She went above her max budget because she figured she would no longer be jetting off to Italy on a whim. Her regret is that she no longer has the option to say “Take this job and shove it!” because she needs the job to service the large mortgage she took on.
I mean, “You’re young, so your income is going to increase enough to where that extra $150 a month over budget to afford this house now won’t be a problem for too long…” is totally the same as “just don’t jet off to Rome half a dozen times a year for pizza and you’ll easily afford the house that is 50% over your max budget!”
These articles are just designed to outrage the masses. I don’t understand why anyone would willingly let themselves be interviewed for stuff like this, but I guess if they were dumb enough to buy a home that was $500,000 over budget and are now complaining, then they’re not going to realize how stupid they look in the article.
I interrupt our, generally justifiable, mainstream media bashing.
For this very funny column from Alexandria Petri
I’m going to miss her columns for the next few months.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/15/what-labor-feels-like/
The NYT has always been this way when it comes to “lifestyle” coverage - fashion, travel, real estate etc. Only a tiny proportion of NYT readers could possibly afford all those Tuscan weekend getaways, charming apartments with Central Park views, cars that cost quadruple most Americans’ family income, etc. You’d have to be a 2-or-3 percenter to live the life depicted there. The average NYT reader is not hurting financially, but they still ain’t anywhere close to that rich.
So why all this “helpful shopping tips” material about things its audience can’t possibly afford? Because it’s porn. Lifestyle porn, mind you, but nonetheless: it’s there for ogling, drooling, fantasizing. If only that were me.
This probably isn’t much of a revelation nowadays, when we’re constantly exposed to its downmarket equivalent when it comes to reality TV, Kardashians, influencers etc. But it was quite a shock to me back in the mid 90s and I was trying to figure out why my fellow starving grad students were lapping up stories that treated things they could never afford as if they were things they were in the market for. My God - that’s it. Every day about one third of the Old Gray Lady is porn.
And what about that suggests being unable to manage a budget? Honest question. I haven’t read the article (obligatory: fuck the NYT). The caps I saw didn’t say anything about her actually being in financial distress. Is she complaining about being unable to afford necessities?
Horribly, it was like being stuck in crowded bar. Which isn’t as fun as it might sound when you’re 8-9yo and breathing that shit.
No. It really is about carrying a large mortgage limiting options due to the need for a lot of income to service it.
Papageno
4008
Yeah, 3600 square feet. Do they have like 12 kids or something?
Don’t be so unsympathetic. It’s her emotional support domicile.
Aleck
4010
Perhaps my tone came across as too negative, but I think it’s a fair criticism. She set a budget for buying a house. She then exceeded that budget by a full 50%. After doing so, she’s upset because she no longer has the flexibility that staying within her budget would have allowed. In this instance, the interviewee complains that she got burned out with work and no longer had the flexibility to quit her job for a year (the sort of luxury that frankly almost no one really has).
From my perspective, it’s poor planning: you make a purchase, knowing you’re going to be house poor, and then seem surprised that your options are now limited because you’re house poor (I say this coming from a position where my wife and I were, at one point, putting just over 50% of our take home income into our mortgage. I knew we were going to be house poor when we bought the house, so I wasn’t surprised when it meant we could no longer afford to eat out 3 or 4 nights a week, let alone quit our jobs and loaf around for a year)
The Fox reporter who falsely reported that Ottawa horse police trampled a person to death was already mentioned in the main Ottawa thread. But that’s just Fox, right? Surely the more prestigious media is better.
(Wait for it …)
The NYT reporter then pointed to video of a different incident where police investigated a car with guns drawn … but the car was empty, and there was no arrest.
Those fools who chose the ‘everybody but Russia’ side? Those fools are isolated, man!
KevinC
4016
The answer is always yes.
KevinC
4018
It’s not that the world has isolated Russia, it’s that Russia has isolated the world.
