I didn't even realize a life without cars was possible (and still doubt it outside of some very specific metro areas in the USA) until I was well into my late 20s.
The environment I grew up wasn't conducive to anything beyond trying to attain the lowest levels of maslow's hierarchy of needs. Around age 28 I was finally able to think beyond those levels.
I wouldn't be surprised at the number of folks in a similar situation.
Anyways, my point is these aren't really useful bits of advice. I am in shock you're claiming no one needs a car, and simultaneously asking them to not live somewhere expensive (which is usually where one doesn't need a car). I guess if they have a good home environment they can live with their parents, but a lot don't unfortunately, myself included.
And the medical stuff. I'm well established at the moment, but know I'm about one medical emergency (cancer, getting shot in a mass shooting, who knows) from losing my wealth.
Then there's the folks clawing their way out of poverty. They'll be from poverty and any gains they make are going to be expected to be shared with their family (father, mother, grandmother, etc.). It's extremely tough. Especially as those aging folks need medical care (both in terms of money and attention).
At this point I'm definitely planning to try and head to a country with a better social system in place, despite "making it".
If you decide to pay. If you don't use credit you will be ok. I have used credit maybe a handful of times and regreted it. I have gotten loans, car rentals, apartments,etc... without credit (how do you think illegal immigrants survive?)
> I didn't even realize a life without cars was possible (and still doubt it outside of some very specific metro areas in the USA) until I was well into my late 20s
Not everyone can do it. Uber, buses and bikes have allowed me to be car free in probably the most car dependent and unwalkable city in the world. I am saving thousands a year and honestly for me it isn't even about the money, I love cars but the hassle of dealing with mechanics, insurance, cops,etc... got too tiresome, it's truly liberating but the important bit for me is I get to WFH 2-3 days, not everyone can. I would have to move next to my office, switch jobs and/or move if that changes!
> Then there's the folks clawing their way out of poverty
Yes, my family lived in such a way when I was living at home before i started working.
> They'll be from poverty and any gains they make are going to be expected to be shared with their family (father, mother, grandmother, etc.). It's extremely tough. Especially as those aging folks need medical care (both in terms of money and attention).
Yes, and even the most unfortunate get to join the army, get free college and start helping out that way. My advice which you think is bad is stop playing by the rules of a system designed to keep you down. Don't get credit cards or credit, max out medicare/medicaid/stamps. Let me add one more: don't liver in a mortgaged house, rent unless you have good liquidity and a growing savings account that can handle a mortgage!
The free hospital in my city, when I took one of my parents for treatment, the guy who checked us out literally told us if we get a bill we should throw it in the trash. And i know people who don't even give their names when being treated!
> At this point I'm definitely planning to try and head to a country with a better social system in place, despite "making it".
That's another thing that drives me nuts! America is better than any country in europe by far! You people (and by that I mean HN and redditors) just don't know how to give the system a middle finger in my opinion. Have you looked for a tech job there!? It pays total crap by compaison. Many jobs are like that. You need a degree for everything (i ditched college - another middle finger to the system!) and everyone has one so it comes down to wealtn and connections. They have a lot of problems there and it's a nightmare if you even remotely look like an immigrant or a gypsy lol. America had a ton of problems and I have faced many of them but i have also see how other countries are and see how I am living now. There is no country better than america, the grass in fact not greener on the other side.
I distinctly remember being in my early 20s, making $9/hr and thinking how I have the exact apartment i want (bad neighborhood but never had issues), eating the food i like as much as I like, consuming any movie and music i want (piracy), learning whatever I want (turns out to be tech/security stuff) and driving a crappy car (didn't care, got me to work) and thinking how good I had it. Now I am so grateful, I order stuff from amazon, just about anything and get in a day or two, any food, grocery, enetertainment, vacation almost anywhere and I am so grateful. I am not self made, many people helped me but my point is that the system was rigged, the house always wins if you play by the rules. You have to hack the system. Say no to debt as much as possible even if that is what everyone recommends (see: mortgage and building equity or credit cards and building credit). Sorry, my quality of life has been great because I said no to many of these things. I might get a credit,mortgage, pay hospital bills, finish college,etc... when the money makes sense! Not while i am struggling for money or have responsibilities.
I will say it again, nothing beats liquidity! 1k cash is better than 50k credit. 1k rent is better than 2% apr mortgage.
I don't have all the answers and never made such a claim, i merely pointed out the common traps and scams people fall i to and waste lifetimes in stress and desperation.
Can I really use cash for every medical emergency, like cancer or getting shot? Feels crazy but I guess I'll take your word for it.
Interested in how old you are? None of my friends even in the far suburbs get by with 1k rent, it's around 2k these days.
Anyways, my anecdote is that I've been overseas for extended periods and folks are far happier there than the USA. The food is better, the events are more plentiful, and folks are kinder.
America is really only great for the wealthy, which I'm guessing both you and I are. If you don't think you are, I'd be interested in your net worth at the moment.
It's interesting that you can see the system is rigged, but somehow also think folks can avoid it. America is setup this way, and I don't fault folks for struggling.
When the numbers look like this, you can't blame folks or offer pithy tips about avoiding healthcare traps ("remember this when daddy has a heart attack!"), you have to change the system.
> Can I really use cash for every medical emergency, like cancer or getting shot? Feels crazy but I guess I'll take your word for it.
Depends but it you get shot for example you don't have to use cash, you can just ignore the bill and take on bad credit (if you gave them your ssn+name). Cancer, i know people whose job was to take care of cancer patients so once you are admitted they won't kick you out until you are in remission, you may not get the best care possible but they will treat you for free (at a public hospital not private) some treatment options will cost money and there are many options for those who can't pay right away but worse case you have another debt to your name which goes away after 7 years so long as you don't pay a cent!
> Interested in how old you are? None of my friends even in the far suburbs get by with 1k rent, it's around 2k these days.
More than 27 less than 47 :). I live in a major US city, my current neighborhood is safe-ish (no issues) but my rent actually went down to less than 1k this year. I don't know if I live in the suburbs, but I am not in downtown or inner city for sure. I have paid more and less in the past.
> Anyways, my anecdote is that I've been overseas for extended periods and folks are far happier there than the USA. The food is better, the events are more plentiful, and folks are kinder.
Living and visiting are different. California is a good example in the US lol. You can be very happy in the US, the one thing no one beats the US on is opportunity. You have native born people living in tents in california and immigrants with nothing working their butt off and living like kings. Just in the US there are many cultures and subcultures everyone trying to be happy like any other country except in the US you can get food, culuture and interaction from any country in the world. You can live in any climate and you have 50+ states to pick from. And our national parks, just the sheer number and diversity of them you can never get bored with outdoor stuff. Just in the US the way people are kind and rude differs wildly, compare california and new york for example, and throw in how wildly rude and hostile texas and othee southern states are (unless they think you are one of them from there) and take your pick of who you wanna live near. And food? Are you kidding? I eat food from like 5 countries without thinking about it within a span of a week. You can get actual authentic cuisine from just about any country over 50M people in it in any major US metropolitan area!
I got news for you, everyone is kinder to foreigners that look wealthy in most countries. Look at how they treat poor immigrant africans and indians to see how genuine their kindess is.
> If you don't think you are, I'd be interested in your net worth at the moment.
I don't feel comfortable being that specific on HN but maybe I can get close: I have enough in my savings to pay rent+light+food (one meal a day <$10) for 1.52-2y and nothing more. I can decimate that and afford a downpayment on a cheap house (<250k). I have a good job in tech but I am constantly worried about being out of work for prolonged period of time due to instability in economy/tech. When I was ~19 i remember wearing cloth with holes in it to a job paying 8.50 because i couldn't afford anything. My family has gotten evicted multiple times when I was a teen and earlier than that too and seen a lot of poverty struggles (mentioning to say I don't come from any sort of wealth). I had a 2003 car that must have seen like 10 accidents i got rid of to save money/hassle a couple of years back(none now).
> It's interesting that you can see the system is rigged, but somehow also think folks can avoid it. America is setup this way, and I don't fault folks for struggling.
Every system has rules. If it is rigged, find a way to aboid the consequence of breaking the rules. Blackjack and card counting come to mind. If you so what everyone does you will lose. You seem to think that because the system is rigged, it is without fault, that's not correct. Ask yourself how illegal immigrants cross the border and end up raising several children in a decent house. Look at how much we depend on immigrants with skills in tech! Look at how many people complain about student debt when they could have bear it with the GI bill, forget that, I know many people that did community college and transfered and at most they paid like 15k for a degree all included! No debt, some even worked two jobs while getting a degree!
> you have to change the system.
Yes but everyone says that and then proceeds to play by the rules. Do you know that the US spends by a huge margin more than any country on health care per-capita? Do you know why healthcare is still crappy? Because even obama/obamacare couldn't imagine a world without insurances! (Hate them with passion! The cancer cells of america!) do you know why insulin costs $30 in canada and 700 in the US across the border? Because in the US, the patient is the middle man, the customer is the insurance company and everything costs what the customer is willing to pay for it. The dependency on insurance is so ingrained into ameicans minds that we think our employers should have something to do with it as if the unemployed don't get sick! See, that is the system and even the most liberal folks think about taking money from billionaires and giving it to the billionaires who own insurance companies, that's what I mean by playing by the rules. And do you know why americans live longer but with more chronic issues? Because they make you a repear customer one way or the other because you are not the person the doctor is being paid by, you are just a middleman getting in the way. When I say stop paying hospital bills, I mean let the insurance companies lose money, make premiums unaffordable so the government pays hospitals directly and regulates their prices because now it is the government paying and they have to answer to voters both for rising taxes and insane bills!
Complaining won't fix anything, neither will downvoting me when I suggest solutions hoping my fellow voters would engange in discourse (you excluded since you actually decided to talk to me instead of downvote and walk away). This right here is how things change!
> Let me add one more: don't liver in a mortgaged house, rent unless you have good liquidity and a growing savings account that can handle a mortgage!
A good chunk of the income tax system is designed to lower the cost of owning real estate. Foregoing that is no better than paying credit card interest.
> Uber, buses and bikes have allowed me to be car free in probably the most car dependent and unwalkable city in the world.
You'll need to use a credit card to use Uber. Unless you're suggesting using debit cards for that which isn't a great idea.
> A good chunk of the income tax system is designed to lower the cost of owning real estate. Foregoing that is no better than paying credit card interest
You typically pay 1.5x just in mortgage and interest. Most people have a maintenance emergency that costs 10k+ once every other year or so. HOA fees are no joke, neither is complying to their rules. Maybe you will get better tax returns and if you are really good at budgeting (unlike most) you can spread out your return to lessen this burden but you still will have at least 50% less regular cashflow for the duration of the mortgage (15-30 years!). That's what I mean by money making sense. If you have 50k+ in your savings and mortgage paymen+hoa will be at least less than half your monthly income you can afford it. In other words, if you can pay off the house in 5-7 years without living paycheck to paycheck and can withstand normal emergencies it is a good idea to own a house and much of it also depends on the interest. There are plenty of rent or buy calculators online that let you measure exactly this. For most people they say renting is better these days.
> You'll need to use a credit card to use Uber. Unless you're suggesting using debit cards for that which isn't a great idea.
Yeah, debit cards! check out privacy.com. Paying with the money you have, no more or less is how it is supposed to work.
The environment I grew up wasn't conducive to anything beyond trying to attain the lowest levels of maslow's hierarchy of needs. Around age 28 I was finally able to think beyond those levels.
I wouldn't be surprised at the number of folks in a similar situation.
Anyways, my point is these aren't really useful bits of advice. I am in shock you're claiming no one needs a car, and simultaneously asking them to not live somewhere expensive (which is usually where one doesn't need a car). I guess if they have a good home environment they can live with their parents, but a lot don't unfortunately, myself included.
And the medical stuff. I'm well established at the moment, but know I'm about one medical emergency (cancer, getting shot in a mass shooting, who knows) from losing my wealth.
Then there's the folks clawing their way out of poverty. They'll be from poverty and any gains they make are going to be expected to be shared with their family (father, mother, grandmother, etc.). It's extremely tough. Especially as those aging folks need medical care (both in terms of money and attention).
At this point I'm definitely planning to try and head to a country with a better social system in place, despite "making it".