Cellar Scribblings

[brianr]

Rents are very high here in cities like Auckland, not so bad here in Dunedin. There are State Houses, in fact I live in a suburb with a lot of State Houses although someone told me my street is the only one in the suburb without any State Houses. There are also Council owned apartments. However I grew up in a time when home ownership was  high priority. My mother always said the greatest day in her life was when they finished paying the mortgage. It is much harder for young people today.
NZ has a scheme like your 401. It is called Kiwisaver, the government puts in some money to match that put in by the wage earner but the employer does not and it is not compulsory.  Some young people can withdraw, perhaps to buy a house.
 The Australian scheme is great. It started in the 80's when the new Labor Government of the time got the employers and Unions together and they formed the Wages Accord. For several years instead of the Unions pushing for wage rises they agreed to the Compulsory Superannuation scheme. The idea is that the elderly will have enough money not to be dependent on the Government pension in the future. Of course there will always be some people who did not work much during their working lives and will still need the pension. The Superannuation funds have now got billions which can be used for investments and they are big players on the Stock Exchange. At my age I have to withdraw 5% per year, it will go to 6% when I turn 75 and then gradually increase. I am withdrawing about 6% anyway and in most years that is what it earns so the total remains much the same. I can withdraw more if I have a large medical bill (or want to splurge on a big holiday).
It is a pity NZ does not have a similar scheme but then they have the Accident Compensation Commission. If I have an accident anywhere in the country (a friend slipped over in her kitchen) the government pays any costs. Personal accident insurance is not allowed nor can you sue anyone for damages. In Australia our hiking group had to take out insurance but not needed nor allowed here in NZ. I guess not popular with Lawyers.

[CellarDweller]

It would be impossible to rent on that here. Average rents in my city are something like $1,400 --  and it's an average size Midwestern city, not a notoriously expensive one like New York or San Francisco. But it's a bad situation even here, because of course lots of people can't afford that. They're trying to expand the supply of "affordable housing," which is housing that's no more than a third of your income.

The average rent in my area is about $1,200.00 a month, but you can find studio apartments for $835.00 a month.

I feel very lucky to have a 1-bedroom apartment with a parking spot, for just under $100.00 more than the studio apartments.

[Sason]

Hello Bettermost Friends!


It is good to be home!

Someone at work (one of the 'higher-ups) decided it would be a good idea to have a massive conference call for 2 hours, and start it at 3:00.  I usually leave at 4:30, so it meant I had to stay an extra 30 minutes.  Of course it ran over, so it didn't end until 5:30, and then a client needed help with something they could've looked up on their own, so I didn't leave until almost 6:00.   

Traffic was a mess, and there was construction I had to deal  with, and then at a busy intersection the left turn arrow stopped switching to green, so I sat at that intersection for about 10 minutes.   I'm usually home by 5:15.  Today, it was 7:20.

Poor you. That really sucks 

[serious crayons]

The average rent in my area is about $1,200.00 a month, but you can find studio apartments for $835.00 a month.

I feel very lucky to have a 1-bedroom apartment with a parking spot, for just under $100.00 more than the studio apartments.

I may have overstated it slightly, but I don't think I was far off. Chuck, I'm surprised yours are so affordable, so close to NYC.

Nope, just googled it. A couple of sites with names like rentjungle.com stated Minneapolis average rents of $1,300 or $1,400, and Zillow says the median is $1,795, or $1,600 if you include St. Paul.

I can never keep straight which situations "median" is more significant and which ones "mean" is more applicable. And "mean" is technically like what we usually call "average," right (add them all up and divide by the total)?

In San Francisco, according to Zillow, the mean rent is $4,425. In NYC it's a mere $3,300.

[Jeff Wrangler]

And "mean" is technically like what we usually call "average," right (add them all up and divide by the total)?

It's been 40 years since I had "Prob-Stat," but that's correct.

[CellarDweller]

Hello Bettermost Friends!


Another day, another dollar.

Tomorrow at work some high mucky-muck is coming in for a town hall meeting, and a catered lunch.    Other than that, I'm hoping for a slow day.  I need to get some filing done!

[CellarDweller]

I may have overstated it slightly, but I don't think I was far off. Chuck, I'm surprised yours are so affordable, so close to NYC.

Nope, just googled it. A couple of sites with names like rentjungle.com stated Minneapolis average rents of $1,300 or $1,400, and Zillow says the median is $1,795, or $1,600 if you include St. Paul.

I can never keep straight which situations "median" is more significant and which ones "mean" is more applicable. And "mean" is technically like what we usually call "average," right (add them all up and divide by the total)?

In San Francisco, according to Zillow, the mean rent is $4,425. In NYC it's a mere $3,300.

Oh, trust me, I don't think you overstated it.....rents seem to be  out-of-control all over.   I consider myself very lucky that I found one place so affordable. 

[CellarDweller]

Hello!

Getting close to the weekend, and it can't come soon enough!  This week has been a busy one at work!  Ugh!

[CellarDweller]

Hello Bettermost friends!

This week our temps are supposed to go up to the 80s, but early Spring is holding on, it's only in the low 50s and raining now.

Spent Sunday with my family, so I got to see my brother, sister-in-law, niece, her boyfriend, and my great-nephew Trent. 

[serious crayons]

It hit 80 here yesterday, which caught me by surprise because I was expecting maybe high 60s at best. I think this is the first time this year the temperature got above 70!

It's back to the high 60s today.