REVscene Automotive Forum - How life financially changed for you this past year

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I wasn't going to chime in here as I feel my wife and I have been very lucky and fortunate that things have not changed a lot. However, I think it's worthwhile as an exercise in gratitude to count my blessings, to realize my privilege, and not be too idealistic and understand this could go away very easily.

Last winter we bought a house and took on a big mortgage, but also sold our condo at the peak for a pretty huge profit.

I also had to sell some investments from my TFSA to make the down payment (we bought the house before selling the condo), which at the time the market was still quite strong. I intended to re-invest it after we got the cash from the condo sale, however I forgot/got lazy and didn't end up doing so. Which was super lucky since the market tanked shortly after.

Work had a strong year and continues to be strong (so far, knock on wood).

So all-in-all, with some luck selling some investments before the downturn, the proceeds from the condo sale, and work, while our mortgage payments and costs have continued to go up we do have a cushion to lean on.

Besides the house, we really don't have much overhead. No kids, used cars all paid in cash, I cook all the weekday lunches and dinners. Just 2 dogs so maybe some vet bills down the line as they get older.

Day-to-day in terms of changes, I think generally we are more aware of some bigger expenditures, like not going out to a fancier restaurant mid-week on a whim, or waiting on planning our vacation next year a bit to see how the recession might pan out and if it'll affect our jobs.

I am actually on sabbatical right now as the last year totally burned me out from work. And so my future is a bit uncertain at the moment, to find out what I want to do at the company when I return early next year, and if I can continue the same earning but still keep my mental and physical well-being.

A financial advisor in the bank reached out to us a few months back (since we probably triggered some alert when we put in a big amount into our account to do a lump sum payment into the mortgage) and ran an analysis, and we are pretty much on track for early retirement if nothing major changes; even with the short-term decline in the market.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafamous (Post 9084093)

Technically I'll help anyone who donates to the food bank - I just wanna raise money. Anything up to $75 is a resume review, $75+ gets a 30 min coaching session.

LOL. My wife and I have a date night on Saturday and I'm scrambling to find a nice place to go and can hardly find tables for 6pm. Even stuff like the Keg Burnaby is booked up. It's bizarre to me cause some restaurants are just packed especially the popular ones - I can't get a decent table at Savio Volpe 6 weeks out.

Time of year, small companies who have only a few employees taking them out for dinner for the holidays.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafamous (Post 9084093)

LOL. My wife and I have a date night on Saturday and I'm scrambling to find a nice place to go and can hardly find tables for 6pm. Even stuff like the Keg Burnaby is booked up. It's bizarre to me cause some restaurants are just packed especially the popular ones - I can't get a decent table at Savio Volpe 6 weeks out.

Holy that's insane... I know Christmas is coming but, but still... 6 weeks ahead at Savio Volpe???

I am supposed to meet up with a high school buddy that I haven't seen in person since the pandemic started. I guess we'll just be eating at the food courts then...

Quote:

Originally Posted by supafamous (Post 9084093)

Christmas season. Holiday parties and get togethers. Busiest time of year for fancier restaurants, especially fri/sat nights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traum (Post 9084028)

Interesting topic, and I wish I could come in here to flex LOL~ But nope, it is really more of a slow downward spiral as far as I can tell. And the worst part is, I don't see any solutions in the "near" future, say within the next year or so.

(Apologies for the long essay.)

2022 has been a very expensive year. Home repair costs were (literally) through the roof because multiple big ticket items failed -- we got a new roof, and while that was being replaced, we were recommended to do some repairs on our chimney as well -- who knew masons were that expensive? The (exterior) stucco wall needed fixing. 2 major appliances failed; the microwave died even though it was only a little over 3 yrs old. A sizable chunk of my savings evapourated to keep the house more or less intact.

There were really a few more home repair items that were needed, but I honestly couldn't stomach the cost this year anymore. So I DIY-ed the urgent ones -- with the results looking very amateurish, but at least I think they are functional -- and the less urgent ones are deferred for now. My driveway could really use a repaving, or at least some meaningful repairs at certain places, but those are not happening for now. If I am crazy / stupid enough, I might just try to DIY it next spring / summer...

Mortgage costs have gone up by over 20% compared to the beginning of the year as I am on a variable rate mortgage where the payments change with the interest rate. But as I have found out here on RS, my 20%+ hike is actually fairly tame compared to what some of you guys are dealing with, so I guess I can't complain.

Food costs seem to have gone up by almost 40% for us this year, and that is due to a combination of rising grocery costs on its own, us doing a lot more take out because of time constraints, and me and the wifey's mutual agreement that we really needed to re-expose our kid to some basic social etiquette, table manners and just trying out different foods this year since we have largely avoided eating out in the first 2 years of the pandemic. At the same time, we have also adjusted our food purchasing habits. We are buying "cheaper" stuff, and actively reducing / avoiding the expensive items. For example, I know this sounds really bad, but I love spot prawns and cherries, and we have really cut back on those this year. But even the bloody oranges -- I mean, those damn regular navel oranges, not blood oranges -- are like a solid 40 - 50% more expensive than before.

Utility bills have gone up quite a bit this year. After the heat dome last year, we got an AC early this summer ($$$ bye bye~), and IIRC, I think the operating costs worked out to be ~$1/hr. I had just received our gas heating bill recently, and the Nov bill was quite a surprise. I am guessing it must be a combination of the really cold Nov that we had, plus the gas rate hikes themselves, but between the two, our Nov bill this year is ~25% more expensive than it was last Nov. Dec seems colder than usual too.

Transportation costs have gone up this year by ~40% because gas prices have gone up significantly, and the managers at work love seeing physical bodies at the office again. We do have a WFH policy that allows for some WFH time, but overall, I am estimating that it roughly costs me ~$10 per day for the commute to and back from the office + parking, not to mention the travel time that I lose by not being able to WFH.

Income-wise, things have been stagnant for me, which means I am just eating all those inflation body blows. The wifey's is bringing home roughly the same amount as before, but her workload has increased significantly because her work partner is taking a leave of absence. Personally, I really enjoy my job because I have a good employer. The pay sucks, but the benefits and work-life balance are good, and I work with a very good team of people. But my shrinking bank account balance has me thinking about the possibility to get out of my comfort zone and look for something with a higher pay. For the time being, I think that would still be a bad idea because of the uncertainty of the economy. But as long as the household income-to-expense ratio doesn't improve, we are slowly heading for insolvency.

For now, I am still super thankful that I have a loving family, a roof over my head, and a sports car in my garage. Increasingly though, as I head down that spiral to insolvency in slow motion, I can just picture how I'd be giving up the sports car to buy us more time, and leaving a job that I love to pursue something that pays more (but most likely with a far worse work-life balance)...

Keeping my fingers crossed that things will turn around soon before drastic intervention measures are needed...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traum (Post 9084106)

I dunno how I managed to miss your essay.

Sounds like a rough year for you. We've put off some upgrades as well and we really should get some new windows. These 30yr old aluminum windows really suck. I thought it was our insulation but no it's the windows. And an inefficient 30 year old furnace for our hydronic heating system.

Our gas bill was $450 for Nov and it was $350 last year. Granted this Nov has been colder than last. It was $600 for Jan bill when the cold snap hit last winter.

The money thing is tough. It's hard to make a move when the market is so volatile right now. There are companies that hire and hire and hire up until they go bust or do layoffs. There were ppl that got laid off with me in Nov that had only just started a month in.

I'm sure you guys aren't heading to insolvency as long as you don't have to renew your mortgage anytime soon.

The food thing isn't too bad if you know where to look and avoid the super duper popular places. If you are looking for a good pasta place that's not as insane, Autostrada on Main Street is pretty good. I find that you can still get a seat at most places if you arrive early, and our schedule is typically quite early due to a 3 year old needing food right after we pick him up from daycare.

PS: I see you around a lot since my son's daycare is right around where you live. I would wave but it would be extremely awkward for me to wave when I am mostly driving the c lai X3 doing my best impression of a c lai.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badhobz (Post 9084096)

if they were common law, its as good as being married. she's entitled to half i believe. edit: nevermind, see 68 post above.

Not all these Chinese girls are bad. dont let a few bad experiences discourage you. the ones wearing Balenciaga short skirts in the middle of winter at dolar are probably the one you wanna stay away from.

But those are the ones you want to date for :sleepingzz:

:D

I married a Shanghainese girl. I told myself and everyone I wouldn't after dating one in high school. Look at me where I am. Though, she doesn't come from a rich family and we've put in our fight in life to get to where we are right now.

Sometimes I wish her family could have just taken care of our mortgage though lol.... I would be driving a 911 right now HAHAHA

You married a shanghainese girl !? Holy fuck. I’m shanghainese and dark is shanghainese and we can probably both tell you this is a bad bad idea. Hahaha. Unless she’s born here… then she’s fine.

But OG shanghainese girls are a walking disaster. See my mom, aunts, cousins, friends. Everyone and anyone I still know back home.

As for Mr styles, he should get a rich but well adjusted one. Uhhh not sure if that’s possible. Sounds stupid even typing this out, but one can hope.

^^^ 100% Holy ******

EvoFire .... dude man, let me buy you a drink!! Total respect man. That's the one rule for myself when I was dating.

Badhobz knows whats up...

Evo, do you
- do chores around the house?
- cook?
- hand over your income?
- get whipped?

The scary part is... they don't whip you like your gym trainer. Its like killing you with kindness, you cant put your finger on it yet you think back and realizes who wears the pants in the relationship...

Maybe she grew up here and its all good lolol. There are good and bad ones from every city. But women from Shanghai's reputation though....

Hahaha

Badhobz - thank you for keeping up the reputation of Shanghainese men and their cooking skills lolol, I cant for shiz and my wife still complains to her friends that she found a fake, Dark cant cook and doesnt really do chores...

Well shit I'm whipped. HAHAHAHA

We joke about it, how did you scam me into marrying you? I do the cleaning(her cleaning drives me insane), she does the laundry (I hate laundry with a passion), I cook cause I'm better at it. She deals with the kid, soon to be kids. We split our contributions evenly for a long time until in the last few years my tech salary rocketed and I doubled her income. Our own spending is our own spending, she doesn't approve of car mods but I do it anyways.

I mean I wanted a M3 and I went and bought one (I traded a small Prada purse so she won't complain, it was $900, less than a car payment). I wanted a house and we went and bought one. I want a 911 right now and... I haven't bought one yet. The money doesn't make sense, yet. And allocations.

She is SH born, but not raised fully there. She spent age 5-11 in Japan, and came to Vancouver at 12.

Us shanghainese men or men married to shanghainese women, needs a support group.

Ohhhh you haven’t seen nothing yet bro. It’ll get worse. Don’t ever take her back to Shanghai. She’ll get recharged and all her ancestral memories will take hold and then GG.

People dating vancouvernese women need support groups

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badhobz (Post 9084155)

Us shanghainese men or men married to shanghainese women, needs a support group.

LOL. My paternal line traces back to Shanghai - my grandparents are from Shanghai and for years I didn't understand what my grandma would say to me and then I finally realized that she was mixing Cantonese and Shanghainese.

My wife will tell you that I'm a pain in the ass to live with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badhobz (Post 9084160)

Ohhhh you haven’t seen nothing yet bro. It’ll get worse. Don’t ever take her back to Shanghai. She’ll get recharged and all her ancestral memories will take hold and then GG.

Her mom is very spoiled and very Shanghainese. Wife seems fine. There's that inner SH that comes out every now and then though. She's also year of the tiger and make fun of her calling her "lo fu la" sometimes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvoFire (Post 9084166)

Her mom is very spoiled and very Shanghainese. Wife seems fine. There's that inner SH that comes out every now and then though. She's also year of the tiger and make fun of her calling her "lo fu la" sometimes.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...85/098/245.gif

:lawl:

LOL~ Maybe we do need a dated Shanghaiese girl support group. I had an ex whose mom was a Shanghaiese, and my ex definitely picked up a ton of what I have later come to know as Shanghaiese women traits. At the time, I was just clueless, but a lot of stuff were like WTF LOL~

The income situation is tough because I really quite like my job. It doesn't pay well, but had there been reasonable raises that can more or less keep up with inflation, I can see myself potentially working in this same job for the next 15 - 20 years until I retire. But of course, the most important thing is -- the family financial situation needs to be sustainable.

Our mortgage is due for renewal in ~2.5 to 3 yrs, so I will naively hope that interest rates will return to a more sane and sustainable level by then. By my own estimates, the insolvency issue will happen if the status quo remains for the next 2 yrs or so, and we don't majorly alter our spending habits. As the buffer shrinks, however, of course we will adjust, just as how we have adjusted our food spending habits and our entertainment habits.

And then there is the sports car. A lot of savings can be had if we downsize to a 2-car family, not to mention that the car itself carries a small market value too. I'd really hate to give her up because amateur motorsports is probably the only remaining hobby that I have and love, but I also know she'll be one of the first things I let go if we get into trouble because it'll result in the least amount of impact for my family.

If you see me next time, WAVE! :hay: I'll make sure I do the same if I see a BMW SUV waving to me. (Somehow, I can't tell the BMW SUVs apart even if my life depended on it LOL~)

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvoFire (Post 9084120)

I wouldn't give up the sports car. Worst case scenario, you park it until you can afford to get it back on the road. Unless it's a Porsche or something similar, a small cash infusion is going to not do much for your overall finances.

Finances forced me to sell my beloved E39 several years ago. It wasn't so much the car itself that was hard to let go - it was the loss of a connection to a different time in my life. If you sell your sports car, you will likely regret it for a very long time.

Been awhile since I've seen a thread on RS get derailed so far lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonick (Post 9084176)

Been awhile since I've seen a thread on RS get derailed so far lol.

The SH girl bit?

Unless you won't ever replace the car, selling the car doesn't make a lot of difference. I was thinking of cashing out the M3, but we still need 2 cars, and replacing it with a Golf R or WRX would cost a significant chunk of the money anyways. Not worth it at the end of the day and I get to enjoy a M3.

^not until today that I realized we have a decent number of SH guys on RS

its only me and you who speaks the old shanghai tongue bro. we OG first gen.

In for link to YouTube video showing me what the SH girl traits are.

First part of this thread was a bit depressing but the SH talk just really spiced it up for me :lol

Was involved with someone from another part of China but might as well be from Shanghai from the sounds of it. I think the Shanghainese gospel has been spreading

The new age motto of women in china is apparently, "rather cry in a bmw than be happy riding a bicycle"... or so i've been told