How americans spend their money..

[Khan]

I'm 66 and I have never had a dishwasher. Just as well, years ago a zen roshi taught me that satori is found by giving full concentraion and awareness to mundane tasks.

So not only have I saved money by not buying and maintaining dishwashers, I have moved myself along spiritually, maybe.

Ha

I found a dishwasher has cut way down the incidence of broken stuff.

 

[Khan]

I recall my grandparents in Maine getting an indoor bathroom in the late '50s.

I just got an A/C (window unit) in '04.

The car I bought last year is my first with A/C, power steering, power brakes, auto shift, cup holders. It also has a CD player, but I don't see ever using that.

 

[youbet]

Further analysis indicates that apparently it really is uphill both ways...

I enjoyed high-school marching band, but one of the big factors in quitting was having the sundown bus drop me off a mile further from our house and at the bottom of a huge hill. Yes, it would usually be snowing too. I didn't enjoy it that much.

OK... OK... I didn't really have to walk 47 miles up hill both ways....

But I did live in the city and walking past these guys everyday made it seem like 47 miles!

 

[myself]

I found a dishwasher has cut way down the incidence of broken stuff.

It also helps out in prevention of sickness being carried from one sibling to another. As long as you keep the youngest ones from drinking/eating what their sibling drank/ate.

 

[FinanceDude]

I enjoyed high-school marching band, but one of the big factors in quitting was having the sundown bus drop me off a mile further from our house and at the bottom of a huge hill. Yes, it would usually be snowing too. I didn't enjoy it that much.

What instrument?? I did FIVE summers of marching band in HS..............they let the incomeing freshmen march too..........

A couple times I missed the carpool ride home, and 3.5 miles carrying a trombone isn't a fun time..........

 

[cantlogin]

I had to carry a cello in elementary school. It was uphill only one way though.

 

[CuppaJoe]

OMG, I was freak in grade school. My mom petitioned the town for a school bus for kids (like me) who lived over a mile from school. Every chance I got, I escaped the bus to walk home.

 

[FIREd]

What strikes me is that people do save quite a bit! Take the highest fifth. They make on average $149,963 gross. They spend only $69,863 per year (only 46.6% of gross), pay $23,376 in taxes, give $7,040 to charities and spend about $2,513 on education. But look at the last column, "financial flows", it sounds a lot like "net savings" to me(contributions to pensions + mortgage principal repayment + (I assume) 401K and IRA contributions + additions to savings and investment accounts - outflows from those accounts ) and that's $47,171 or 31.4% of gross! Who said Americans can't LBYM! I am myself in this highest fifth and I thought that I was doing well, but I am barely saving more than the average in my income group!!! That also seems to put the "keeping up with the Joneses" myth on its head!

 

[W2R]

I had to carry a cello in elementary school. It was uphill only one way though.

Five high school kids, including me, our books, and my cello would chug across Oahu via the Pali Highway to my high school each morning in an old time VW bug back in 1964. I would sit in the front seat with the cello between my legs, my big brother would drive, and 3 cousins sat in the back on each others laps with books piled up everywhere along with my cousin's flute. We would turn the radio up and blast that great 1964 rock music and sing along (I know, how corny!). When we got to school, it would take a while to untangle and disembark. Those were the days!

Sorry the rest of you were trudging for miles through the snow, uphill one or both ways, with your cellos, while we were having fun.