Thinking like that is how you get into debt like you have. You're getting good advice and it's frustrating that you're ignoring it. What you are doing is not working, that's why you're coming to the internet for help.

That's the double-edge to it, it's probably the only reason my house was affordable.

Ugh, that's distressing to hear. Study I read said adverse effects up to 500 feet away. Hopefully the other houses and trees absorb some of the ill effects from my nearby highway.

My wife and I make a little under that. We were lucky to inherit ~40k, saved another 40k ourselves and bought in the Taunton area in 2019. House was 325k, we put 20% down and refinanced when rates bottomed out at 3%. Now rates are over double that and our home is valued at over 400k. I don't know how young workers are expected to afford houses now.

In essence, it's luck. Luck to have decent jobs. Luck to find a cheap apartment to save money. Luck to be ready to buy (which at the time felt like the top of the market). And luck to refinance afterwards.

I like Vermont, very true to the culture.

It just seems simpler and more efficient to use one method, cut the fat. Use it to fund roads, as well as other services that benefit carless folks, public transportation, etc.

Why are we collecting funds via tolls when we could streamline everything by sticking to just income tax?

You think you have the leverage against a huge company? It might not feel like begging, but it basically is. And even if you're high enough that it's not begging, have some care for the vast majority of non-union workers getting screwed.

The ratchet effect.

Wow, out of touch. I have a house and a career (and no vapes), my head just isn't so far up my ass as to be blind to the realities of the market.

If your idea of getting by starts with an 80k job, you're so far out of touch. Most people will never have, nor have the opportunity to hit 80k in their life. It's frustrating to see people complain without knowing their struggle or how they're grinding themselves to get to the next stage regardless, but most people are. They're just complaining as an outlet. Even if they're not, this privileged bootstrap shit is laughable.

Raynham and Taunton are cheap for the area. Stay away from Easton and Sharon. But like most the state/country, it's all fucked. If you're six figures though you'll find something.

Way too much. We did about half our 1500 sq foot house, 2 bed rooms and the living room for about $11k 6 months ago. 48k seems insane.

I think that person (and I) would argue Saturday should be OT too.

Means testing is generally a waste of resources. If it's free, it should be free . No need for a costly bureaucracy that costs more than the simple inclusive option.

$10,000 rebate? I thought the federal program was only for pumps installed in 2023?

I assume you're also against alcohol for this reason?

I'm sorry for your loss. My grandfather has lewy body dementia and it's a constant worry on my mind. It's still in fairly early stages but they live 3 hours away so it's stressful. I wish they'd move, but they're worried a new location will be confusing and stressful to him.

So there should be a federal requirement, so states are still incentivized to make the process fairer for their workers.