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I am very skeptical that any employed reader of HackerNews in the US cannot afford eggs. Are you working in tech at all? You may resent the state of the econom

I am very skeptical that any employed reader of HackerNews in the US cannot afford eggs. Are you working in tech at all? You may resent the state of the economy (as do I) but your loans will not go away. Nor should they. You knew you would have to pay that back when you started studying, and you did in fact study something useful that paid off. Taxpayers took a chance on your future, you got a useful education, and you owe everyone to pay it back.

righthand 1y ago
Egg prices are up 200% at my store and have not gone down. The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. To fight the cost of something as consumers we’re told not to purchase what we can’t afford or agree with. While I can probably eat eggs every day this year, my cost for those eggs has doubled from 2 years ago. So why would I buy eggs just because I can? My point was about how people reason and deprioritize costs.
- wakawaka28 1y ago
  >The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. We both know that you could afford a $30 dozen eggs, and it would STILL be cheaper than the alternative. That is my point.
  - righthand 1y ago
    Cool, well your point isn’t relevant to my original point then. Because my original point was “here’s things that have increased in expense and how I prioritize costs”. It’s entirely telling that you choose to ignore the latter part of the same line, not only eggs are more expensive but groceries have gone up. Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. Just because you think I should personally stop complaining about the cost of eggs because you’re tired of it or whatever your issue is, doesn’t mean that my complaints and tactics aren’t valid. Go buy some eggs if you really think I should be then. I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out.
    - wakawaka28 1y ago
      >Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. In most cases, this is not the suppliers taking advantage of anyone. Grocers operate on very thin profit margins, as do most food businesses. >I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. Even poor people can still afford eggs. For a software engineer to say they can't afford them is ridiculous. If you talked to a real poor person and they knew how much you earned, and you started saying you can't afford eggs, they'd start wondering wtf you do with your money. >I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. I suffer from high cost of living, despite making great money. But you won't catch me saying my student loans didn't pay off, or that eggs are out of reach. I can't say that no software engineer in the world has such budget issues that they can't afford eggs. But if you can't afford THAT, I wonder what the hell you CAN afford... How are you not starving to death? Are you on food stamps yet? Trust me I know what it's like to not afford things, or to be disappointed with life. But your problems are insignificant compared to those of actual poor people (many of whom get government benefits to sustain them). Your loans appear to have paid off, unless you paid like well over $200k for a 4 year degree or some crap like that.
      - righthand 1y ago
        Cool opinion. I didn’t read it because you seem hell bent on telling me how to live my life. I can’t afford eggs. Any money I save by not buying eggs goes into savings. If I buy eggs then I can’t afford the level of savings I want. See how that math works?
        wakawaka28 1y ago
        Eat what you want. You're not going to convince me that eggs are out of reach for you, or that you are poor, or that you can't afford your student loans (much less that you deserve to get away with not paying them). You don't need to leave a comment to say "I'm doubling down, and not reading your replies" by the way. It's totally pointless.
- ac29 1y ago
  > Egg prices are up 200% at my store and have not gone down. The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. The average price of a dozen eggs is $3.59: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111 Yes, that's double what it was 5 years ago, but its also not a luxury item.
  - righthand 1y ago
    It became a luxury item as soon as the price doubled unreasonably. A dozen eggs is $6 where I live. You can cherry pick your egg prices around the country but for me it’s still 200% and for seemingly no reason.
    - wakawaka28 1y ago
      You are proving my point from up above. We both know you can afford $6 to feed yourself for a couple of days. Is that really such a luxury that a software engineer can't afford it? There is so much irony here, it's unreal. If you cry about house prices it's one thing, but saying it's the eggs being so expensive that really seals the deal on you not repaying your loans is completely disingenuous. Nevermind that these loans have no term in the contract saying that you will get any particular quality of life after spending that money... The entitlement reeks. I am halfway in agreement in that I hate how the economy is, but there's no reality in which you deserve to get all that money for free as more cautious people forgo college for backbreaking jobs.
      - righthand 1y ago
        You are ignoring the point of my original comment that’s why I’m ignoring your point. The point is: can I buy eggs? Yes. Is that equivilent to can I afford eggs? No. Why? Because I’m not discussing buying eggs. I’m discussing knocking eggs off the list of things I can afford because the cost increased. If my grocery bill and energy bills increase I need to make cuts somewhere. So I choose eggs because they have doubled. The point was that people prioritize costs relative to the state of the world. In my case I decided to not buy eggs. As one of the cost cutting measures. If I didn’t cut eggs, I’d be spending twice as much. No amount of commenters screaming “YEAH BUT YOURE A SOFTWARE ENGINEER YOU CAN BUY EGGS” will make me buy eggs again until I view the cost as fair for my budget. You’re the entitled one insisting that I can and should buy eggs. It’s not your life or money. I never stated eggs as the reason I would stop paying my student loans. In fact the list is much longer than the single item of eggs. The trend will go, if everyone stops paying their loans to prioritize other costs than that is what the “market” wants to be unburdened from student loans. —- I also didn’t get ANY money for free. That money went to the university charging overpriced tuition. I wasn’t spending it on overpriced eggs. It has nothing to do with free-money and everything to do with using money to burden people and calling it “education”.

righthand 1y ago

Egg prices are up 200% at my store and have not gone down. The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. To fight the cost of something as consumers we’re told not to purchase what we can’t afford or agree with. While I can probably eat eggs every day this year, my cost for those eggs has doubled from 2 years ago. So why would I buy eggs just because I can? My point was about how people reason and deprioritize costs.

wakawaka28 1y ago
>The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. We both know that you could afford a $30 dozen eggs, and it would STILL be cheaper than the alternative. That is my point.
- righthand 1y ago
  Cool, well your point isn’t relevant to my original point then. Because my original point was “here’s things that have increased in expense and how I prioritize costs”. It’s entirely telling that you choose to ignore the latter part of the same line, not only eggs are more expensive but groceries have gone up. Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. Just because you think I should personally stop complaining about the cost of eggs because you’re tired of it or whatever your issue is, doesn’t mean that my complaints and tactics aren’t valid. Go buy some eggs if you really think I should be then. I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out.
  - wakawaka28 1y ago
    >Just because I have disposable income to pay higher costs of groceries doesn’t mean it’s fair that the suppliers take advantage of difficult times to normalize a 200% increase to a grocery item. In most cases, this is not the suppliers taking advantage of anyone. Grocers operate on very thin profit margins, as do most food businesses. >I’m not rich by any software engineer standard, so it’s a little prejudice that you want to harass me about how much money I make as compared to a statement I made about being able to afford things. Even poor people can still afford eggs. For a software engineer to say they can't afford them is ridiculous. If you talked to a real poor person and they knew how much you earned, and you started saying you can't afford eggs, they'd start wondering wtf you do with your money. >I hope you never complain about the cost of living for any item or issue ever again in your life. You seem to have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. I suffer from high cost of living, despite making great money. But you won't catch me saying my student loans didn't pay off, or that eggs are out of reach. I can't say that no software engineer in the world has such budget issues that they can't afford eggs. But if you can't afford THAT, I wonder what the hell you CAN afford... How are you not starving to death? Are you on food stamps yet? Trust me I know what it's like to not afford things, or to be disappointed with life. But your problems are insignificant compared to those of actual poor people (many of whom get government benefits to sustain them). Your loans appear to have paid off, unless you paid like well over $200k for a 4 year degree or some crap like that.
    - righthand 1y ago
      Cool opinion. I didn’t read it because you seem hell bent on telling me how to live my life. I can’t afford eggs. Any money I save by not buying eggs goes into savings. If I buy eggs then I can’t afford the level of savings I want. See how that math works?
      - wakawaka28 1y ago
        Eat what you want. You're not going to convince me that eggs are out of reach for you, or that you are poor, or that you can't afford your student loans (much less that you deserve to get away with not paying them). You don't need to leave a comment to say "I'm doubling down, and not reading your replies" by the way. It's totally pointless.
ac29 1y ago
> Egg prices are up 200% at my store and have not gone down. The point isn’t “can I buy a carton of eggs” it’s “has a carton of eggs become a luxury item I no longer buy”. The average price of a dozen eggs is $3.59: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111 Yes, that's double what it was 5 years ago, but its also not a luxury item.
- righthand 1y ago
  It became a luxury item as soon as the price doubled unreasonably. A dozen eggs is $6 where I live. You can cherry pick your egg prices around the country but for me it’s still 200% and for seemingly no reason.
  - wakawaka28 1y ago
    You are proving my point from up above. We both know you can afford $6 to feed yourself for a couple of days. Is that really such a luxury that a software engineer can't afford it? There is so much irony here, it's unreal. If you cry about house prices it's one thing, but saying it's the eggs being so expensive that really seals the deal on you not repaying your loans is completely disingenuous. Nevermind that these loans have no term in the contract saying that you will get any particular quality of life after spending that money... The entitlement reeks. I am halfway in agreement in that I hate how the economy is, but there's no reality in which you deserve to get all that money for free as more cautious people forgo college for backbreaking jobs.
    - righthand 1y ago
      You are ignoring the point of my original comment that’s why I’m ignoring your point. The point is: can I buy eggs? Yes. Is that equivilent to can I afford eggs? No. Why? Because I’m not discussing buying eggs. I’m discussing knocking eggs off the list of things I can afford because the cost increased. If my grocery bill and energy bills increase I need to make cuts somewhere. So I choose eggs because they have doubled. The point was that people prioritize costs relative to the state of the world. In my case I decided to not buy eggs. As one of the cost cutting measures. If I didn’t cut eggs, I’d be spending twice as much. No amount of commenters screaming “YEAH BUT YOURE A SOFTWARE ENGINEER YOU CAN BUY EGGS” will make me buy eggs again until I view the cost as fair for my budget. You’re the entitled one insisting that I can and should buy eggs. It’s not your life or money. I never stated eggs as the reason I would stop paying my student loans. In fact the list is much longer than the single item of eggs. The trend will go, if everyone stops paying their loans to prioritize other costs than that is what the “market” wants to be unburdened from student loans. —- I also didn’t get ANY money for free. That money went to the university charging overpriced tuition. I wasn’t spending it on overpriced eggs. It has nothing to do with free-money and everything to do with using money to burden people and calling it “education”.