A few words on 'Inexpensive place to live'

[MRG]

Me, too! Especially these...

Those are Turtles for sure. A former co-w*rker taught me there a quite a few other similar candies that look like turtles but aren't.

BTW - Turtle is quite tasty.

 

[NW-Bound]

Just to be clear...I do not advocate EATING the bunnies!

Long time ago, on this forum I talked about not eating bunny since I was 5 or 6. I think we were talking about nutria in the same thread. And I said that I wanted to get some rabbit to cook with wine.

In Europe, at a Carrefour market, I saw a pile of rabbit halves, and you had the choice of the front or the rear halves. Recently, I saw frozen rabbit in a local market, but it was whole. My wife said she would not touch it, and I did not want to eat the whole thing, so did not buy. But I guess at some point, I will make the jump.

 

[Midpack]

I did feel the need to suggest that those asking define what they meant and those answering not assume they know what someone asking means by inexpensive.

This is real simple. People who want to ask, 'where is an inexpensive place to retire', should define what they mean by inexpensive. People who respond to such a question should make sure BEFORE answering that they know what the person asking means by inexpensive.

If an inadequately defined question come up in a thread/post, none of us are under any obligation to reply...

It seems people who provide random answers to vague questions are equally guilty, you might have a 'suggestion' for them? I've seen more useless answer to good questions, than useless questions - and less of either here than the world-at-large thankfully.

And don't forget thread hijackers while you're at it. Or anecdotal answers.

It seems some past sage has already coined the applicable adage...Ask a stupid question and you'll get a stupid answer.

 

[W2R]

Long time ago, on this forum I talked about not eating bunny since I was 5 or 6. I think we were talking about nutria in the same thread. And I said that I wanted to get some rabbit to cook with wine.

I refuse to eat nutria! Or rabbit, or any other game. My yard man pointed out a squirrel to me yesterday, saying that it looked delicious. He used to shoot and eat them when he was young and living in the country where hunting was legal. To me it sounds awful, although when I was young I used to fish for my dinner in a local creek sometimes and loved saving a few bucks that way. This was in a high cost of living area, Little Creek NAS. It was a high cost place to live specifically because with both of us working, we couldn't afford to eat 7 days a week there and still pay for my ex's flying lessons (which were worth it to him, and to me because he was so happy at finally getting flying lessons - - not something I resent at all).

And don't forget thread hijackers while you're at it.

Oh, oops. Carry on.

 

[MichaelB]

I refuse to eat nutria! Or rabbit, or any other game. My yard man pointed out a squirrel to me yesterday, saying that it looked delicious. He used to shoot and eat them when he was young and living in the country where hunting was legal. To me it sounds awful, although when I was young I used to fish for my dinner in a local creek sometimes and loved saving a few bucks that way. This was in a high cost of living area, Little Creek NAS. It was a high cost place to live specifically because with both of us working, we couldn't afford to eat 7 days a week there and still pay for my ex's flying lessons (which were worth it to him, and to me because he was so happy at finally getting flying lessons - - not something I resent at all).

The only thing I refuse to eat is roadkill. Even then I might be temped if it was my car that did the deed.

 

[Walt34]

The only thing I refuse to eat is roadkill. Even then I might be temped if it was my car that did the deed.

Family lore has it that when my grandfather was a streetcar driver in PA, whenever he hit a rabbit he would stop the car, retrieve the rabbit, and bring it home for dinner. He lived to be 78.

 

[NW-Bound]

I only knew of stewed rabbit in red wine, but just found this recipe without wine. It's called "Cocotte de découpe de lapin à la provençale". I guess I should have posted this in the Mediterranean retirement thread. What's the point of retiring in a foreign land if you do not try the local dishes?

 

[Nemo2]

There appear to be certain parameters here that require addressing:

- What is the age of said rabbit?
- Sex of said rabbit?
- Weight, (fat or muscle)?
- Length of rabbit?
- (Pre death) Health of rabbit, or lack thereof?
- Free range or caged?
- Did the rabbit acquire a name? (Emotional impact on the diners.)

 

[calmloki]

Long time ago, on this forum I talked about not eating bunny since I was 5 or 6. I think we were talking about nutria in the same thread. And I said that I wanted to get some rabbit to cook with wine.

In Europe, at a Carrefour market, I saw a pile of rabbit halves, and you had the choice of the front or the rear halves. Recently, I saw frozen rabbit in a local market, but it was whole. My wife said she would not touch it, and I did not want to eat the whole thing, so did not buy. But I guess at some point, I will make the jump.

As a kid we had rabbits for a while - REWahoo is right - they are much like chicken, though I remember the haunches being meatier than chicken breast and moister as well. The gal is a huge fan of the candy Turtles he showed as well, and says in a younger broker time she had squirrel and suggests cooking it in Seven-Up. Having been around nutria I have zero desire to eat them, though they are vegetarians. Beautiful pelts though.

Anecdotal and off topic is almost all I do, but as Joe sings in Showboat, "I still suits me".

 

[ERD50]

I understood the OP's point, I think it is very valid, and I really don't understand the negativity in some of the responses. haha already said what I was thinking (bold mine)...

Like all your posts, this one is to the point, very useful, and clearly expressed.

I also do not see why is might matter what you consider inexpensive, or even if you ever give thought to costs.

Sometimes I read these "Where should I move, should I retire, how much money do I need, do I prefer chocolate or vanilla? posts and I wonder does this person expect useful answers?

From reading some of the responses above, I think many people must be looking for what we once called bull sessions. These are intended to use up time, provide some sort of entertainment to some participants, but not to be used.

Ha

That said, there can be value/entertainment in brainstorming type questions, and in thread-jacking (but that can be a little disrespectful if the OP is still trying to gather useful info, but I think it's great after the thread has sort of run its course). But I do oftentimes see where the poster appears to be looking for some useful info, and I really don't get what they expect to learn from what someone else does in that case. And if they do think they can learn from it, I think it is helpful to point out the issues the OldPro here has brought up. Otherwise, that person might be heading down a wrong path.

I think some took the "should" as telling others what to do. I took it as advice, maybe more gentle wording would be "To get the most useful answers, you could ask it in this way..." This is what was said in the last paragraph ("So a far better question to ask..."), and I think that was the intent all along.

So lighten up people!!! Wait, I guess that is too direct for some people? So let me suggest that perhaps taking this viewpoint might allow one to better appreciate the positive aspects regarding the OP's intent in their well intentioned post? Is that better? Do we really need to have our kid gloves on at the keyboard at all times?

-ERD50

 

[Nemo2]

maybe more gentle wording would be "To get the most useful answers, you could ask it in this way..." This is what was said in the last paragraph ("So a far better question to ask..."), and I think that was the intent all along.

+1

 

[ERD50]

If an inadequately defined question come up in a thread/post, none of us are under any obligation to reply...

It seems people who provide random answers to vague questions are equally guilty, you might have a 'suggestion' for them? I've seen more useless answer to good questions, than useless questions - and less of either here than the world-at-large thankfully. ...

In either case, isn't it helpful to try to point out why the question or answer might not be helpful or isn't really addressing the point? Why not try to help, rather than just ignore it?

Maybe I'm just very aware of this, as my BIL is infamous for asking me how to do something, and the question just seems a little out there, and any solutions might be very complicated and maybe expensive as well. So before I go into a long explanation, I have learned to stop and say "Instead of asking me how to do XYZ, please tell me what it is you are trying to accomplish."

Nine times out of ten, there is a simple, likely cost-free way to accomplish what he really wanted to do. But he already had his mind set on a certain path that was way out there.

So isn't it better to help him solve his problem, rather than just ignoring the problem and answering his question, which would cost him in time and $? And more helpful than just ignoring the whole thing or saying "I don't know how to do that".

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

I only knew of stewed rabbit in red wine, but just found this recipe without wine. It's called "Cocotte de découpe de lapin à la provençale". I guess I should have posted this in the Mediterranean retirement thread. What's the point of retiring in a foreign land if you do not try the local dishes?

I also saw whole frozen rabbit in a market a few years ago. I recall my great-Uncle talking about how much he loved the German dish "Hasenpfeffer", which I just thought was a rabbit stew (they raised rabbits in their garage in Chicago, 'back in the day'). So I bought one, but the recipe I found did not sound good. A lot of vinegar.

I had rabbit in a cream sauce at Bergoff's in Chicago years ago, and I loved it. Very delicate. So I tried a mustard-cream sauce, and I dunno, this rabbit tasted stronger, more like turkey, but not in such a good way (I like turkey). Not bad, but I won't cook it again, but I would order it at a restaurant.

-ERD50

 

[Katsmeow]

I do think the OP has a good point. To use his example, I often hear people say X is an inexpensive place to live or where is an inexpensive place to live. The problem is that a lot of that depends on perception.

I remember once (several years ago) making a comment on a message board related to how selling and buying that we were listing our house for sale at close to $600,000. A rather dismissive poster, in response, made a comment about how how buyers wouldn't expect much from a starter home like that.

Well, where I live a 600k home was in the top 5% of home prices and was far from a starter home. He was from an area where 600k was a starter home. It was hard to have much of a conversation until the terms were defined for the situation (and locale).

I often see people here wondering if their budget of $X is "too" high or "too" low for ER, giving no indication of their portfolio or time horizon. So, to me, that is a question that is unanswerable. A better way to ask the question would be to say something about withdrawal rate and how long the money has to last.

Or, the person who has a multi-million dollar net worth and wonders if ER is in the cards. My first thought is, "quit now." My second thought is to wonder how much money they want to spend in ER and where they live. But, this info isn't always provided.

Yes, I as a responder can respond and ask for more info. But, the person posing the question would be better off if they were more specific in the first place.

(I think that some of the pushback to the OP is that a poster with a relatively small number of posts -- in comparison to many here -- may come across as trying to tell those of us who have been here awhile how we can do things better. I think that if the advice was coming from someone with 1000 posts there wouldn't be the pushback.)

 

[MichaelB]

I only knew of stewed rabbit in red wine, but just found this recipe without wine. It's called "Cocotte de découpe de lapin à la provençale". I guess I should have posted this in the Mediterranean retirement thread. What's the point of retiring in a foreign land if you do not try the local dishes?

Rabbit was a common menu item in Italian restaurants around Latin America.

Family lore has it that when my grandfather was a streetcar driver in PA, whenever he hit a rabbit he would stop the car, retrieve the rabbit, and bring it home for dinner. He lived to be 78.

Now you know where you get your sense of thrift and practicality.

 

[sengsational]

Just to be clear...I do not advocate EATING the bunnies!

I though you and Dolly Freed did do the bunny thing.

 

[REWahoo]

I though you and Dolly Freed did do the bunny thing.

I think maybe you are confusing it with the "possum thing".

 

[jjquantz]

The first time DW came home to meet my parents Dad had a skinned rabbit soaking in the sink. DW thought rabbits came frozen, in boxes. Also, she never had to worry about shot pellets in her rabbit.

 

[sengsational]

One of the biggest problems in determining if a place is inexpensive for you or not, is your personal needs. Again, looking at cost of living comparison websites may not be reliable. They compare the cost of living of the average resident who already lives there. The cost of living for someone who is used to living on rice will not be the same as the cost of living for someone who arrives and wants to live on steak.

The link I posted in the other thread seems to have a level benchmark for standard of living. Prices for several sizes and locations of apartments are used. Flush toilets, one and all!

Methodology and motivation for Numbeo.com

 

[sengsational]

I think maybe you are confusing it with the "possum thing".

The possum thing was how she lived. Bunnies is what she ate

 

[REWahoo]

The possum thing was how she lived. Bunnies is what she ate

OK, my bad. Guess I had her confused with these guys:

 

[Sarah in SC]

The possum thing was how she lived. Bunnies is what she ate

Ding! Ding! Ding!

And hey, that's a cool link, thanks for posting--I missed it in the other thread.

 

[Nemo2]

we were listing our house for sale at close to $600,000. A rather dismissive poster, in response, made a comment about how how buyers wouldn't expect much from a starter home like that.

Couple years ago we linked to some friends an ad for a tiny apartment we were about to book in Paris........she came back gushing that'd she found one soooooo much nicer.

It certainly was...and the cost was also 5 to 6 times higher than we intended to pay.

 

[ERD50]

... (I think that some of the pushback to the OP is that a poster with a relatively small number of posts -- in comparison to many here -- may come across as trying to tell those of us who have been here awhile how we can do things better. I think that if the advice was coming from someone with 1000 posts there wouldn't be the pushback.)

I sure don't think that way. I've seen some pretty impressive and informative first time posts, and my blathering sure ought to serve as a data point on the other side of things.

It's true you can sometimes get a better sense of where someone is coming from with some history, but I think we are all better off if we judge the post on the content, and not the count under the handle (darn, a few days late to paraphrase MLK on that one!).

-ERD50

 

[HFWR]

I believe the issue is defining a minimum acceptable standard of living. Mine includes home ownership in a safe community, reliable utilities, clean water, a quality food supply including fresh vegetables, meats and fish, personal security, a democratic society and a clean environment.

And beer...