The new American Dream... One meme to rule them all!

Ok just kidding. I am linking the meme in this thread however. I like memes they can really get a message across with few words And a single image.



This is so true. Right now I'm SoCal looking for a room to rent and in a decent neighborhood it's $800 a month. Not a chance I can afford an apartment I need maybe 3-4$ an hour to fit into a budget where I can continue to save for an investment.

You should see the descriptions on these things;
No kitchen access, no pets, no smoking, no drugs, quiet, works the same hours, wants to hang out, no visitors no fun, limited laundry, limited living room +500 deposit and utilities.

What the hell I just want a place to sleep at night and a kitchen to cook food on! How can the kitchen be off limits and it's still over 500 a month for a room to rent?

It's so crazy how expensive everything is right now we have no mobility unless your lucky enough to be making 50k+ a year, and as well should know by now that's half of the workforce that falls under that amount, 74 million people.

As much as I used to like California their taxes on top of the cost of trying to find a place to live just ruined it for me and that was back in the late 80s. Good luck !

a reply to: onequestion

Housing costs are the the biggest outlay that most people have to deal with during a month. When those costs alone exceed the wages paid to the potential occupier, things are surely broken beyond belief.

However, it might be worth looking into alternative accomodation. Any bars or clubs near your preferred location, may have properties for rent in or around the building, and although nights will be noisy, it may drop the ticket price of rental by a significant enough degree, that the accomodation is affordable? Just a thought!

originally posted by: 727Sky
As much as I used to like California their taxes on top of the cost of trying to find a place to live just ruined it for me and that was back in the late 80s. Good luck !

Oh I'm getting over it really quick.

It's low on opportunity and high on cost.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: onequestion

Housing costs are the the biggest outlay that most people have to deal with during a month. When those costs alone exceed the wages paid to the potential occupier, things are surely broken beyond belief.

However, it might be worth looking into alternative accomodation. Any bars or clubs near your preferred location, may have properties for rent in or around the building, and although nights will be noisy, it may drop the ticket price of rental by a significant enough degree, that the accomodation is affordable? Just a thought!

I'll find a place eventually it's just mind blowing going through the process.

I just can't believe how much I'm paying for a room.

It's far far far worse in the UK

originally posted by: crazyewok
It's far far far worse in the UK

Damn what are you guys doing about it, what's rental cost there?

a reply to: onequestion

I lived in the Bay Area from about 10-14. My mother went to Berkeley for undergrad poly sci. I made a lot of friends that I still have today.

I went back after about 2 years of college for a break. I lived in a sort of cottage extension on the home of a middle school friends parent's house.

I tried really hard, but I could NOT find a job that would pay for an apartment. Even sharing one with others. I had a lot of fun though. I worked for a company that had me selling knockoff perfume on the street and we had road trips to LA.

Eventually, I learned that I must return. I was barely making more than busfare/bartfare snacks and cigarettes, I did smoke then.

I could never imagine trying it today. The cost of living where I live now is MUCH lower.

a reply to: reldra

Yeah I moved back out here a year ago because I was in Pennsylvania and the weather people's attitudes were killing me. I went to Florida first and that place is jobless unless you want to be a bartender or someone's accountant. So I came back to Cali because there was so much opportunity here last time I lived here I figured I'd find it again. I'm pretty good at finding opportunities too and in Cali it's really hard to come by anything without someone getting you in on something. So so so many people are here from Asia and Latin America, millions on top of millions. Manufacturing is done by Latin Americans for less than what it's worth back in PA and construction is all immigrants in not interested in installing tile floors for 13 an hour.

The immigrants don't bother me it's the devaluation of skilled trades and manufacturing. In PA similar plants are unionized with opportunities to work your way up and here everything is just $10 an hour it's crazy.

a reply to: onequestion

I wouldn't blame immigrants, it is just a difficult pace to start if you don't have help. Even if you have help to start, rent is too high.

When I was attempting to live there is was about 1991. It is just a population intensive state.

Service jobs are plenty, I never looked into them then. I didn;t want to flip burgers or look into customer service, I was really young and 'flighty'. LOL

I imagine that if I looked into other jobs, I might have done better lol

a reply to: onequestion

We are paying about seven hundred a month for our place. That's more than a grand in your money. We are not in an affluent area, we are not in a gorgeous location, nor is the building particularly brilliant in terms of quality. It is just an apartment.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: onequestion

We are paying about seven hundred a month for our place. That's more than a grand in your money. We are not in an affluent area, we are not in a gorgeous location, nor is the building particularly brilliant in terms of quality. It is just an apartment.

Oh god I wish I could find an apartment that cheap. I think I can get a studio for 1000 in Santa Ana.

Here were looking at 1500 in a decent area. If you go to where I'm from in Pennsylvania you can get a house for 700. It's insane.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: onequestion

I wouldn't blame immigrants, it is just a difficult pace to start if you don't have help. Even if you have help to start, rent is too high.

When I was attempting to live there is was about 1991. It is just a population intensive state.

Service jobs are plenty, I never looked into them then. I didn;t want to flip burgers or look into customer service, I was really young and 'flighty'. LOL

I imagine that if I looked into other jobs, I might have done better lol

I grew up with everyone in manufacturing and in construction so that's everything I know besides fighting and that's not very lucrative.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: onequestion

We are paying about seven hundred a month for our place. That's more than a grand in your money. We are not in an affluent area, we are not in a gorgeous location, nor is the building particularly brilliant in terms of quality. It is just an apartment.

That is a LOT. You could get a downstairs or upstairs of a 2 family home here, with 1 utility included- that would be gas or electric (landlords here normally pay water/sewer) with 2-3 bedrooms and a nice porch for $700 usd + 1 utility and + internet/cable. It wouldn't necessarily be an afluent area, but safe and near to public transportation. Could be more rural or more chic cityish, depending on taste.


And we don;t pay a TV license. lol

It's getting pretty bad in other places as well.

In '86 I left the Bay Area ( Fremont ) because I was paying $1,200 a month for a nice but pretty small apartment. I came to the northern suburbs of Atlanta and got a much, much larger and just as nice apartment here for something like $350 a month.

If one is looking to buy a house here, the market is pretty fair. There are nice houses to be found for less than 200k. Buy if one is a renter? Forget it. Nice but modest houses rent here for about what I was paying in Cali back in the day - $1,200 and up. The same type of house that I just mentioned one could buy for less than 200k. It's insane.

a reply to: onequestion

Sure, but where I am is not in a city. It's down by the colon of our nation, the mouth of the Thames Estuary. It's a dump of a town really.

For a proper comparison to your location, you would have to be talking about a suburb of London, or London city centre, to equal the desirability level. Even a craphole dive of a place in London will set you back much more than a grand. Probably more than two!

originally posted by: Hefficide

It's getting pretty bad in other places as well.

In '86 I left the Bay Area ( Fremont ) because I was paying $1,200 a month for a nice but pretty small apartment. I came to the northern suburbs of Atlanta and got a much, much larger and just as nice apartment here for something like $350 a month.

If one is looking to buy a house here, the market is pretty fair. There are nice houses to be found for less than 200k. Buy if one is a renter? Forget it. Nice but modest houses rent here for about what I was paying in Cali back in the day - $1,200 and up. The same type of house that I just mentioned one could buy for less than 200k. It's insane.

You are showing your age. I know where Fremont is. I didn't have my own apartment until about '93 and it was $325 a month and it was when I came back east. I have heard the Atlanta area is a good choice.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: onequestion

Sure, but where I am is not in a city. It's down by the colon of our nation, the mouth of the Thames Estuary. It's a dump of a town really.

For a proper comparison to your location, you would have to be talking about a suburb of London, or London city centre, to equal the desirability level. Even a craphole dive of a place in London will set you back much more than a grand. Probably more than two!

I am so ignorant in regard to what is where in the UK. I have a friend of many years that has a home in Saltburn by the sea I think it is called, it is her 2nd home, she rents it out.

It could be just a cottage. I'm not sure.

a reply to: reldra

Well, for reference, the river Thames, which runs through London, has a mouth which faces into the English Channel. It runs from West to East. So I am on the Eastern side of the U.K., on the North shore of the Thames Estuary.

Your friend lives a good bit North of me, in Yorkshire, whereas I live in Essex.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: reldra

Well, for reference, the river Thames, which runs through London, has a mouth which faces into the English Channel. It runs from West to East. So I am on the Eastern side of the U.K., on the North shore of the Thames Estuary.

Your friend lives a good bit North of me, in Yorkshire, whereas I live in Essex.

That helps. I will also look at a map. I visited London as a child. I hope to return.

If they will let me back....I visited an office of Charles Dickens, above a shop. There is a rope. I went under the rope. not the only thing I did.



As my mom and I were visiting the Tower of London, there were other ropes...some around entrances to tunnels...I went under the rope.

There was another place with ropes, that I went under, my mother got stuck in an elevator while looking for me,

We stayed in Treganna Castle at one point. While my mother napped, I ordered everything on the menu from room service. They brought it. All.

I called an operator and demanded to speak with the Queen.

That is the short list.