Oddbean new post about login | logout what’s wrong with being a housewife? sounds like a dream. sadly fiat has made it so you can’t stay home and raise your children anymore, it’s nearly impossible for the average family to live on a one paycheck household.
There's nothing wrong with it. Unfortunate society pushes against it.
it’s not society. the core issue is that it’s impossible to do in America, you can barely afford to live on two paycheck let alone one.
That is by design of course.
I would say impossible to live as a modern urbanite or suburbanite in America. Travel 30 minutes outside St. Louis and the housing becomes “affordable”. Raise chickens, have a small garden. These are things that the modern ruling class have deemed to be peasant activities. The introduction of the lawn is another example. “We are so rich that we don’t need to grow food in front of our house. Only peasants do that.” Break these constructs and life becomes livable again.
The key to this comment are the quotes around affordable. No housing is truly affordable to own as a first-time lower class buyer. Not without substantial debt.
owning a farm is also incredibly unaffordable, and st. louis city houses are extremely cheap and not nearly as expensive as the “30 minute away rural areas” he’s describing here. my parents have chickens in their suburban home, and a huge garden. 🤷♀️
plus i get access to the soulard market down the road from me, where i get fresh groceries from local farmers around the state. haven’t been to a traditional grocery store in almost a year
This! This is fucking goals. I'm pissed cuz my city's farmer's market is only open certain days of the week, certain hours, during which I'm almost always stuck in the fiat mine
Homesteading doesn't have to be expensive. It can be done pretty cheaply, the hard part is getting the property to do it. Cuz unless you have the ability to work remotely and can live in a very rural area, hours from a major city (which presents its own problems for working remotelyl, property is not cheap.
That is one of the great things about St. Louis. We have places for small scale homesteading less than an hour from the city. And even closer to the suburbs. Not saying you will get 10 acres. But an acre or two can produce a lot.
would love to hear about some of those areas for home and land searches if you are willing to share!
So many factors depending on what you are looking for. We just saw an 80 acre tract get divided into 4 parcels of 20, 2 of them open pasture. They went at auction for ~$150,000. I think the 20 acres with house and other buildings went for $250,000. This was about an hour from almost everything in St. Louis. 25 minutes from Festus.
Absolutely. St. Louis city housing is a great start for many people. Know several who started honing their gardening skills in south city. Then as they continue to pay down a mortgage and start their family, they have to decide. Stay in the city where they are outgrowing the house, move to the suburbs where they can’t afford to live, or move 30 minutes out to something they can afford and space for the bigger garden with room to grow.
They dont teach you in high school that in reality, the choice is getting a bachelor's/masters degree, or getting a house. Instead, what is drilled into young people is "go to college or you will never make it in life"
And the cost-benefit analysis of 4 year college is getting worse and worse.
we live in bizarre times 🤷♂️
Don't blame fiat for women wanting to be empowered and work, thereby doubling the workforce and driving down wages. Don't get me wrong, women should be allowed to work, but wanting a career and to be bread winner is a scam perpetrated by the govt wanting to double their taxable base.
Yeah that will change by 2037
Sad, but true
the sad thing is even if a woman wanted to be a trad wife , she would be bashed and shamed by a majority
trad wife sounds so dumb, just say housewife omg
nobody really gives a fuck fr, it’s just nearly impossible to do in america today.
It's not impossible, just difficult. If you really want to do that you need a partner who will support the decision, and you need to be careful with money, but it is doable on an average income.
i’m getting married, and i have a partner who wants me to stay home, im talking about average americans. its not doable, and if it is, its not comfortable by any means for anyone in the family.
Congratulations on your engagement! Median individual income is about 50k. That corresponds to a monthly take home pay of about 3k/month. If you are very careful, you should be able to live on that in most of the country. I'm in Chicago, and it is doable here, but yes not comfortable. I know someone who does it with slightly less. To your point, it was much more comfortable to live on three median individual income 5 years ago, and probably even more so 10 years ago. Fiat is terrible.
median is 50k, average is 37k
You need to find a husband that has a succesfull business if you want that. Or an OG bitcoiner
i personally have always wanted to be a stay at home #dadstr and it is possible in this day and age since i can work remote/at home and stay with family. Wifey when she desires to have a job as well, comfortable with her leaving me at home as she pursues and actualizes her dreams as well nostr:note19cwkxg3t9fumnpgc8rswxph3ldwt0xv3wqu4k9244mvhz04j36csc6pde0