Comments on: Reader Mailbag: School Mornings

By: Laura L

Laura L — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:27:47 +0000

I would encourage you to spend a few months with a piano teacher. There are things a teacher can give you that you wouldn’t always pick up alone. Since you have already played piano, you will be amazed at how quickly it will come back. And having to go for weekly lessons from a teacher will give you a structure that will really help–especially when it comes to practicing! Happy playing!

By: Courtney20

Courtney20 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:11:43 +0000

#48 – their daycare expenses are going to double regardless of whether or not they get the new apartment. I don’t think it’s fair to lump that into the equation (if they couldn’t afford the bigger place after the increase in daycare that would be another thing – but again, they are currently living on less than half of their income).

By: RANDOM ANONYMOUS

RANDOM ANONYMOUS — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:00:07 +0000

Q3 – This can only be decided between Leona and her husband.
The old rent ($1300) includes utilities and the new rent ($1500 – 1800) does not include utilities. The difference in utilities may be as large or larger than the difference in rent. Also, daycare expenses can be expected to double as their number of customers double.
Rather than a $300 increase in expenses, it appears that expenses will most likely increase in the $1200 – $1500 dollar range.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:44:09 +0000

Kelly–they’re saving way more than 15%– 15% is just for retirement. Some quick estimates of their tax liability shows their monthly, post-tax income to be somewhere around $14,250. They’re currently living on $4500–which she says includes miscellaneous savings. (Well, they’re aggressively paying down student loans, so I guess they aren’t ‘saving’ all of it, but they aren’t /spending/ it, either.)

Assuming 5% interest and that they’re putting all the non-tax, non-retirement, non-living money on student loans which she mentions (about $7600 by my rough calculations), it will take them 36 months to pay off the student loans. If they pay an extra $500 towards the apartment, reducing their student loan payment to $7100 a month, it will take 39 months to pay off the debt. There’s only a 3 month difference! (With slightly difference numbers, this number will vary a bit–but the point is the difference in debt payments is measured in months, not years.)

Get the nicer apartment, Leona. I can’t imagine a situation where I’d willingly stay miserable for years over a 3 month difference (and, as previously mentioned, I’m a massive cheapskate).

This is also assuming their incomes don’t rise over the next two years. While you should obviously never gamble on an income raise in the future, if it happens, it can wipe out that 3 month difference.

By: Courtney20

Courtney20 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:22:07 +0000

Depends on the basement I guess. There are fire codes regarding having a safe egress other than back through the house, and we know a lot more about mold allergies than we did in the 1930s.

By: Charles Cohn

Charles Cohn — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:12:12 +0000

When I was a kid in the 1930s, we lived in Illinois and took vacations in Wisconsin. In many of the smaller towns in Wisconsin, I frequently saw houses that were nothing but basements covered over with tarpaper, with a stairwell leading down. Apparently the family lived in the basement and hoped to save up enough money to finish the house at some future time.

This seemed like an excellent frugal approach, but I don’t see it being done any more. Is it against the law now?

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:17:56 +0000

#3 I agree that she should upgrade the apartment. Especially with another child on the way it isn’t worth being miserable. Maybe there is something else that can be cut out in addition to debt repayment that would make her husband feel better about the higher expense. Also, I think it is awesome they’re saving 15% but could they do 14% or something until they adjusted to the more expensive apartment?

By: SwingCheese

SwingCheese — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:00:48 +0000

Brittany – I agree with you. My husband and I have “upgraded” with each move ever since we moved in together when I started graduate school. Now we’re both graduated, we have started a family, we have an extra adult (my father-in-law) living with us, and our apartments have gradually gotten larger to accommodate our needs. We’re currently renting a house that’s about 900 sf, and we’re saving up to purchase our first home in a couple of years. We’re planning on this being our “forever” home, and it will most likely be larger than this rental. I understand the concept of lifestyle inflation, but to expect someone to remain at a graduate student level of living even after one has begun to establish a career and family is a little much. Could Q3′s move to a larger apartment lead to all sorts of lifestyle inflation, to the point where her family is struggling to make ends meet and doesn’t really have financial freedom? Sure it could. But that outcome is not a forgone conclusion from her desire to want a larger than 850 sf apt. in which to live with her family of four. Her wants are neither unreasonable nor unattainable, given their income.

By: Courtney20

Courtney20 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:03:22 +0000

Brittany – More importantly, they’re living on half their salary AFTER saving for retirement.

My other comment got randomly modded…

By: Brittany

Brittany — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:53:12 +0000

Also, they’re living on half their salary! I also live on half my salary, and it’s my general rule that it’s /okay/ to spend the half not going into savings, even if I’m not being as frugal as possible. By this logic, as my salary increases, so does my disposable income (just not as much). So… yeah, it’s lifestyle inflation, but I fail to see how it’s financially unsound.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:50:30 +0000

Agreed with all the commenters who think Q# should upgrade the apartment, although I agree that you should figure out exactly what it is about it that makes you unhappy.

Also, although I definitely agree that “lifestyle inflation” can be a financially dangerous slippery slope, I don’t understand why it’s always a bad thing in moderation. What is the point of earning more money if you don’t actually *use* the money (or plan to use the money) to improve your life quality (or the life quality of others)?

While paying my way through college, I lived in a crappy, falling apart apartment over the summers–the window seals were literally rotting away, the oven didn’t work, the circuit in the kitchen blew if you turned on more than one appliance, the fire marshal gave my landlord multiple fire code violations every year… you get the picture. Why did I live there? Because it was dirt cheap. I paid $125/month for rent. Living dirt cheap kept me within my means and helped me squirrel away money for the future.

Could I live in an equally crappy place now for significantly less than what I’m paying? Sure. Do I? No. When I got my first (minimally paying) big-girl job, I opted for an apartment in a safer neighborhood. It’s barebones and has it’s share of problems, but it’s in more or less okay condition. Now that I’ve gotten a new job that doubled my income, will I be staying here after my lease is up? No. I’m looking for a place that’s a little nicer, with better insulation and fewer unfixed maintenance issues.

Seriously, I’m absurdly cheap as a person, but I really don’t get the point of toughing it out in a crappy situation when you’re poor so you can get to the place where you… stay in the crappy situation once you’re earning more. Can you explain that rationale?

By: Telephus44

Telephus44 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:54:13 +0000

I also think Q3 should go for the bigger apartment. Depending on where they live, $300-$500 for a lot more space isn’t unreasonable. Leona says she’s only looking for a lot more spacious, not granite counter tops. In my own personal experience – we lived in a small apartment when my son was born. By the time he was walking, and DH was working at home and needed a home office it got really cramped. Our family life and marriage suffered to the point of going to counseling (and considering divorce before that). I have to tell you that after we bought a house, things got a LOT better. We only got another 500 square feet but having that extra bedroom for another office, and DS having his own room instead of the crib in the living room was a huge help in restoring our sanity and family harmony. They clearly have enough money to afford it – and let’s face it, isn’t quality of life worth more than money?

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:22:03 +0000

#8. When we graduated 3 years ago I encouraged my boyfriend to start paying off his loans as quickly as possible. Now that we are looking at expenses like weddings and houses, we regret not having the extra money we put into debt payments. Even though we plan on buying a house we can afford on one income, we are seeing that we need to wait at least another year or two before we can afford a house with 20% down and save to have a modest wedding. While young and needing “start-up” costs, it may be wise to have some balance to paying down loans, especially if they are at 5% or less. Being debt free is a good feeling, but so is having money in the bank. (Especially when you have potential big lump sum payments needed in the future.)

By: Steven

Steven — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:14:11 +0000

Maybe my attitude is a direct result of my having been reading The Overspent American & The Overworked American recently. Like I said, this is my interpretation, and being that they are both fresh out of school and into jobs where they’re suddenly making a lot of money, I do think they’re on their way towards lifestyle inflation. Today it’s a larger apartment, tomorrow, who knows? This is all speculation as I obviously don’t know them personally, but having read the two books I mentioned above, I might be hyper-sensitive to these things. *shrugs*

By: S01

S01 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:07:29 +0000

Q6 Bit of a war gamer myself although as Trent said I looked at what I actually enjoyed about war gaming and oddly it had nothing to do with actually playing the game I really enjoy building terrain and painting the miniatures but as it turned out not so much on the gaming side. Saying that I do occasionally still play but I’ve avoided W40k fantasy and sci-fi like the plague. There are numerous generic rules systems that you can buy on RPG now for 10-30 dollars that provide in some cases a far superior rule set plus you can transfer over your entire inventory of miniatures and use them even making the useless miniatures usable by specing them up differently. This also allows you to use other lines of miniatures some of which are very nice sculpts (Reaper, Rackham, Privateer press, Shadowforge + a bucketload of independent guys)

If you just want to try something out for free have a look at wargames unlimited they have sci-fi rule set, fantasy rules set and a Space rule set I’ve tried the fantasy and sci-fi and they play well. They even have pre-speced armies for some w40k army lists so the time investment is basically learn the rules and give the game a shot.

Have Fun :)

By: jim

jim — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:45:47 +0000

Lurker Carl said : “The income guess-timate leads me to believe the jobs are new and hubby is their CFO.”

Huh? I’m guessing the jobs are new since she said they finally graduated and that the current apartment was ‘pre-job’ selection. I don’t know what you mean about the hubby being the CFO though?? Are you saying that since she used the word ‘about’ when saying they make ‘about $200k’ that that must mean he’s in charge of the money? I’m probably misunderstanding you..

By: jim

jim — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:39:45 +0000

Steven, I don’t see any attitude problem from Leona. She says she hates her tiny apartment and wants a bigger one. That is not a sign of being on a slippery slope to financial ruin. She used no language that sounds like she is really a spendthrift or otherwise wanting to inflate their lifestyle. They can clearly afford a bigger place if they want one and people buying things they can clearly afford is not reason for harsh criticsm.

By: jim

jim — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:28:19 +0000

Like JS said, I also always bought paint and other accessories elsewhere. e.g. Paint is paint, you don’t need the Games Workshop brand name with its 200% profit markup on your paint. I also used to make my own terrain and tables and such from scratch. That was fun (for me at least) and cheap.

By: JS

JS — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:11:29 +0000

Q3: We live in a 825 square foot, 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment, and I could see it getting cramped with 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs, especially if you need office space in your home. However, you’re talking about increasing your rent by almost 50%, which makes me wonder if you plan on not only getting a bigger place, but a more luxurious one. In that case, I would go for the space upgrade but forgo the luxury until you make a bigger dent in the loans.

Q6: My husband and I play both 40K and Fantasy, and it IS expensive. I agree with #19 Jim, especially on the upgrading. Also, we’ve found it’s easier to find savings on everything besides the models. The Games Workshop brand supplies are good but expensive. Watch for sales and good prices on painting and modeling supplies- Amazon has good prices on super glue and we find Michaels has a good selection and coupons every week. Look in unconventional places- we buy aquarium decorations to use as terrain and bought foam bricks from an upholstery store to store our models in. Try to build things on your own- my husband has built several pieces of terrain and some markers for very little money.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:50:20 +0000

Q3, you evil rich people better be careful if your incomes go up you will be called a millionaire and taxed as such. You wouldn’t want to be accused of not paying your “fair share” (which of course nobody can say what that amount is). Congratulations on your success thus far, keeping working hard and paying down your loans and hopefully some day you will be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor (as long as the gov’t doesn’t take it all first).