A Boring Dystopia

What the fuck am I reading here? Is NYT trying out satire?

This feels like a sob story about a family tightening their belts in the current economy. But these fuckers are saving more in a month than most couples earn!

They talk about living in a one-bedroom like they couldn’t spend more than 10% of their income on a larger space, and still save an entire minimum wage’s worth of money a year without breaking a sweat.

When you can pay for zoo memberships and museums, and still be saving over 100K a year, you are not like the rest of the world.

Fairly well I imagine? $500,000 and you’re going to be pretty comfortable most anywhere.

They spend $3,900/mo on rent for 800sqft, but on $500k/year that's about 9.4% of their income. The recommendation is no more than 30%, or for them $13,888/mo. That's close to the $10k/mo they say they try to save. And of course at this level food cost is no object.

And there are plenty of large condos in this area that they could afford right now.

They're winning.

I cannot remember an article headline that left me less interesting in reading it

Reminds me of a lot of the prepping videos my algo suggests to me that are titled something like "5 essential prepping tips" so I click on it and it starts off with "here's what we're doing on our 700 acre homestead...". Super helpful...

Interesting. I mean, "don't live on the upper west side" seems like good advice, but they also aren't really complaining about anything. It's a different story if they were complaining about how tough it is.

$97,200 just for childcare and rent; we aren't event talking about health insurance, food, utilities, transportation, diapers, clothing, ect.

Assuming a 2 parent minimum wage income in NYC, ($17 hr min wage * 40 hr week * 52 weeks year * 2 parents = $70,720 gross yearly income.) Minimum wage earners are fucked if the cost of life is similar for them.

If mom and dad can stagger their hours so they don't need to depend on daycare, rent in the same spot would cost $46,800 a year. Minimum wage isn't a living wage. Even when you assume that the parents could try to find cheaper daycare, and cheaper rental, it's unsustainable when you take into account all of the other costs of just being alive.

This is why millennial and future gens aren't having kids; but by all means keep hoarding the profits for the shareholders and executive pay and bonuses.