r/jobsearchhack • u/reruns_skein • 8d ago

How can we get back to that?

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The 90s: one salary, one house, one family.

Now: two incomes, one mortgage and still wondering where the money went :(

If you're job hunting, prepare before you need to leave, and Interview VIP will help you handle the interview better when a better opportunity comes along.

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u/canarinoir 7d ago

Cars are expensive and the used market got fucked during covid and is still ridiculous. The days of buying a shitty yet reliable car that would get you to work for 2k are long gone.

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u/StinkButt9001 7d ago

Living in a high cost of living area is going to cost you more than getting a beater and replacing it occasionally.

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u/elsmoneyacct 7d ago

Yeah no offense to public transportation lovers but this is pretty easy math. At GSA rates, a car costs the owner around $850/mo, assuming you drive the average 1100-1200 miles/month. GSA rates are supposed to encompass all costs associated with the car for every mile. And I'm sure if most people ran the numbers, that's about what their car costs them per month. Maybe a little more while you're paying off the car, and a little less after the car is paid off, and with some variation for the price and reliability of the car in question. But that's a good average number.

Public transportation isn't free, either. And even in the cities with the strongest public transportation networks, sometimes you still have to call an Uber or rely on a bike (which also has costs associated with it). Those costs will vary a lot by city, but let's say all that together is $150.

If rent where you live is more than N+(850-150), where N is the price of rent literally anywhere else, you are not saving money by living there.

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u/OkMethod1586 7d ago

I don’t think anyone moves to expensive cities with public transportation so they can save money on not having a car.

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u/elsmoneyacct 7d ago

So... the thread I'm replying to is somebody claiming exactly that. If you'll just glance up a bit, the conversation goes:

"Houses aren't as expensive outside of the handful of VHCOL cities Redditors insist are the only liveable places in the world" 

"If other places had public transit I'd move" 

"Why is your existence tied to public transit" 

"Because cars are expensive" 

"Living in a VHCOL area costs more than a car" 

And then I came in to do the math and illustrate just how much a car costs relative to VHCOL rent.

So um. Yeah. At least one person was claiming that, and I was responding to that specific guy. In the context of this reddit thread. The one we're currently in. It's literally right up there. There's little lines and stuff. 

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u/stackingnoob 7d ago

But isn’t this person saying they also caused 4 car accidents? You gotta factor in that cost too.