I would argue that someone can't sacrifice their future ability to buy just to lower the price on a single unit.

They're stuck by the incentives of the situation just like everyone else.

We can't expect anyone to act outside their own good when it comes to huge amounts of money. Especially in a capitalist society where the only thing that protects your quality of life is money. No one is going to step in when things go wrong except your decision to protect yourself and your family by making financially beneficial decisions.

And yeah, that sucks when you are the other major portion of our society who isn't given the resources to grab that protection/money with both hands and not let go.

And on a more solution oriented note:

1. We need increased supply of dense housing appropriate for the average family, for the 20-30 yr olds who simply need a single bedroom, and for the retirees who need a small place to live after their children move out. Dense housing because driving an hour to where your job is makes sense to only a very small fraction of people and cities are continuing to attract people.
2. Increased pay for the average worker - probably requiring a decreased incentive to drive profits above all else for the large corporations that drive the majority of our market. (Thinking of examples like Walmart that pay minimum wage and then require their workers to receive government subsidies... meanwhile Walmart gets a profit. It's a little circular.)
3. Kindness so we can all share our stories and think of solutions that change the structure and don't require individuals to act outside their own interest. If we shut down conversation we're no better than our silly two party system that seems to make enemies out of each other. Listen and sympathise and learn what each person has been able to build. Don't be each other's enemies. That's letting the system we're in win.

I would love to buy a condo right now, but rent is cheaper than buying looking at a 5 year time frame until mortgage rates drop below at least 6%. It would be years before the interest and taxes portion of the payment dropped below our current rent.

We've literally agreed with our landlords who want to sell after we leave that we're all sitting still until mortgage rates drop. (Or I guess inflation rises high enough to offset the debt versus investment part of the pile.)

And this is all after moving to Utah from the west coast to get cheaper housing in general... Although the lower paychecks basically balance it all out 😂

I'd love to buy your condos - but if we look at renting versus buying... It's cheaper to rent versus buy until mortgage rates drop below 6%. We'll just be sitting here adding to the mortgage payment pile until then.

A house is laughably out of reach.

We used these for our wedding thank you cards to friends. Family got sea turtles. But we got some compliments.

My native French speaking mom will occasionally address my non-french speaking husband in French without realizing unless I tell her and even then she only knows because I've told her.

"a protest against Dutch subsidies and tax breaks to companies linked to fossil fuel industries"

We can do all the activities you mention with a much lower impact. And fighting climate change allows many farmers in developing countries to actually survive. (Think of the problems with cocoa harvests failing or with Mongolian herders losing herds three years in a row instead of once a decade.)

Yes. It's always a good question to ask yourself:

Would you rather be effective or be right?

Thanks. I've been very angry out of a feeling of complete helplessness. I'm reading a book about data bias in relation to gender (invisible women) and it's hitting a lot of sore points that come up being in an office that's 10% female... There's four of us.

Hehehehehe sounds like satire as you point this out to how often the opposite happens

Hey! I'm part of a trend!

Keeping it under 10-12k total. Biggest splurges so far are 1.5k custom tailored three piece suit and 1.6k for photographer to cover the entire day without hour limits. Food will be about half the total cost.

But grocery store flowers, digital invites, thrifted dress, basic rings, picnic area ceremony and restaurant rehearsal. No DJ. No alcohol. No florist.

1. A house is not an asset if it's the one place you can live cost-free in retirement.
2. We all pay into the system with our taxes - including someone who earned enough to afford a home. Why should anyone not benefit from the taxes they paid?
3. Anyone can be sick and in long-term care as they age, including ourselves. As we age, we may not be able to keep working. Those costs add up fast in our healthcare system. And we don't get to make those choices up front for ourselves or our families. The bills come months if not years later. No one says what you owe until it's too late. Why should anyone pay a cost they weren't told would be coming?

I can't argue that the way the US provides many services based off wealth is fair - I believe we should have a universal system that we all benefit from. Why should someone making less than me get better services than me because my job offers worse insurance than they get? We should all benefit.

But, if the choice is that no one benefits or that of our current system. I'll choose our current system. Because I don't know if I'll be the one on the other side 40 years from now.

Wait really?? That makes so much more sense 🤣

I'm dying now because that's literally what I thought when my extended family says it.

What part of California?

Not quite an idiom but term of endearment: petit chou in French is little cabbage but is often used for young kids...

I'm going to put in a third vote for YNAB.

How do you feel it compares to YNAB?

Heehee yay YNAB!

Does your bank not allow you to download your transaction list as a CSV? I used to do this.

Agreed. I wish it was cheaper. Although now with YNAB Together my partner and I can share an account and my sister also agreed to have her budget. (I can technically peek as account manager but I've promised I won't and we're close enough that it's not an issue.) But now it's $30/each!

My partner and I just combined budgets rather than trying to split everything.

Could you try YNAB together (no extra expense to you and you can offer it free) and use YNAB to split things as mentioned in comment? Or if you don't mind losing some visibility then making a broad "together" expense category to pull from/put into?

Also! Maybe try a different card? Plenty of good cards to try churning! But I agree - it's frustrating when one doesn't pull. My credit unions credit card does that.