Wages....................????

[Mandelon]

Anybody out there getting raises??
I see the cost of electricty, water, sewer, cable, gasoline, diesel, milk, food, transport, health insurance especially, and on an on are rising. We all know boats and vehicles cost more.
What I haven't seen is an increase in wages. I give my guys more when I can, but its tough to keep up. I haven't given myself a raise in 8 years. I raised the rents on my tenants though....
How is everyone coping with the increased costs of day to day living? Are you still saving for retirement? Or are you just counting on the rising equity in your homes and properties to continue to appreciate?
:confused: :confused: :confused:

[welk2party]

I am making more than ever, and find myself with less than ever.

[Nubbs]

Nope, no raise for me. We had a real "hard" year last year. Nobody got raises. Funny thing is, I still see the owner's company leased porsche out front. Must not have been too "hard". To quote my manager: "I'm in a bad position right now. Because I'm giving you a good review, but I can't give you any more money. So, good job, but no raise." Kind of pissed me off. It's too bad that gas pumps don't have a button that says "You worked hard but didn't get a raise. Push here for free gas."

[Boat Loan Guy]

The only raise i got was bye looking at cheap porn on the net.....

[572Daytona]

I've been getting a marginal raise every year but my bonus has gone down to almost nothing. I still make less than I did in 2000. My wife is self employed and business has been doing better every year but taxes are taking a huge bite out of her income

[Boozer]

Originally posted by Mandelon
Anybody out there getting raises??
I see the cost of electricty, water, sewer, cable, gasoline, diesel, milk, food, transport, health insurance especially, and on an on are rising. We all know boats and vehicles cost more.
What I haven't seen is an increase in wages. I give my guys more when I can, but its tough to keep up. I haven't given myself a raise in 8 years. I raised the rents on my tenants though....
How is everyone coping with the increased costs of day to day living? Are you still saving for retirement? Or are you just counting on the rising equity in your homes and properties to continue to appreciate?
:confused: :confused: :confused:
I see a good raise about every 2 years because I peak out at what I am doing and move on to something better paying. Everytime I do so I usually take a temporary pay cut and in a short period of time end up making more money then ever before.
However, I am young and it is something I have to do to keep up with the rising costs these days. For me to buy a house or a car is no less expensive then anyone else and I have to keep up with the jones's. Doing so requires taking risks. At my age it is easy to do but once I have kids to feed... That's another story.
For someone deep into their career who has spent the last 20 years doing the same thing it is a different story altogether. Both of my parents have been doing the same jobs for years and years now and in all those years there pay has increased maybe 15% (I make more then my parents do and I have only had my career for 5 years) it's really going to hurt them come retirement time. The last of the baby boom is going to get ****ed come retirement time they have an incredible amount of debt and dont have anything saved up. I fear what kind of effect it is going have on my generation when all that debt ends up unpaid.
For those of you who were the product of the baby boom generation I am curious about something. If you had a networth of 0 right now but had the job you currently have could you buy the house your living in right now for current market value and pay for it off of your current wages? Neither of my parents could. My mom had to have my brother help her buy her house because she couldnt afford it and there is no way in hell even with help from me that my father could afford his home at current market value.
Most people would most likely answer no to that question. I am deathly afraid of what it is going to cost for my kids to be able to buy a home when it comes that time. With the cost of things right now most people my age probably wont be able to buy their first home until they are 30 at which point they may still not be able to buy a home because the costs will have doubled by then.
Scary stuff when you really think about it.

[HavasuDreamin']

Originally posted by Mandelon
Anybody out there getting raises??
How is everyone coping with the increased costs of day to day living? Are you still saving for retirement?
:confused: :confused: :confused:
No raise in last 2 years. Still saving for retirement and put the home on a 15 year mortgage for kids college. All this = tighter living. Sucks. :(

[Essex502]

In aerospace we pretty much get the annual 3% or so like clockwork. Positional moves generate more for us.
One of my past managers said it best..."You are worth what you get if you walk out that door. If you can make more out there, you're welcome to go any time." I've remembered those words and every few years when the challenge at one company dwindle I move to another and get another increase. It's worked well so far.

[mirvin]

YEp. It's just getting tighter and tighter. My "Entertainment" is almost non existent, especially in the summer;) At some point you just get used to having less.
Like 572Daytona said, I too am making less then I did in 2000, ALOT less. Same job, same company.
mirvin

[DogHouse]

Raises at our company have averaged around 2.5-3% per year for the 15 years I've been working. This year I got 5.5%, better than usual. I've been lucky enough to stay well ahead of the average raises by promotions and timely career moves. For the most part I've been putting about 10% away toward retirement, although there were a few years in there that saw lower contributions.

[Mandelon]

Could you afford to buy the house you are in now?
Four years ago I paid $369,000, which was below market then cuz it was a dump. Since then I remodeled the shit out of it. Couple that with rising prices and there's no way I could get into it now......Its at least $800K+ ???? That's crazy.
I know a lot of folks paying that big house payment, property taxes, health insurance, plus cars, all the usual expenses and then tuition for private schools too.
A few months of unemployment and that house of cards would come tumbling down.......
:(

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

just got a 6.5% raise 2 weeks ago:) It appears the engineering business may finally be back on the upswing. We also got better bonuses this year. The company has downsized considerably since 99/2000 but seems to be coming back. As long as they don't end up outsourcing my job to New Delhi I am happy!:eek:
Omega

[mirvin]

Originally posted by Mandelon
Could you afford to buy the house you are in now?
Four years ago I paid $369,000, which was below market then cuz it was a dump. Since then I remodeled the shit out of it. Couple that with rising prices and there's no way I could get into it now......Its at least $800K+ ???? That's crazy.
I know a lot of folks paying that big house payment, property taxes, health insurance, plus cars, all the usual expenses and then tuition for private schools too.
A few months of unemployment and that house of cards would come tumbling down.......
:(
Nope!! I bought a fixer uper too. 6 years ago. It's now worth 3 times what I paid for it plus what I put into it!!
No way could I afford it today.
mirvin

[little rowe boat]

I'm getting a 5% raise on 5-23 and the wife is getting a 3.5% raise here real soon,unfortunately our expenses have increased more than that.As for our home,there is no way I could afford to buy it in todays market.

[mickeyfinn]

Originally posted by Boozer
Most people would most likely answer no to that question. I am deathly afraid of what it is going to cost for my kids to be able to buy a home when it comes that time. With the cost of things right now most people my age probably wont be able to buy their first home until they are 30 at which point they may still not be able to buy a home because the costs will have doubled by then.
Scary stuff when you really think about it.
Don't sweat it!!!!.....Bunch of idiots gonna elect Kerry, He is going to pass more and more social programs. Gonna damn near bankrupt us, cause a depression, wages will bottom out, prices will bottom out. People will then start to realize what the democrats are doing to them elect a republican who will once again slowly rebuild the economy. Wages will increase first then slowly prices on property will follow and the next generation will be able to afford the houses that we lost to the democrats.:mad:

[little rowe boat]

Originally posted by mickeyfinn
Don't sweat it!!!!.....Bunch of idiots gonna elect Kerry, He is going to pass more and more social programs. Gonna damn near bankrupt us, cause a depression, wages will bottom out, prices will bottom out. People will then start to realize what the democrats are doing to them elect a republican who will once again slowly rebuild the economy. Wages will increase first then slowly prices on property will follow and the next generation will be able to afford the houses that we lost to the democrats.:mad:
Now thats what I call a positive outlook.:D

[syke-o]

it is crazy!! i bought my second home a little over a year ago, and the same house would cost $230k more than a year ago...

[CEO]

I'm starting my own company in a few months, I will get a HUGE raise!!!!

[AzDon]

Originally posted by mickeyfinn
Don't sweat it!!!!.....Bunch of idiots gonna elect Kerry, He is going to pass more and more social programs. Gonna damn near bankrupt us, cause a depression, wages will bottom out, prices will bottom out. People will then start to realize what the democrats are doing to them elect a republican who will once again slowly rebuild the economy. Wages will increase first then slowly prices on property will follow and the next generation will be able to afford the houses that we lost to the democrats.:mad:
Except for this one post that is really just incoherent babble, this thread shows some liberal thought because, for a change, a few of you are asking how working folks that are powerless over their wages are supposed to cope with this inflation that the Bushies claim doesn't exist. The "good" numbers about the economy must be WallStreetSpeak, because I don't see anything positive except cheap prices on chinese sh*t at WalMart and big prices for my house if I choose to sell. The skyrocketing housing prices f*ck anybody in a non-prop13 state because property taxes are usually based on valuation whether you intend to sell or not. The bigger prices won't buy you a bigger house (when you sell) unless you can make up the difference. You can take money out if you got some idea of how to repay in this lifetime, but I think alot of folks do this without considering their professional longevity and are going to wind up without a pot to p*ss in!
Clinton was a two term president because he didn't work to destroy confidence in the stock market (and there was confidence) and he continually had the right message about how things were going to be made better. Welfare reform would not have been possible without his endorsement, and the dream of credible, universal healthcare might have become reality if the Rush/Gingrich folks hadn't killed it!
Your guy Bush has got no electable qualities going for him except that he's a reckless warmonger who's short on military experience himself and takes advice from 2 of this century's most dangerous neocons (Rummy and Cheney) who were blatant draft-dodgers during the Vietnam era.
I challenge anyone to show me one meaningful thing of longterm value he's done for working folks making less than 100 grand. Robbing the treasury to give us tax relief while running up a huge deficit doesn't count unless you think this is good fiscal management and would run YOUR company this way!

[Scream]

Originally posted by CEO
I'm starting my own company in a few months, I will get a HUGE raise!!!!
ROFLMAO:D :D :D

[Mandelon]

Don, don't hijack my thread....you said you liked it.
I don't consider letting ME keep MY $400 robbing the treasury.....

[Mandelon]

Originally posted by Scream
ROFLMAO:D :D :D
What you don't believe that? He'll have lots of free time and get to work much less hours too.....;)
Along with paying for insurance? But think of hte tax write-offs....

[eliminatedsprinter]

Originally posted by Mandelon
Anybody out there getting raises??
I see the cost of electricty, water, sewer, cable, gasoline, diesel, milk, food, transport, health insurance especially, and on an on are rising. We all know boats and vehicles cost more.
What I haven't seen is an increase in wages. I give my guys more when I can, but its tough to keep up. I haven't given myself a raise in 8 years. I raised the rents on my tenants though....
How is everyone coping with the increased costs of day to day living? Are you still saving for retirement? Or are you just counting on the rising equity in your homes and properties to continue to appreciate?
:confused: :confused: :confused:
I guess I should count my blessings, my wife and I have got raises and the Bush tax cuts helped us a lot.

[AZmike]

No raise for me :frown:

[Phat Matt]

I can get a raise when ever I feel like it...I just have to sell more! I love working on comission. If I need a little extra cash I just have to work a little harder. I also started up my own advertising agency last year and I am the sole employee so all the money I make off of that goes straight to me...:D and taxes. :yuk:

[Kilrtoy]

The boss called me in this afternoon and told me i had to start paying to take home my car. SHit I'll leave it at work. No loss to me. Raise what the hell is that?

[My Man's Sportin' Wood]

My wages stayed the same, but my health insurance went up (like everyone else's) and since the dollar buys less this year than last year, I think it's fair to say that I took a pretty good pay cut.:frown:

[JetBoatRich]

It is only money:D can not take it with you;)
It does seem the more we get the more we spend, at least we are having fun doing it:cool:
Took a job where I make a lot more money at the end a huge bonus, is it worth it:rolleyes: time will tell:D

[572Daytona]

I just ran some totals from 1997 to the present (as far back as my current money program has data) and found that since then 33%, i.e. 1 out of every 3 dollars that I've made has gone to pay taxes :eek: After this year I will have paid enough taxes in 7 years to have purchased my house outright. I at least would like a picture of the crack ***** that I've been supporting in style all these years ;) It's too early to tell if the reductions that Bush made will have any drastic effect but I've already gotten bent over pretty good from the Klinton years.

[ahhell]

Im getting my annual (anal) 3 friggin' percent....what should i buy first?? a stick of gum?, a 24oz beer??, A gallon of gas?...I NEED A LOTTO TICKET...WTF did i go to College for???????????:confused: