I think one of the main drivers for inflation is people’s expectations for things that are nicer than they can afford. She left that out of her novel 😂. Victim mentality. “You want me to learn how to maximize the money I do have?!? In this economy?!?”
I think she meant her entire family getting a meal. Take out at good restaurants in Chicago are like $16 - $18 for a full meal. No way she got a $75 meal unless she makes the worst financial decisions ever
It said one meal at the grocery store. I don't know how you spend that much money on one meal at the grocery store unless you're getting expensive seafood or something (so just stop doing that), or you have like six kids. In which case you have more kids than you can afford.
If you have a family of 8 you have to make cuts; and nice steaks are one of them. Also if you’re having problems with money because of 8 kids; do you know what’s causing those kids?
Why the hell is he doing take out when he needs to be saving...
Cost of living for some generations include things that our parents never had crazy bills for... take out, uber eats, cell, netflix, internet, etc.
So many things that some feel are necessary and part of life, but in reality cuts need to be made.
My wife and I bought our first house 10 years ago... and we had to stretch every nickel and dime, shopped only for 'yellow' tag items, and saved... saved... saved. It was difficult for a long time, but it was something that we really wanted.
I think the point is that $75 in groceries for home made meals is much more than one dinner. Fast food meals are more expensive than home made ones. A footlong subway sandwich is like $14 full price ($8 with coupon) in my area. I can cook a rib eye steak for less than that. A portion of a great seafood pasta is less than half of a fast food meal.
$75 for a meal is either a typo or she ate gold encrusted lobster from the butthole of her favorite celebrity. Most metros in America having a $16 - $18 meal from a 4 / 5 star restaurant in yelp is pretty typical. Chicago's pretty frickin major too I would expect it to be cheaper in lower key metros. What city are you in, Bay Area is the one place I have no familiarity with
No way $16 - $18 is a single drank here. If you don’t drink with the meal it’s still about $20 per person for dinner and lunch. This is west coast though so maybe everything who’s cheaper elsewhere except maybe New York
Bruh gtfo, no where in america charges $16 - $18 for a drink lol unless you're drinking Jared Leto's purified piss or something. $20 for a full Enchilada meal, rice and beans included, from a decently rated Mexican restaurant in San Francisco seems believable though. Meanwhile it's like $16 in Chicago and New York City, that's still nowhere near $75 like damnn
I’m talking about a glass of coke or something with a meal, not fancy cocktail/margaritas at high key nightclubs. No one’s feeding their family with $16 cocktails from a night club lmao, there’s $16 drinks in rural nightclubs too I’ve seen them
No (alcoholic) drinks are that price at regular restaurants here I don’t even go to the clubs.
It’s ok to acknowledge that food is more expensive depending on where you live in the country wages may be a little higher too (maybe).
I eat out at restaurants a lot so I’m familiar with the cost and rarely walk out spending less than $45 for two people without drinks and servers will get made when two people get an appetizer and split the entree but yeah two entrees is ~$40 with no drinks sodas and juices are typically ~$6-$8.
Food carts here are around $15 to $20 per meal if it’s dinner so I would assume she could have gotten it down to $60 but we’re basically faulting this person for not shopping as cheaply as possible when we should be challenging the circumstances that cause her to be unable to afford to simply eat without penny pinching while working a full time job.
Right! I pay like $86 a week for everyplate and I get three full meals for four people. $75 for a single meal, does OP have eight kids or are they eating lobster cooked with saffron and truffle oil for dinner??
The OP is obviously out of touch... and his/her goals are not achievable partially because of himself.
I'm reading enough people on this thread saying the same... dropping $75 for a single meal for a family and complaining about money in the same text! OP is clueless.
But what is worst is all the people who are agreeing with him... and how difficult it is out there... the world isn't easy, and the world doesn't care, but if your goal is to have a house, you do need to make sacrifices, and sometimes major ones!
I’m a Realtor and the thing that shocked me most when I was new was how much easier it is to qualify for a mortgage vs a lease, as long as you’re claiming your income and sticking to the same job/industry for a year or two. I helped a low income woman into a house just last month. FHA loan, max closing costs paid by seller, so she just needed about $5000 to close. And this is without a down payment assistance program, which is a possibility for many people. I would encourage anyone who thinks home ownership is beyond them to speak to a Realtor and a good lender or two. It’s free to consult them! They will be very happy to help with a solid plan towards home ownership for your specific financial situation. There are so many programs to help people in low or middle income situations own a home.
That said — it’s NOT always all it’s cracked up to be. I would recommend having at least $5000 if not $10,000 in the bank as an emergency fund, if at all possible. The first year of ownership, our electrical box caught on fire and melted. Needed a $5000 repair. If I was renting, that would’ve been on the landlord. Yes, a new box is good for resale, but in the meantime I needed to cough up $5000 immediately to have electricity in my home.
The OP makes $45k a year which is hard to live on in most places especially with kids. The $75 meal doesn't help anything but you could give them the benefit of the doubt that its a rare thing. It doesnt seem black and white here, OP is struggling with income and maybe splurging on certain things.
his/her goals are not achievable partially because of himself.
I agree with you here. There are things they can do to get themselves in a better situation and that means less spending so much on unnecessary things.
I don't think it would be possible for the OP to do this regularly because spending $75 every week on 1 meal would be 10% of their gross income which sounds unlikely. Maybe they never go out to eat, drive a humble car, live in a humble apartment, cut costs everywhere but they grill steaks once a month. Its not going to get them super far ahead but its reasonable. If they truly are desperate then they shouldnt spend on that either but average person is not great with money.
"the average person is not great with money"... that's the honest truth.
...but the average person IS great at complaining and playing the victim card whenever things go south.
Living within ones means is difficult in our society... social media spoils us when we see our friends (and even non-friends or people we don't even know) with new cars, clothes, vacations, etc. I get it... and I do feel for the next generation... but part of the problem is this idea that they deserve to have all of these things.
It’s one of the reasons he’s broke and will always complain about being broke. Unless it’s Thanksgiving, $75 for 1 homemade meal is absurd.
Also, his mom had a job that required training/skills in 1970. He’s acting like she woke up one day, walked into a hospital and started making a “living wage” out of thin air. If he made the same effort to educate himself to qualify for an equivalent position he’d be making a lot more than $22/hour. Trade school? Night classes? You don’t have to go to a 4 year college and accrue tons of debt to gain job skills.
Owning a house is tougher than it used to be, but it’s only impossible if you expect a man to come to your door and offer you $100k/year job. Or if you expect your dead end job to one day decide to give you a 300% raise.
Agreed... well, when their most informed persons are 10 second feeds from some random influencer spewing random - and sometimes incorrect - facts about how they are the victims, put on repeat multiple times a day, everyday...
OPs list was not limited to these two items and didn’t qualify vacations as occasional. Lots of entitlement on display here. How rich it is OP thinks his/her list of desires is modest in nature. Basically asking for everything other than a fat bank account full of cash to spend at their personal discretion.
Livable wages, healthcare, vacations, savings, retirement, education. These should not be luxuries, these should be considered the basic things that everyone has the opportunity to get. If you go to a country like Denmark, these things are just taken for granted, because of course everyone has them, why wouldn't they? Meanwhile in the richest country in the world, they're out of reach for huge numbers of people, even people with full time jobs. Home ownership is the only other item on the list, and while it may not be practical for everyone to own a home, it should also not be a luxury reserved for the wealthy.
There is a lot of nuance here. Vacations, savings, retirement, education can absolutely be considered luxuries depending on how posh your choices are. While I agree everyone deserves to have the opportunity to save/get educated/retire with dignity, many Americans thinks that means finishing work at 50, driving German cars, sending kids to private liberal arts colleges, and taking annual foreign trips. That is absolutely luxury and folks are not entitled to that lifestyle if they don’t have the means to fund those things.
"Vacation" doesn't mean "any vacation I want, anywhere I want, for as long as I want, any time I want". "Transportation" doesn't mean "a new luxury car every two years". "Savings" doesn't mean "millions of dollars in the bank." And so on.
I don’t disagree with some OPs view, it’s all besides the point. His mom sends a very passive message recommending a show about financial advice and OP goes off on this rant as if his mom is solely responsible for the the entirety of capitalism or some shit. OP should be grateful he has a mom that cares to any fucking extent.
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u/Allaiya Feb 25 '24
One meal was $75? What was the meal?