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Almost all of my coworkers talk about going to their second job in the evening when they are about to get off work. Some of them make close to $85,000 a year and still need to work a second job in order to make ends meet. Do you see this with coworkers on your job? I rather just cut back and pay for things I can afford rather than work two jobs. It's also a couple of them who don't have kids and still have to work two jobs to make it. So it seems like this is becoming a normal thing for a lot of people today since the primary job is not paying as much. It also can be that 30 years ago there was no such thing as these bills below
Were you alive 30 years ago? There was certainly cable 30 years ago. It was everywhere by then. And you also had itemized billing for land-line long distance calls and rates for long distance were very high. I pay less now for my cell phone plus internet than I did for my land-line the first year I paid for my own (1989). And I dropped cable for Netflix, which costs less per month now than cable did in 1987.
Were you alive 30 years ago? There was certainly cable 30 years ago. It was everywhere by then. And you also had itemized billing for land-line long distance calls and rates for long distance were very high. I pay less my cell phone plus internet than I did for my land-line. And I dropped cable for Netflix, which costs less per month now than cable did in 1987.
Yes and cable was not in all neighborhoods in 1987 which is why people had to go to the bar for big boxing matches.
I don’t work a second job, but I do own a small business with my wife. She puts in about 90% of the effort, as it is her only job.
Comparing bills from one era to another is difficult. Netflix certainly isn’t significant, as it is only about $10/month.
Sure, nobody paid for internet in the 1980s, but we all rented videotapes from the video store, and VCRs were expensive electronic items. We also paid long distance charges on our phone bills, purchased music albums, and comparison shopping was really difficult before amazon. Without bothering to look it up, I wonder if food and energy were more expensive back in the day, when adjusting for inflation and median income.
I think that other factors are more important than a few trivial bills. Are we living in larger houses? Are we eating out more often, or more prepared foods, when compared to home cooking? Do we own more cars? Are we drinking more expensive microbrews or designer spirits? How about clothing? Do we have more as fashions change quickly? We all own IKEA furniture, but it falls apart after a few years, so we purchase it again and again. Should we invest in a quality item instead and keep it for a couple of decades?
Consumer behavior is tricky, and simply cannot be reduced to your cable bill.
Yes and cable was not in all neighborhoods in 1987 which is why people had to go to the bar for big boxing matches.
The bars charged twice as much for food and 3-4x for watered down beers as people sitting at home watching cable. Thirty years ago, it was always more expensive watching in a bar.
Do you know for certain that they need the second job to make ends meet? I am sure for some that is the case, but there are so many different scenarios that could factor in to their decision.
Those who have not had children yet may want to get a jumpstart on retirement savings or saving for a down payment on a house.
Those whose children are grown and moved out may be bored with the free time they now have in the evenings and want to do something productive.
Salaries aren;'t keeping up with inflation. The salary increase has been minuscule over the last 30 years. I don't know how anyone can afford cars, housing, and kids these days without government subsidies in most places.
Years ago a HS graduate could afford all these things and a nice retirement. Today? Two college educated people can barely make ends meet and you'll be lucky to even make it to retirement before getting laid off.
Salaries aren;'t keeping up with inflation. The salary increase has been minuscule over the last 30 years. I don't know how anyone can afford cars, housing, and kids these days without government subsidies in most places.
Years ago a HS graduate could afford all these things and a nice retirement. Today? Two college educated people can barely make ends meet and you'll be lucky to even make it to retirement before getting laid off.
My annual raises just keeps pace with the rent increase but that's about it.
I've been surprised by how many full-time co-workers worked two, even three, jobs. In some cases, they had kids in college, both undergraduate and graduate school. I would never have expected my parents to pay for my graduate school education, but I've met several co-workers who did this for their kids.
In other cases, they were single or didn't have children and (I assume) just wanted the extra money, perhaps to save for retirement. None were people who were particularly materialistic or seemed to have been living above their means. You don't become a librarian if you're the type of person who aspires to drive a fancy car and live in a prestigious neighborhood.
In some cases, the people didn't have many hobbies and just liked to be busy and productive. They freely chose to work. I can't remotely relate to that because I'm protective of my leisure hours.
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