Re: OT: AARP

You got that right on car that runs. For a person on a low income it probably makes more sense to get a nice new car - not extravagant. Older cars tend to need repairs. In this state they must be inspected yearly and if they don't pass, you can't drive them. If they happen to need major frontend work due to exposure to so many frost heaves and potholes, it can cost a lot of money and if you don't have it, no drive. No drive - no get to work. We do not have a bus system here unless you live right in the city. There are no subways and it isn't practical to walk 20 miles to work. Bicycling is not safe and is also pretty much impossible during a good part of year.

LizzieB. wrote:
Phyllis Nilsson wrote:

I'm not ignoring the fact that a person has to live somehwere. Everyone, except the homeless, have a home to live in. What I "can" relate to is living within our means. Many people do it. I'd like a better house in a nicer neighborhood, a nicer car, and domestic help, but I know what we can afford and what would put us in a hole we'd have trouble digging out of.


If you would, please, define your "nicer neighborhood," because I don't have a basis for comparison.

Also, "nicer car," because I'm fully in support of a car that runs.

Domestic help? Is your "nicer car" and "nicer neighborhood" on the order of "domestic help" (that is not in the context of profitability margins)? I can totally see your point if your nicer house and car are in a neighborhood where one would expect people to have domestic help.

But we're not talking about that.

This is a house 1 block down the street from me that has been on the market for almost a year now (note the price): http://tinyurl.com/awyvl

This is my house (bought for almost exactly half the price): http://tinyurl.com/7suy5

Now, in a rare reversal of events, the first house is typical of what sells here and for what price (although I can't really say why this one hasn't) and MY house is the one that (typical for this area) should have stayed on the market for a year (but I hate the idea of being house rich and cash poor[1]).

If your definition comes close to that first house I linked, then I can really see your point (and agree), but until we define what's "nicer" to everybody, then we have no basis for debate on the specifics.



[1]When I was delivering pizza at the tender age of 20 for one of my dad's bizarre PI assignments, I saw this a lot. I'd go to the neighborhoods with the million-dollar homes (and Beemers in the drive) and they'd have no furniture, and no cash to tip me with. I thought that was just about as pathetic as any rust-ridden tin-roofed SE Kansas coal-mining shack I'd ever seen.


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: AARP
    ... It has nothing to do with the size of the house and is not dictated by the neighborhood. ... It is just a matter or priorities (which for us, doesn't include a huge mortgage payment, a brand new house, a brand new car, or the toys for grownups that lots of people thing of as being necessities of life. ... If you would, please, define your "nicer neighborhood," because I don't have a basis for comparison. ...
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  • Re: OT: AARP
    ... Domestic help is having a cleaning lady come in once a week. ... It has nothing to do with the size of the house and is not dictated by the neighborhood. ... It is just a matter or priorities (which for us, doesn't include a huge mortgage payment, a brand new house, a brand new car, or the toys for grownups that lots of people thing of as being necessities of life. ... If you would, please, define your "nicer neighborhood," because I don't have a basis for comparison. ...
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  • Re: OT: AARP
    ... It has nothing to do with the size of the house and is not dictated by the neighborhood. ... So I repeat my point that you don't understand what the market is like TODAY. ... Also, "nicer car," because I'm fully in support of a car that runs. ...
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  • Re: OT: AARP
    ... If they buy something that needs repairs they make them over time as the money becomes available. ... It has nothing to do with the size of the house and is not dictated by the neighborhood. ... Also, "nicer car," because I'm fully in support of a car that runs. ...
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