Originally Posted By fkurucz We just had open enrollment at work and the total premium went up almost 15% (and my employer passed on the entire increase to employees). Gas is going to stay at $3 this winter and will probably hit $4 next summer. Our grocery bill has increased by double digits, even though we are substituting more expensive items with cheaper ones. Of course, these are all "volatile" items and are not included when calculating inflation.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin I live in San Diego county and especially with the aftermath of the fires rent is obscene. I make a little over $15 an hour, which is peanuts nowadays. I can't even afford an appartment (living with family). When are things going to get better?
Originally Posted By fkurucz Oops, I forgot about housing and rent costs! Those too aren't factored into the official inflation numbers. <<Are landlords gouging prices in San Diego?>> Have they ever not?
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin I was looking at the bulletin board here at work and there was this ad to rent a room...no private bathroom, nothing 'extra' like a pool or sauna and they wanted $700 a month...I'm not a roommatey kind of person so this didn't appeal to me, but I just can't afford $1200 a month to rent a one bedroom apt! I don't want to leave SoCal but I don't particularly want to live under a bridge either.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<When are things going to get better?>> In San Diego? Probably never. San Diego will always have prices that are far above the national average. This is due to the supply and demand: Many want to live in San Diego, but there is very little space left for expansion, as San Diego is boxed in by metro LA (N), the Pacific (W), Mexico(S) and mountains (E). My only suggestion is to move to someplace cheaper in flyover country.
Originally Posted By fkurucz FWIW where I live you can rent a brand new 2 bedroom apt for for about $700 per month. << I don't want to leave SoCal but I don't particularly want to live under a bridge either.>> A tough choice, but one we made some years ago. We left. No regrets as we now have a standard of living that we could only dream about in San Diego.
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^^Plus other bennies as well: clean air, low crime rates, etc. The tap water even tastes fine out here. To quote Rufus (George Carlin) in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: "even the dirt is clean!" ;-)
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin Actually, San Diego isn't bordered to the north by LA...there's a little place called Camp Pendleton to the north which cannot be developed because it used to be a cattle ranch whose owner willed it to the USMC on the condition that it not be developed, than of course there's Orange Co., THEN you enter Los Angeles...just needed to be geographically correct. And while I complain about cost of living, I don't have to own 'winter clothes', snow shovals, snow tires and all that sort of thing... This would be paradise except for the housing situation.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin Actually, San Diego isn't bordered to the north by LA...there's a little place called Camp Pendleton to the north which cannot be developed because it used to be a cattle ranch whose owner willed it to the USMC on the condition that it not be developed, than of course there's Orange Co., THEN you enter Los Angeles...just needed to be geographically correct. And while I complain about cost of living, I don't have to own 'winter clothes', snow shovals, snow tires and all that sort of thing... This would be paradise except for the housing situation.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder When I asked about gouging I meant because of the fires. I.E. are they raising rents even more now as a result?
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin The law states that anything over a 10% increase is gouging...and is punishable by law, so I suspect they will go right to the 10% and because of the competition they'll get it, and some people will pay even more because they need a home so badly they won't turn the gougers in.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 So food, gas, and housing costs/rent (3 things that are necessities to most people) aren't part of the equation in figuring inflation? Oh yeah, that makes sense.
Originally Posted By fkurucz << And while I complain about cost of living, I don't have to own 'winter clothes', snow shovals, snow tires and all that sort of thing...>> These costs are trivial in the big picture. Winter clothes = a warm winter coat and maybe some water proof boots (you might already have these in SoCal). Shovels cost $10. Snow tires? Don't have any now, and not planning on buying any. Keep in mind that flyover country does not equate to "buried in snow all winter". On the Colorado Front Range (Fort Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs) most of the time in Winter there is NO snow on the ground. I've never owned a snow blower because there is no real need for one out here. <<This would be paradise except for the housing situation.>> I don't know about the "paradise" part. While SoCal has its plusses, it also has many negatives, none of which I miss.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<So food, gas, and housing costs/rent (3 things that are necessities to most people) aren't part of the equation in figuring inflation? Oh yeah, that makes sense.>> Clever, aren't they? Otherwise they would have to publish double digit numbers. There is a second index that is supposed to include things like food and gas, but even that number is a joke (something like 4%). Of course this is not surprising given our quickly devaluing currency. A Canadian dollar today was worth 1.07 US. Just a few years ago it was worth about 65 cents. The Euro has gone from about 85 cents to almost 1.45 US.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin The biggest plus is that 3/4 of my grandchildren live here and the last 1/4 will return here in the next couple years. I need to be here...now I just need one of my daughters' family to build a nice little "granny flat" over the garage.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << The law states that anything over a 10% increase is gouging...and is punishable by law, so I suspect they will go right to the 10% and because of the competition they'll get it, and some people will pay even more because they need a home so badly they won't turn the gougers in. >> There is no such law that applies in San Diego County. There's also a ton of excess inventory on the rental market right now. All those empty condos that can't be sold are being dumped on the rental market. My landlord wanted a 20% increase on the rent a few months ago. I walked. I found a bigger place, more amenities, nicer neighborhood for 20% less than what I was paying before. If you are being gouged on rent in San Diego, you aren't looking in the right places. There's plenty of homeowners out there who are starving for rent money right now since their properties can't sell.
