Inflation bites me on the hiney!

[bonneyman]

Since buying the wife's new car I've decided to keep the old one going until the insurance lapses. So I cleaned it out, cleaned the windows, and got the oil changed. Then discovered one of the key FOBs had a dead battery, and went into the local battery and bulb place to swap out the batteries on both sets of keys. They wanted $23 each! Told the kid forget it. Figured out how to get the two buggars apart, got the battery number, and bought a pair at Ace for $5. Changed them myself.
Good grief! I know prices have gone up, but $23 for 3 minutes work? Give me a break! Wrote the battery number down and put it in my house file. Guess there's another task I'll have to do myself.
Kids getting $17 an hour minimum wage and all I hear is them crying they can't afford to live. So they want more. That only makes prices go up, which impacts everyone. Glad I bought plumbing tools and spare parts for sinks, toilets, and faucets. Can't imagine what plumbers are charging these days!

[slip knot]

$17/hour isn't enough to live on. The local Dairy queen is paying that for all positions. if they're still living at home $17 is good money but out on your own it aint cutting it. Around here a decent one bedroom apartment will take half your monthly pay. Add in car, insurance, phone, electric bill and TV and there isn't much left. The cost of living is outpacing salarys by at least double.

[fatfillup]

George, I hear ya but you have to figure in the overhead and cost of doing business, and I know you know that.  I think you got sticker shock

Glad you got it sorted out

[bonneyman]

Yeah I'm getting shocked by a bunch of things these days. 

[muddy]

$17/hour isn't enough to live on. The local Dairy queen is paying that for all positions. if they're still living at home $17 is good money but out on your own it aint cutting it. Around here a decent one bedroom apartment will take half your monthly pay. Add in car, insurance, phone, electric bill and TV and there isn't much left. The cost of living is outpacing salarys by at least double.

Minimum wage is not livable. However it was never meant to be lived on in my opinion. The problem is today. Kids don't start working till say 18 or 20. They either have no skills and/or massive college debt ( which is another racket).

Everyone from my parents generation always say they started out with nothing and kept working their way up to be where they are.

I milked cows at 15 for $7 an hr. But from saving money and learning all I could and  moving up in the ladder I'm in a comfortable place with a wife and two kids.


I think it's just as much a moral/drive issue as it is inflation. This generation see what past generations have worked for and thinks it just came easy and should come easier to them.



Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[bonneyman]

$17/hour isn't enough to live on. The local Dairy queen is paying that for all positions. if they're still living at home $17 is good money but out on your own it aint cutting it. Around here a decent one bedroom apartment will take half your monthly pay. Add in car, insurance, phone, electric bill and TV and there isn't much left. The cost of living is outpacing salarys by at least double.

Minimum wage is not livable. However it was never meant to be lived on in my opinion. The problem is today. Kids don't start working till say 18 or 20. They either have no skills and/or massive college debt ( which is another racket).

Everyone from my parents generation always say they started out with nothing and kept working their way up to be where they are.

I milked cows at 15 for $7 an hr. But from saving money and learning all I could and  moving up in the ladder I'm in a comfortable place with a wife and two kids.


I think it's just as much a moral/drive issue as it is inflation. This generation see what past generations have worked for and thinks it just came easy and should come easier to them.



Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

 

Well said, Tim!

[skfarmer]

very well said muddy.

as a farm kid,  my dad always found stuff for me to do so side jobs were few. mostly harvest and or other farm type jobs.as i got older and trying to get going a worked many side jobs. i delivered/repaired appliances. i installed/repaired furnaces. i worked in a radio shack/rental store and i did a couple miserable winters doing millwright/grain elevator repair.  i still have some side jobs i do. rumor has that i may have a substitute teachers liscense.

[slip knot]

yeah I get it. I started washing cars at a Texaco station for $5 a car when I was 10-12 or so. In High School I bought a 3 1/2 acre piece of property all on my own for $6000. That property is now worth $150K. Not many kids could afford that nowdays.

The problem I have is this is no longer the 50,s 60,s 70, or even 80,s anymore and yeah those kids may lack initiative, ambition and skills. BUT we still need them in the workforce. My Dept Director and I were discussing this exact thing this morning. In Texas, you need a state certification to run a pubic water or wastewater system. there are @3500-4000 certified people in Texas. 60% of those folks are retirement age. My department is at 60% staffed. We've had openings for 3+ years and cant attract anyone at our current wage of $19-$25 DOE. We must get people to start working at these jobs or face some dire consequences in the near future. The companies like the Dairy Queen I mentioned earlier have already seen that and have upped their game to attract a better applicant. They will probably do OK. But those who ignore these kids needs will end up paying the ultimate price.

[TexasT]

I had a contact at our city water dept when I lost employment last summer. Went round with them but as you point out the accreditation was more than they were willing to cede to get me on while i went and got the credentials. They seemed short sighted about it but the guy I know down there didn't have the fuzz to sway their decisions. There seem to be quite a few careers out there that the bulk of the labor is on the verge of retirement. Just seems like every place is taking the wait and see what happens instead of being proactive.

Not sure what is in store for the next decade or so, but I do know these gen z types are gonna have an easy time finding work as as the boomers retire and die off there wont be near the amount of worker looking to fill those positions.  No wonder they keep pushing these robots and automation.

[muddy]

yeah I get it. I started washing cars at a Texaco station for $5 a car when I was 10-12 or so. In High School I bought a 3 1/2 acre piece of property all on my own for $6000. That property is now worth $150K. Not many kids could afford that nowdays.

The problem I have is this is no longer the 50,s 60,s 70, or even 80,s anymore and yeah those kids may lack initiative, ambition and skills. BUT we still need them in the workforce. My Dept Director and I were discussing this exact thing this morning. In Texas, you need a state certification to run a pubic water or wastewater system. there are @3500-4000 certified people in Texas. 60% of those folks are retirement age. My department is at 60% staffed. We've had openings for 3+ years and cant attract anyone at our current wage of $19-$25 DOE. We must get people to start working at these jobs or face some dire consequences in the near future. The companies like the Dairy Queen I mentioned earlier have already seen that and have upped their game to attract a better applicant. They will probably do OK. But those who ignore these kids needs will end up paying the ultimate price.

Jobs like that, that require certification and years experience are valid for higher wages.

Seen it at many a job where the employer isn't willing to pay what the applicant is actually worth and in the long run end up getting what they are willing to pay for....inexperienced or lazy

It's almost a problem on both ends employees and employer.

Sent from my twisted mind of the mudman

[goodfellow]

I can't add much to the great conversation and insight you guys have provided, but I do recall about a decade ago when all those young people were protesting Wall Street. Remember when they had huge protests outside the NY Stock Exchange and demanded jobs, opportunities, and recognition from the "big shot" wall street crowd?

One thing that stayed with me was when a CNBC reporter went into a crowd of early 20's protesters and did interviews. One question he asked was telling.

"If you were to get a job offer out of this event, what would be your starting salary requirement?"  -- Without fail, every one of those young people interviewed made salary demands of over $70,000/yr. Some thought that they were worth well over $100K. That was about a decade ago and granted it was in NYC, but the sheer matter of fact expectations that these young folks had was telling.
They had no previous experience, were recent college grads (or close to that), and wanted a salary that was commensurate with someone already working for several years in a NYC job market.

It was a very enlightening series of interviews, and made me realize that these young folks had expectations that were far away higher than previous generations.
 

[oldcarguy]

The folks on retirement have a much harder time making ends meet than the working sector in the past three years of high inflation, & shrinkflation. The government figure for inflation rate does not include food, real estate taxes, electricity, natural gas, medicines, and motor fuel (gasoline and diesel fuel). And  these are the things that make up the biggest portion of a retiree's spending. Yes a 60” TV may cost half what they cost ten years ago. A retiree will do with the old TV rather than  an upgrade. Doesn't anyone notice so many older people working in the box stores or fast food? They do not want to work at their age. But need to in order to make ends meet. Even at my age, I'm considering returning to the workforce. Several warehouses around in the area are paying $29.00 per hour. I can do that..   

[bonneyman]

Had a hankerin for lasagna and didn't want to make it so took the Mrs. to Olive Garden yesterday for lunch. Two entrees of pasta and two iced teas (with complementary bread sticks and soup) was $50. Add $9 for tip.

Shoot! I know you've gotta pay for food service but dang, almost $60 for tea and lasagna? In Tucson? Wow!
Heck a week ago we had sandwiches and chips at a shop and the bill was $41. For chicken salad and some chips?
At least with pizza they deliver. 

[goodfellow]

The folks on retirement have a much harder time making ends meet than the working sector in the past three years of high inflation, & shrinkflation. The government figure for inflation rate does not include food, real estate taxes, electricity, natural gas, medicines, and motor fuel (gasoline and diesel fuel). And  these are the things that make up the biggest portion of a retiree's spending. Yes a 60” TV may cost half what they cost ten years ago. A retiree will do with the old TV rather than  an upgrade. Doesn't anyone notice so many older people working in the box stores or fast food? They do not want to work at their age. But need to in order to make ends meet. Even at my age, I'm considering returning to the workforce. Several warehouses around in the area are paying $29.00 per hour. I can do that..   

Government is the problem! If we were to use the same basket of good that were used to measure inflation in the 1970s and 80s, we would be running well over 20%. We've allowed the government to cheat the system at any level in order to maintain a semblance of control and order. When in reality the ship of government is taking on water and we're all standing around listening to the pretty music.

Our government is our worst enemy --

[oldcarguy]

Spot on! Government is the enemy of all the middle class working folks. Today it’s designed to only help the ones that don’t care to work and live off the dole.