Comments on: My How the Times Have Changed

By: EaterSaver

EaterSaver — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:15:56 +0000

At Home in Decatur will also own a place to live and have no mortgage payment, which, unless I’m missing some secret math, was a greater payout than the associated tax deduction was a savings. So, a better net financial position.

By: EaterSaver

EaterSaver — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:45:41 +0000

I probably didn’t do my savings calculation in the most accurate way. I took gross less taxes = “net” then total savings (some of which is actually before tax and some after) / “net” = % saved. If I take total savings / gross, the % of savings is 48%. If I calculate only after tax savings divided by take home pay, then the % is 54%. Still, I’m certain, far above average but necessary to make up for decades of profligacy.

Back to food, you bring up some intereting points below and your comment about single income households made me wonder how much my gross income would be if my existing food spend was 32% of it. The answer was just over $20,000 after taxes. That’s above poverty level for a family of 2 so it is completely plausible that the 32% is reality for many families. Maybe the downward shift in % of after tax income spent on food is as much a factor of the prosperity of DM readers as it is a decrease in food costs.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:00:17 +0000

Bigger house, higher ceilings, bigger cobwebs and harder to reach them, I always say.

By: Betsy

Betsy — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:16:47 +0000

We’re in one of those small 3/1.5 houses, too, with 3 kids. That was normal for our neighborhood in the 50s. It is still fairly normal for the people in my family that live way out in the country. But, for my friends in the far suburbs, this is considered cra-zee. Funny how those around us shape our perceptions.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:58:01 +0000

I knew I hated home ownership. But, during some previous downturn, when I panicked over having invested my life savings in a piece of Decatur with asbestos siding and windows that fell out, acquaintances reassured me with the following: 1) “They aren’t making any more land out there.” ; 2) If you are living in your home and enjoying it, then it’s not a waste, even if you lose money.” (+/- for me. Love Decatur, hate lawns.) ; and 3) “You don’t take it with you.” (…as in when you die.) Didn’t expect my home to appreciate the way it did. Didn’t expect it to depreciate the way I suspect it is. Probably don’t expect whatever’s coming next.