Comment on Is it better to rent a cheap/shitty place, or rent something suitable that you struggle to afford?
whoreticulture@lemmy.world 2 months agoAh, I don’t think I will ever be able to afford a house. My income isn’t likely to increase by much given my career (80k might be my max, 100k is possible in a decade or two or if I get a PhD). Houses average around 800k. Not to mention the risk of fire, in the region, it doesn’t seem like a sound investment for someone at my income.
So for me, my financial goals are about building up retirement fund and being able to afford a better life (my dreams are to pay for fluff/fold laundry because I have ADHD and constantly struggle keeping up, be able to afford to travel without dipping into emergency fund, have my car paid off, be able to afford car repairs without dipping into emergency fund 😭. just basic stability.) I don’t plan on having children, and honestly don’t particularly care about marriage and prefer a lifestyle of a robust community life.
So what good is a house for me? I have read all the financial advice recommending it but … that seems to apply more to people with families, or higher incomes where saving to buy a house requires less sacrifice from daily life. It doesn’t seem like a good use of my money. Scrimping for twenty years, only to still pay off a mortgage for thirty years, and then die.
redisdead@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Sounds like you’re just making excuses for your lack of willpower.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 2 months ago
May not be true depending on where OP lives. There are a lot of rent vs buy calculators out there, and home prices are so expensive in some areas that it’s actually better financially to rent instead of own, and to invest the difference in payments. For example that’s the case where I live in San Francisco - investing the difference between rent payments and mortgage payments nets me more in the long run, even considering housing value appreciation.
redisdead@lemmy.world 2 months ago
List of things you can do if houses are too expensive where you live:
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 2 months ago
whoreticulture@lemmy.world 2 months ago
yup SF bay area. buying a house is only a good idea if your parents are funding the down payment.
whoreticulture@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Lack of willpower? Lmao where is that even coming from? Sounds like you just wanted to bring up your talking point?
I work a full-time job and am doing very well for my field, it’s just not a high paying job, because I work for an environmental nonprofit and the work itself is important to me. Are you just saying that because my dream is to not do laundry? What is the point of having money if you can’t use it to save yourself hours of labor?
I can’t pay for a loan until I can afford a down payment. You need money for that.
You are clearly not a serious person, and I will lot be taking any of your advice seriously. You are not willing to seriously engage in the reality of my situation, and would prefer to live in a fantasy land where people are wealthy/poor due to “laziness” and not … exploitation. Because that is what is happening. I have a moral conscious and am being exploited by the nonprofit-industrial complex, being underpaid to do impactful work during a climate emergency.
redisdead@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“you are not a serious person”, says the guy thinking pissing away their money in rent because they are too lazy to do laundry is a good tradeoff lmao.
You’ll be funding someone else’s property all your life like a servant just to save 15 minutes of folding clothes every week.
whoreticulture@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Oh shit, must have forgot that $200/month could buy me a house. Damn. Also don’t see where I mentioned that as anything other than an aspirational splurge.
Not to mention… what is the point of owning a house I’ll be paying my mortgage off on until I die? I’m gonna bring the house to the grave?