mapiki

I can respect that. But also- set aside money on a regular basis (cash in an envelope for the physical reality or in a budgeting app) until you have enough to get one. And then splurge on that or something else you want more by then!

Agreed.

If anyone wants to further argue, note the issue is that we've built a country where cars are necessary. (And yet not so necessary that someone's license can't be suspended!) However, there is no reason why this can't be changed. Saying it can't is limiting our future to also think cars are necessary. They aren't. They are useful in many places. But you could do without them if as a society we decided to do that. Dream bigger everyone! Have a world where you DON'T need to sit in traffic every day. Where you DON'T wait at red light after red light. Where you DON'T need to be a designated driver for your friends. Where you DON'T fear the day your vision gets so bad you lose your independence. Where you DON'T need to spend hundreds on insurance and car purchases and parking tickets and everything else. If we don't dream it, we can't ask for it. And if we don't ask for it, what we have now will be what we're stuck with.

(And if you want to have a car and have fun - sure! But then it'll be extra fun when it's not a requirement and fewer cars are on the road!)

Cars are not technically necessary. But we regulate them heavily - through licensing, safety tests, and policing. And your license can be pulled or suspended so that you cannot drive.

Why? Because they are deadly. Just because something isn't created to kill (say... To protect your family? To get you to your job?) doesn't mean it can't kill.

Sadly, we live in a country where freedom and rights are valued more than community and respect.

But as the welcome to nightvale NRA says: "Guns don't kill people. We're all invincible and it's a miracle." (Podcast.)

Yep! Although I'll be over here trying to maintain other points of view.

And posting cute rabbit photos.

PS. I agree. Although generally people aren't renting unless they are making a profit off of it. So if you have the ability to and it's not a 100% awful time to buy, buying may save you that profit. But there a huge benefits to renting. And to owning. And huge drawbacks for both.

Generally, rents should be about equal to cost of owning... Because if one was much cheaper or much more expensive everyone would pick the other.

Another point here- if renting is cheaper and you invest the difference you're still building your equity in a potentially far more diversified safe way.

(Although I want to buy simply because a mortgage is a more predictable cost than rent!)

Lol. Salt Lake City. 300k for a one bedroom condo - almost not quite bikeable.

A little late here - but I adore YNAB. I'll talk about it all day but at it's base it functions off of a digitized envelope system rather than trying to match projected inputs to projected outputs every month.

YNAB has the automatic uploads of transactions (and does try to guess a category for you but you do have to review and approve).

It is fairly expensive. Although the family plan works if you have anyone you're open about finances with (or simply trust the family "owner" not to peek - like my younger sister decided to trust me not to look.)

Wait wait don't tell me taught me he was probably vegan.

Which is why we need ranked choice voting so we steal power away from this bipartisan system that robs us of our actual choice.

Wait. What? Who???

I'm really happy it's getting better for you! Hopefully it keeps improving.

When California was Republican 😂

The issues and challenges people care most about change with time. Sometimes slowly.