This has been a complaint since HIDs first hit the market in the early 2000s. Now that LEDs are taking over, it’s the same debate.

Hell, I think my dad said the same issue came up when halogen became dominate…

I get it. I do a lot of driving at night, and I get blinded by 90% of the cars on the road. I either look towards the fog line or put up a hand (or middle finger) to block the glare from the oncoming lights. Or use my hand to block it if they’re lights are shining in my side view.

There’s no real good way to “fix” it, other than we have to find a way to deal with it.

Cool.

Where’d you get $150k to put towards that house? Save for it, family help, down payment assistance?

I’m supporting 5 other people on my single income. So yeah, money doesn’t go far, especially nowadays. 4 of them are 5 and under, 3 are still in diapers, so there’s a lot of expenses that aren’t just bills.

No two situations are alike.

House prices have been nuts around here for a long time. I pretty much gave up on buying a house around here around 2001-02…when I was still in high school.

In looking around the north SnoCo, Skagit area, for a 4+ bedroom house (I have 4 kids) on some land, I would be paying around $500k for a ramshackle POS, and $800k for something nice, at minimum. Or, $120k-ish for a mobile.

I make $80k a year, so those higher prices are out my range. Renting is almost out of my range. Yeah, housing costs are crazy across the entire region.

…small state? Compared to what, Texas, Alaska? Are we talking land mass, population?

Or is it “small” because you’re looking at it on the grand global scale?

You replied to me, so I’m responding in kind. I don’t think that necessarily indicates an argument or disagreement of any sort. Like I said, if you’re doing well, awesome. Keep at it, and continue to save for the day that situation may change. Just some advice from someone who’s lived by the paycheck for almost 20 years, and will have to give the same to his kids some day.

And that, there, is one of the key differences: you’re only funding yourself. Adding a dependent of any sort, other than a pet, drastically changes things.

As does the area in which you live. “Tacoma-ish” is a bit cheaper, on average, from what I understand than most anything Seattle and north.

If you’re making it now and able to save, sweet. Stuff away what you can while you can. This may not always be the case.

I have a general disdain for cities, so bear that in mind. I’m not even a fan of suburbia any more.

I just don’t like Everett. I’ve lived there a few times, totaling about 5-6 years, and 3 of the cars I had in that time were broken into and had things stolen.

Real estate is more expensive than outside city limits (cheaper than Seattle, Lynnwood or Edmonds, sure, but more than, say, Monroe or Arlington) so apartments are about the only option for most people. Not a great option for a large family, such as mine.

Yeah, I’d be close to where I work…but I’m not trading convenience for the space I presently have, where my kids can play in their own backyard or ride their bikes in the road and not have to worry about getting hit by a car.

Cities suck, and I choose rural life to raise my kids in.

True.

And I’ll probably break from my fellow Millenials on this, but I don’t see that as necessarily a bad thing.

Just because you retire, doesn’t mean you stop working. Leave the job you had a career at, but do something part time to bring in a little extra and stay busy.

I’m not putting anything towards my 401k, because I need every dollar I can get to put towards my family. At this point, yeah, I have no intent of retiring because I have no pension and no savings, and I turn 38 this year.

Shits rough out here.

It’s going to vary on area and family size.

I make almost $44/hour, which comes out to around $80k a year…but I’m supporting 5 other people. My wife and 4 kids. That money pretty much goes to rent, bills and food, and maybe a couple tanks of gas before we’re broke.

Granted, I have a long commute. I live 45-ish miles from where I work, and that’s, primarily, so I don’t have to live in Everett or anywhere close to it.

I would say, at minimum, $100k or more to do more than just survive. Between housing costs, food, gas prices, being able to save for whatever. If you have more than yourself, add more income. I probably need to double what I make to really be where I should be, to finally afford a house and pay for the stuff my family needs.

$100k a year is where you start to break out of “survival” in the Sound, and has been for a handful of years.

Of course, it depends on family size. In 2017 or so, KING (I think) put out a story that anything under $100k for a 4 person household in SnoCo is considered low income. So, if you’re only supporting yourself, making $60-80k, you’re probably doing fine.

I make around $80k and support a 6 person household. We’re not doing fine. Between rent, monthly bills, food and gas…we’re broke, normally, within a couple days of me getting paid.

Infrastructure, like roads, bridges, highways and the like, are about the only places I’ve seen government dollars go to somewhat good use.

Having worked an unsafe, brutal, low wage labor job…yeah, I could have done much more with what money I had if taxes were lower. If sales and gas tax was lower, if property taxes were lower, so those increases weren’t passed on to the tenant. I actually kind of enjoyed that job, but I work a job I rather despise now, despite making over 4x the hourly rate with a union to, supposedly, have my back, and I took it because I couldn’t afford $10 an hour anymore.

Conservatives believe the individual makes their way. Leftists believe the government provides the way. There can be some overlap in how policy is applied, sure, but the worldview between the two camps is so vastly different, this hardly happens any longer.

I always find that an interesting concept.

How does being against more taxation, government control and spending, equate to “voting against their own interests”?