First home cost me $23,500. I was making $4.25/hour. Eating out once a month a pure extravagance. 1st car $600. Gas $.15/gal. McDonalds (well, it was called Peaks back then) $.25 cheeseburger. Income tax was close to 50% - really! The beat goes on....
-
-
My first new car was around $17,000…about the same that my parents spent on their first home. O_o Crazy to think about.
And a lot of people seem to forget what taxes were like decades ago. -
Don't forget interest rates, first house we brought I believe interest rates were damn near 20% on a five year.
BIL was paying 26% on one mortgage he had.
-
-
Yep we limit our restaurant eating to special event date nights these days. We did a bunch of restaurant and take out during covid to help the small mom and pops make it but we are out now as most of the little ones we like went under when the idiots washing the dishes demanded skilled labor scale. I have 7 grills and just under 1/2 ton of charcoal and I know how to use them… we will be just fine staying at home.Comment
-
Great post for thinking! I’ve heard the saying and have said, “Things aren’t made like they used to.” Possibly we’ve gone from an investment perspective to a disposal perspective and are cycling back to investment. Where do I want to spend my money? Why? How does it benefit me and my local community? I like a cheap meal and see it as fitting a need. I’ve paid a high price for a steak at a locally owned place feeling I’m investing in the their skills, passion, and desire to be in the neighborhood.Comment
-
$15 in most areas is just barely enough to get by. Can't survive if you pay people a wage they can live on? Want to pay zero? I can't post the words I'd say to a business owner who wanted to pay close to zero.Originally posted by nunyaz View Post
Businesses don't have an inherent right to exist no matter how poorly run and employees aren't there just to make the owners money. If a business can't pay a living wage it's probably best, overall, for it to fail and something new to take its place.
I think the larger issue is that the increases (in everything, including basic inputs like fuel etc) have come on so quickly - 5 years ago that $17.50 Thai dish I had was probably $10-13. A 30%+ price hike hurts.Last edited by rickgregory; January 27, 2023, 03:40 PM.Comment
-
"...my first few jobs were all under $5."
Mine were under $3. But that was 45 years ago. It's not relevant to today's market but a lot of older middle aged people do that comparison (this happens with college costs too) and it's silly.
Seattle had one of the first $15 min wage bills. It was phased in and people thought it would kill small biz. It did no such thing.
Businesses that rely on paying poverty wages are poorly run businesses and deserve to die, though -
Less than 2% of hourly workers earn minimum wage. Of that small group they only work at that rate for a short time before an increase. It has been this way for a very long time. -
DavidNorcross - that's fine but if you're talking federal min wage, that's $7.25. Yay someone gets a $1 raise to $8.25... but though they're no longer in that 2%, that's still garbage.
My college job was $2.80/hour. In 1981. The equivalent today would be $9.55. So the current min wage is 25% under where it was in 1981 in real dollar terms.
-
-
Today we ate in a favorite neighborhood catfish and BBQ joint. We each had 3 catfish tacos, potato salad, and baked beans for $11.49 each. For dessert, we split a pecan cobbler at $3.99.
Yesterday we had lunch at a locally owned neighborhood restaurant. I had my favorite which was 8oz. hamburger steak with mushrooms and onions in brown gravy, mashed potatoes, and a big dinner salad, plus a big hot soft roll. Normally it's $10.99 but was the lunch special for only $9.99.
I feel very lucky to live in an area with a low cost of living. That was a big factor when we chose Oklahoma, but I know it will creep up here, also.Comment
-
My wife has a small food business and her two main ingredients are butter and flour. Both have almost doubled in the last year or two. Can't imagine being a restaurant owner and trying to deal with that.Comment
-
For me, going out to eat, has actually been a nice outing lately. My wife and i have started to go out on Thursdays, mainly because I work from home and it gets me out of the house a bit so I’m not cooped up and grumpy
Thai food last night, was really good! But…yes, prices have gone up. I’ve noticed that on my travel trips as well over the last 6 months.
Now, as i start to travel a bit more this year I’ll really start to notice the prices I’m sure.Comment
-
It is getting out of hand. Ordered Pizza last night two large pies and we split a salad. $75.00 delivered. Included tip and delivery fee.
Subs are $12.00 each. Just plain crazy.Comment
-
Wow. My new Yoder pizza oven insert will pay for itself in no time. Let's see, a little flour, water, yeast, a bit if sauce and cheese. I never had problems with restaurant pricing before, but now it just seems excessive. Maybe the restaurant business model doesn't work well anymore, especially a new one with the high start up costs. I saw on the news that the number one rated restaurant in the world, i believe in Norway, just closed its doors. The owner said it was unsustainable. -
Copenhagens NOMA *is* closing soon/by end of 2023-ish, but is not shutting down. They are revamping their menu and will reopen under a new vision. Chef says they want to be a "food lab".
Hopefully not as a $1200/plate meal on an inaccessible island
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/09/11480...enmark-closing
-
-
-
For us older ones, we are not making any more, or enough to keep up with inflation. In 10 years will we be saying the same thing? Our children will have to figure out how to make more money. We will have to figure out how to keep what we have.Comment
-
I don’t think I sat inside a restaurant more than once or twice in the last 3 years due to covid. Had lunch at a popular fish place recently and grouper sandwich was $28. 😳
When we get together with friends for dinner we have concluded it is cheaper to make an incredible dinner for 4 at home for less than it costs to go out for 2, so we often just invite friends over. There are still a few hidden gem restaurants that have reasonable prices but not many, I tip those servers well to make them as happy as I can. Thankfully we have lived well within our means all our lives so the increases are affecting our attitude more than our budget…..Comment
-
So far prices around here aren't too bad. Quarter pounder with cheese meal, large, at Micky D's is still under $10. Pizza prices are basically unchanged. Favorite Mexican place went up about 20% but still good food so worth it. Most of my sticker shock has been at the grocery store.
I won't buy a new vehicle, period. Daily driver about town: a beater 1998 Olds 88 with 195,000 miles. Bought it used in 2006. Everything works and it gets good mileage around town. It ain't worth much: torn upholstery, faded and worn paint.
For travel I have a 2008 Lincoln MKX that I bought in 2015 from family that transferred overseas - they gave me a great deal, I'm the fourth owner. 160,000 miles and in good shape.
A friend just went overseas for 5 years for work, bought his 2013 Cadillac SRX last week to become my new travel vehicle. I paid cash (another very good deal) because interest rates are a bit high right now for a loan on older used cars. I'm the 3rd owner. 116,00 miles and looks almost new.
I am not selling any of them, I'll run them into the ground.Last edited by 58limited; January 28, 2023, 09:23 AM.Comment
-
There's just so much to say on this topic, but I'd be at this keyboard for hours and merely scratch the surface.
Much of what is said here is true.....as far as it goes. There's a long trail of data that supports the observation that roughly 75% of all small businesses fail within the first 5 years of existence. While the details are more complex, a simplified explanation is that the entrepreneurs who started them weren't prepared for the large amount of factors that impact the operation and potential success of the business. In other words the entrepreneurs didn't know what they didn't know. And the same applies to folks giving advice or commentary on what ails any business sector. BTW, in a way, this is a good thing because if the entrepreneurs knew all the hazards they faced ahead of time many would not even give it a shot, and we'd all be short changed by that.
Just a small, but no insignificant example from my last business. We were regulated by 20 government agencies operating under 28 various regulation umbrellas. That's no counting taxing and permitting agencies. Sometimes those entities had conflicting enforcement criteria that added up to a Catch 22 scenario that had to be navigated one way or another. That was over 20 years ago so I'm sure it's worse today. Much of that regulation exists in the realm of "good intentions", but response to each has a real cost, both monetary and time/effort (which ultimately converts to monetary since time/effort is what ultimately is sold). The expression; "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" was never more true. As an example from above, the notion of what is a "living wage" being mandated by political motivations rather than market terms. At the root of any "job/business" the purpose is to exchange value between the involved parties. Before you part with something of value to you the other party must offer something to you that both agree has some level of equal value. As to the employees time the same principle applies. The employee has to provide sufficient value for the employer to pass on to the customer, and the customer has to agree to that offered value. If not, the transaction fails to materialize. A third party intruding to arbitrarily enforce an unrealistic value will eventually have a negative result. The employee is no more entitled to a "living wage" than the employer is to undercompensated effort. But measuring that correctly is not well done by a party motivated by self aggrandizement (patting themself on the back for how much they "care"), be they politicians or their supporters. That third party has little to no skin in the game and pays no penalty for making a bad decision. Like it or not, that's where our market is today; distorted by a huge multitude of "well intentioned" regulation that exceeds it's value in cost to the marketplace.Comment
-
It is difficult to run a business. Now in Colorado companies, with i believe more than 5 employees, have to offer a state run retirement savings plan. I don t know enough about it but my first thought was that IRA s are already available, what is the state doing in the retirement business for private companies. One more task an employer has to manage. -
Very well said. I’ve owned two business. Until you have you can’t imagine what it’s like. There are fees, taxes, insurance, and a whole host of other drains on your bottom line. I had to have skilled people which meant I had to pay a wage that would attract those skilled people. To keep those employees I had to offer two weeks vacation, five sick days a year, and paid holidays. In the end I was paying wages for a month in which that employee contributed nothing. That is just a start on cost. -
Yup. And it's not even a Left vs. Right thing, it is how government operates. Only myopic fools fail to acknowledge this.Last edited by CaptainMike; January 28, 2023, 11:29 AM.
-
-
Comment
-
We really go out anymore but did run up to the local pub last night as they have fish and chips on special last night.
You get an extra piece of fish on Fri nights so since my wife isn't a huge eater one order does us.
Order of fish and chips, one Bud light bottle, two Alexander Keiths draughts cost $41.28 plus a $10 tip, we figure we did not bad getting away with $50 for a meal.
We started making our own Za's and I can't remember the last time I had a Sub.Comment
Comment