mayo

Bussing during rush hour sucks no matter what city it is. I'd rather bike, or if I could, I'd drive.

Well actually.. driving during rush hour also sucks so I'm not sure between the two. During non-peak hours it's not bad, kind of expensive though.

I feel like we shouldn't be arguing with each other about this stuff? It's like class conflict, wrong enemy.

Since I read that this isn't an existential threat I'm feeling much more at ease, much less open to catastrophic outcomes and the narrative that we should throw our hands in the air and give up.

Damn that's a lot more than I would think is needed. I think Craigslist had/has like 50 people so I figured you can still keep a business chugging along without a ton of staff.

Throughout all this I haven't understood why the only thing central authorities seem able to do is raise interest rates. Why can't the federal or provincial/state government introduce legislation to do exactly what you propose. It's so damn obvious.

It really feels like everyone is observing the ultra rich and profiteering companies make record profits and then turning around and being like 'welp, nothing we could possibly do about that' and then the bank does what it is supposed to do raises interest rates.

I know it's more complicated than I'm aware, for example if you tax the wealthy they might just leave. Well, they would certainly leave because that is what they do.

It's probably a tricky line to pull because you can't just take money from private companies and wealthy families. If we had legislation that allowed that I feel like that would be quite intense or radical, like a course of action not available in the current paradigm. It's probably that our current system is designed to protect wealthy companies and families, maybe that's how they exist in the first place and certainly how they continue to exist and get bigger at our expense.

Groceries is that area in a budget that you can adjust to 'scrape by' so it can feel sensitive to price fluctuations more than other things. It's also a $2400+ a year, which is not nothing and is in fact quite a lot for a lot of people. Psychologically it feels like getting kicked in the dick by the economy when I go grocery shopping. I adapt, but it hurts.

Groceries are 6.5-8% of my net income. If I spent the same amount on monthly food that my friends spend it'd be around 15%-20% which would put me in the negative each month. So I also think there is something in here about lifestyle or socioeconomic status which translates into grocery spend.

But not to be totally discouraging... I might not be able to eat well every day, but I can eat well periodically and still hit my budget.

Nothing wrong with simple recipes!