Home ec for young Trad Lads

Arun · June 16, 2014, 04:51:40 PM

fruit trees are excellent when you start having a few children, as they provide decent food with minimal work. a bit of work, but not a lot.

permaculture is the way to go. zone your acreage.

james03 · June 16, 2014, 04:57:02 PM

Quoteand aside from being high on the car payments ($1000/mo will get you 2 awfully nice cars), the rest of it is spot on.

That works out to $18,000 per vehicle. I don't think you can buy a new minivan for that anymore. Last I checked they were in the mid-to-upper $20s, and higher for the top end models.

Of course my price is a little inflated since after three years, you have no payments, so say you get another 2-3 years free and clear. My pickup is 10 years old.

Like I said, I was ballparking to hopefully get the youngins to take a hard look at planning their future. This idea you will work in Walmart, while learning to blacksmith, and since you are 19, now you just pick out a wife that you want, and she'll say yes, is pie-in-the-sky stuff. And unfortunately too common.

Akavit · June 16, 2014, 05:05:35 PM

Quote from: Chestertonian on June 15, 2014, 07:24:50 PM
my wife makes more than that, we only have 1 car, 1 kid and a 2 BR home, and yet we still barely scrape by,
i think it depends on a lot of unique circumstances....

AND Aalso where you live I can't imagine what you'd get for $1400 month here as far as mortgage payments

if you live someplace like the midwest, living expenses must be lower but then, it might be hard to find jobs with that high of a salary

Living in New York and high medical expenses would be the reason for that. A typical family living in the Midwest away from Chicago or some other expensive local could have the same standard of living on half the income. The area I'm at, someone making $30 an hour is high up on the wages ladder. Decent houses are available for under $100,000.

Arun · June 16, 2014, 05:10:07 PM

$30 an hour is big bucks man

The Curt Jester · June 16, 2014, 05:10:32 PM

I'm fairly certain I could put together a budget around here on $25,000. Would it be bare bones without anything extra? Yes, it would. But it would work assuming no major unexpected bills (I know, they always come!). I'm just saying that area dictates what a person can live on. Would I suggest that someone be satisfied with that and shoot no higher? Definitely not!

Note: The budget assumes renting a home and already owning a car.

Akavit · June 16, 2014, 05:18:38 PM

Quote from: Arun on June 16, 2014, 05:10:07 PM
$30 an hour is big bucks man

In my locale it certainly is. Only certain union trades, upper management and senior workers at the big corporations have potential to get more than that. Most skilled labor hires out for $15-$25 an hour with a few getting closer to $30.

Heinrich · July 20, 2014, 02:09:25 PM

We are leaving out the fact that maybe Mr. and Mrs. Young Trad worked and saved (while living at home) prior to getting married. They could pay cash for cars and have a savings going into the marriage pre baby #1. Also, family contributions help out at first, too. Contrary to Ggregg's status quo assessment of trad men, many peers of mine at my parish live well. We've earned it. I am expecting to be very generous to my children's starting the family thing with a bit of help.

james03 · July 22, 2014, 05:43:12 PM

If the lad goes to college, chances are he will have no savings. But yes there are always exceptions, and savings is very important. Going into debt for college is a big no-no.

My point is more of a question: Do 17-18 year old Trad young men even THINK about any of this? Does the priest PREACH the need for young men to learn responsibility, and to work hard to learn a trade so that they can support a big Trad family? I've never heard such a sermon.

Arun · July 22, 2014, 07:25:43 PM

one on retreat i went on, Father played some tapes during the meals of sermons by Fr Dolan i think... on one of the tapes, he spoke about the proper order of things in regards to dating and all that. as part of that he said that it is better to establish oneself and one's trade/career path/whatever and ideally own a home before looking at getting married. on the one hand i can see where it might sound over the top to a lot of younger people, but on the other having lived the way we have i kind of feel like "don't do what donny don't did" if ya get me lol.

Heinrich · July 23, 2014, 07:20:35 AM

Quote from: james03 on July 22, 2014, 05:43:12 PM
Does the priest PREACH the need for young men to learn responsibility, and to work hard to learn a trade so that they can support a big Trad family? I've never heard such a sermon.

+Williamson touched on this in his Post Falls Conference. He did not elaborate too much on it, but I do remember him stressing the trades for Catholic men.

Archer · November 12, 2014, 08:55:23 AM

Quote from: Arun on July 22, 2014, 07:25:43 PM
one on retreat i went on, Father played some tapes during the meals of sermons by Fr Dolan i think... on one of the tapes, he spoke about the proper order of things in regards to dating and all that. as part of that he said that it is better to establish oneself and one's trade/career path/whatever and ideally own a home before looking at getting married. on the one hand i can see where it might sound over the top to a lot of younger people, but on the other having lived the way we have i kind of feel like "don't do what donny don't did" if ya get me lol.

I absolutely second what this Priest is saying about the man establishing a trade/career prior to introducing a wife and children. My only contention would be that I'm not sure how necessary owning a home is since renting is a perfectly viable option especially when you're just starting out and not ready to put roots down yet. I think his overarching point is that there needs to be money coming in to provide a good roof over the family's head.

james03 · November 12, 2014, 10:29:26 AM

A good tip: When we got married my wife worked as a secretary. We saved the money for a house, and didn't use a penny of her money for living expenses or car payments, or what not, so if she got pregnant, we'd keep renting and be fine. Actually that happened. Baby number one came home to an apartment, but 6 months later I saved the additional money and we got a house.

Anyhow, we put the money away for a down payment while we rented.

LausTibiChriste · November 12, 2014, 02:44:04 PM

Quote from: james03 on November 12, 2014, 10:29:26 AM
A good tip: When we got married my wife worked as a secretary. We saved the money for a house, and didn't use a penny of her money for living expenses or car payments, or what not, so if she got pregnant, we'd keep renting and be fine. Actually that happened. Baby number one came home to an apartment, but 6 months later I saved the additional money and we got a house.

Anyhow, we put the money away for a down payment while we rented.

I've always been planning on doing it this way (but we all know how plans go, don't we).

This thread is excellent James, thank you. I think Trad men need to be more entrepreneurial too....raising a family of 6+ kids is an expensive endeavour these days, especially if you live in Canada and they're all boys - hockey ain't cheap

Working as a tradesman under someone else is one thing, turning your trade into a lucrative business is quite another.

QuoteDecent houses are available for under $100,000.

As someone who grew up in Vancouver, where the average housing price is something like $1.2million for a detached home...that is nuts.

As someone who