I desperately need to get a beater truck. Have lots of tools but an SUV really just doesn't cut it when you're on acreage.

Should just change the sub to r/CMP at this point.

How is this going to save any money?

I'm not gonna bother. We have a path tramped down for around the house, road is snowed shut and no sidewalks. Just gonna wait for this to melt down over the next week or two.

It almost seems like a joke post. Who makes $210k a year and questions if it's doable in Maine? We aren't NYC or San Francisco..

I think you're numbers remain high. I take vacations, I have savings and the house that I had that mortgage at was a 3 bedroom near a Public transit line (not in Maine.) It was on the smaller end but still in a major metro area.

Also at 400 a month food we eat almost exclusively fresh fruits veg's and meat. I won't buy processed nonsense.

Sure if you want a McMansion you need more money but this has been doable as recently as the past few years. You just have to fight lifestyle creep and actually set a budget. You don't need an over 6 figure household income to be perfectly comfortable, and able to take vacations, with kids.

You don't have to be on a ten year plan. You can do 25 or income based. These generally lower your monthly payment and there is no penalty for paying more. I had mine on 25 but paid them back aggressively. Plus student loans have been paused for a long time now, and I think still are. It's not something that should have impacted most people's budgets for the past two years.

You're a bit older than me as I'm in my thirties. You may just think the situation is worse for people younger and it really isn't. There are options if people choose to pursue them and the opinion on this site really doesn't reflect reality.

I left at about average. I had 38k after graduation. There are many payment options to lower your monthly bill and you can always pay above the bill amount.

I don't know a single person who ended up with a $1k a month student loan payment and they've all graduated or attended college in the past decade.

Did you see the post I was responding to? I was addressing the guy saying you needed $150k to raise kids here.

I know the average Mainer makes less than me and I'm happy to be comfortable with what I have even if I wish I had more. I just used my situation to address the ludicrous idea that you need $150k to have kids here.

I was in highschool in 2005. My debt is a very realistic number for attending a state school and graduating within the past decade.

I'm a full time Maine resident. My income is low for what you see on this sub. Total household income for my wife and I is around $82k. I have a kid still in diapers. Paid for my car in full and my household shares 1 car. We don't like having a car payment. I feed my family for less than that most weeks and we eat pretty well.

I imagine you probably make more than I do individually and if you have a working partner probably more on a household level. Unless your a paraprofessional in education who make a true pittance.

Just because you don't want to believe what I'm saying doesn't make it un true. I've been very cautious with money over the years and I've been good with it.

Maybe post your budget if you can't make what's going on work? Someone could steer you in the right direction.

Edit: I want to add I'm really not trying to be a dick and I would gladly try to help on a budget. This site just tends to believe everything is impossible and there's nothing that can be done to make a situation work when that is often not the case.

I don't have an HSA eligible insurance. We have an emergency fund and have never been in deep medical debt because we can afford our Copayments.

Not everything is gaslighting just because you don't like to hear it. What point is there to lie about finances on reddit of all places?

I was quoted 1k in the past and as I said in the post I split the subsidized and unsubsidized costs in your op. Plus not everyone has two kids in daycare at the same time. The number isn't crazy but even if we go with a full 1600, no subsidization for two kids the budget works. It just gets tighter.

Those are real numbers so it's a bit wild to say they are unrealistic.

But Pit Bulls are bad.

Shelters can be really bad about making clear a dog's temperament. Years ago I adopted a GSD that they swore was good with other animals.

In under a week it Turned out it absolutely was not good with other animals and went after someone's small dog. Had to return him the next day since it just wasn't gonna work in our home with a small animal.

I know shelters try their best but this creates dangerous situations.

Do you think I found a house in Seattle for under 250,000 no PMI? My mortgage was $1500 a month and we made about 78k as a household. It's absolutely doable. I did this in the past ten years in a more expensive city. I am very aware of how it goes.

You set all these expectations off the bag to try and make it impossible. You can have PMI on your home, it doesn't add much. Trying to buy right this second at the height of interest rates is frankly a bad idea. But these rates are a relatively new problem and probably not a permanent problem. Now is the time to be saving up money for a down payment not looking for a home.

You are right, you aren't getting a $400 a month mortgage anymore. But to set that as a necessary expectation is insane and completely unnecessary. I've owned two homes and some property and never had my monthly payment been that low.

Here are some real numbers I have. Let's start at a net of $5,423. This is after health insurance and contributing to retirement. Let's go higher than you listed and say your mortgage is $2,000 a month and let's split the subsidized daycare difference at around $1,000 a month for daycare. You are now sitting at $2,423 leftover. When I had student loans in my household we paid $300 a month. $400 a month food budget for the family. (Again these are all real numbers.) Now you have $1,723 leftover for utilities, random bills and fun.

$1,723 is a completely reasonable leftover money. As long as you aren't living beyond your means you are fine. Put some into savings for a rainy day, If you have a car payment (that you didn't go overboard on) you can easily afford it. Your once a year insurances will eat most of one months extra but you should be prepared for that. Your expenses could even be higher and you would still be doing fine. These numbers also get better if you have family thst can help with daycare, or if you can change schedules around to have a parent available to watch the kid. But at worst you just wait a few years and it's over. It's not a permanent situation.

That is what you would have on a household Income of around $85k. About half what you say is a completely necessary to have kids. The trick is you have to live within your means. It would be great to have more money, but it isn't impossible to be comfortable with children while making far less. I don't get why people feel the need to throw out such unreasonable numbers for things.

Renting is a thing, making some sacrifices is a thing, not living in the perfect house in the most desirable area is a thing. If I can afford children in Seattle on a much lower household income then it can be done in much more affordable Maine.

The most expensive part of a kid is daycare. It doesn't last all that long year wise. Sure it'll eat into your disposable income but having kids involves sacrifices. It's the same as I can't go out to the bars on the weekend because I have to be a parent.

That is a massively inflated price. I have kids and have lived in more expensive areas than here. It's not always easy, but it is in no way needing over double the average US household income to have kids in Maine.

I don't think it is a byproduct of the trans debate. The line between private and school life has always been present. Teachers are meant to be authority figured to their students, not their friends. That isn't something that should be changed and it's entirely inappropriate to be giving out your socials to students regardless of who you are, your beliefs, gender etc.

There's a difference in offhand mentioning something and sharing your socials with students. The latter is inappropriate regardless of your lifestyle or beliefs.

Students should have no involvement with a teacher's private life.

That's how this site is. You ever look at the politics sub? This place is crazy.

End of winter blues.

Might be hard to find a plow guy this time of year. I searched and searched and had no luck finding someone to take on a one time job.

> They paint history with a certain brush: create narratives, distractions, rumors, wars, colors, lines; pointing of fingers, "You thought the problem was X, enter scenario Y"

I don't think you know much about the reign of terror if that's your take away. There were loads of coups, counter coups, purges etc. It isn't a false narrative by the elite to say the French experience with The Guillotine was not good. Many of those who met their fate were executed with no trial on BS charges.