The Simple Dollar

Let me google that for you: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/where-does-7-come-from-when-it-comes-to… 4-6% inflation adjusted return is not unreasonable or amazing. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-historical-return-of-real-estate-vs-… "So far this decade, the U.S. stock market is ahead once again. And for the past 40 years, it would have earned you almost 4 times as much as U.S. residential real estate."

I have a little bit of BTC left - I mined several years ago when it was still feasible to make money mining on a desktop PC with a good video card as part of a mining pool. I've sold off most of it, I have a little bit left that I'm not especially motivated to sell. I don't see putting money (as cash, or mining) in cryptocurrency as investing, but as speculating. See http://www.thesimpledollar.com/the-intelligent-investor-investment-ver… for a classic discussion on the difference. I don't distinguish to be pedantic, but because the word "invest" is often used to mis-characterize spending or gambling in an unreasonably positive context.

I wouldn't jump to conclusions that it is due to income. There are many other reasons why that might be the case, such as convenience. It's the Starbucks, Duane Reade, Chase, etc. model of retail -- put one every 2 blocks, sometimes on the same block across the street -- because people are lazy and will go somewhere convenient, even if it isn't in their best interests. If people were truly concerned about budget, they would cook at home and not pay McDonalds to cook their food. (http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/12/does-cooking-at-home-really-…

1. Massive debt: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ 2. The Internet. 3. Parents: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/01/29/financial-independence-week-… 4. You are not responsible for your family's well-being. You can try to help, but not if it costs you your health/... 5. You can help them better if you're doing well. It sounds like your family is trying to drag you down to their level.

"How to Cook Everything" is the best resource for not only recipies but literally how to cook. It starts off with how to make popcorn and each section always includes information on how to buy and cook the ingredients in the recipies. Think of it as learning a programming language you will use for the next 100 years. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/06/03/a-guide-to-eating-well-witho… Since we are sharring recpies here is a simple staple I enjoy: -pasta -olive oil -onion -garlic -canned diced tomatores -whatever spices you like Fry the onion with garlic and some spices, then add the tomatoes and simmer until you want to eat. Meanwhile cook the pasta. Simple, yummy and countless variations with whatever you happen to have around.

Thanks! To TLDR my answer, the first link gives interesting numbers but are very generic, and as the top gatcha devs won’t give breakdown numbers of user spending patterns, in the end it doesn’t tell that much more. I should disclaim I do play gatcha games on a somewhat regular basis (I need to know how they work for various reasons) and follow the different communities around. On the first link: > Whale game users: 1% of the players, generate 64% of the income spending 2,694 dollars per year. > Medium-high game users: 3% of the total, generate 20% of income spending 373 dollars a year. > Average game users: 2% of the total, generate 4% of income and spend $ 104 per year. First, that 1% of “whales” at 2,694$ per year is interesting, as it puts it around the 2,482$ said to be spent on entertainment on average in the US [0], which doesn’t seem to be freakish in context. Then there’s also no breakdown of social games and “normal” games, like Minecraft which for instance has monthly subscriptions for online services, and other games who have season passes or allow to buy in-game contents like songs, levels etc.). Sure social games must have a decent share, but right now for instance I see in my [edit to US ranking] Roblox, Apex, Pokemon Go in the free app ranking and they aren’t gatcha. The above number must also including straight purchaseable games. It’s interesting numbers, but don’t tell us much about gacha games in particular (though the author has opinions on the…

It will force "the system" to come up with some other way to pay for tuition. What do you think about Income Share Agreements? https://www.thesimpledollar.com/loans/student/income-share-agreements-…

Trade jobs deserve more respect than they get. Skilled labor is in short supply, nearly guaranteeing vocational school graduates steady work and good income (especially in construction/machinery fields). Not to mention about $100k less spent on tuition vs college bachelor's degree. https://www.thesimpledollar.com/why-you-should-consider-trade-school-i… https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19324670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15691817

Though just 20 years comes up over a million, signs point to taking the million and investing it being the smart move: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/the-million-dollar-retirement-question/

Average market return is 7%[0], with a competent money manager and a few years it is virtually inevitable statistically. You can do exactly what you describe, but if you don't have the assets to back it up they won't loan it to you, nor would you be able to make the payments. [0]http://www.thesimpledollar.com/where-does-7-come-from-when-it-comes-to…

Pretty sure education was much much cheaper a few decades ago. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/a-dose-of-financial-reality/

Yes, they compete for the entertainment budget of households. The links below might help: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/how-the-average-american-family-spends-… http://airlockalpha.com/node/9860/how-americans-spend-their-entertainm…

Here's an account of someone using the Mechanical Turk: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/07/05/can-you-actually-earn-reason… If it's like it was back then, I think you might be able to make $400 on it in a month. Not the quickest or most fun way to do it, though. I like the eBook idea.

I don't think the situation is so black and white. I have always preferred this approach above everything else: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/02/27/renting-versus-buying-are-th…

Montreal seems to be an outlier according to https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/how-does-montreal-mainta… There are also much cheaper driveable cities (e.g. Knoxville, TN) and much more expensive non-driveable cities (e.g. San Francisco, CA). Also, more realistically, you would probably be commuting to the city center if you were driving. Rent in the suburb of Florissant, MO is only $618 a month [1]. And the average gas price in St. Louis is only $2.28 a gallon [2], and insurance in Missouri costs an average of only $57 a month [3]. That brings the cost of housing down to $820 a month or $9.8k a year. I'm sure you could get a cheaper and more reliable car as well. [1] https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/mo/florissant-c… [2] https://www.gasbuddy.com/USA/MO [3] https://www.thesimpledollar.com/how-much-does-car-insurance-cost/

It definitely can be a lot less, but national average for insurance alone is $815[0]. Obviously a lot of people have costs below average, but a car is going to be a major expense. If you can do it (legally) for under $1000/yr, you're probably driving very little, taking some risks (in having minimal insurance) and doing a lot more maintenance/repairs yourself than most people know how to. Under $8000 is easy, seeing as $8000 is average. Under $1000, I'm not so sure about. Maintenance/repairs on a new car averages > $1000/yr[1]--I'd assume used cars to be at least as high. Insurance average cost is similar. Fuel is going to be several hundred unless you have a very efficient car you drive very little. I think people just look at their monthly car payment and ignore most other costs associated with car ownership. There are a lot of not-so-little costs. There are also lots of not-so-little benefits, but you need to weigh both, not just the latter. [0] https://www.thesimpledollar.com/how-much-does-car-insurance-cost/ [1] http://newsroom.aaa.com/auto/your-driving-costs/

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/08/supermarkets-get-your-da… https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/si… http://www.thesimpledollar.com/how-credit-card-companies-make-money/ https://www.creditfirm.net/blogs/mastercard-to-begin-selling-customer-… http://www.businessinsider.com/credit-cards-sell-purchase-data-to-adve…