Comment on Money doesn't solve everything, but it helps.
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 week agoIt’s honestly one of the best benefits of marriage if you can manage it. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to keep your mandatory expenses below either of your individual incomes, you both gain tremendous leverage against employers. There is no more powerful negotiating tool than having the ability to walk away.
interesting@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
100% agree. Otherwise, it is the cost of living, especially if one of the partners has more expenses.
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Yeah, it is actually very difficult to manage. It’s called the two-income trap for a reason. But my partner and I do this. We at least try to keep our mandatory expenses under one income. If we have a long duration job loss and savings aren’t enough, we can at least cover our basics - mortgage, food, property taxes, health insurance, etc. off one income. That might require pausing all retirement savings, cutting out all eating out and any subscription services, and not traveling anywhere. But we try to at least keep our bare survival expenses below either of our incomes.
And we’ve just planned our life around this. For example, we could easily afford a much nicer house than we currently have…if we were willing to be dependent on both our incomes to cover the mortgage. But then you’re in trouble if either of you loses a job. Instead of providing stability, the extra income actually compounds your risk!
I know many, perhaps most, people can’t do this even with great frugality. But if you can manage to do it, it is a life hack that brings such an incredible amount of peace, stability, and safety to your life that, to me at least, no fancier home could ever be worth giving up that safety to obtain.
interesting@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
I agree with you. But people are too greedy and jealous of each other. Usually, one of them say ohh my friends go to holidays, have a good car; why don’t I have one?
temptation of these populist people is the biggest problem. If people did not consume more than they need, we might not have these problems.