Anybody trying to save more?

[BB28403]

Notice myself trying to save on groceries a lot more than say in 2020 or 2021.  Really have it down too.  
 

not buying any lower quality stuff or going to different stores.  Just carefully planning out the trips with strategy.  Have gone from $400 a week at the height of the pandemic for groceries down to $200.  Try to eat all organic and stay healthy.

 

def have stopped buying any golf stuff not completely necessary.  All the bills are increasing, rents, property taxes, insurances, power bills, health insurance.  Didn’t get hit with this but cars apparently are insane to buy now.

 

don’t even get me started if you want to buy a house.  For some reason those with them were given a free 20-30%.  While those without now have to work an extra 5-7 years to pay one off.  That’s pretty messed up!

 

Anyone else noticing the struggle?

 

im in Raleigh and I think 60k would be a minimum to have a 1 bedroom apartment by yourself.  And you def could not afford golf.  I do not think.  Just the apartment would set you back about 20k a year. 
 

 

[BB28403]

Oh weird I thought I put this into Deal or no Deal.  Hmmmm funny 😁 

[ThinkingPlus]

No.

[ThinkingPlus]

BTW, IBTL.

[Petethreeput]

Golf is an expensive past time, or it certainly can be.  A personal break even is a good way to ascertain an absolute minimum, then a plan for anything in excess the break even.

 

Everyone is in different stages or realities of finance.  I am not wealthy, would never claim to be, but I/we didn’t live large when we could (re new cars when rates were low, eating out when they sent us checks, new appliances, etc.), so when these things pop up, we haven’t seen this for 14 years which is a very long time for economic cycles, we have the unused largesse to maintain our lifestyle without concern.

 

It sounds like you are young(ish) in regards to home ownership.  In ‘79 mortgage rates were in the teens I believe.  Then they weren’t, then in ‘08 the market was decimated, it will come back and home ownership and affordability has been an issue since Clinton in the 90’s.  This immediate angst is the product of a 24 hr news cycle with no eye on history.

 

Assuming nothing disastrous happens this should ease late ‘23, and be back in good shape by ‘25… but this is a huge assumption seeing how on edge everything is both domestically and internationally.

[MtlJeff]

The next couple of years I think 99.5% of people would be somewhat responsible to save a bit more than normal, or at least prepare for prolonged periods of minimal to no income, worst case. It's only prudent

 

Cost of living has gone up and many companies will likely cut staff if they have not done so already. Not sure it will be as bad as 2009-2010 but it's possible. So prudence is a good idea

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by MtlJeff

[puresurfr]

I normally spend quite freely but this last year I have been much more frugal and this coming year plan to be even more so.  I still buy a absurd amount of golf equipment but I have decided to lay off on luxury vacations and new cars for now as well as the foreseeable future ....... Oh and the fast women too, definitely cant afford them anymore

[Jeff58]

1 hour ago, puresurfr said:

Oh and the fast women too, definitely cant afford them anymore

Got that right, bro. 👍

[Roejye]

I have always been a cheapskate, but this past year I have been splurging on myself a bit more than before. I do plan on tightening the belt a little more this year though. My phone is getting a little old and acting a little odd, but probably could just try to back it up and factory reset it to see if that can prolong the life. Other than that, I'll probably stick to my home course more. No big golf purchases on the horizon luckily. I would say yes, I'm trying to save more.

[T_Golf_23]

I think this is amazing in the context of private courses and young families. 
 

costs for young families are crazy as child care has skyrocketed…. Food bills…. Etc….

 

golf has exploded with young players and private clubs have grown by leaps and bounds with these young families. 
 

this year my family had enough. We left our club. So did many others. The cost of our club had risen close to 40% since 2020 and we all had enough. 
 

i unfortunately think that these clubs are compromising the next generation of members….. putting the clubs futures at risk, especially in context of the fact that the economic environment is more likely to remain challenging over the next year or two or more. 
 

is anyone seeing a trend at their clubs in the same way? 

[MtlJeff]

11 hours ago, T_Golf_23 said:

I think this is amazing in the context of private courses and young families. 
 

costs for young families are crazy as child care has skyrocketed…. Food bills…. Etc….

 

golf has exploded with young players and private clubs have grown by leaps and bounds with these young families. 
 

this year my family had enough. We left our club. So did many others. The cost of our club had risen close to 40% since 2020 and we all had enough. 
 

i unfortunately think that these clubs are compromising the next generation of members….. putting the clubs futures at risk, especially in context of the fact that the economic environment is more likely to remain challenging over the next year or two or more. 
 

is anyone seeing a trend at their clubs in the same way? 

 

I would say the cost of golf here has not risen proportional to general cost of living. Yes our membership has raised prices, but overall golf is cheaper here so even like a 10% increase would be 500$ if the membership cost is 5000$

 

Compare that to what people pay extra for groceries, gas etc....drop in a bucket. 

 

I think i mentioned this here before but i have a friend who was a grocery store's APP that tracks her spending. I think it had doubled vs like 2 years ago. And she says she buys mostly the same stuff

[Bonneville85308]

I have cut out a lot of discretionary spending outside of golf to offset the cost of everything increasing while maintaining the same savings rate. Inflation has far outpaced my salary increases over the last few years, and I essentially earn less money in real dollars now than I did 5 years ago. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Bonneville85308

[airjammer]

5 hours ago, Bonneville85308 said:

I have cut out a lot of discretionary spending outside of golf to offset the cost of everything increasing while maintaining the same savings rate. Inflation has far outpaced my salary increases over the last few years, and I essentially earn less money in real dollars now than I did 5 years ago. 

Same here…and I wish everyone else would has well so we can get a grip on certain economic issues. 

When 63% of the population is living paycheck to paycheck…nothing good can come from it. 

[Mrgreen36]

I have 3 teenagers, realistically the only one who works in my house, my business expenses are 4k a month just to wake up and go to work.  I just work more to cover that nut, it helps I'm very specialized and can basically charge what I want for what I do. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Mrgreen36
Spelling.

[PuffyC]

Hopefully more will drastically cut their spending, which is exactly what the fed wants. After all, you can’t push $2 trillion of free money into the economy then be surprised when demand, and therefore prices, skyrocket. There’s no free lunch. We’ve worked thru about a trillion of that so far and it won’t be better until the other trillion is gone too.

[Kmagnuss]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:37 PM, BB28403 said:

...

 

don’t even get me started if you want to buy a house.  For some reason those with them were given a free 20-30%.  While those without now have to work an extra 5-7 years to pay one off.  That’s pretty messed up!

 

 

 

 

 

There was nothing "free" about my investment going up in value.  I had the fortitude to work my way through 6 years of college, bypass buying the new boats/cars so that I could save for a house, bypass all the great vacations my friends were taking, bypass going out to eat and golf wasn't even a thought due to the cost.  I paid with my sacrifice while others either didn't stick to the plan or didn't even have a plan in the first place.

 

I'm pretty happy the market has gone up.  My house has gone up 3x since we bought it.  Are you going to tell me with a straight face that if you had been in a better position to buy a house before covid (and had bought one) that you'd feel bad that your house value went up?

Housing is cyclical and it's a great investment vehicle.  Just keep saving and jump on somebody else's misfortune (Spending too much and not saving enough in preparation for down times) then you can be in the same boat you're upset about.

[TiScape]

On 1/8/2023 at 4:37 PM, BB28403 said:

Im in Raleigh and I think 60k would be a minimum to have a 1 bedroom apartment by yourself.  And you def could not afford golf.  I do not think.  Just the apartment would set you back about 20k a year. 
 

 

I like to see the silver lining in things. For you it could be, be happy that you live where you do. Minimum to buy a 1 BR apartment/condo near me is ~$420k! Haha

[Wooley12]

With a AS in Biz and a joint net worth of $60 plus wedding gift money went on a honeymoon with my new wife with a new teaching degree. We were able to lift by our own bootstraps and had a new car in 6 months and a house with a 12% mortgage within 3 years. Bootstraps were a lot easier to pull back in the day. Medical insurance - paid for by employer. Retirement plan - paid for by employer. Student loans were lower than the car payment. Pot was $15/oz. I agree with the OP. He got here just as the Middle Class that started post WWII is tanking. As for saving money, I've cut back from 3 eggs for breakfast to two and buy my wine at $10/bottle. That's about it. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Wooley12