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When I started to pile some cash, so many opportunities opened up to save more money. Like I've got a chance to buy a good car for a good price, but I need mone

When I started to pile some cash, so many opportunities opened up to save more money. Like I've got a chance to buy a good car for a good price, but I need money right now. Or I can buy plenty of food at once with a good discount, but I need to have enough money and enough refrigerator space to store it. Poor people who don't have a house, must spend tremendous money to rent it. I'm spending like $20/month to pay for house that I own. Poor people who don't have a car must spend tremendous money for taxi while I can spend laughable money for gasoline and have cheap transportation (while still keeping the option to use cheaper bus if I want). Basically when you don't have enough money, you always struggle, you always have to pay more money for basic needs. And when you have some buffer, you often can negotiate and get better deals. Another example is stress-free life. When I have enough money to cover my expenses for 5 years, I don't really care about being fired, for example. I know that I'll have enough time to find a work. But if one does not have that option, he'll bend before his manager, because he fears to lose work. Also credits are a bad thing in my book. Mortgage is an exception, but only for cheapest apartments ever, so you can pay it as fast as possible.

RHSeeger 5y ago
> I'm spending like $20/month to pay for house that I own. Even assuming you own the house outright (which is not true for most people that have bought a house less than 30 years ago), that number seems ridiculously low. In every place I've lived, the land taxes alone are an order of magnitude higher than that. And then maintenance for the house is on top of that (something that people renting don't pay directly). I know renting has its disadvantages, but owning a house certainly isn't cheap either, even ignoring the price of the actual house.
- ausbah 5y ago
  aren't things like taxes and maintance passed along to the renters?
  - RHSeeger 5y ago
    The person was commenting on renting vs owning, so I assumed they were talking about the house they lived in (vs renting it out to someone else). When comparing the costs of renting to owning, the "extra" costs of owning a house (taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc) add up to a considerable sum, generally.
  - kmano8 5y ago
    Not necessarily. The market will ultimately dictate what a landlord can charge for rent .. if that includes their cost of repairs + taxes, good for them. It's by no means a guarantee, and landlords can go through periods of being cash-flow negative on a property.
- quesera 5y ago
  The usual process is to "buy" a multi-family house and rent out the part you are not using. This can also be done with single-family and roommates. When the numbers work, you contribute little or nothing to the mortgage/taxes/insurance/maintenance, while having a place to live.
- notreallyserio 5y ago
  I'm assuming they're accounting for regular increases in home value, but who knows. It was deliberately vague to try to draw out questions, IMO.
refurb 5y ago
Of course, but my own experience was that I could forgo a car for a bike. I could still buy bread at the end of day for a 75% discount. I could rent a room with 2 other people for 1/4 of what a 1 bedroom would be. I could go to 2nd hand stores for clothes. Yes, trying to replicate a middle class life as a poor person is expensive. But you can also just live like a poor person and get by.
- pixl97 5y ago
  Trying to live as a poor person in the US is difficult as we optimize the process for suburban car owners.

RHSeeger 5y ago

> I'm spending like $20/month to pay for house that I own. Even assuming you own the house outright (which is not true for most people that have bought a house less than 30 years ago), that number seems ridiculously low. In every place I've lived, the land taxes alone are an order of magnitude higher than that. And then maintenance for the house is on top of that (something that people renting don't pay directly). I know renting has its disadvantages, but owning a house certainly isn't cheap either, even ignoring the price of the actual house.

ausbah 5y ago
aren't things like taxes and maintance passed along to the renters?
- RHSeeger 5y ago
  The person was commenting on renting vs owning, so I assumed they were talking about the house they lived in (vs renting it out to someone else). When comparing the costs of renting to owning, the "extra" costs of owning a house (taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc) add up to a considerable sum, generally.
- kmano8 5y ago
  Not necessarily. The market will ultimately dictate what a landlord can charge for rent .. if that includes their cost of repairs + taxes, good for them. It's by no means a guarantee, and landlords can go through periods of being cash-flow negative on a property.
quesera 5y ago
The usual process is to "buy" a multi-family house and rent out the part you are not using. This can also be done with single-family and roommates. When the numbers work, you contribute little or nothing to the mortgage/taxes/insurance/maintenance, while having a place to live.
notreallyserio 5y ago
I'm assuming they're accounting for regular increases in home value, but who knows. It was deliberately vague to try to draw out questions, IMO.

refurb 5y ago

Of course, but my own experience was that I could forgo a car for a bike. I could still buy bread at the end of day for a 75% discount. I could rent a room with 2 other people for 1/4 of what a 1 bedroom would be. I could go to 2nd hand stores for clothes. Yes, trying to replicate a middle class life as a poor person is expensive. But you can also just live like a poor person and get by.

pixl97 5y ago
Trying to live as a poor person in the US is difficult as we optimize the process for suburban car owners.