[UCGal]

[quote=CA renter]
Wow, we must go through more food than you both do and probably spend more per item, too. We buy organic milk, eggs and fruit. We don’t spend money on much else, but food is the one area where we buy good quality and we really enjoy cooking and entertaining. Just checked on Vons.com, and the organic milk is over $6/gal., though we can get comparable milk for around $5/gal. Eggs run between $4-$5/dz. for the organic/hormone-free eggs. Needless to say, organic produce isn’t cheap, either.

AN, do your kids eat “adult-sized” meals, yet? That might be one factor that’s keeping your bills down. Of course, some kids eat very little. Ours…not so much.

We tried the Costco route but found that we couldn’t get out of there for less than ~$300, and still had to shop a week or so after that. Maybe we’ll have to try it again if you’re so successful doing it that way. Still, we have friends who shop at Costco, and their bills are as high as ours, or higher.

Good job on keeping your bills low![/quote]

We’ve been closely tracking our budget lately.
All in for food, toiletries, household, booze, eating out etc. we spend about $900/month for a family of 4.
That’s based on looking at purchases at Costco, Sprouts, Trader Joes, Vons, and misc. farmers markets.
I do not break it down by toiletries, vs food, vs booze. (that would involve breaking down each receipt – vs just categorizing a specific vendor in quicken.)

We don’t eat out as much as other folks… I eat at the work cafeteria a few days a week, and other days brown bag it. We go out to dinner or get take out on average once a month.

We mostly cook from scratch – use a lot of organic ingredients (organic eggs from costco are some of the cheapest organic eggs around.) We buy staples in bulk at costco or sprouts. And it includes booze – wine, beer, liquor.

Organic definitely kicks the price up… but I feel its worth it, sometimes.

[UCGal]

Am I misreading that – or are fixed rates significantly cheaper than ARM loans?

Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention in the past – but I thought adjustable was always cheaper than fixed.

[UCGal]

We had one neighbor do an unpermitted curb cut to a concrete pad. They were busted and had to remove the curb cut.

Another neighbor was more subtle – used grass-crete for the pad. Nicer looking… isn’t obvious, you hardly notice the curb cut because it’ just looks like more grass.

Other neighbors skipped the curb-cut and use the removable “custom” ramps that sdduuuuude mentioned.

UC, like Clairemont, is a non-covenant, nonHOA neighborhood so lots of RVs and boats that need parking.

[UCGal]

[quote=sdduuuude]I usually owner-build, though we used K-Co long ago.

K-Co is the contractor of choice here in Clairemont. Never heard one complaint about them amongst many that have used them. The founder died recently – very suddenly. Very sad.

They may not bother w/ a small CV job, though.[/quote]
We had K-Co bid on the companion unit – but they wanted an obscene amount.

We liked the owner… and were going to go with him if the bid hadn’t been $300k OVER what another contractor bid. (Even with our travails, K-Co’s price was higher than our all-in price.)

But that was during the boom period – late 2007.

I’m sorry to hear the owner died. He seemed like a really nice guy.

[UCGal]

On the topic of the 2nd article

Food restrictions are a part of school these days… it becomes a topic at the beginning of each school year whether there are any nut allergens…. if so, no pb&j.
But it’s not just nuts…
My kids have attended Gateways summer school program… it’s a secular, educational enrichment program. It’s held on the campus of a private Jewish school (but not run by that school). So lunches can’t have any meat to comply with the kosher campus.
http://www.gatewaysschool.org/faq.php#lunch

This is just part of being considerate of others. You could ignore this… but that would be kinda assholish.

[UCGal]

[quote=njtosd][quote=squat250]it’s all pretty clear to a lot of us right now. But it was also pretty clear to lots of folks i knew back in the 70s that gay sex was immoral. period.

for people who want to exclude gays from marriage, it probably isn’t framed as a “freedom” issue. It’s just plain immoral. they do have quite a bit of history on their side. Government does get to legislate on these types of issues–moral issues–so long as the government has a rational basis to do so…

but doesn’t it kinda make you wonder what we’re blind to now? It’s unlikely we’ve reached the apex of an understanding, humane society. Far from it. So what are we repulsed by now, that in 30 years, will be clearly worthy of inclusion and understanding?[/quote]

My guess is that the next step is polygamy. Don’t know whether it’s worthy of inclusion/understanding. But it was banned for the same moralistic reasons that gay marriage was. Who are we to say how many people can be in a marriage?[/quote]

Yes but polygamy is nice and biblical. Lots of examples of it in the bible. And other forms of “traditional” marriage that might raise a few eyebrows.

This graphic was sent to me recently

http://www.upworthy.com/the-top-8-ways-to-be-traditionally-married-according-to-the-bible

[UCGal]

congrats on your home purchase, Bobby.

[UCGal]

I bought from my dad, after my mom passed. He wanted to downsize, we wanted a home in a neighborhood with good schools. It was a win-win.

We hired an escrow/title company and got a regular purchase mortgage. My dad had paid off the house- but if he’d still had a mortgage, that would have been handled at closing like any other home resale closing.

If your parents have owned the house for a while AND are not rolling their lower tax rate into a downsized home, you can continue their lower, Prop 13, tax rate.

But it’s an either/or situation. My dad was downsizing, and wanted to take his tax rate with him as an over 55 year old. But we wanted to keep the tax rate on the home we were buying from him.

Look up prop 13, prop 58, prop 193, prop 60 and prop 90.
http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/faqs/caproptaxprop.htm#heading

[UCGal]

[quote=Blogstar]Should they add the %2(or any percent) in seriously falling markets year after year?

What does prop 13 have to address assessments in falling markets. What does the State Board of Equalization have to say about the practice of raising assessments in falling markets? These are some questions that came up after looking at my tax bills while going through the appeal.

Yes, it was funny to belittle my property to the assessor’s appraiser…My wife and I were laughing about it.[/quote]
The prop 13 limits come into play after the market starts rising again.

Lets say you buy a house for $500k in 2005

Lets say you appeal your assessed value and get it assessed down to 350k. All is good. You’re paying less because you’re paying market.

Then the market improves and your house is now worth $450k. My understanding is that you’ll be taxed at 450k. Which is more than a 2% jump from the $350k… But it’s less than the $500k you purchased at.

As the market increases the assessment goes up with the market (not the 2% cap) until it’s back to the purchase price.

Then after that – as the market goes up – it’s limited to the 2% annual increase.

Does that make sense? That’s the way it was explained to me.

[UCGal]

Redfin has areas outside of So Cal. So try that.

Obviously realtor.com
And trulia.com has some areas that redfin doesn’t cover.

[UCGal]

[quote=briansd1]S&P is at 4 year high.

Are we better off than we were 4 years ago? I think so.[/quote]

You’re confusing the stock market with the broader economy.

Keep in mind that the middle income earners (40th to 60th percentile) had a median net worth of $65,900. That includes any equity in their house.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/06/family-net-worth-down-to-early-90s-level/

Not everyone has money invested in the stock market. Piggs are not typical.

[UCGal]

If you want to get a quick education in a low-cost (fees), diversified approach to investing, read up over on Bogleheads.

Specifically, look at the couch potato (aka lazy investor) portfolio approach.
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_Portfolios

The idea is to come up with an asset allocation – (bonds, equities, int’l, and cash) appropriate for your time horizon, and pick LOW COST index funds to match that asset allocation.

The brokerage houses that get the best ratings for low cost are Vanguard, Schwab, and Fidelity. Vanguard has crappy customer service, but super low expenses. Fidelity has better customer service – but still low cost. And Schwab is in the middle. (FWIW – I’m at Fidelity and Schwab – because Vanguard pissed me off when we were settling my dad’s estate.)

The more you save in fees/expenses – compounded over time – the bigger nest egg you’ll have at retirement. It really adds. up.

[img_assist|nid=16649|title=How Fees impact nest egg.|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=340|height=276]

[UCGal]

I think I posted my stats earlier in this thread… but I’ll post them from the latest bills again.

From 4/27-6/27/2012 we used 24 HCF. (may june bill)
Our next bill will come out in a week or so.
We were gone for almost 3 weeks of that.

My mangy kids don’t bath as frequently as yours. Something about pre-teen boys feeling no need to be hygienic. It’s gross.

We don’t have much lawn (as posted above) and have hooked an outdoor shower into grey watering the shrubs. This saves on irrigation.
We use more water in the summer than winter – so irrigation is still impacting.

No pool.

Neighbor uphill from us waters a lot – we don’t water the fruit trees on that side of the yard… they thrive anyway.

We’re not typical at all. I suspect lawns have high impact on water bills (require frequent watering). By sticking to more trees/shrubs… using a combo of drip irrigation and soaker hoses for the trees, shrubs, veggies. Only the front yard and a side yard get spray irrigation.

Some more bills/usage.
March April: 17HCF (assume there was rain and irrigation turned off)
Jan Feb: 25HCF
Nov Dec 2011: 13HCF (assume there was rain and irrigation turned off)
Sept Oct: 24HCF
Jul Aug: 31HCF
May June 2011: 25HCF

[UCGal]

Some documents that show the percent of water use for typical residential irrigation.

http://www.cbia.org/go/cbia/?LinkServID=E242764F-88F9-4438-9992948EF86E49EA

http://www.calwater.ca.gov/Admin_Record/D-046947.pdf

57% or 61%, depending on which source.

Showers are 17%.

So even if you take longer/wetter showers than average – irrigation is still going to have the biggest impact on your bill.

[UCGal]

[quote=sdduuuude]Our Total City Water and Sewer Costs:

2007: $1002
2008: $1111
2009: $1197
2010: $1170

2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs.
1700 sq. ft + garage.
Back lawn, 800 sq. ft.

I take longer showers than any teenager, took the water savers out of the shower heads long ago, and we don’t skimp on watering the garden. Lots of laundry, too.[/quote]
Our bills are similar – maybe $100/year more.
For the most recent 12 months we’ve paid $1260.

2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog. Part of the year an additional 2 seniors who do a lot of laundry.

2000sf main house + 700sf granny flat.
1/4 acre lot, not much lawn – but lots of garden (groundcover, fruit trees, flowering shrubs, veggie gardens.)

We kept shrinking our lawn because we didn’t like mowing, chemicals to keep it green (weed and feed), and because we wanted to expand our veggie production. Lawns aren’t very practical in So Cal.

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