Yearly Me Thread. [ Thread now NSFW, open with caution - WE LOVE CHEDDAR ]

[Polysorbate80]

I wouldn't say someone I really don't know is/is not too young for marriage based simply on hearing their age.  I got married early, and it's been over 17 years now.  My wife's brother also got married early, and it's still solid.  On the other hand, we have relatives who will never be able to stay married--fortunately, I believe some of them are far too pathetic to ever get married in the first place, saving their prospective partners a world of heartache.

[HaemishM]

What kind of colleges are we talking about here, because 25-30k is absolutely abysmal.

Pick a different area of the country, bitch. In the South, a kid making 25-30k coming out of college is doing good unless you are in the asstastic metro areas like Atlanta, who wants to be the New York of the South (maybe Chicago of the South). That's of course providing you are at least marginally smart with money and don't work yourself into crushing credit card debt before you turn 25.

[Abagadro]

You are correct, yet so very, very wrong.  It's not exceptional for what it is, it's exceptional because it's here.

3 years, it'll start to sag.  Le Sigh.

There will always be more.

[Roac]

Pick a different area of the country, bitch. In the South, a kid making 25-30k coming out of college is doing good unless you are in the asstastic metro areas like Atlanta, who wants to be the New York of the South (maybe Chicago of the South).

Yes.  I graduated making $32k which was plenty to buy a house in a good neighborhood, a new car, and have some money afterwards.  I make more now, am married (so second income from that), but at the time it was just fine for getting started.  Turned down was a job in Hilton Head making ~40k (bad opportunity, and I'd have to live off island anyway) or moving to Charlotte for $50k.  I know several people who did the latter, and I've seen where they live.  I'm happy with where I went with things.  I really, REALLY don't want to move to Atlanta and would only have considered it out of desperate need for a job of any sort.

As for the moving out at 18 bit, I did so when I was 19.  I was lucky in having parents who paid for my college itself, so I only had to cover living expenses.  I bought a car with my own money after highschool ($4k) and moved in with two roommates.  Three bedroom just off campus ran us $800/mo, and was actually a pretty nice place.  If we were desperate we could've made the walk to campus (I did once), but realistically it was too far for that.  That was after having tried a place right off campus and much smaller, for the same price.  That plus utilities split three was was easy to cover with a part time job, as I only needed around $400/mo to break even.  Summer also made for a good opportunity to save.

The biggest mistake people that age make is fooling around with credit cards.  Treat them like the plague.  They do not offer you a deal.  Credit card companies only want to own the next twenty years of your life.  They can be useful for establishing credit or for making every day purchases (food/gas) convenient, but don't be a twit and eat out every night or buy that new $1000 TV.  Unless daddy is paying off your card (in which case he's probably paying your rent too), you can't afford it.  Both my college roommates did that.  I didn't, and that also has a fair bit to do with why I bought a house post graduation and they didn't.

Looking back, it wasn't the smartest financial move to leave the house that early, but I think it was good for maturity.  There's probably a good $10-15k I spent for the experience, but I don't regret it.  

[Yegolev]

Atlanta has the unusual property of being a great place to live but a lousy place to visit.  The optimal solution, however, is to work in the city and live in the sticks (like Roac's Hilton Head anecdote), because there's a lot of money here and no natural barriers to the sprawl.  It just doesn't get spent on basic infrastructure.

I came here from Auburn, Alabama and was King of the World, making $24,500 annual with a $360/mo apartment that was across the street from a grocery store and half a block from an Irish bar that was owned and staffed by actual Irish.  Cross-commuted to a job in the suburbs.  Good times.

That was in 1996, when the city's population was only two million.  Things are a little different now, but the cost of living is generally low while at the same time there are good jobs to be found.  There are also good schools that you have never heard of which don't cost a lot.  Not such a hot place to visit, though, mostly because it's a geographical oddity: everything is at least thirty minutes from everything else regardless of location.  I feel sorry for people who come here from a real city and expect to sustain themselves without a car.  Or find their way around.  Or find good international food.

[Lantyssa]

That is a lot like Houston.

[Llava]

I never understood where people got the idea that it was totally cool to spend money that they didn't have.

"Well, I have $15 in the bank, but putting $2000 on a credit card is a perfectly reasonable strategy! WOOT NEW TV!"

Longest I've ever carried a balance on my card was 3 months, and that was when I was really in what I considered financial trouble.  Then I got off my ass and solved the problem and I'm debt free again (minus mortgage, of course).

Just cause the notice says "$8000 credit limit" doesn't mean "Woot! My pockets are now $8000 deeper!"

[Lantyssa]

The trick is to make sure your new credit card has someone else's name on it.  Then it is, "Woot! My pockets are $8000 deeper!"

[Yegolev]

That is a lot like Houston.

But without the hurricanes.

[Cheddar]

Boobs.  Please.  This has been a shitty week.  Boobs. 

Or a job, but boobs are preffered.

[Yegolev]

[WindupAtheist]

XboxGod's girlfriend's butt stole Cheddar's birthday thread.

[Signe]

I wonder what Yegolev was trying to tell us.  Anyway, there are the last boobies I'm giving you until you find a job and pay for your own:

[Murgos]

She needs to lay off the water for a while.  She's all swollen up...

[Roac]

I wonder what Yegolev was trying to tell us.  Anyway, there are the last boobies I'm giving you until you find a job and pay for your own:

More boobies, less camels.

[Yegolev]

The message is clear: the Internet confounds me.

Also: I will eventually host everything on my own site.

[Llava]

I hope these all work.

EDIT:
2 out of 3 ain't bad.

[XboxGod]

XboxGod's girlfriend's butt stole Cheddar's birthday thread.

Sorry :(

I'll contribute to the booby stockpile-

[Signe]

His birthday is over.  Enough with the girly chesticles.

[Rasix]

Didn't I say "no hobbit porn, ever again"?  Or was that Harry Potter slash porn.  I forget. 

[WayAbvPar]

Non-nude, but giant and threadbreaking goodness to counteract the evil Hobbit pron.

[Signe]

Non-nude, but giant and threadbreaking goodness to counteract the evil Hobbit pron.

Is this a challenge?  Well, alrighty then! 


I'm sorry!!   

[Trippy]

Is this a challenge?  Well, alrighty then! 

Stop messing up Cheddar's thread.

[Cheddar]

I think Signe hates me.

[Signe]

No, I don't.  I did say I was sorry after posting the weirdy beardy snoggers. 

[Strazos]

If I was within arm's reach, I would smack you for your antics in this thread. I hope Righ gives you a stern talking-to about the do's and don'ts of internet message board booby posting etiquette.

[XboxGod]

Well this thread went to hell, time for salvation!

[stray]

Haha.

OK, that's much farther than I went when I got chewed out by Voodoo.

Lets see what happens.

[NiX]

Is this a challenge?  Well, alrighty then! 

[Strazos]

[Abagadro]

This thread needa a pallate cleansing puppy:

[Strazos]

[Signe]

This thread needa a pallate cleansing puppy:

Did you tie it's paws to the bamboo?  That puppy is too adorable for words!   

[sinij]

Boobies and shaved pussy.

[Cheddar]

Boobies and shaved pussy.

Why do you try and make me hate you? You are not cute!