Where the money went, 2006

[fivemack]

(SLC is the Student Loans Corporation; I have not suddenly become an inadequately-tithe-paying Mormon)


If you compare with 2004



I'm surprised how consistent my habits have been; housing's more expensive (a whole house in Cambridge costs more to rent than half a house in Cheltenham), I've stopped learning to drive, and, worryingly, I seem to have become about 25% meaner when I look at the 'charity' and 'gift.out' segments; this latter I need to do something about.

I should probably apologise in advance to American readers for the invisible sliver that is medical costs, and to the taxpayers of the future for the absence of 'savings' segments, though income tax and pension contributions come straight out of salary and don't show up in the data I use for these graphs.

Comments

[liv]

I think the reason why someone in your position would buy rather than rent is so that when they do retire and their income drops, they don't have to worry about a roof over their head. But that's a pretty huge gamble against an unknowable future, and if you're happy renting then why not go on with it?

I think it's becoming more and more the norm for people to put off buying their own place until they get married, or until they have kids or until the kids are old enough for it to matter. Which is as much out of necessity, given that housing prices are growing so much out of proportion to the rest of the economy, as it is a deliberate choice.

[fivemack.livejournal.com]

There's certainly part of me that says that an owned house is a place for a married couple to bring up children in, and accordingly an unpardonable extravagence for a bachelor; couples have two incomes (yes, that's a modern-day axiom) (yes, I know that they have one income for at absolute least six months per child), which makes the mortgage seem somehow more affordable.

I rattle around on my own in the rented house, but the people I know in Cambridge seem well-housed at present, and I'd rather rattle than have a housemate of unknown quality - I've had six years of that, starting at grad school, and thought that enough.

If housing prices are growing out of proportion to the rest of the economy and will do so forever, the right answer must be to mortgage oneself to the hilt and buy now. But economics tends not to do 'will do so forever', and I'm currently in a position where I can be patient.

[tau-iota-mu-c.livejournal.com]

Marriage seems to be a good point to plonk down for a house. You've implicitly said you're going to commit to a person. Committing makes it harder for you to both up and move for a new job (astronomers have to do this every 3 years; not completely unrelated to why I gave up research, not that I have had an SO to worry about for about 5 years now), which means you are more likely to stay put. Which means you can plonk down and don't need to worry about the hassle of selling and buying again in 2 years time when circumstances change.

And if you buy before marriage, what's to say your future SO doesn't also have a house? Then at least one of you have to go through the hassle of selling (and possibly losing a lot of money if you time it wrong relative to this inevitable future crash).