Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Not for thee

This guy on Reddit is complaining about the prices of haircuts nowadays. I wonder what is his opinion on paying people a “living wage”. (Whatever that means numerically.) According to what he is saying, barbers definitely do not deserve one. Haircuts should remain cheap just like the old times.

Why am I getting the sense the people arguing for a living wage are advocating for themselves only, and not others? There’s this talk of Trump deporting illegal immigrants will cause food prices to go up because there would be a shortage of farm workers. The assumption is that with smaller labor supply, farmers will have to pay more to attract workers. Basic supply and demand.

Well, no one likes to pay more for groceries, right? The high inflation of past years is how (ironically) Trump won the election. But then aren’t we tacitly saying that farm workers don’t deserve a living wage? Fast food workers got a $20 minimum here in California, and enough people balked at the increased menu prices that McDonald’s and others had to start offering $6 value deals to entice customers.

There’s definitely a dichotomy between advocating for higher wages in general but not liking the results. Corporations will always protect their margins, therefore passing the wage increases to customers. Sure it’s easy to skip fast food, but groceries are kind of essential. The populace won’t stand for inflation at the supermarket.

Let’s be honest: what we really want is for us to get paid more individually, but for prices of stuff to remain the same. So we can’t all get a raise, because that would cause inflation. Living wage for me, but not for thee: Californians rejected the State proposition to increase the State minimal wage two weeks ago. At least we are honest with ourselves!

Get the fat

This may be stating the obvious, but two percent Greek yogurt tastes so much better than the non-fat version. Much like how whole milk is the only true milk out there. Those of you drinking two percent milk might as well be drinking water, because that’s what you are buying.

It’s a shame the Costco Kirkland brand only sells non-fat Greek yogurt. For the tasty stuff I have to shell out more money for the Fage brand. In an era of everything-cost-way-more-than-it-use-to, I aim to save a buck here and there when I can. Buying in bulk at Costco with its house brand is a great way to execute that strategy. Alas, it can’t fulfill everything. At least I get 5% cash back at Whole Foods (where I buy Fage Greek yogurt).

It’s occurring to me more and more than when I look at (the high) menu prices of restaurants, that perhaps I should make the same food at home instead. For example: I have strong affection for Korean food. When I see my favorite dish - beef short rib soup - is encroaching into the 30 dollars territory, it’s time to learn how to cook it myself. Save a bit of cash, and it’s probably healthier, too (way less sodium).

I’m reminder of my friend who lives over in Switzerland. Eating out prices have always been expensive there, so whatever dish she desires to eat, she learns to make it. Who would have thought that I would come to face the same situation here in America. Or perhaps it’s just me? I guess a lot of people out there are making more money than me to afford restaurant food frequently.

It's going to be alright

So, how are we feeling? If your presidential candidate of choice won the election, congratulations. I hope America does incredible well under his leadership. I believe nobody seeks democratically elected office to do harm. Because otherwise you’d get voted out the next go around. The winner on Tuesday did lose back in 2020.

If your presidential candidate of choice lost on Tuesday, well, there’s a finite end to your perceived suffering. Four more years is just that: four more. It can’t be anymore than that! And then the pages of history will continue to turn. Spend these next fours years focused on yourself and the people around you. Quit social media and go outside to touch grass often (as the kids say these days).

I read that there was a wholesale shift towards the Republican ticket this time compared to 2020. But I think we have to wait for the total vote tally to tell the full story. If Trump got roughly the same amount of votes as his two previous campaigns, and it’s the Democratic ticket that got less votes, then that’s an entirely different conversation. Where did that chunk of blue voters go? It can’t be entirely California…

Is it as simple as it’s the economy, stupid? The stock markets may be at all-time highs, but inflation is indeed pernicious. Even though inflation supposedly normalized this year, it’s not like the inflated prices then went back down, right? The prices merely stopped going up. The grocery budget is still unaffordably high for lots of people. While the President of the United States can’t really do anything about that, it comes down to this: the vibes are bad, so we need something different.

Wasn’t that the case in 2020? Difficult to believe that COVID was that long ago now.

With what money?

I go the mall sometimes during the weekday lunch hours, and I would see the local high school kids buying lunch at the food court. How on earth do they have the money for it? The allowances they get from parents must be hefty. I make above the American median household income, and I only feel comfortable enough to get Chipotle once in a while. Kids, with no income - how are they doing it?

Especially these days when $10 can’t even buy you a meal at McDonalds. At least back when I was in high school, there was the dollar menu. That’s a lot of McChicken for the $20 my father would give me once in a while. A dollar now can literally buy nothing at the Golden Arches. I understand inflation, but people aren’t making that much more money? A suitable food allowance for a higher schooler of today must be in the hundreds per month.

I guess there’s a lot of rich parents out there in San Francisco.

No wonder it’s said that child rearing is so expensive. With the recent inflation it’s got to be more than the quarter million to raise a child from baby to 18 years of age.

My parents most certainly did not spend a quarter million dollars to raise me. They didn’t have to money to. Not even close. I think it’s people’s expectations of what entails child-rearing that drives up the costs. Childcare, birthday parties, toys, trips to Disneyland (allowance when they reach teenage years); a lot of it is more wants than needs.

I read an article about parents getting into debt to bring their kids to Disneyland. News flash: if you cannot cash flow a Disneyland trip, you cannot afford it. There’s no rule that a child must experience Disneyland. For sure they will be sad when they hear from their school friends who went, but I didn’t have Nike shoes growing up, and I turned out just fine (allegedly). No emotional damage at all.

For a rainy day

In a pleasant surprise, my health insurance premiums - subsidized by my employer - will not be going up in 2025! I was fully expecting it to, because one, inflation is causing everything to be more expensive these days. And two, Kaiser Permanente had to pay its workers more after their strike last year. Did you think a corporation is going to eat into its profit margins? You’re hilarious.

Just as well, then. Whatever difference I thought I’d had to pay more in the coming year will go right into the savings account.

Towards what end? I’m not sure. I am seeing a lot of people my age (mid 30s) having babies these days. Personally, I have no interest (or prospects) to be doing so myself. Not that I don’t think I wouldn’t be great at parenting. If anything, I am leaving positives on the proverbial table. Word on the street is that people who have kids tend to happier and live longer. As a person who is deathly afraid of dying, and has always strived to maximized longevity, why haven’t I made any babies already?

One things for sure: it is not too expensive to raise children. Our expectations toward what goes into child rearing have simply inflated. Baby showers, birthdays, the best diapers, humidifiers, bottle warmers, etc: I was raised with none of that stuff! My working-class parents could not afford it. And I turned out okay, if I do say so myself. Daycare? In Chinese culture, that would be the grandparents. No need to spend thousand(s) dollar per month.

Social media can make it difficult, I reckon. It’s like an arms race to show who can provide the “best” childhood for their kids. Don’t complain to us about how expensive it to raise kids when you go into debt for Disneyland. Public parks are free.

Again!?

It’s not very nice to wake up to an email from Squarespace saying the price of a website subscription has, once again, gone up. This, after the company has already raised the pricing only last year. Inflation may have slowed to “normal”, but Squarespace certainly doesn’t think so! It might not be right now, but at some point I have to rethink whether or not it is worth the $200 per year just for the ability to say: I’ve got a website!

Is Tumblr still free? (Who owns it now anyways?) Maybe I should go back to blogging on that. It wouldn’t look as nice, but that extra $200 per year can easily cover a single trip to Costco. Hashtag browsing.

You ever look at your W2 during tax time, and wonder out loud where the heck did all your money go? You’ve made a certain amount of money this past calendar year, and yet your checking account can barely cover a month’s worth of bills.

All of these subscriptions we enjoy can add up to a large number, given a long enough timeline. $15 per month here and there may seem eminently affordable, but I would say those are the phantoms leeching away your monthly paycheck. For me, my subscriptions combined is easily $160 per month. While that can barely cover a single trip to Costco, imaging saving that amount every month. Do it for a long enough timeline…

That said, asceticism does not interest me. You got to spend your money on something, right? Though I think it’s important to periodically reevaluate whether or not something is worth the time and money. This website of mine remains worthy. But if prices keep going the way of these past two annual renewals, I’m going to have to think about it.

Afford to maintain

My BMW M2 is due for its annual service in September. Good news for me, I already prepaid for this last year. $800 for two annual services seems like a fantastic deal to me, especially so with all the inflation going on.

It would be naive to think the inflation hammer missed the automotive maintenance and repair industry. Apparently, there’s a shortage of skilled mechanics. You know what that means: labor cost is higher to keep the few good ones. Even if parts and material costs remains flat (I see the five quart jug of motor oil I bought back in 2022 is only $3 dearer), the price for an oil change would have certainly increased due to the higher shop rate. Can Jiffy Lube even do $20 oil changes anymore?

It feels like $100 is the new $20.

The average transaction price of a new car is $48,000. Auto insurance premiums have increased about 20% for everybody. Gasoline prices (for 91 octane) have stayed consistently above the five dollar mark this entire year (San Francisco Bay Area). The math of car ownership is quickly becoming a painful one. It’s no wonder people skimp out on vehicle maintenance. A car only needs periodic oils changes, and nothing else, am I right?

Japanese cars have a reliable reputation because they can survive on oil changes alone. German cars have an unreliable reputation because they absolutely cannot. For example: the M2 calls for spark plug changes every three years. Go see how long the engine will last if an owner ignores the book and just changes the oil every year.

I think German cars can be equally reliable as the Japanese, so long as you follow the maintenance manual to the letter. Obviously, that’s going to cost a hearty chunk of money annually. This is why I would hesitate to buy a used German car that doesn’t have a full stack of maintenance invoices matching the book. The only used car I ever bought - the 911 GT3 - had full dealership service records.

I am definitely saving up for future maintenance spend for the M2. It most certainly is going to get more and more expensive.