POLITICS Inflation /General Finance Insanity

Im talking about the typical experience of the middle 60-70% of America. Obviously there are tons of outliers.

 

I agree with you but on this we’re talking about a largely subconscious psychological thing.

 

We had two in daycare from 2005-20011ish.

Was half again as much as our mortgage ($1500 a month). I don't want to know post-pandemic.

 

You trying to go in on it with me? Indy/IP business partners is probably not on anyone's 8thmaxim bingo card. But we are both in the right areas to make something like this work.

I've been trying to figure out how to loop in people like my wife in me. We are obviously married, not trying to "meet" anyone, but want to volunteer and wouldn't mind helping to facilitate single people meeting other single people. We both have friends, family, etc., both male and female, who are exasperated with dating but want a partner and kids. It's something that matters to us. And at the end of the day, I'm not sure that plugging a ton of single people into a space with zero non-single people there to balance things out is the best environment. But how do you loop non-single people into the event in a way that makes it abundantly clear that they're not there to be pursued (so as not to waste anyone's time)?

Also feels like it opens up for harassment issues. Like I said, more to sort through, but there's definitely a need for something different.

 

You want to meet someone? Go do the things you enjoy and look there.

 

I hear you, I’m not here to paint a BS rosy story about how anyone had it so easy in the past. All I’m pointing out is how dramatically home prices have outpaced income, and why it’s a huge problem. And that no amount of saving can close that gap between increases in home prices and incomes.

 

Most of the married people I know cost is the #1 factor, though there are some that just aren't interested kids. They can barely afford a house (or apartment), there's no way on the planet they can afford a house and kids. So married people are having less kids. But you're right about dating too, less people are getting married because dating has gotten really stupid. So less people getting married and those that do having less kids is a problem. We can look to Japan for a sneak peek at the economic endgame.

 

would be a problem if I’m single again as I doubt I’m gonna meet somebody in my den or in my bed at 9 pm.

 

If we could of had free day care while my wife continued to work these last 7 years, I'd be completely debt free and probably running my own slum for the poors.

 

The non-single people pass out the date cards to people they decide should go on a date.

 

People also getting married later in general. Everyone goes to college. Then starts a career. We just stay busier in general, I think.

 

That’s actually a really good idea. They’re able to observe how people interact and try to set people up. Lots of possibilities.

And these events happen already. We just did a thing a week ago putting together food boxes for people. It was an assembly line thing with lots of opportunity for interaction. Just gotta find was to optimize it for singles to meet other singles (which I’m sure some are already using it for anyway).

 

A lot of men are doing that. But it’s hard to build real relationships with the opposite sex while sitting on your couch playing video games.

 

Women are also really picky. I was reading a hilarious article awhile back on Bumble. It's whole thing is the women have to make the first move. Guys don't see matches until the women message them. These women were complaining that the app was disheartening because they get so many rejections or guys ghosting them on the app. I'm thinking welcome to being a dude trying to date. Also, in general, men don't have an issue "dating down" (from an educational or financial perspective), but women have been shown to only want to date up.

 

Well. Get off your ass and find a hobby outside of the house and go meet people.

 

Honestly if I were to ever get divorced, I'm not sure I'd have any inclination to date again.

 

Re: home ownership. I agree it is out of hand. It is very, very tough. It is orders-of-magnitude tough. We can agree or disagree on the root cause(s) and fixes.

I had many successful European colleagues, 40 years ago, who were amazed that we had access to affordable (comparitively-speaking) single family dwellings at such a young age. The fortunate ones (most married and many with children) were still living in a multi-generational setting and saving for the quite substantial cash down payment required. While we were [itch bay]ing about a 5% or 10% down payment and daycare.

It seems we may be where they were those many years ago to some extent.

While they embraced the positives of living with parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles and hated the amount of cash required for their own place, they made the best of it. We seem to run from it and prefer to wallow in grievance.

My grandparents and great grandparents lived in multi-generational/sibling settings due to the Depression and the WW II.

Every generation has their unique set of challenges. Every generation must choose how they want to face those challenges. Every generation should try to help the next one(s), even when (especially when) things are wacked. How we help will vary based on each individual circumstance.

I can't solve the economic situation. I can't provide generational wealth for an easy fix. I can offer to share my dwelling to my grandkids if that is what it takes for them to succeed. I will encourage them to figure it out; work at it and appreciate the good things while dealing with the bad. If you want to beat it, I will help you. If you just want to wallow in it, you are on you own.

 

I'm 54 with two kids. I just don't think it would be worth it, but never say never.

 

its a different ballgame out there. Many of my friends age 40-55 divorced and playing the field. One main thing I’ve taken from it is I believe the amount of anal play is significantly higher than when I last dated in 1992.

 

I'd have a completely different outlook for sure. I wouldn't be looking for wife material, would be looking for fun - so probably less pressure. And if someone is nagging me, I'd tell them to STFU and hop online to play with the boys.