Everything is rent..
I could buy a house. Then instead of worrying about the rent, I’d be worrying about the house payment, for 20 flippin’ years, or maybe 30 or 40. I could pay as much as I wanted up front, but when I missed a payment, I’d still be out on the street. And even after I owned the house, I’d still be renting it. The government woudl still show up asking for their property tax.. their rent for living in their fine country. The rent would just be lower, is all.
Is it too much to ask to have a place to live where you don’t have to live in fear of the day you screw up in the dance of life and they kick you out the door to become one of the homeless?
Without enormous quantities of a drug I can’t use any more, I have yet to experience messages from a higher power. But tonight, I’ll listen hard. Because there’s always that one in a million chance that everything will line up just right and a message will come through.
They said I didn’t need drugs to see or hear them. I am taking them at their word – after all, being higher powers, they know more than I do, one presumes.
How long before I don’t have to live in fear, hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, no matter how big the paychecks are? I can try to learn to budget, but jeez, we’re talking about Sheer here. Budgeting is not a strong suit of mine.. in fact, I’m not even sure it’s a weak suit.
Feeling: Sad, hurt, fearful
April 5th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Being technically self-employed, taxes are not a happy subject for me, but I will say this much.
First, your lower rent and no rent utopias do exist. Just simply nowhere that you wish to be.
Second, property tax is not the tax one “pays for living in this fine country,” as you put it. Last I knew, there is no Federal Property Tax. There are state taxes, county taxes and in some places local taxes, but no federal. Although a sprawling government inevitably wastes money, it also pays for the roads you drive on, the traffic control devices, the sidewalks, etc. etc. etc. So it’s not like you don’t utilize at least some of the stuff the money is spent on.
And third, for a person as budget impaired as yourself, home ownership is a no brainer. The equity you can accumulate via home ownership as opposed to tossing away rent money is at least a start toward money for retirement. And it’s a PAINLESS start, because, as already noted, it’s money you’re spending on rent anyway.
April 6th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
In theory, anyway, it’s a lot easier to do something about your property taxes than it is to do something about your state and federal income taxes. First, city hall is often not that far away. Second, meetings are often scheduled after normal work hours so you can attend them, and citizen’s time during which you can address the board or council is usually provided. Yes, they can ignore you, but I wonder how many of the jerkwads on city council here (who were rolling their eyes at all of the people talking about how the 2007 budget and increased spending is a bad idea) are going to last beyond the next election…
April 13th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
The place the I pad 260k for is now worth 477k. I could sell my place, buy a place in a small town and completly own the place I live.