That sucks but it's not a dick move on your part. Was literally talking to a coworker who did that to a friend decades ago (he's in his early 60s) and said he would basically shack up in everyone's basement until they kicked him out. Sometimes weeks, sometimes months, living off others good will until none was left.

A real video game set up. I have 17 consoles in the house and over 450 games.

I even have the old CRT TV with an AV switcher hooked up so I can switch between consoles quickly without having to mess with any wires.

I think I have both your problems solved. If money isn't an issue the bureaucracy is a nuisance but not inhibiting as you can pay someone to file all the appropriate paperwork. The language barrier is even easier. I have been to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland and did not meet a single person that didn't fluently speak English. Not saying they don't exist, but operating in most any western European country is very easy as an English speaker. Also you'll pick up the language over time. Immersion is the best way to learn a language, or so I hear.

Trying to help my mother in law. Low income, no savings, some debt we've tried to help to pay off. Starter homes are over $200k now. 6-7 years ago these are the same houses that were $110-140k. She can't afford the down payment, hell the bank won't pre-approve her to even put a bid in. Crazy. And yeah, as others have said, the price won't go down because any discount will be immediately snatched up, more often by a large investment firm, thus locking the price and not allowing the market to cool.

To provide some context, she wants a very basic home. A small yard primarily to start a garden, maybe 800-1000 sq ft on the high end, and not much more. The only places she and we can find that are in her range are in rough neighborhoods we wouldn't want her living. And also her work, which is 100% remote, constantly threatens return to office requirements which forces her in a 40 mile vicinity.

As melinneals, we got lucky. Purchased at literally the very beginning of covid (3.20) and have seen our home value skyrocket (+50% from purchase price). Rental homes in the neighborhood regularly charge 90% over our mortgage + property tax + home insurance rate. A house down the street (we got to know them as we both had young puppies) was abandoned because they raised the price +20% in the time the family lived there. It was a mother, both adult children and their spouses, and grandchild, 7 in total, in a 4 bedroom. They left one day and last I saw was an $8k bill taped to the door for 3 months of unpaid rent, they had moved out 4 months prior.

Just got done playing about 3 hours via game pass and it is quite fun.

It is much more a survival game than pokemon. You put your pokemon (called 'Pals') to work on what is essentially your farm. It is much more a survival game as you are always looking for resources and crafting the next thing for your homestead. I have yet to shoot a gun, currently rocking a spear, bow and arrow, pick axe (for mining), and axe (for chopping wood).

I have ventured off my base twice and you do come across a wide variety of creatures once you venture far enough and there are small towns, people, many creatures, and more materials the further out you traverse. There appears to be 'bosses' as there are marked high level creatures and even gangs that will occasionally raid your base.

I could see myself sinking a lot of time into it as it does take a bit to get your base running smoothly to generate the needed materials without too much manual work on your part.

You have a party of 5 creatures but can only have one out at a time. You start with another creature at your base working and as you level gain more slots for more creatures to work for you. It's kinda funny because you basically beat the shit out of these creatures, capture them, and then put them to work at your base.

All in all I hope development continues to expand on this game as it's got a solid foundation and I'm not generally someone attracted to survival type games. I'm looking forward to continuing to level up and see what the game has to offer.

I agree with you but there are more ethical ways to eat meat while also saving money. Last year my wife and I purchased 1/4 of an entire cow from a farm about 35 miles north of us (friends and family bought the other 3/4). This cow was responsibly raised, grass fed, on a small, local farm. We received 200 pounds of meat with probably a dozen different cuts of meat. This includes dozens of pounds of excellent steak and the meat is simply amazing. We will definitely be going this route moving forward as we averaged the price per pound to ~$4/lb which is far less than the local grocery.

I understand this isn't possible for everyone as we also had to purchase a chest freezer which requires space but has made our grocery bill far smaller and the meat we are eating much better in many ways.

My wife bakes, reads, and does pilates.

I'm lazy so I play video games and drink. Though I've reduced the booze intake and tried reading at least 1 book every 8 weeks. I'm also trying to be more consistent at the gym 2-3x per week instead of 2-3 times per month which inadvertently became the norm the past few years.

We both like board games, puzzles, and a good binge of a show we both like. Also sex.

"Originally placed under house arrest, he was sent to jail in August for violations of his bail conditions, including using a VPN to watch a football game and leaking the diary entries of his ex-girlfriend"

Ok I get the diary, that's shitty...but using a VPN to watch football? That's a normal Saturday afternoon.

For how absurd the situation is, everyone involved is ridiculously calm.

My yard looks nicer. My dog gets 2-3 walks a day instead of 1-2. Also porn.

For anyone in the market for a printer: brother.

I racked up $12k in credit card debt after college. It was the result of a low paying, dead end job (GameStop), wanting to be independent and live on my own, and no financial education beyond my parents telling the the very basics.

That all changed when I decided I didn't want to live paycheck to paycheck the rest of my life. Got some licensing and a career type job, met my wife, and the rest is history.

I paid off my credit card debt within the first year at the job, we both paid off our student loan debt (totalling ~$90k within the first 5 years) and now the only debt we have is our mortgage which is fixed at 2.75%. We could pay it down rather aggressively if we wanted but at that rate we we're simply maxing retirement accounts and putting the remainder into taxable investments instead.

Fuck credit card debt. I believe every high school in America should have a required financial literacy class. Not just balancing a checkbook, but how to build good credit, the dangera of credit card debt, predatory loans, the benefits of saving for retirement early, basic investment principals, and anything else that would make a young person financially literate early in life.