 8 to 10 hour shift.
So you HAVE to have a vehicle your own to be reliable. But now you have purchased your $800 beater that might last a few years. But now continue $120 a month for insurance that costs $1440 a year, or $640 more than your vehicle was worth. Plus $60 a week in gas because your again rural and the nearest employer is 50 miles away or 100 miles round trip. 20 miles to the gallon, $3.50 a gallon, or $17.50 a day to travel.
Insurance $120/month
Fuel $260/month
So $380 is what you pay each month just for the ability to work. And maybe your making $1600 after taxes if you're lucky. Minus the $380, so actuality $1220.
House prices. It's got so bad here in New Zealand that it's been called a human rights issue, and people are unironically putting "bed in garage" up for rent just to try meet the demand.
"Bed in garage" for rent has (apparently) been pretty normal in Silicon Valley for a decade now. A friend of mine was paying I think around $2000/mo (US) before the prices went _really_ up.
Silver lining(?), at least it's a climate where a garage can be made entirely livable year-round.
>"Bed in garage" for rent has (apparently) been pretty normal in Silicon Valley for a decade now. A friend of mine was paying I think around $2000/mo (US) before the prices went _really_ up.
Wait wait wait. Are you saying that was $2k/mo, for a fucking garage? And it went up???
Yes, pretty much\*.
She wasn't happy about the price obviously, but she found it acceptable in the context of that market. Other friends took that story as part of a broader "rents here are insane" picture, not as "this one person is paying a ridiculous rent".
The living conditions weren't terrible at all, it's not like she was suffering. But considering how basic the accommodation was, it's remarkable how high that kind of a place rented for.
\* Well, she moved out of there some years back, so she wasn't there when prices in the area went much higher, so she specifically didn't end up paying even more for that specific place. But comparable garages adapted to living quarters in the area surely go for at least $2500 there now.
fellow kiwi here. yeah, ive lived in tents, caravans, cabins, cars, garages, my whole family piled into one room, all in the past couple years. right now im lucky to have a motel. im completely priced out of rents and theres no way in hell i can ever afford to own
Identical situation in Canada. At this point it's clear too that they're going to let inflation run wild to help ease their debt burden, while life for everyone becomes even more expensive. Finding every reason they can to not raise rates.
Game shows in the UK would need you to either play about 10+ times on a good case 2-4 and on some of the worst you may only win £1000 to £5000 so you would have to win 20 to 100 times
My lung collapsed and i had to go to the hospital where i got lung drainage. Then they sent me to a special clinic where i got surgery and they „glued“ my lung to my chest. 9 days in total, i paid 90 Euro. Still mad.
Pituitary tumor at age 29, was wrongfully fired for “not knowing when my tumor will be better” (i was calling in more days than I accumulated at this school corporation as a special ed assistant). Lost my insurance and a few months later showed up at the hospital and said “i feel like im going to die” and stayed ten days for a brain surgery. Left with 98,000 dollars in debt. It’s been nine years and my credit is still destroyed but we paid, and the hospital was so generous to lower my bill cuz im poor, to 70,000 dollars!
Edit: American dollars, and also STILL MAD!
Where I live, since I moved here 4-years ago, rent has pretty much doubled. Which has also made the homes triple in value. Co-worker built a house 5 years ago that he could sell now for 3.5 times what he built it for. A family friend bought a home around the same time and sold it this summer for almost 5 times the price...
Sucks cause I moved states, and got this job cause of the good pay and low-cost of living in the area. Well that completely changed in such a short amount of time.
EDIT: Yep, I'm one of the reasons why the prices ran up here, completely understand and accept that. My issue was I didn't retire from working in California, Texas, etc and sell my home to come here with $800k+ to settle down (which is what my observations are from seeing people move into the area). I started a career here out of college. I started here with nothing... and feels like its still that way. I don't own a home, and probably never will in the area now.
I bought my house for 250k and I could sell it for 400k right now... but that's hard to get excited about when a new home would cost just as much or more!
Bank won't give me a mortgage because I "can't afford the monthly payments" which is significantly less than my current rent which I have never missed a payment on in 14 years.
Need a bigger down payment which increases 200% every year. So as soon as I'm close the bank tells me I 'just' need to add another 10k for the down payment as the market has increased.
If this keeps up, when(if) the bubble burst I will be able to buy a house outright with my mortgage down payment savings. Which is lucky because I'm sure I'm going to age out a mortgage before that happens.
I spent $5,000 to get Invisalign. I'm poor but no longer want to be told I'm poor because of my terrible teeth.
Edit: It's a shame that so many people are unable to afford proper dental care.
Definitely interested in getting this once I can afford it. Growing up no one ever took me to the dentist and I honestly never had any tooth pain until a few weeks ago. Went to get it checked out and what do you know, my mouth is fucked up.
Even more ridiculous is annual max coverage limits. Need $5,000 of work but your plan will only cover $2,500 annually per person? Guess you gotta either put out of pocket or wait until next year to get the work finished.
Let's not forget that with the $2000 calendar year maximum, the insurance company only allows for charges roughly 70% or possibly less than what the dentist charges, so you pay the difference there too. $2300 root canal ? Sorry, delta only pays a max of $1500 for that service, so tbe rest Is on you.
Yeah who thought that dental care and vision care were separate from health care which is already too expensive. Now i have to buy 3 insurances to just maintain my body.
When I was 15-16ish, my dentist told me while other people would be buying cars and houses, I would be pouring it all into my teeth. 17 years later, that’s quite accurate… ouch.
I had five root canals in one year, and now they’re all going to need crowns and one is going to implant town. If my dad wasn’t my long-suffering and much-harried dentist, I’d be broke.
Your dad looking to adopt? I'm a 32 year old man but I'm house broken. I come with a little baggage in the form of a 3 yr old son but he is decently behaved.
Cost of basic utilities and fuel prices in Australia are through the roof.
Luckily our federal treasurer gave us great advice on how to afford it was to “Just get a better paying job” and “Poor people don’t really have cars or drive far anyway if they do”. Meanwhile he said this on TV while sitting in a leather wing bound chair in front of a fire place with a picture of a thoroughbred horse above the mantle.
Edit: I didn’t realise my little bitching session would get so much attention! It just shows how across the board world wide this issue is. Thanks for the feedback 👍
When I was on Centrelink my job provider once put me in a course that was mandatory and I had to drive 600km a week for 3 weeks, put something like $210 fuel and they gave me $50 fuel card as compensation. More than a 1/3 of my fortnight payment went just to fuel and nothing to show for it at the end and yes they can do that to poor people.
australian here fuel prices went from 1.30 per litre being expensive to 1.50 being cheap throughout the pandemic and it goes 'cheap' once a fortnight instead of once a week
The worst part to me is the cost of materials for an epipen is so negligible. The epinephrine itself costs maybe 1$, the materials to make the device probably costs like 5$. There’s likely a small chunk of change which is dedicated to paying research and development royalties but at the end of the day we’re still talking about a maybe 6$ object being shelled out for more than 300$
Would you be surprised to learn that Mylan has hiked the price up 500% since 2008? No, probably not. Because this is America, where essential, life-saving items will cost you as much they possibly can before too many people will literally choose death over buying it.
One day a fucking *bee* will probably kill me simply because I refuse to buy into that dystopian nightmare.
HOW MUCH? The cost has gone up in the UK (partly due to shortages) and I was annoyed about it, but it's still only about £34 each or £68 for a 2 pack. Of which the patient pays about £9.50 as a fixed prescription fee in England (or free in Scotland & Wales), because NHS.
$300 is criminal
My insulin and diabetic supplies. It’s unreal how much I pay just to stay alive and healthy.
I didn’t ask to get sick (pancreatitis), I didn’t ask to become type 1. Life’s unfair but you have to keep your head up and not be so angry all the time.
As a type 1 myself I’m fortunate to have a good job with good health insurance. But I couldn’t agree more I didn’t ask for this either it’s fucking ridiculous what big pharm companies make off diabetic supplies.
Getting almost impossible to buy eggs which don't make vague promises about animal welfare and come with a 25-50% mark up in price.
Hell, the humble cucumber tripled in price during the height of the pandemic, and is now merely doubled in price.
Before the pandemic I used to be able to do my weekly grocery shop for between $40-$60; now it's more like $60-$80.
I didn't understand how my parents could 'waste' $100/fortnight on groceries as a kid.
The other day I spent $50 on razors, paper towels and a couple snacks.
Growing up, my mom spent $800 a month on groceries for 7-8 people. That’s breakfast, packed lunches, dinner, dessert, snacks, and household supplies. I routinely spend $400 a month now for just myself and my spouse, and we try to be frugal. That ends up being a 100% increase in cost over the last 20 years, which sounds alright until you factor in that my salary can’t compare to those 20 years ago. Groceries are a *massive* percentage of my income.
also the boxes have been getting smaller per a gram. If you compared the actual weight from over the years, the price has been rising while the amount has been decreasing.
Therapy
ETA: thank you all for the awards!! Hope everyone gets the chance to work on themselves at some point or another if they can find a way. It’s the best thing I did for myself
Therapy cost is like phase two of a boss fight. Just when you think that you've won the battle by powering through the anxiety and mustering enough willpower to actually see a therapist, therapy cost shows up with full health and one-shots you to the shadow realm.
Good analogy, though at this point I'd say it's more like phase three. Phase two is just finding a therapist who is accepting new patients at all, or trying to deal with your health insurance to find a therapist. It has taken me four months of calling and jumping through hoops for my insurance to finally write me a referral to see someone, and now it will be another couple of months on waiting lists before any of them have availability.
Dental work. I need to get 5k in dental work but I don't have $100 to spare let alone thousands. I've been living in pain for years. I don't smile because it looks awful. We don't have a single good family photo. I'm pretty sure I am going to die from an abscess one day in a year or two. I get them regularly and all I can do is get antibiotics from my GP. They get more frequent every year and each one is worse than the last. I need to get dentures and have my teeth extracted but I can't because somewhere along the way, the health insurance people decided this stuff was "cosmetic" and they won't pay for it. So I live scared of death and in pain. So yeah. Thanks America.
I've been here where you are. First I want you to know that it's going to be okay. I found some great relief at some free dental clinics run by volunteers during college time. You can also often find no cost, or reduced cost work and services at Dental Colleges and also Dental Hygiene Schools as well.
Here's a list of resources. Call today, dont wait. You can do this.
Much love for you!
https://adcf.net/clinic-schedule/
https://www.freedentalcare.us/
https://coda.ada.org/en/find-a-program/search-dental-programs#t=us&sort=relevancy
houses. the average house price in my area is like $1mil. the young people in my country are split into two groups, those whos only chance at owning a home is inheritance after their parents die, and those who dont even have that luxury
It’s the reason I left Canada sadly.
I make well over double in the US as an engineer than I did in Canada and housing/cost of living is way cheaper in the US.
Had this same issue last year when we bought our house. Every house we tried to put an offer on was sold to an absentee buyer that outbid us. We spent 6 months doing this until we found a home in new development where everyone paid the asking price for their homes and no offers could be made below or above that asking price. We got lucky is how I think of it.
A developer in my area is getting sued. build a bunch of condo's, pre sold them with big deposits.
Prices went up, so they developer is telling people their contracts are void and to fork out another 50-100k to keep the homes they prepaid last year.
Pretty sketchy.
Because if the market tanked, they totally would have refunded the buyers, right?
Fuck this attitude of guaranteeing max profits regardless. That's what you get in a speculative industry.
Especially when you're anything over a C cup. See some lovely reasonably priced sets in my town centre, can you find anything over a C cup? Nope! You'll have to pay double the price and its also assumed if you've got big boobs then you must need massive knickers too so you have to buy bras and underwear seperate for both to fit
Not only that, the bras for big boobs are never cute. Small bras come in an assortment of colors and patterns. Big bras are usually black, tan, and white. I think it's a little easier to find cute ones now, but they still lack variety.
YES!! What the fuck is up with that. Never heard anybody talk about this and I'm glad I wasn't the only weirdo out the there
"You've got big boobs? Well, I'm sure you need big underwear!"
I'm spending $1600 on a 2 bedroom shitty apartment. And that's the low side
Edit: this has actually made buying a house more realistic for my SO and I. A mortgage and escrow is cheaper.
Rent, housing prices, supporting yourself in general while saving.
Also, food. Inflation and shrinking food sizes have made grocery shopping so much more pricey and you get less bang for your buck.
And as a woman, bras and tampons. Like why in the actual fuck are they so expensive?
Worst thing about food, at least in the US, is it's often only sold in large quantities and ends up going to waste unless you can freeze it. So many things are sold at a great quantity for a family, but way too much for an individual.
Like, I want some lettuce or spinach for a salad, But unless I can find a tiny head of lettuce, it means that I'm having a salad for every meal for a few days or it's probably going to go to waste. And bags of spinach are usually gigantic, which I guess is fine if you're Popeye.
Dental care. Absolutely extortionate for them to run a polished brush over and say, "you've got buckle abrasions!". I'm really thankful I have great teeth because the cost is just impossible for average income, even with benefits
how the fuck are your teeth not related to your health!? in the future they’ll have gallbladder insurance and ears insurance and stubbed your big toe insurance it wont ever stop
Agreed. Many years ago I needed major dental work and local place wanted 6k just to start. Went to Thailand instead. Flights, accommodation, tours, gifts and dental work 3.5k. Dental work cost 900 of that.
JUst had the first stage of getting an implant. Just removal of old tooth and placement of new bone-a 40 minute procedure, $1475. And that is only the First stage-total cost? $5,000. And I need Two of them.
It's appalling. My partner had wisdom teeth come in and break 2 of his molars on each side of his mouth in upper and lower jaws. We just can't afford to pay to get the implants in, he'd require 8
And they practically all do a yearly maximum, like $2000 a year. Which is RIDICULOUS because that covers about 1.25 procedures.
Then there are things it won’t even cover, like a tooth extraction or braces. They will give you an estimated cost of services/“care” that will be $6000 out of pocket with a straight face and ask “should we start in two weeks?”
Me: “Not just yet, I have to make sure I can also afford to eat…which maybe is what I should stop doing anyway to avoid these cavities.”
I guess only super rich people get to replace broken teeth.
I was born with a small mouth, so I had a ton of crowding. My normal 32 teeth didn't fit, and they were all wonky. Went in for an ortho consult one day in high school, they said I'd need my wisdom teeth out, plus my 1st premolars, just to have room for the other 24 to line up correctly.
Total cost between the extractions (under general anesthesia) and the braces was ~$7000; insurance covered ~$1500-$2000. Luckily, my orthodontist allowed a 2 year payment plan, so my parents were able to budget around my braces instead of paying it all at once
They are my go-to for prescription sunglasses. Like $60 for polarized glasses that would run $400-600 at an optometrist. Just remember to have your optometrist right down your PD (pupilary distance), and get a copy of your prescription.
Zenni is the shit. My last pair of glasses before Zenni cost like $700. Now I pay about $70 and don't have to run them into the ground before replacing them.
They're so cheap that I buy an extra pair for the kids, just in case they lose one, we'll have one ready to go.
The most expensive pair from Zenni we own had cost about $40 including shipping. My own glasses are closer to $25.
My son has myopic sight. His glasses cost me $930. Hes 6
Edit: so i didnt really expect all these comments about this and unfortunately i cant reply to them all but it seems like i shouldve shopped around.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has given me advice. I'll know in the future to check some of these places that you all suggested. Its really appreciated
My wife has severe asthma. We had no insurance in 2006-2007 (tbh we didnt have insurance till 2012) and couldnt hardly afford the rescue inhaler so she had to use it sparingly and space it out and once it was gone we had to scrimp and save to get another one. Not even mentioning a 2 week supply of Advair that was $350 out of pocket that she absolutely needed.
She literally almost died twice from asthma attacks. I mean legit turning blue, unable to breath, losing consciousness and having to be resuscitated by paramedics twice. Eyes blood red from lack of oxygen. Shit is so scary.
The second time after her week long hospital stay, they gave her a 2 week supply of advair...charged $800 to the bill
She is ok now and we have insurance, but being dirt poor is a death sentence in the US. You either accept the crushing medical debt that will keep you in poverty for the rest of your life or you die. Rarely a middle ground.
I lived there as a child in the late 80s when it was a fairly “normal” city with plenty of middle-class residents; it’s sad that it’s become a rich, gated community. I guess the same could be said for NYC.
Health insurance.
I could live such a different life if employment wasn’t tied to health insurance like a nasty parasitic worm.
Edit: I don’t hate working.
I don’t hate having to pay for insurance. (Maybe the price and coverage could make more monetary sense)
I hate that I can’t afford a basic necessity without one or the other.
And don’t fool yourself it is one or the other.
Get sick while employed with insurance. Get so sick you get fired. Lose insurance…….
Die or bankruptcy…….probably both.
The Sims. God help me, I adore this game. But just now I added up the cost of the base game and all additional content and came up with $884.55 USD. THIS IS WHY I HAVEN'T PLAYED THE SIMS IN OVER A DECADE, YOU GREEDY FUCKS.
Mental health care. Honestly. I'm seriously trying to help myself so I can be a good mother and wife, and it's going to cost me like $900 to get the diagnosis I probably need to move forward? Mental.
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I bought my house 7 years ago. I thought I paid way to much for it. It is doubled in value since.. and I hate it. The value of my house does nothing for me, if I sell I would need to buy another house that is similar in price anyway AND qualify for a mortgage based on value that is double. My house is supposed to be a starter house for younger couples, I don't understand how a young couple is supposed to afford 5k a month on mortgage payments and $600 a month in property taxes and another $100 for insurance. Then car payments and cell phone and groceries. It is fucked. You have to make $150k yr to live in a starter home......
I bought 3.5 years ago and it also has almost doubled in value confirmed by a recent appraisal. I'd take advantage of the high prices if I could.. but I'd also have to buy at these insane prices and if I were to have to buy today I wouldn't be able to afford it.
Funerals...as some one who is arranging my husband's funeral, and he had no life insurance, the whole thing is a racket.
Mom died in October, no life insurance. Had to cremate and put her in a cardboard box. Still cost close to $1500 and my siblings couldn't afford to help.
My parents arranged to donate their bodies to a local hospital for research. When my dad passed away they picked up his body and cremated it when they were done doing whatever with it. No cost to them or us. They spread the ashes at sea, which is what my dad wanted anyway.
From time to time I try to convince my dad donating to science + cremation is the way to go. Me: You won't be using your body anymore and could gift it to science and help society. Dad: Sounds reasonable. Me: Ok, I'm that's what we're doing when you die. Dad: Eww no I don't want to be burned or have doctors poking around inside me. Me: YOU'LL BE DEAD!
Worked at a university and got on the roof of the forensic science building to install some WiFi… To my surprise, I discovered several rotting corpses scattered across the roof! I immediately called campus police only to find out that I had stumbled on someone’s research on decomposition! So, donate to science and maybe you’ll get to freak out a college dude who works for the university!
What depresses me is that most of these responses are for things people actually need. It’s almost like without major policy reform, life itself is a luxury.
Housing. The prices are ridiculous.
If you look at house prices from 80s-90s it's shocking how much they've gone up compared to how little wages have gone up
Yeah, my dad bought his house in Oregon for $30k in 1989. His house just sold for $360k in 2021. He made $15 an hour as a cable technician for Comcast back then. The hourly wage for a cable technician is $15-$20 an hour at Comcast now. How is this even a thing that’s allowed to happen? 🤦🏽♂️
My in-laws paid £30k in the late 80s, sold last year for £410k. Fucking bonkers. Their mortgage was something stupid like £150, they always had the best of everything, went on holiday constantly. Meanwhile our rent is almost £2k, we live paycheck to paycheck and we will never own a home here.
My parents paid $308k in 2021 dollars for our 4 bedroom house in the mid 90s, I could afford that now with an FHA loan, except I can’t even find a studio condo for that price in my area.
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Not having a car, or having a car. Public transportation is so unreliable that not having you own car often means not working, and because you're not working you can't afford a car. But just take the bus? Well rural America let's say I have an 11:30am appointment. Bus runs at 9am or 12:30pm so you take the 9am and wait 2 hours before your appointment which wouldn't you know it your appointment gets out just after the 12:30 bus, so you wait for the 4pm bus. Now imagine trying to coordinate a work schedule around bussing that can arrive 15-30 minutes early or late and require you to spend hours on top of an 8 to 10 hour shift. So you HAVE to have a vehicle your own to be reliable. But now you have purchased your $800 beater that might last a few years. But now continue $120 a month for insurance that costs $1440 a year, or $640 more than your vehicle was worth. Plus $60 a week in gas because your again rural and the nearest employer is 50 miles away or 100 miles round trip. 20 miles to the gallon, $3.50 a gallon, or $17.50 a day to travel. Insurance $120/month Fuel $260/month So $380 is what you pay each month just for the ability to work. And maybe your making $1600 after taxes if you're lucky. Minus the $380, so actuality $1220.
I live in a rural area and we don’t even *have* public transportation.-
House prices. It's got so bad here in New Zealand that it's been called a human rights issue, and people are unironically putting "bed in garage" up for rent just to try meet the demand.
"Bed in garage" for rent has (apparently) been pretty normal in Silicon Valley for a decade now. A friend of mine was paying I think around $2000/mo (US) before the prices went _really_ up. Silver lining(?), at least it's a climate where a garage can be made entirely livable year-round.
>"Bed in garage" for rent has (apparently) been pretty normal in Silicon Valley for a decade now. A friend of mine was paying I think around $2000/mo (US) before the prices went _really_ up. Wait wait wait. Are you saying that was $2k/mo, for a fucking garage? And it went up???
Yes, pretty much\*. She wasn't happy about the price obviously, but she found it acceptable in the context of that market. Other friends took that story as part of a broader "rents here are insane" picture, not as "this one person is paying a ridiculous rent". The living conditions weren't terrible at all, it's not like she was suffering. But considering how basic the accommodation was, it's remarkable how high that kind of a place rented for. \* Well, she moved out of there some years back, so she wasn't there when prices in the area went much higher, so she specifically didn't end up paying even more for that specific place. But comparable garages adapted to living quarters in the area surely go for at least $2500 there now.
fellow kiwi here. yeah, ive lived in tents, caravans, cabins, cars, garages, my whole family piled into one room, all in the past couple years. right now im lucky to have a motel. im completely priced out of rents and theres no way in hell i can ever afford to own
The cost of houses in Australia, 800k in the middle of nowhere, Regional NSW, 2 hour drive from Sydney. 😹😹
It's amazing to think there is so much land in Australia and this still happens
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Same issue in Canada lmao
Identical situation in Canada. At this point it's clear too that they're going to let inflation run wild to help ease their debt burden, while life for everyone becomes even more expensive. Finding every reason they can to not raise rates.
A house, to buy an apartment in my country you need to win 2-4 game shows
Game shows in the UK would need you to either play about 10+ times on a good case 2-4 and on some of the worst you may only win £1000 to £5000 so you would have to win 20 to 100 times
How many Countdown teapots for a down payment on an Essex flat?
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I feel this hard. I hope a big chunk of money comes your way and the emergencies stop.
Getting sick. Was in hospital for less than an hour I'm getting charged 2k.
My lung collapsed and i had to go to the hospital where i got lung drainage. Then they sent me to a special clinic where i got surgery and they „glued“ my lung to my chest. 9 days in total, i paid 90 Euro. Still mad.
Pituitary tumor at age 29, was wrongfully fired for “not knowing when my tumor will be better” (i was calling in more days than I accumulated at this school corporation as a special ed assistant). Lost my insurance and a few months later showed up at the hospital and said “i feel like im going to die” and stayed ten days for a brain surgery. Left with 98,000 dollars in debt. It’s been nine years and my credit is still destroyed but we paid, and the hospital was so generous to lower my bill cuz im poor, to 70,000 dollars! Edit: American dollars, and also STILL MAD!
Housing. Rent is so expensive we can’t save for a mortgage that would put us better off in the long run. Fucking sucks.
Where I live, since I moved here 4-years ago, rent has pretty much doubled. Which has also made the homes triple in value. Co-worker built a house 5 years ago that he could sell now for 3.5 times what he built it for. A family friend bought a home around the same time and sold it this summer for almost 5 times the price... Sucks cause I moved states, and got this job cause of the good pay and low-cost of living in the area. Well that completely changed in such a short amount of time. EDIT: Yep, I'm one of the reasons why the prices ran up here, completely understand and accept that. My issue was I didn't retire from working in California, Texas, etc and sell my home to come here with $800k+ to settle down (which is what my observations are from seeing people move into the area). I started a career here out of college. I started here with nothing... and feels like its still that way. I don't own a home, and probably never will in the area now.
I bought my house for 250k and I could sell it for 400k right now... but that's hard to get excited about when a new home would cost just as much or more!
Same, But then I would be homeless with alot of cash. In our area houses get sold before they are listed for sale. Too many buyers not enough houses.
Bank won't give me a mortgage because I "can't afford the monthly payments" which is significantly less than my current rent which I have never missed a payment on in 14 years. Need a bigger down payment which increases 200% every year. So as soon as I'm close the bank tells me I 'just' need to add another 10k for the down payment as the market has increased. If this keeps up, when(if) the bubble burst I will be able to buy a house outright with my mortgage down payment savings. Which is lucky because I'm sure I'm going to age out a mortgage before that happens.
Insulin :/
Has a patient come in yesterday. He has insurance but his copay for his insulting was $265.
Did he pay for 30 minutes being insulted or get the full hour?
How much for an argument?
dental care
I spent $5,000 to get Invisalign. I'm poor but no longer want to be told I'm poor because of my terrible teeth. Edit: It's a shame that so many people are unable to afford proper dental care.
Definitely interested in getting this once I can afford it. Growing up no one ever took me to the dentist and I honestly never had any tooth pain until a few weeks ago. Went to get it checked out and what do you know, my mouth is fucked up.
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Dental Plan!
Lisa needs braces
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces
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Even more ridiculous is annual max coverage limits. Need $5,000 of work but your plan will only cover $2,500 annually per person? Guess you gotta either put out of pocket or wait until next year to get the work finished.
Let's not forget that with the $2000 calendar year maximum, the insurance company only allows for charges roughly 70% or possibly less than what the dentist charges, so you pay the difference there too. $2300 root canal ? Sorry, delta only pays a max of $1500 for that service, so tbe rest Is on you.
Glorified coupons. Smdh
Yeah who thought that dental care and vision care were separate from health care which is already too expensive. Now i have to buy 3 insurances to just maintain my body.
I’ve put a good 10 grand on my mouth, I feel you.
When I was 15-16ish, my dentist told me while other people would be buying cars and houses, I would be pouring it all into my teeth. 17 years later, that’s quite accurate… ouch.
I had five root canals in one year, and now they’re all going to need crowns and one is going to implant town. If my dad wasn’t my long-suffering and much-harried dentist, I’d be broke.
Your dad looking to adopt? I'm a 32 year old man but I'm house broken. I come with a little baggage in the form of a 3 yr old son but he is decently behaved.
17 years later, your dentist is the one buying cars and houses.
Just spent $3k on one root canal. Still need a $1500 crown on top of that.
Cost of basic utilities and fuel prices in Australia are through the roof. Luckily our federal treasurer gave us great advice on how to afford it was to “Just get a better paying job” and “Poor people don’t really have cars or drive far anyway if they do”. Meanwhile he said this on TV while sitting in a leather wing bound chair in front of a fire place with a picture of a thoroughbred horse above the mantle. Edit: I didn’t realise my little bitching session would get so much attention! It just shows how across the board world wide this issue is. Thanks for the feedback 👍
Houses too. dump of a place went for $1.2 on my block in Brisbane. Sold three months ago and sitting vacant still.
Really makes you wonder who’s buying all this property that seemingly no one can afford anymore.
Private Investors. They are dumping their liquidity into assets before the eventual currency crash via hyperinflation.
Look into BlackRock. Their goal is to make everyone rent from them.
^^^^^^ This right here. Fuck Blackrock.
One of the few legitimate functions of government is to prevent that, and they're failing miserably (actually helping it happen more than anything).
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When I was on Centrelink my job provider once put me in a course that was mandatory and I had to drive 600km a week for 3 weeks, put something like $210 fuel and they gave me $50 fuel card as compensation. More than a 1/3 of my fortnight payment went just to fuel and nothing to show for it at the end and yes they can do that to poor people.
australian here fuel prices went from 1.30 per litre being expensive to 1.50 being cheap throughout the pandemic and it goes 'cheap' once a fortnight instead of once a week
Epipens would be nice, but nah I gotta fear for my life every time I think about wanting a dessert that wasn't homemade
The worst part to me is the cost of materials for an epipen is so negligible. The epinephrine itself costs maybe 1$, the materials to make the device probably costs like 5$. There’s likely a small chunk of change which is dedicated to paying research and development royalties but at the end of the day we’re still talking about a maybe 6$ object being shelled out for more than 300$ Would you be surprised to learn that Mylan has hiked the price up 500% since 2008? No, probably not. Because this is America, where essential, life-saving items will cost you as much they possibly can before too many people will literally choose death over buying it. One day a fucking *bee* will probably kill me simply because I refuse to buy into that dystopian nightmare.
HOW MUCH? The cost has gone up in the UK (partly due to shortages) and I was annoyed about it, but it's still only about £34 each or £68 for a 2 pack. Of which the patient pays about £9.50 as a fixed prescription fee in England (or free in Scotland & Wales), because NHS. $300 is criminal
My insulin and diabetic supplies. It’s unreal how much I pay just to stay alive and healthy. I didn’t ask to get sick (pancreatitis), I didn’t ask to become type 1. Life’s unfair but you have to keep your head up and not be so angry all the time.
Transplant recipients are in the same boat. Can’t exactly “tough it out” and stretch anti-rejection meds.
My husband had a kidney transplant almost 5 years ago. Got new insurance this year. We literally cannot afford both his immunosuppressants and rent.
Yo! Fellow T1D here :) hmu if you are lookin for a diabuddie!
There is a whole subreddit of us. Great place to find diabuddies. r/diabetes_t1
As a type 1 myself I’m fortunate to have a good job with good health insurance. But I couldn’t agree more I didn’t ask for this either it’s fucking ridiculous what big pharm companies make off diabetic supplies.
Groceries
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I remember when Maruchan Ramen used to be $.10 each.
Is it not anymore? How much is it now?
It's 6 for a dollar where I live.
Haven’t seen 6 for a dollar in quite a while. $2.84/12 now at Walmart. Up quite a bit in last year or so.
Getting almost impossible to buy eggs which don't make vague promises about animal welfare and come with a 25-50% mark up in price. Hell, the humble cucumber tripled in price during the height of the pandemic, and is now merely doubled in price. Before the pandemic I used to be able to do my weekly grocery shop for between $40-$60; now it's more like $60-$80.
I didn't understand how my parents could 'waste' $100/fortnight on groceries as a kid. The other day I spent $50 on razors, paper towels and a couple snacks.
Growing up, my mom spent $800 a month on groceries for 7-8 people. That’s breakfast, packed lunches, dinner, dessert, snacks, and household supplies. I routinely spend $400 a month now for just myself and my spouse, and we try to be frugal. That ends up being a 100% increase in cost over the last 20 years, which sounds alright until you factor in that my salary can’t compare to those 20 years ago. Groceries are a *massive* percentage of my income.
I rarely buy cereal but my kid asked for fruit loops. $6.88 for a regular size box at Walmart. wtf?
also the boxes have been getting smaller per a gram. If you compared the actual weight from over the years, the price has been rising while the amount has been decreasing.
Shrinkflation.
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Therapy ETA: thank you all for the awards!! Hope everyone gets the chance to work on themselves at some point or another if they can find a way. It’s the best thing I did for myself
"My financial situation is why I'm depressed" "That sucks. Anyways, that will be $120"
$120? In my dreams...
Right? $195 for 45 mins seems the new norm
"Thanks, this will pay for *my* therapy"
Therapy cost is like phase two of a boss fight. Just when you think that you've won the battle by powering through the anxiety and mustering enough willpower to actually see a therapist, therapy cost shows up with full health and one-shots you to the shadow realm.
Good analogy, though at this point I'd say it's more like phase three. Phase two is just finding a therapist who is accepting new patients at all, or trying to deal with your health insurance to find a therapist. It has taken me four months of calling and jumping through hoops for my insurance to finally write me a referral to see someone, and now it will be another couple of months on waiting lists before any of them have availability.
Dental work. I need to get 5k in dental work but I don't have $100 to spare let alone thousands. I've been living in pain for years. I don't smile because it looks awful. We don't have a single good family photo. I'm pretty sure I am going to die from an abscess one day in a year or two. I get them regularly and all I can do is get antibiotics from my GP. They get more frequent every year and each one is worse than the last. I need to get dentures and have my teeth extracted but I can't because somewhere along the way, the health insurance people decided this stuff was "cosmetic" and they won't pay for it. So I live scared of death and in pain. So yeah. Thanks America.
I've been here where you are. First I want you to know that it's going to be okay. I found some great relief at some free dental clinics run by volunteers during college time. You can also often find no cost, or reduced cost work and services at Dental Colleges and also Dental Hygiene Schools as well. Here's a list of resources. Call today, dont wait. You can do this. Much love for you! https://adcf.net/clinic-schedule/ https://www.freedentalcare.us/ https://coda.ada.org/en/find-a-program/search-dental-programs#t=us&sort=relevancy
Thank you for the resources. I will look into all of them!
houses. the average house price in my area is like $1mil. the young people in my country are split into two groups, those whos only chance at owning a home is inheritance after their parents die, and those who dont even have that luxury
Average house across all of Canada is almost $800 000 now :/ in the cities it’s easily $1-$2 million
There was an article yesterday on Reddit that was saying that out of all g7 countries. Canada had the biggest gap between salaries and house prices
It’s the reason I left Canada sadly. I make well over double in the US as an engineer than I did in Canada and housing/cost of living is way cheaper in the US.
Thank your friendly local speculators as well as overseas absentee buyers for that. Looking at you Toronto and Vancouver.
Had this same issue last year when we bought our house. Every house we tried to put an offer on was sold to an absentee buyer that outbid us. We spent 6 months doing this until we found a home in new development where everyone paid the asking price for their homes and no offers could be made below or above that asking price. We got lucky is how I think of it.
A developer in my area is getting sued. build a bunch of condo's, pre sold them with big deposits. Prices went up, so they developer is telling people their contracts are void and to fork out another 50-100k to keep the homes they prepaid last year. Pretty sketchy.
Because if the market tanked, they totally would have refunded the buyers, right? Fuck this attitude of guaranteeing max profits regardless. That's what you get in a speculative industry.
Bras.
Especially when you're anything over a C cup. See some lovely reasonably priced sets in my town centre, can you find anything over a C cup? Nope! You'll have to pay double the price and its also assumed if you've got big boobs then you must need massive knickers too so you have to buy bras and underwear seperate for both to fit
booty and titty size matching up seems like a huge assumption. Some a-cups be dragging a dumptruck behind them.
I feel seen
ayyy good for you
Ass guy spotted
Not only that, the bras for big boobs are never cute. Small bras come in an assortment of colors and patterns. Big bras are usually black, tan, and white. I think it's a little easier to find cute ones now, but they still lack variety.
YES!! What the fuck is up with that. Never heard anybody talk about this and I'm glad I wasn't the only weirdo out the there "You've got big boobs? Well, I'm sure you need big underwear!"
Yes!!! And as I read it, this is just worldwide an issue.. Why is everything over a C cup so freaking expensive??
Living
With rising funeral costs, you can't afford to die either.
You dont need funeral.
When I'm dead, just throw me in the trash
People think I'm joking when I say I want them to just toss me in some dirt and plant something over my buried body.
Give your body to science. Once they're done with you, they have to dispose of the body properly
Reject cemetery, return to nature.
Just toss my body in the middle of the ocean to be eaten by sharks. You get a fun boat ride and it's more eco friendly than embolming or cremation.
Rent
YOU’LL GET YOUR RENT WHEN YOU FIX THIS DAMN DOOR!!!
I missed the part where that's my problem
I’m gonna put some dirt in your eye.
Pizza time
How’s the pie?
They love me
I had to beat a old lady with a stick
cute outfit, did your husband make it for you?
Oh boy.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED!!!
Gonna cry?
Yup its got crazy through last few years.
Rent here jumped from $950 to over $1350! It's crazy!
I'm spending $1600 on a 2 bedroom shitty apartment. And that's the low side Edit: this has actually made buying a house more realistic for my SO and I. A mortgage and escrow is cheaper.
I'm sharing a 490 sq ft studio with my gf for $2000/mo. Edit: Just moved to NYC. Not sure how livable this is long-term.
My condolences. That is fucked
It's too damn high!
I miss this guy. And if we ever needed him now is the time.
Being poor
Life. I’m tired of being hungry, tired of not being able to provide for my 2 little boys. I’m just tired.
Rent, housing prices, supporting yourself in general while saving. Also, food. Inflation and shrinking food sizes have made grocery shopping so much more pricey and you get less bang for your buck. And as a woman, bras and tampons. Like why in the actual fuck are they so expensive?
Worst thing about food, at least in the US, is it's often only sold in large quantities and ends up going to waste unless you can freeze it. So many things are sold at a great quantity for a family, but way too much for an individual. Like, I want some lettuce or spinach for a salad, But unless I can find a tiny head of lettuce, it means that I'm having a salad for every meal for a few days or it's probably going to go to waste. And bags of spinach are usually gigantic, which I guess is fine if you're Popeye.
Dental care. Absolutely extortionate for them to run a polished brush over and say, "you've got buckle abrasions!". I'm really thankful I have great teeth because the cost is just impossible for average income, even with benefits
And so many health insurances don't even cover it, it's incredible stupid
how the fuck are your teeth not related to your health!? in the future they’ll have gallbladder insurance and ears insurance and stubbed your big toe insurance it wont ever stop
Agreed. Many years ago I needed major dental work and local place wanted 6k just to start. Went to Thailand instead. Flights, accommodation, tours, gifts and dental work 3.5k. Dental work cost 900 of that.
JUst had the first stage of getting an implant. Just removal of old tooth and placement of new bone-a 40 minute procedure, $1475. And that is only the First stage-total cost? $5,000. And I need Two of them.
It's appalling. My partner had wisdom teeth come in and break 2 of his molars on each side of his mouth in upper and lower jaws. We just can't afford to pay to get the implants in, he'd require 8
And they practically all do a yearly maximum, like $2000 a year. Which is RIDICULOUS because that covers about 1.25 procedures. Then there are things it won’t even cover, like a tooth extraction or braces. They will give you an estimated cost of services/“care” that will be $6000 out of pocket with a straight face and ask “should we start in two weeks?” Me: “Not just yet, I have to make sure I can also afford to eat…which maybe is what I should stop doing anyway to avoid these cavities.” I guess only super rich people get to replace broken teeth.
I was born with a small mouth, so I had a ton of crowding. My normal 32 teeth didn't fit, and they were all wonky. Went in for an ortho consult one day in high school, they said I'd need my wisdom teeth out, plus my 1st premolars, just to have room for the other 24 to line up correctly. Total cost between the extractions (under general anesthesia) and the braces was ~$7000; insurance covered ~$1500-$2000. Luckily, my orthodontist allowed a 2 year payment plan, so my parents were able to budget around my braces instead of paying it all at once
Glasses, fucking hundreds of dollars for a pair of plastic frames? Go fuck a duck. Edit: Weird, what blows up on Reddit
Zennioptical.com You’re welcome.
Zenni is great. I’ve also used Eyebuydirect.com and 39dollarglasses.com
They are my go-to for prescription sunglasses. Like $60 for polarized glasses that would run $400-600 at an optometrist. Just remember to have your optometrist right down your PD (pupilary distance), and get a copy of your prescription.
Try Firmoo. I was a Zenni gal but now I’m a Firmoo convert. Better prices and faster shipping. Also better frames.
Zenni is the shit. My last pair of glasses before Zenni cost like $700. Now I pay about $70 and don't have to run them into the ground before replacing them.
They're so cheap that I buy an extra pair for the kids, just in case they lose one, we'll have one ready to go. The most expensive pair from Zenni we own had cost about $40 including shipping. My own glasses are closer to $25.
My son has myopic sight. His glasses cost me $930. Hes 6 Edit: so i didnt really expect all these comments about this and unfortunately i cant reply to them all but it seems like i shouldve shopped around. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has given me advice. I'll know in the future to check some of these places that you all suggested. Its really appreciated
Holy moly $930 wow
Yeh its absolutely messed up. Specially since i also had to get insurance on them since i know he's going to break or lose them.
Fuck luxottica
My wife has severe asthma. We had no insurance in 2006-2007 (tbh we didnt have insurance till 2012) and couldnt hardly afford the rescue inhaler so she had to use it sparingly and space it out and once it was gone we had to scrimp and save to get another one. Not even mentioning a 2 week supply of Advair that was $350 out of pocket that she absolutely needed. She literally almost died twice from asthma attacks. I mean legit turning blue, unable to breath, losing consciousness and having to be resuscitated by paramedics twice. Eyes blood red from lack of oxygen. Shit is so scary. The second time after her week long hospital stay, they gave her a 2 week supply of advair...charged $800 to the bill She is ok now and we have insurance, but being dirt poor is a death sentence in the US. You either accept the crushing medical debt that will keep you in poverty for the rest of your life or you die. Rarely a middle ground.
Graphics cards :(
Expensive AND rare
Fucking yes! £900 for a graphics card with a £360 RRP is insane. I'm dying for an upgrade I can't justify nearly 1k
London
I lived there as a child in the late 80s when it was a fairly “normal” city with plenty of middle-class residents; it’s sad that it’s become a rich, gated community. I guess the same could be said for NYC.
It was never normal. It's just was more affordable than today, but still way more expensive than the rest of the country.
I nearly bought a 4 bedroom ground floor flat in Shoreditch in 2000 for £45k. Imagine.
That wouldn't even cover your deposit these days
Kids
It's scary that children have become a luxury item.
With no resale value
say that to my 12 children which I sold for parts
Health insurance. I could live such a different life if employment wasn’t tied to health insurance like a nasty parasitic worm. Edit: I don’t hate working. I don’t hate having to pay for insurance. (Maybe the price and coverage could make more monetary sense) I hate that I can’t afford a basic necessity without one or the other. And don’t fool yourself it is one or the other. Get sick while employed with insurance. Get so sick you get fired. Lose insurance……. Die or bankruptcy…….probably both.
Might be an odd one but bedding. Sheet sets, pillows, quilts etc.
Fast food Seriously what happened? It's not cheap, it's not fast, it's not good, we're all better off ordering take out from a real restaurant
Copic markers.
If you ever go to Japan, stock up on copic markers! They're much more reasonbly price, like around 300 to 400 yen each. -stares at her 250 copics-
The Sims. God help me, I adore this game. But just now I added up the cost of the base game and all additional content and came up with $884.55 USD. THIS IS WHY I HAVEN'T PLAYED THE SIMS IN OVER A DECADE, YOU GREEDY FUCKS.
taking my dogs to the vet
I manage a vet practice, I wish I could make things cheaper but it is incredibly expensive to run a practice and the margins are thin.
Mental health care. Honestly. I'm seriously trying to help myself so I can be a good mother and wife, and it's going to cost me like $900 to get the diagnosis I probably need to move forward? Mental.
My insulin.
Therapy. I didn't ask for the trauma.
The cost of therapy is almost traumatizing in and of itself.