It's not just 'doom spending.' There is next to nothing to do without spending money anymore. Pretty much the only free things anymore are city parks in good weather and libraries all year around. I have a 13-year-old. She's constantly looking for things to do. There's so little for her to do for free. She's in online school, so sometimes it's nice to get out of the house and go to a cafe to do her schoolwork. $15 minimum every time.
this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
125 points (95.0% liked)
News
23268 readers
2876 users here now
Welcome to the News community!
Rules:
1. Be civil
Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.
2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.
Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.
Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.
5. Only recent news is allowed.
Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.
6. All posts must be news articles.
No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
7. No duplicate posts.
If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.
8. Misinformation is prohibited.
Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.
9. No link shorteners.
The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.
10. Don't copy entire article in your post body
For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Idk about you but every activity is about $100/month too. I have kids in dance, $100/month per kid. Same with swim lessons (yes at the YMCA too). Looked into ice skating lessons and it's the same. I want my kids to be able to try things but there's no way we can afford to do more than one activity at a time and that's a stretch sometimes.
Pff. Piano lessons, guitar lessons... That's about $300 a month if they're going weekly.
Well, shit. I was just about to start shopping for those, and now I've got sticker shock.
Yep. She has drum lessons once a week. That's all we can afford. And that's just her and a drum teacher, so it's not even like it's a ton of social interaction. I'd love to get her to do other classes and things like that, but we can't afford them.
Yeah and that's another barrier, start up cost. Instruments are expensive. I grew up playing hockey and if I want my kids to try it it's around $2000 just for one season.
We were (somewhat) lucky on that end. Her drum teacher sold us a simple drum set for $500 a couple of years ago and we've just added bits to it since then. Considering how much drum sets can cost, that was a bargain.
But we also had two incomes at the time. We're down to one now.
As a percussion instructor, it makes me happy that you are investing in your child's talent by getting them lessons!
Thanks! She really likes it. I think it's a good way for her to get aggressions out that she has trouble getting out in other ways.
Only $100/mo? You're lucky! My nephews' tennis and violin lessons are way more than that. Like multiple times more. You must live in a LCOL area.
And then, there's Lemmy that's free! 🧐
Just kidding, I'm not disagreeing with you
That's kind of the sad part really. She doesn't use Lemmy, but she basically spends her free time, when she's not doing other solo activities like drawing, on social media so she has a way to 'hang out' with her friends. In her case, she doesn't even get to see her friends in school anymore (pulling her out was very necessary and partially her choice). If she wants to spend time with friends and doesn't want to do it with parents hanging around, and I don't blame her for wanting that, pretty much the only free thing she can do at this time of the year with them is walk around the mall and window-shop. In other words, the main free thing for kids to do is wish they had money.
In other words, the main free thing for kids to do is wish they had money.
To be fare it was the same way for me as a kid in the 80s
Luckily we still had alladins castle and Sega cities back then so we could at least play some games between wanting a cd or something from hot topic.
What about finding a band?
Even if she is still a very begginer I've seen that playing in a band can help you improve faster and learn other skills necessary as a musician (specially for drummers imo) also I made my best friendships and had the most fun while playing in a band.
PS: In case you havent done it; swapping the drum heads for good "brand name" ones can really improove a cheap drumkit, that and new cymbals (cymbals are the weakest part on any cheap drumkit).
load more comments
(9 replies)
“Every dollar you set aside will compound.”
Out of touch as fuck. If the fees don't take it, the inflation will.
It compounds their profits as they make more from the deposit than you! That’s what he really means.
Use a brokerage like Fidelity as your bank instead of these fuckers at Chase and BofA who don't respect you despite you giving them your money.
Doesn't have to be Fidelity, but in the current day if you're not getting the following from your bank you're getting fucked:
- $0 minimum balance, $0 in account fees
- No overdraft fees
- Minimum 4% APY on savings, minimum 2% APY on checking
- ATM fee reimbursement
- Instant transfers between your own accounts
- Access to direct deposits even while they're still pending
These are some of the most basic features for the UK.
They're pretty basic here too. That doesn't mean there aren't scummy ass banks that still don't offer them, and rely on the company name to get customers. Many old banks don't offer most of this unfortunately, and most people don't go looking for new banks often and get screwed.
Basic finance is easily one of the most important life skills anyone can pick up, right ght besides cooking and understanding when people might not have your best interest in mind.
load more comments
(2 replies)
It’s not out of touch. The problem is we do a shit job of teaching people the basics of budgeting and how to save in our culture.
This banker seems like someone that doesn't understand our economic realities. Nothing worth saving for is in reach, everything is more expensive, we're saddled with a cumulative trillion dollar debt, and most of us don't even make enough money to save money. Of course I'd rather live in the moment and make the people around me happy.
It's basic Econ 101. People buy more in high inflation periods because they know the same goods will cost more in the future.
ETA: I myself have bought sneakers in future sizes for my kids as well as household consumables and toiletries (meaning, not gifts) this Black Friday.
You make a good point about people who are informed or educated enough to actually recognize that. Ignoring the future vs present worth of money aspect.
There are a shit ton of folks out there who don’t know what inflation actually is. I’d say they probably fall into the doom spending category.
From the article (saved you a click):
KEY POINTS
-
Nearly all Americans are concerned about the current state of the economy.
-
Still, many continue to spend more and save less.
-
“Doom spending” may be one way to cope with stress as economic fears mount, however, it comes at the expense of your financial well-being.
Still, many continue to spend more and save less.
That's what happens when literally everything costs more than it used to.
load more comments
(7 replies)
I spent much of my savings on random computer parts because inflation is so bad anyway it feels worthless. And the future is bleak. I enjoy the fancy monitors ect now a lot more than an extra number in the bank they just use as loan collateral for someone else.
Do you even need an explanation
Not doom spending, doomed spending
And places additional pressure on the very systems one could fear collapsing.
view more: next ›