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marchantia posted:Lol, a quote on a 1 bdrm apartment is so relevant for this man with a infant son, 2 large dogs, and a handful of cats. Yeah he complained about being loving miserable in his 2-bedroom because it was too small, didn't he? That was a 2-bedroom, right? I remember something about a storage room, I think. And now he has a kid? He probably needs a 2 bedroom at the minimum, and preferably a 3-bedroom house (because he'll want an office to be able to work from home, and more space for the animals to spread out). Here's the post: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3586966&userid=81272&perpage=40&pagenumber=2#post430895171 The 2-bedroom was way too small for him before he had a kid. He was miserable, the dogs were miserable (and acting up), and he impulse-broke the lease because he couldn't handle it and had to move to somewhere bigger. Here's some more posts: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3586966&userid=81272&perpage=40&pagenumber=6#post433566162 quote:Well the problem I have with this logic is how far does one sacrifice? I sacrificed 1,400 square feet of home by moving into a smaller apartment, which is plagued with (harmless) spiders, air conditioning that has already broken twice, out of home laundry facilities, it's more unsafe, I have to worry about our things getting stolen because the neighborhood sucks a little more. I sacrified a 10 minute one way commute for a commute that takes me at least 30 minutes one way now, and usually it's longer than that. We sacrificed one of our vehicles. I sacrificed my cool new video game system. Hahah holy poo poo I forgot you like playing drums. On page 8 of your posts you mention needing a "man cave" too. Moving out: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3586966&userid=81272&perpage=40&pagenumber=9#post435330344 http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3586966&userid=81272&perpage=40&pagenumber=11#post436597231 quote:House is 3br/2ba 1,300 sqft, has a 2 car garage PLUS a 3-4 car detached garage (our new place to jam on our instruments and play dominoes/darts), and requires no appliance purchases. 0.39 acre lot so loooots of room for the dogs. Original price was $1,300/mo but we got them down to $1,100/mo! Anyways I think in Silicon Valley if you're willing to commute for 30 minutes to an hour (in a car), you can get something comparable for what, 3500/mo? Does that sound about right to people? More? Less? Assuming you're in a decent school district (because you'll want one for your kid)? Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Sep 23, 2015 |
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Sep 23, 2015 23:19
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Horking Delight posted:Yeah he complained about being loving miserable in his 2-bedroom because it was too small, didn't he? That was a 2-bedroom, right? I remember something about a storage room, I think. And now he has a kid? He probably needs a 2 bedroom at the minimum, and preferably a 3-bedroom house (because he'll want an office to be able to work from home, and more space for the animals to spread out). Bad times. You guys are correct. We couldn't make it in a 2BR apartment again. I was miserable, my wife was miserable, and our pets were miserable (by the way it's 2 cats - we re-homed one to the sister in law). However space was not the only issue. I can't even put myself back in that thought process again. I've never had a worse experience, and I was a complete wreck the entire time. I've dropped 20 lbs since living in that bastard poo poo hole. I've been playing the drums for since I was 19. I'll likely always play. That does require space, yes. There's some more posts I'll hit up this evening after work.
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Sep 23, 2015 23:48
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Hahaha! Did you actually bemoan the fact that you had to "sacrifice" your "cool new video game system"? That's loving hilarious.
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Sep 24, 2015 00:28
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foxatee posted:Hahaha! Did you actually bemoan the fact that you had to "sacrifice" your "cool new video game system"? That's loving hilarious. The most difficult sacrifice
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Sep 24, 2015 00:36
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marchantia posted:Lol, a quote on a 1 bdrm apartment is so relevant for this man with a infant son, 2 large dogs, and a handful of cats. Horking Delight posted:Anyways I think in Silicon Valley if you're willing to commute for 30 minutes to an hour (in a car), you can get something comparable for what, 3500/mo? Does that sound about right to people? More? Less? Assuming you're in a decent school district (because you'll want one for your kid)? edit: I just checked on Zillow, only home for sale in my parent's neighborhood in Santa Clara right now is 1.1million for 3br/2ba, estimated mortgage of $4,049/month. That's assuming a 20% down payment ($220,000). Knyteguy posted:You guys are correct. We couldn't make it in a 2BR apartment again. I was miserable, my wife was miserable, and our pets were miserable (by the way it's 2 cats - we re-homed one to the sister in law). However space was not the only issue. I can't even put myself back in that thought process again. I've never had a worse experience, and I was a complete wreck the entire time. I've dropped 20 lbs since living in that bastard poo poo hole. quote:providing a comfortable life for my child quote:providing a comfortable life for my child and pets Because that's kind of what it seems like. Cicero fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 00:44
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He can't afford Santa Clara, and he'd be renting, not buying. It sounds like he was upset at sacrificing 1200 square feet to move to the "small" apartment, so, he's looking for something that's what, 2000 sqft at the minimum? In the bay area? Soooo let's assume a 2k/month rent increase (assuming he goes from 1k -> 3k) and a 1k/month childcare increase (I don't know how he'd do that, because I'm pretty sure this number's too low): To break even, he'd need a 36k/yr raise after taxes, assuming he never goes to visit his family or spends money on trips and that grocery stores and other expenses aren't increased either (none of these are safe assumptions). Knyteguy, how much of an increase in your gross income would you need to get an extra 36k/yr after taxes (don't forget California has a state income tax as well)? That's how much you need to break even if you're frugal and good at staying on a budget. You'd likely need more if you want to keep buying nice things, and even more if you want to visit your family on the regular, and even more if you want to increase how much you save/invest. Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 03:07
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Horking Delight posted:He can't afford Santa Clara, and he'd be renting, not buying. It sounds like he was upset at sacrificing 1200 square feet to move to the "small" apartment, so, he's looking for something that's what, 2000 sqft at the minimum? In the bay area? That's without the cost of living increase. He would need a larger raise than that. A brief check with an online COL calculator suggests he'd need another ~10k for the increase in non-housing expenses. I think most of this was covered pretty thoroughly earlier in the thread, though - it would be prohibitively expense for KG to move out of Reno.
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Sep 24, 2015 03:26
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Yeah, I remember people tried having this conversation with him before -- though I don't think we remembered "oh poo poo you want a three bedroom for how many animals again" when we were first running the numbers. But I think if he's still talking about "I want to move to the Bay Area/Seattle for my career" (and Seattle has similar problems relative to Reno and is EVEN FURTHER from extended family, making visits EVEN MORE expensive) with any level of seriousness whatsoever, we should revisit the "is this even feasible" conversation. Do you remember anything about when people were running the numbers? Was this around May? I can try digging it up again. EDIT: Yep, here we go, I think it might go on for several pages. Aahahaha and it's before his wife got a better job (and you shouldn't move away until after she's been there for at least several months, so it doesn't make her resume look bad) AND it's for san diego which is a lot cheaper than the bay area: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3586966&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=103 I think the most disappointing thing about this thread for me is "how often I spend looking through Knyteguy's old posts to remind him of things he's said in the past".  (But I'm really rooting for you, dude.)
Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 03:30
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Horking Delight posted:He can't afford Santa Clara, and he'd be renting, not buying. It sounds like he was upset at sacrificing 1200 square feet to move to the "small" apartment, so, he's looking for something that's what, 2000 sqft at the minimum? In the bay area? 108K would be a $36k gross income raise. That's about on par with CoL calculators in San Francisco. San Jose is about $100,000: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/ @ $65,000 (which is an intetional rounding error). The biggest problem with that apartment was the amount of space. I think it was seriously 710 sq/ft. We are currently in 1300 sq/ft which is comfortable. We were in 2000 sq/ft at the townhouse. I'd say we could make it work with 1100-1300 sq/ft. I probably wouldn't want to go with less than that. An office would be preferred, but not necessary. It all comes down to in-vs-out net and the commute time. Could we feasibly, practically, and comfortably get by in the city with one or no cars? If so, what would it cost for a 45 minute plane ticket to Reno for 2-3 people? If not, how long do I want to commute for? My friend is a software engineer (the one I've been talking about recently), and he was flying out from Irvine to Reno every week or two. Do I want to do that? Probably not. Would we spend more in a "new" city? How much more? Necessity does not a bargain make. Could we hold out for a killer subletting deal? What would the criteria for "killer" be? However I think it's also important not to get caught up too much in the absolute present situation. If I were to get a job offer in the next 1-3 years in SV, how would this affect my career growth and income after moving back? What opportunities would it open up? Could we re-home 1 dog and 2 cats? When would we move back? I don't have the answer to any of these questions right now. My ideal choice is getting a business up and running, so basically anything is a secondary or tertiary choice to that. I don't like to write things off though, because I would be willing to adapt to things for the right deal. If I got a $200,000 job offer to start tomorrow, many of these hindrances would have little bearing on the choice. I would probably move out of country for that kind of money. I believe the above deals with the paradox of living close to family. Given equal job propositions I will choose the one closest to family. I don't know what the correct multiplier is for the equation to move, however. 1.2x current CoL adjusted salary? 1.5x? 2x? I can't answer that either. It's a very difficult question. I think it should be a stretch goal that can be evaluated later. There's bigger fish to fry in our finances right now. Cicero posted:did you really mean A very good question, and also one I'm unable to answer at the moment. I need to give it some more thought. Horking Delight posted:I think the most disappointing thing about this thread for me is "how often I spend looking through Knyteguy's old posts to remind him of things he's said in the past". A bad habit of mine is communicating complex ideas without giving them much thought. SiGmA_X posted:Can you give a full breakdown of your wife's last paystub? Can you explain more what you mean? Taxes and medicare type stuff? April posted:Something else that needs to be said that I don't think has been reiterated enough is that thinking about things is NOT the same as planning for them. You thought about buying a car for months, but did not actually plan in terms of adjusting your budget, saving up, researching your options, etc. Same with the Oculus Rift. You think about things, and call it planning. I won't do this for such a big choice. I'll definitely fill everyone in in here if I'm even thinking of interviewing somewhere out of state or out of city again. I agree that I tend to put "thought of" in the same basket as "planned". That's something I will work on. Dwight Eisenhower posted:That tool doesn't look totally unreasonable so maybe it is 20 months. Let's say your current plan gets you debt free in May 2017. Alright will do. I like the idea of having something physical to look at before making a poor spending choice (ie man I'll have to offset this goal by X time period). BloodBag posted:A camaro? Really? You already have one corolla, why not a 1995 corolla too? I mean the things are like cockroaches, they never die.I did something similar just recently. I remembered liking driving a whole lot when I had my first miata. I was in my mid-20's with no family and had a blast. I sold it and pined for that car again for 7 years. I got another one after selling a very practical hatchback. You know what happened? I had grown up and stopped giving a poo poo about driving something that can only be sporty. I missed the practicality of the hatchback because I'd grown and changed since my mid-20's. I ended up selling it for a subaru impreza hatchback and I couldn't be happier. It's a boring, gold econobox and it's perfect for where I am in my life. I get that you were trying to buck the life and responsibility you now have with this car, but really, it's just a car, you have to be the change you want to see in your life. Things don't change who you are. As I said, I did want a toy, but something practical. Your Miata story is very similar to my WRX story. I do miss that car. Old Greg posted:Knyteguy, thanks for answering my post. I actually figured outside life stress had you coming back defensive and unhappy. Above all, I hope it's stuff that is in the past and your life is getting better. I hope all's well, for real, more than anything else. The car was worth solving currently without budgeting for it. In hindsight I believe the correct thing to do would have been to tell the thread back in April or May and budgeted for it since then. That will be my plan of action moving forward. Sure there are cars that were less fun and less sexy. The winter stuff I'm not too afraid of. I've been driving in some pretty rough winters, including up in Lake Tahoe/Donner (Donner party), for about 13 years now. I'm not saying nothing will happen, but I've many times driven past assholes in 4x4 trucks stuck in ditches because they thought 4x4 meant snow proof, while I was having in a fun car with standard tire tread. The Camaro has ABS, so that's what I tend to see as the most important thing for snow and ice driving. I wouldn't have gone for a $2k minivan if one was available. I think they have their utility, but with one kid it would have been overkill. I did very much consider a small Ford Ranger, but that would have led to even worse problems in the snow. I did do some coding work before the Oculus got here. It's a little rhythm program. If the Oculus does go unused, then I will definitely sell it. I'm working on a little 3D program currently, and that would have been very difficult without the Rift, as it only outputs graphics to the Rift directly. I guess it's a "we'll see" type of deal. I'll need to rectify the purchase if it's sitting on a dusty shelf in the next couple of months. I will say that my current exposure to it has been absolutely amazing, and I think VR of some sort will be more than a gimmick moving forward. It's an absolute pleasure to see what creative things people have come up with. Anyway it's late. I think I said what I wanted to say. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 05:00
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Knyteguy posted:108K would be a $36k gross income raise. That's about on par with CoL calculators in San Francisco. San Jose is about $100,000: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/ @ $65,000 (which is an intetional rounding error). Knyteguy posted:Can you explain more what you mean? Taxes and medicare type stuff? Knyteguy posted:I wouldn't have gone for a $2k minivan if one was available. I think they have their utility, but with one kid it would have been overkill. I did very much consider a small Ford Ranger, but that would have led to even worse problems in the snow.
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Sep 24, 2015 05:25
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Minivans are sweet and crazy practical. If you think driving some SUV is any 'cooler' than a minivan you're just a dope. The camaro will be a terrible snow car without proper snow tires. -Source: I've been driving a RWD car for years in snowy/mountain country and my car can barely get out of it's flat driveway without snow tires. Yet another cost to add to this impulse purchase. Your justification of buying a car with the sand rail funds makes sense, except you didn't do this. You just figured you'd get $1500 for it (you haven't) then tossed another $500 on top of it. You really should stop trying to justify this terrible purchase. No amount of pictures from the back seat or stories about how you passed 4wd cars on snowy roads makes this a good choice. It isn't just the $2000 for the purchase, you've signed yourself up for ~$350-$500/year in insurance, gas costs (significant with an early '90s v8), tires, and maintenance. I would make a bet that you will spend $5000 on this car in the next calendar year. Have you adjusted your monthly budget to cover the costs of owning the car? Which categories have you reduced spending on to cover these costs? Are you spending $40/month less on restaurants to cover insurance? Have you reduced your discretionary spending $50/month to cover maintenance and tires? I'm going to go out on a limb and wager that you're simply saving less, and pushing back those dates where you will be debt free or have a good emergency fund saved. Do you have a business plan written up for your plans with the Oculus? Can you share some of these details? Do you have investors lined up? What about a marketing plan? You know every hour you spend farting around with this toy, you could be doing a development project to improve coding skills that could help you get a higher paying job. Do you have plans on creating something on the Oculus that will display coding skills that will help you get a higher paying job? You know with the time you'll spend keeping that jalopy on the road, combined with all the playing around with the Oculus, you could probably learn a new 'hip' language or create some sort of a project / skills demo that could get you a job? You need to start thinking not about just the up front costs, but the ongoing costs in both money and time that these things take up in your life.
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Sep 24, 2015 07:45
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Knyteguy posted:108K would be a $36k gross income raise. That's about on par with CoL calculators in San Francisco. San Jose is about $100,000: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/ @ $65,000 (which is an intetional rounding error). Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Your marginal tax rate at the top of your income right now is most definitely not 0%, I just don't know what it is because I don't know the married tax rates. At 20% marginal tax rate, you need a 45k gross income raise, or 117k. At 30%, you need a 51.4k gross income raise, or 123.4k. At 40% (the top tax brackets you're likely to hit for income, before other taxes, are something like 28 and 9, I think, but I don't know if you're in there yet or not), you need a 60k gross income raise, or 132k. At that rate, you will cover your change in rent and change in childcare, assuming you get a good deal on both rent and childcare. You will not cover an increase in cost of living, an increase in travel costs, or an increase in general discretionary spending on toys and stuff. This also doesn't consider your wife's income, it looks like. You need an extra three thousand dollars per month in take-home pay for your combined household to even think about maybe breaking even. You need an extra three thousand dollars per month in take-home pay for your combined household to even think about maybe breaking even. You need an extra three thousand dollars per month in take-home pay for your combined household to even think about maybe breaking even. You need an extra three thousand dollars per month in take-home pay for your combined household to even think about maybe breaking even. EDIT: To answer in advance the question of "then how do other people do it": by having two incomes, not having four pets (two of which are large dogs), by living near family, by not having a separate storage room/office in addition to a "drums room", by being horribly in debt, by making even more money than that (possibly means they have student loans too, in exchange for a degree), by having a really long commute, by living in a bad neighborhood, by not visiting family very often, by moving into the area before the more recent housing cost increases, or by not having kids. You have a lot of nice quality-of-life things already and most people in the Bay Area sacrifice some of them but you're acting as if you're unwilling to sacrifice any of them, and that is literally not financially possible. Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 08:52
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We've said it 200x but don't forget CA has about 9% state income tax so you'd need to make up that gap as well. I personally don't know why anyone would want to live in SV or SF unless they're DINKS making $250k+ a year or don't mind 2 hour commutes. But that's just personal preference.
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Sep 24, 2015 15:24
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Horking Delight posted:Gross income is income before taxes, not income after taxes. Man, stop. I missed that you said "after taxes" there. I know what gross and net means in the financial world. As I said, I don't feel like such a choice needs to be made at the moment. Instead I will continue to look at local jobs. I listed SV as a long term goal purposefully. I believe our marginal tax rate is 20% currently. Also it was late and my math was incorrect. I make $62,300/yr. $45,000 would be $107,000. $51,000 would be $113,3000. $60,000 would be $122,000. When talking about SD, I was advised to hold off unless it was "life changing" which was considered to be $120,000. n8r posted:Minivans are sweet and crazy practical. If you think driving some SUV is any 'cooler' than a minivan you're just a dope. I don't need any investors for this first project, as it's simply an app. I'll market how I always market (via forums and social avenues, and good SEO). Reddit has a new SDK compatible list that is crazy small at the moment, so if I can finish this up say this weekend, then income could be rolling in as soon as then and it would allow me to get a foothold in the market. If I want to bring my rhythm game further eventually, then my plan is to Kickstart it. From there there's the potential to get a publisher to distribute if I wanted to go that route. However I believe self publishing and using Greenlight would be the best avenue for this instead. It also would allow me to test the viability of the product at that point, before wasting more time on it. I'm learning new skills with this yes. It's C# DirectX 11 3D development. I use C# daily, but I've never done 3D development. I could pick up a hip new language, but there's no telling what that will actually do for me. Ruby on Rails is a good example of a language that was hip and popular, and now it's not. I hear your suggestions, though, and I will consider them. Car: My commute is 3 miles and that's what I'll be driving most in the car in the winter time. Chains should be an acceptable choice. I will probably look at picking up some A/T tires anyway, though. I'll check out the size and look at what that'll cost. I'll pick up some bags of sand from Home Depot (they're like $7-$10/bag or so) and I'll keep them near the car for potential traction problems. I haven't adjusted my budget as we haven't had income come in for a bit. I will do so with increased maintenance costs in mind. I was thinking $300/mo up to $3,000 total. ? As I said parts are pretty cheap and maintenance is covered. SiGmA_X posted:Yes, insurance, pre/post tax deductions, etc. It's more difficult to check out her pay stubs because I can't check them like I could at JCP. I asked her to leave the ones she has for me; I'll post them if she remembered to. Else tonight or tomorrow. She's likely claiming 1 deduction though (I think I claim 0). Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 15:45
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Or since this is an advice thread, what do you guys think I should set as the monthly car maintenance budget? There's currently $227 in there which should cover the oil/tranny stuff I wanted to do this weekend, and maybe brake pads (4 wheel disc). I'm open to input beyond that. My thought about was $300/mo up to $3,000 which would cover a new engine or a new transmission in the worst case scenario. I don't know what October's budget will look like with the $30/day saved goal, but I'll need to work around that and the relatively fixed monthly expenses. I'll post some numbers tomorrow as that's our last income of the month.
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Sep 24, 2015 15:51
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Alternatively: You guys tell me what to do with the car. I'm open to suggestions.
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Sep 24, 2015 15:58
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You should get the car nice and shiny and mark it up $500 over what you paid for it and sell it. If you're looking at doing brakes and tires for the car, you're already setting yourself up to spend at least $500+ on the car. Chains will not be effective unless Reno actually has packed snow on the roads for decent periods of time. If Reno is like where I live, we have snow on the roads for relatively short periods of time until the city can plow the and salt the streets. You will not enjoy putting on and taking off chains, even a nice set will take you 10-15 minutes to get on and take off. You should start setting aside whatever amount you think is appropriate to save for the car, sell the sandrail, maybe sell some other stuff, and use the combined funds to buy a more appropriate family car. I'd encourage some sort of a FWD sedan with a decent set of tires on it so you can drive it in the winter without needing special tires. I would contend that $2000 is not enough money to get a reliable car, and you will actually get a much more trouble free car if you save up to around a $4000 car. Once you get down to $2000 the quality of cars can be really variable, and I think it's easier to find well maintained cars in the $4-6k range. Spending more up front will save you money in the long term with a more reliable, lower mileage, better cared for car. Another thing to concern with any major purchase, that has ongoing ongoing monthly costs, is that you are not compensating for these costs within your current budget. Have you been setting aside a consistent amount per month to pay down debt/add to savings? Like it has been discussed in the past, you should be working under the idea that you save a set amount every month and that money comes out at the first of the month and you treat it like a bill.
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Sep 24, 2015 16:16
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Knyteguy posted:Alternatively: Sell the car, fly to Chicago in a few weeks, buy my 1999 Toyota Camry with ~111,000 miles on it for like $1000 (moving to the city from the 'burbs and don't want to pay for parking) plus the cost of transferring the plates to you or w/e the DMV would have you do, drive it home and enjoy a decent car that needs a bit of work (rear struts/shocks and new brake pads) but that can comfortably fit your family. It did just fine in the winter here, tires are from 2013-2014 with about 8k miles on them, and I've never experienced snow before in my life so it kind of rocked not having any issues my first time driving in/on it. Or just sell it and buy a better family car, like a cool 4-door sedan. If your kid wasn't a baby I would suggest a Ford Ranger, my dad sold his practical 4-door sedan when I turned five and got a brand-new 1995 Ranger. I loved that truck and my sister and I played on it all the time.  It worked out for us, because even though it only sat three people, my mom took one for the team and bought a sick-rear end minivan a little while later so we could cart around friends!! and do field-trip stuff!! and camping!!
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Sep 24, 2015 16:31
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But a sedan isn't baller.
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Sep 24, 2015 16:33
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I'd just like to see you set a budget and actually live within it for >6 months. No shell games, no "something came up", no "we under spent in electricity so it's okay that we're $300 over in groceries", no "we're going to make up for it next month (which you never do)". Set a budget. Live within the budget. Set a reasonable budget, set a reasonable savings goal, set a reasonable debt repayment plan. If you under spend on a budget line item, don't treat it as a windfall put it into savings or debt repayment. Control your impulses. You have a like 5 pets and a new born. You don't need project cars, video games, or hobbies.
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Sep 24, 2015 16:35
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Knyteguy posted:Alternatively: n8r posted:You should get the car nice and shiny and mark it up $500 over what you paid for it and sell it. I hate to agree with N8 sometimes, but he is right. This is NOT the right car for you dude. Get a minivan, or an older camry/civic/accord. This is not a safe car for your family, no matter how many times I try to spin it your way. Snow drifts and rear wheel drive cars, your examples to the contrary have a high likelihood of getting stuck, having an accident or other things. Please sell this car and buy something else. I'd even be happy with you just getting your money back, not making a profit.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:20
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I kind of love someone from a region that averages less than two feet of snow talking about putting snow chains on their tires. The fact that it's a three mile commute in the suburbs is equally fun.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:26
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foxatee posted:But a sedan isn't baller. How is a $2,000 car baller? This is a pretty baller sedan: http://www.bmwusa.com/bmw/7series Or  Justadae posted:Sell the car, fly to Chicago in a few weeks, buy my 1999 Toyota Camry with ~111,000 miles on it for like $1000 (moving to the city from the 'burbs and don't want to pay for parking) plus the cost of transferring the plates to you or w/e the DMV would have you do, drive it home and enjoy a decent car that needs a bit of work (rear struts/shocks and new brake pads) but that can comfortably fit your family. It did just fine in the winter here, tires are from 2013-2014 with about 8k miles on them, and I've never experienced snow before in my life so it kind of rocked not having any issues my first time driving in/on it. Yeah I mentioned above that I did consider a Ford Ranger/Isuzu Hombre. Unfortunately though the kid is a baby, and 4x4 trucks cost a premium around here. Trucks have more traction control problems than cars because there's less weight on the rear tires. I've gone up icy hills in a RWD car, but I've rolled down them backwards in trucks without 4x4. OK I'm not going to poke specific posts here since a lot of them are saying the same thing. Suppose I sell the car for say $2,500. I did get new mirrors for it, I bought a cable to hook up the car's CPU to a laptop so I can fix an underlying problem if necessary, I can do an oil and tranny fluid change to ensure any new buyer can see that it was taken care of in the short time that I've had it. What rear end in a top hat cars do you guys want me to look at? I refuse to drive a mini van while acknowledging their usefulness and I would prefer a hatchback. Bugamol posted:I'd just like to see you set a budget and actually live within it for >6 months. I'll see what I can do. Robo Boogie Bot posted:I kind of love someone from a region that averages less than two feet of snow talking about putting snow chains on their tires. The fact that it's a three mile commute in the suburbs is equally fun. Ah yeah the average is a great indicator. We haven't had snow falls that have totally collapsed parking awnings within the past few years, or literally had my car stuck and overheating on a city street because snow was up to the windows in my AWD car. I've never bought snow chains or anything (I've bought them and installed them for every car I've ever owned). But averages are obviously the better indicator compared to someone who has the experience of living here for 29 years. Edit:  Nope that didn't happen a few miles from where I live. Better look at the average.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:30
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It's not enough that bad snow-related things happen, you should show that they happen frequently enough that it justifies spending money to address the problem. There are rare tornados in the northeast but that doesn't mean everyone there should buy tornado insurance - it's the same deal. Can't you just use the other car or get a ride (like you were before) in the times when the snow is really bad, ie, something there's a chance of happening 1-2 times per year? Like, the stories about snow you just told are pretty mild so if that's the worst that 29 years of living there have brought you, I think you can forego snow chains on your backup car.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:36
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How did your wife feel about buying the Camaro vs. a more family-friendly car, and how does she feel about you driving it with the baby, especially after her recent accident?
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Sep 24, 2015 17:43
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One of my company's customers works in the Bay Area and commutes from Modesto every day because rent is too expensive. That's a 1.5 hour commute one way. From what he tells me, Modesto rents are going up to the tune of $1400/mo for a 2bd apartment downtown. I'm assuming there has to be some kind of nice, new building downtown that he's living in, but still. $1400 per month to live in Modesto.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:47
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Your marginal tax rate can't be 20% Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er): Taxable Income Tax Rate $0 to $18,450: 10% $18,451 to $74,900: $1,845.00 plus 15% of the amount over $18,450 $74,901 to $151,200: $10,312.50 plus 25% of the amount over $74,900 $151,201 to $230,450: $29,387.50 plus 28% of the amount over $151,200 $230,451 to $411,500: $51,577.50 plus 33% of the amount over $230,450 $411,501 to $464,850: $111,324.00 plus 35% of the amount over $411,500 $464,851 or more: $129,996.50 plus 39.6% of the amount over $464,850 It can be 10, 15, 25, 28, 33, etc %. Not 20.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:50
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I'll just float this out there because a lot of people can't seem to wrap their minds around a kid not riding around in a vehicle some marketing agency told them was appropriate for a family: Until I was about five, my family car was a two door Plymouth Fury. In Winnipeg, where we get twice as much snow as Reno (though there are no hills). Neither I nor my sister died or were inconvenienced in any way by this vehicle because we were tiny compared to adults and our car seats fit fine in the back seat.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:53
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ladyweapon posted:One of my company's customers works in the Bay Area and commutes from Modesto every day because rent is too expensive. That's a 1.5 hour commute one way. From what he tells me, Modesto rents are going up to the tune of $1400/mo for a 2bd apartment downtown. I'm assuming there has to be some kind of nice, new building downtown that he's living in, but still. $1400 per month to live in Modesto. As someone who lives in that general area in CA I can definitely confirm that rent is spiraling everywhere. I have a coworker who lives in Dublin (Tri-Valley near Bart) who pays $2,100 a month for a STUDIO. Granted it's a nice building in a great location, but $2,100 a month for a studio. $1400/month for a 2bd in Modesto doesn't sound too far off, but it's probably one of the newer apartment complexes.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:54
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rear end in a top hat cars? No. Listen, check into an older Camry, Accord, Civic. These are standard sedans that are not "fun to drive" but it's not about FUN TO DRIVE. It's about getting from A to B! And they are good on gas. Typically a 4banger so not fast off the line, but good MPG, low maintenance other then the "Scheduled items". Also, and I'm partial here, check out the Subaru Impreza wagon's. These cars are great in snow, decent on gas milage(not as good as the aforementioned camry, but still), and they meet your hatchback requirement. Knyteguy posted:Suppose I sell the car for say $2,500. I did get new mirrors for it, I bought a cable to hook up the car's CPU to a laptop so I can fix an underlying problem if necessary, I can do an oil and tranny fluid change to ensure any new buyer can see that it was taken care of in the short time that I've had it. Return the cable for the car's CPU. How much have you spent so far on this? Sounds like 2k was just the start, you've spent $X on this cable, new mirrors, etc. Return all these things if you can!
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Sep 24, 2015 17:58
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:It's not enough that bad snow-related things happen, you should show that they happen frequently enough that it justifies spending money to address the problem. There are rare tornados in the northeast but that doesn't mean everyone there should buy tornado insurance - it's the same deal. Can't you just use the other car or get a ride (like you were before) in the times when the snow is really bad, ie, something there's a chance of happening 1-2 times per year? Like, the stories about snow you just told are pretty mild so if that's the worst that 29 years of living there have brought you, I think you can forego snow chains on your backup car. Absolutely. The reason I buy chains is because they're often mandatory going over Donner Pass. There's times where chains can be needed here, especially at night when the roads are icy, but yes we have the Corolla for that and bonus we already have chains for that car since we needed them for our last car which had similar tire sizes. It's why a RWD car was within the gamut of usability. If for some reason the car won't move then I can hitch a ride with my wife as needed, or use sand bags, or in a case like the storm I posted below, I could probably just work remotely. This is the most common related snow accident I see around here:  And that's not a traction problem (for the people unfamiliar with snow driving). I don't know what you guys want from me on this note. I listen to advice and I'm mocked, I don't listen to advice and I'm mocked. gently caress off if you're going to mock. I bet you don't have the courage to put your own flaws out there, so I find the behavior pretty pathetic. Buncha dysfunctional goons laughing at me and I worry about it, jesus christ I'm done letting that affect me. Obviously this is not the majority of you. Baja Mofufu posted:How did your wife feel about buying the Camaro vs. a more family-friendly car, and how does she feel about you driving it with the baby, especially after her recent accident? She didn't feel too strongly about it either way initially, but I've been catching her driving it in secret because she thinks it's fun now. Seriously I'll go out there and she's pulling it out of the driveway or something. sheri posted:Your marginal tax rate can't be 20% I can't say for sure. Our net income per our tax "return" last year was $60,000, and our gross was roughly $90,000. I haven't done a lot of looking into taxes. Antifreeze Head posted:I'll just float this out there because a lot of people can't seem to wrap their minds around a kid not riding around in a vehicle some marketing agency told them was appropriate for a family: Thank you. Snow is more about crazy careful and defensive driving more than anything. DogsCantBudget posted:rear end in a top hat cars? No. I've spent *checks YNAB* $43.xx on it. eBay. Yes rear end in a top hat cars, lol. I wanted something fun to drive so that's why I spent the money on it. As I said I'm open to suggestions though. Thanks all. It's been awhile since I've expressed gratitude, but it's there. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 18:08
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Bugamol posted:As someone who lives in that general area in CA I can definitely confirm that rent is spiraling everywhere. I have a coworker who lives in Dublin (Tri-Valley near Bart) who pays $2,100 a month for a STUDIO. Granted it's a nice building in a great location, but $2,100 a month for a studio.  A friend in East Bay has their rent increased ~8% every year which is doubly horrifying. Is the food in the valley still dirt cheap? Buying meat for $1.50 or less per pound was the only positive I remember.MAKE NO BABBYS posted:Commuting from Modesto, jfc. That's just pure misery. 
ladyweapon fucked around with this message at 18:25 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 18:21
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Commuting from Modesto, jfc. That's just pure misery. Everyone stop moving here, I don't want to have to move. I grew up here, drat it. I want to have a family someday :/
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Sep 24, 2015 18:22
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Justadae posted:Sell the car, fly to Chicago in a few weeks, buy my 1999 Toyota Camry with ~111,000 miles on it for like $1000 (moving to the city from the 'burbs and don't want to pay for parking) plus the cost of transferring the plates to you or w/e the DMV would have you do, drive it home and enjoy a decent car that needs a bit of work (rear struts/shocks and new brake pads) but that can comfortably fit your family. This is actually a great deal. I drove one of these for about 6 years, and did the struts myself. You can get cheap struts on eBay for $50/corner, and rent the spring compressor from Auto Zone. Seriously, that was probably the best car I ever owned. I regret selling it.
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Sep 24, 2015 18:35
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Knyteguy posted:
I live in Wisconsin where snowfall like that can be an every other week occurance for five months a year. Not once in my life have I seen a car with chains on the tires. I drive a front wheel drive Pontiac Sunfire with midgrade all season tires. I frequently drive two hours a day in order to get to my clients' homes. I've never been stuck in the snow or had an accident. So what does that tell you? Maybe that all the reasons you are using to justify your toy car are BS? Maybe that you're kind of addicted to spending and this is just another iteration using non-problems to justify expenditures? Nope, it must be that I'm unjustly picking on you. For the record, I support you getting a car, but not this car. It is clearly too tempting for you to use it as a spring board into new purchases. You claim to care about safety in winter driving, but the car you bought is the opposite of that. A rear wheel drive car is terrible in the snow, despite what meatheads will tell you. It's not about having enough power to quickly blast through a snow bank, you're just going to be another person fishtailing around every curve. Safety while driving in the snow is about planning ahead: leave early, brake early, go slow, being patient, and recognizing when you just need to stay off the road. But none if that costs money, so lets just 
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Sep 24, 2015 19:05
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Robo Boogie Bot posted:Safety while driving in the snow is about planning ahead: leave early, brake early, go slow, being patient, and recognizing when you just need to stay off the road. But none if that costs money, so lets just What are you ranting about here? I just loving said that with my own words like two posts above yours. Just because you've never seen chains doesn't mean that state law (CA state law) doesn't require them here sometimes when we say drive up to see family on Christmas (which we'll never be doing in this car, ever). quote:Snow Chain Designations Read the thread ffs instead of picking and choosing tidbits without context. I said chains should be an acceptable choice if needed. I also said that sandbags work great and they're cheap. I don't think I'll need any of that because I know how to drive in the snow. Edit: so do we want to keep talking about whether I can drive in the conditions I've been driving and learning to drive in my entire life, or should we like move on with something useful? (even suggesting selling the car is useful, and it's something I'm considering). Basically the way I see it is: Everyone was saying "hey this might be poo poo in the snow", now snow driving is something I consider as I've dealt with it before. I said "well here's some resolutions to that if everyone thinks it will be that much of a problem". "YOU JUST WANT TO SPEND MONEY!!" That's how it went Robo Boogie Bot, and that's why you're being unreasonable. "the suburbs!""how quaint!" Don't post that poo poo in here anymore or I won't bother reading the posts. There is a whole conversation going on here that you neglected to read or comprehend. I don't know which, but you sure as hell didn't address the conversation on a whole level. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 19:13
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You already have a car with chains for the rare occasion you might need them for interstate travel. Wasn't the Camaro going to be an in town errand car and commuter anyway, why would it be traveling the Donner Pass? I think you're clearly contriving situations where the solution is to spend money. Hey a different car, the urge for you to spend on this one is too strong.
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Sep 24, 2015 19:28
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Robo Boogie Bot posted:You already have a car with chains for the rare occasion you might need them for interstate travel. Wasn't the Camaro going to be an in town errand car and commuter anyway, why would it be traveling the Donner Pass? That's exactly what I said. That's exactly why I'm not worried about it, but I'm also trying to be open to some advice here. I'm not contriving situations in which to spend money, I'm offering resolutions to problems others are bringing up. Read my edit above it says exactly this. Basically you could have said "Prob don't need snow tires or chains as you initially thought KG" and you would have found us agreeing.
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Sep 24, 2015 19:33
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Fake Edit: gently caress it. Never mind. When you get like this, you're just really loving annoying and I honestly don't feel like getting into it with you. Fake Edit 2: gently caress, it is really hard not to say poo poo here.
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Sep 24, 2015 20:11
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Knyteguy posted:I've spent *checks YNAB* $43.xx on it. eBay. You need to realize you are past the age of toy cars/etc. You are at the age of "take care of family". You passed that age the *day* you found out your wife was pregnant. Spend the next 15-20 years worrying about your child. Worry about how you will get him to his soccer game, not how fast you get there or how sexy you look in your *cough*super cool*cough* car. Once he reaches an age where you don't have to worry about those things, it's midlife crisis! Go buy yourself that muscle car you have always wanted! Also seriously, look at the subaru's if you want something mildly fun. The outback impreza wagons are lots of fun, as long as you get one that doesn't have the gasket problem engine(I forget the years, check https://www.cars101.com for info). Please, sell the muscle car. It's not what you need right now. I just checked the Reno craigslist(you're in Reno right?) and there are a decent number of Scooby's to look at.
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Sep 24, 2015 20:24
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