Out of Touch??

With both of us working (or at least we both have jobs), we are beginning to look at alternate living arrangements. We are enjoying staying with my brother, but it will soon be time to find our own place and leave these folks alone.

We’ve been talking rent or buy. We’ve been talking about how large of a place we will need versus how large of a place we will want. We’ve been discussing location. We’ve been discussing a lot of things.

One thing I’ve noticed is the price of housing. My 1960’s mind just can’t wrap itself around a regular-looking home in a regular-looking neighborhood selling for $160,000 or more. It just seems like something is terribly, terribly out of whack here.

I suppose, though, that if I had kept track of inflation over the years, it wouldn’t seem so bad. And even at that, the money I’m making per hour now in my job is many, many times what I made when I first went to work years ago. So all in all, maybe it isn’t so bad after all.

Do you remember when it was unusual to find something in the grocery store that was over $1.00 (other than meat)? Now, you can hardly find anything under a dollar any more, and a lot of things are 2, 3, or 4 dollars each or more. Remember when a coupon for 3 cents off was a big deal? Now many people don’t even do coupons. Remember when if you found a nickel on the sidewalk, it was unconscionable to pass it by? Nowadays, kids get change at the store and throw it on the ground outside because they don’t want to mess with it.

I don’t know about you, but I still pick up pennies, nickels, and the like. I also finish my plate, save all my change, and think a five dollar bill is really something. Sheesh. Am I ever out of touch!!