topic Re: Things have always been expensive in Community Chat

Things have always been expensive

cherry — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:32:33 GMT

I once heard the late Ruth Gordon on a talk show discussing her long life. Someone said to her how lucky she was to have lived in times when the living was cheap

She answer back in her frank way. Listen I'm a pretty old broad, I've lived a long time. NO time when I was alive did people say ,whoopee we're so lucky to be alive, cause everything is so cheap. Everything has always been expensive and its always gonna be.

I think about this, when I get a financial ,pearl clutching ,moment. It helps. What do you do?

Re: Things have always been expensive

qualitygal — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:34:47 GMT

Rethink it. Haste makes waste.

Re: Things have always been expensive

SilleeMee — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:39:35 GMT

First, I give thanks to what I have because it can be gone tomorrow. Then I think about the people who are not as fortunate as me and that helps take my mind off any financial burden I may have.

Find a way to be happy and you will achieve happiness...no matter how hard it may seem at times.

Re: Things have always been expensive

QueenDanceALot — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:41:38 GMT

I can't compare but I try to think about how I am healthy and able to work every day and how I am blessed to live in America.

I hope that doesn't sound trite. It really does get me through some days.

Re: Things have always been expensive

millieshops — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:41:56 GMT

@cherryWhen I remember prices from years ago, I also remember what we were earning. That tends to put prices in perspective.

Re: Things have always been expensive

QueenDanceALot — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:42:30 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
First, I give thanks to what I have because it can be gone tomorrow. Then I think about the people who are not as fortunate as me and that helps take my mind off any financial burden I may have.

Find a way to be happy and you will achieve happiness...no matter how hard it may seem at times.

Amen!!

Re: Things have always been expensive

cherry — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:47:19 GMT

For those of you who don't know who Ruth Gordon was. She was an actress married to Garson Kanin. If you have ever watched Rosemary's baby, she appeared as Minnie

I should have explained this in my OP. sorry

Re: Things have always been expensive

bri20 — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:48:20 GMT

I'm so grateful we have the means to be able to live comfortably, educate our children, and one day have the freedom to retire and enjoy the life we've built.

Re: Things have always been expensive

Lipstickdiva — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:57:13 GMT

I remember my parents mortgage payment on the house they built was $120.00 a month. Can you imagine? And I remember my parents saying there were times they didn't know if they would be able to make that payment. I also remember my mom telling me that when they bought their first car, there were times they walked past it sitting in the driveway because they couldn't afford to put gas in the car.

But there is no doubt that prices are rising higher than some peoples' salaries and there is a pinch. I think back to a couple of years ago when gas was over $3.00/gallon and I was spending nearly $60.00 to fill up my car. There were times when I was at a gas station and people were putting $10.00 in because that's all they could afford and it got them little more than 3 gallons of gas. I haven't really changed the way I grocery shop but yet I'm spending double what i used to.

Re: Things have always been expensive

QueenDanceALot — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:59:53 GMT

@cherry wrote:
For those of you who don't know who Ruth Gordon was. She was an actress married to Garson Kanin. If you have ever watched Rosemary's baby, she appeared as Minnie

I should have explained this in my OP. sorry

I remember her in a very funny movie (darkly funny!) Harold and Maude.

Re: Things have always been expensive

Stormygirl — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:00:45 GMT

I am leaving for flood torn part of North Carolina in about an hour. I think that should put things in a real perspective for me right now. They are still having rivers crest way above flood stage.....still more deaths. I guess last time things came into perspective for me was when I lived in a "third world" country. Should be a very interesting week in NC. See ya'll when I get back. Until then be happy, thankful and cheery! Chat to you all in a week (smiles)

Re: Things have always been expensive

bri20 — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:02:57 GMT

$120 mortgage payment - can you imagine? I can spend that at the grocery store easily...

Re: Things have always been expensive

Lipstickdiva — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:05:53 GMT

@bri20 wrote:
$120 mortgage payment - can you imagine? I can spend that at the grocery store easily...

I know! I am very close to that at the grocery store many weeks.

One day when I have some extra time, I want to go look up the mortgage at our county recorder and find out exactly how much they paid for our house. When I was cleaning out the house after they passed, I never came across any of the documents from when they had the house built. That would have been interesting to see.

Re: Things have always been expensive

beckyb1012 — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:09:34 GMT

She was a wonderful actress and I loved her raspy tough talking voice. Her favorite role of mine was in the Clint Eastwoods' Every Which Way but Loose and Any Which Way You Can.

Hard financial times in all generations for sure.

Re: Things have always been expensive

SilleeMee — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:10:09 GMT

I'm thankful my house is paid off...but the property taxes get me.

Re: Things have always been expensive

bri20 — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:10:19 GMT

@Lipstickdiva wrote:
@bri20 wrote:
$120 mortgage payment - can you imagine? I can spend that at the grocery store easily...
I know! I am very close to that at the grocery store many weeks.

One day when I have some extra time, I want to go look up the mortgage at our county recorder and find out exactly how much they paid for our house. When I was cleaning out the house after they passed, I never came across any of the documents from when they had the house built. That would have been interesting to see.

I'd have to ask my dad how much their mortage was. I remember him saying they bought just the lot for several thousand dollars back in 1962.

I know what we paid in tuition for one child in grade school is what one year of college cost for me. I know incomes have gone up, but still...

Re: Things have always been expensive

cherry — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 14:14:18 GMT

When my son was born our medical insurance didn't cover delivery fee's. It cost us about a hundred dollars. Fifty years ago, that was a good chunk of change. There was no dental insurance nor paid rx

Re: Things have always been expensive

hckynut — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 15:10:34 GMT

I don't agree with "the old broad". Much of how on fits into ,"cheap" is relative and subjective. Been through many disagreement with many in management of my place of employment of this very topic.

Back then the topic with them how lucky I was to live on my 5 day a week salary, and those with families and need the weekend overtime to make ends meet. I was single until age 62, but lived a much different life, not because I was single, but because I lived a simple life that I could afford on my 40 hour per week job.

Many of my "can't make ends meet" co- workers? Owned boats/campers and spent lots of $$$ on their lunches. I had no boat, no camper. I made my own lunches, never paid to eat in a cafeteria or stuffed $$$ into vending machines for my lunch.

I loved auto racing and did so all around the Midwest from the time I was 16 years. This was my favorite hobby for close to 20 years. When it started to get too expensive to keep racing on my 40 hour per week salary? I quit auto racing.

I found another racing hobby that was much cheaper. That form of racing was affordable, actually cheap by comparison. This racing was done with my feet. Cost was what I wore, not $350 a piece for chrome-moly axles for my race cars.

I didn't make myself a slave to blue collar job, I changed my life to fit my "per hour wages", not ringing up credit charges for boats/campers, or too expensive for my 40 hour per week wages. Took up running, which not only was cheaper, it was a much healthier way to live my life.

Lucky to live at a time things were cheaper? Naw, I saw/see myself as smart, to be able to adapt my life to the wages of those era's. I saw then and still see now, and I can differentiate what is a LUXURY and what is a necessity, or an OPTION, in those times of my life.

hckynut(john)

Re: Things have always been expensive

cherry — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 15:20:52 GMT

@hckynut I don't think she was talking about lifestyle just the basic costs of goods and services. Our roofing job is 3 times what we paid for the last one. That's not a luxury but a necessity

Re: Things have always been expensive

chrystaltree — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 16:42:12 GMT

I agree with that. The Good Old Days weren't so good...lol Pie did not fall from the sky and there was never a time when we could sleep with our doors unlocked. And everything was expensive! I think it's generational thing; that silly notiong that "everything was better and cheaper" in the old days.