Need life advice. House/ money issues

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Seguino
If you hate your job, change it. You say housing costs are escalating faster than pay, but that also means YOUR house is increasing in value. If you want to downsize after changing jobs, your house will be worth that much more, but moving is capital E expensive. Take that into account. Good luck.


Not necessary. If he is on an ARM loan then increasing housing cost aren't related to the home value.

 

[Seguino]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: Seguino
If you hate your job, change it. You say housing costs are escalating faster than pay, but that also means YOUR house is increasing in value. If you want to downsize after changing jobs, your house will be worth that much more, but moving is capital E expensive. Take that into account. Good luck.


Not necessary. If he is on an ARM loan then increasing housing cost aren't related to the home value.

I guess it depends if he's in Peterborough New Hampshire or Peterborough Ontario. Canadian mortgages are different.

 

[HawkeyeScott]

Ryan,

I am 31, wife is 30. Many similarities with career, bills, family plans, etc.

I have considered changing careers recently because of a lack of satisfaction. Also, I need more money to really feel comfortable. (At the end of the month we have about $200 left over. That to me is barely treading water, but perhaps this day and age that's all you can ask for. Daycare and daughter's health ins. are over $1000 each month alone.)

I'm just keeping my head down, biding my time and remembering that just getting by is okay. My parents did it for most of my childhood and now are enjoying the fruits of their labors in retirement.

Are there things you will be paying off that will free up some money later on to create a little more breathing room? If so, then perhaps you could stay put where you are now and also look at a career change.

My wife and I are mostly focused on being very frugal now, taking care of what we already have (especially cars) and hope later we can begin to make some financial hay. $385 will get freed up each month when her car is paid off in 27 months. The plan is to have that money then go to a college savings account and 401K.

I don't know how much advice I can give, since we're peers. I just try and remember that even though I often feel like my wife and I are struggling to get ahead, this is life. So make the most of it. Be thankful for what you have and keep plugging away to get what you don't.

Best of luck. I like it that you're seeking advice. Nothing wrong with that.

-Scott

 

[IndyIan]

Hi Ryan,
I'm going to guess your mortgage is $250Kish? I don't know if there's anything in town that's in good shape for less than $200k now? So not much savings on the mortgage unless you want a partial fixer upper.

I have friends that live in older houses around the downtown who can walk to work and only own one car, that saves $3-5k+ a year.
If you live near Trent or Fleming or on a bus route you could maybe make a student apt, just be picky with your renters!

If your already paid well I'd work on making job you have more interesting or moving laterally around the company. I've found that less money/responsibility also means less flexible hours and more useless scrutiny, the higher you are the less important being 5 min late is...

 

[Papa Bear]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Where is Peterborough ?


Copy and paste this into google maps ... 44.307795,-78.318644

 

[DKT]

If I can add my 2 cents - I've been working for over 30 years now and am starting to plan my retirement. You need to identify what in a work environment that you enjoy. For me it was a sense of accomplishment, and liking the people that I work with. You should also see if these conditions can be met with your current employer, and if so, go talk to your supervisor about possible moves. If not, then you should consider a job change.

As far as the house goes, it really depends on how important the current one is to your wife. Housing has never been very important to either my wife or me (although I'm fairly fond of the house we are in now), but I know some folks where a big part of their identity is tied up in their house/car/neighborhood.

Without sounding too cynical, is sounds to me like you are going through the normal concerns as one gets older. I think it is great that you are discussing this, but these thoughts and concerns are completely normal, at least from my perspective.

Oh yeah, one other bit of advice, but this is cynical - there are no careers only jobs. By this I mean view work as a job and if a career develops great. Have outside interests that the job supports.

 

[Dave Hess]

Quote:
I need more money to really feel comfortable. (At the end of the month we have about $200 left over. That to me is barely treading water


Thats too close for comfort. Are you also looking for a career change ?

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

If you want to make G0D laugh, tell Him your plans.

 

[HawkeyeScott]

I'm open to all options. Not actively looking, but would open the door if opportunity knocks. (Wife and I both work for non-profits. Sadly, non-profit also describes our lives right now! Bonuses and raises have dried up. Wife took less than she is worth just to get a job last year. All combined with higher costs than ever before with daycare, insurance, etc.)

Like I said, we're just trying to tread water.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

BTW, if you want more excitement in your life, move to the USA.

We never know what's coming next!

 

[The_Jeff]

I bet you can get a better deal with daycare. 10% unemployment means 20% of homes have a parent home all the time. (well, sorta)

 

[Dave Hess]

The unemployment rate is definitely higher than 10%
15% is a more realistic number.

Do you remember the thread I posted about the 6000 people applying for a job at a Chick-fil-A ?

 

[Vikas]

This is only tangentially related to this topic. I sometimes see people saying like "I am waiting for payday so that I can buy " Are they just kidding or are they serious? Do the people with broadband access really live from paycheck to paycheck and have to wait before being able to splurge on a thirty dollar item?

- Vikas

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
This is only tangentially related to this topic. I sometimes see people saying like "I am waiting for payday so that I can buy " Are they just kidding or are they serious? Do the people with broadband access really live from paycheck to paycheck and have to wait before being able to splurge on a thirty dollar item?

- Vikas

Broadband is only $30/month and a computer is only $50/month, so for the spend all your income by the month folks, its a good deal... MSN is cheaper than texting too!

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
This is only tangentially related to this topic. I sometimes see people saying like "I am waiting for payday so that I can buy " Are they just kidding or are they serious? Do the people with broadband access really live from paycheck to paycheck and have to wait before being able to splurge on a thirty dollar item?

- Vikas


I don't see what 'Broadband' has to do with it. Some people habitually live from paycheck to paycheck, spending EVERYTHING the weekend before the next paycheck.
They may have all the Toys, nice Car/Truck, often on credit (while they can get it)

These people often complain bitterly when some unexpected expense comes along "Life is so unfair!"

 

[Vikas]

The reference to broadband was to reinforce the notion that they must have enough income for discretionary spending if they can "splurge" on broadband. They can NOT be a day laborer who lives from day to day.

I certainly understand about curbing the spending while unemployed but if you are employed and you really need to wait for the paycheck to spend that thirty dollars, you should not be buying that gizmo at all.

- Vikas

P.S. And what is the reference to $50/month computer? Do they rent computer and/or buy it on loan???

 

[IndyIan]

I'm sure you can get a high intrest loan on a computer... seems silly but if you can't wait to save for anything, a getting a $800 computer for $50/month for 3 years somehow makes sense...

 

[kb01]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
This is only tangentially related to this topic. I sometimes see people saying like "I am waiting for payday so that I can buy "


I say that all the time and we live very comfortably.

My wife and I have a very strict budget and only allot a certain amount of money for things like going out to eat or impulse buys. All additional funds get put into savings.

"waiting until payday" just means we're waiting until next month when we start with a fresh entertainment budget.

 

[Dave Hess]

Its easy to live on a very small salary (lets say $40,000) if you can manage your spending habits.