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Dear Stay-at-Home Wife ....

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  1. #11

    Work-life balance starts with saying no. Not to your wife, but your boss.


  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    Well drafted letter?
    Thank you . I might have had a small hand in that. I think it might have been the bit about willing to work for nothing to gain experience (which of course I knew they could not easily take up because of minimum wage laws).

  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    As the working wife with non working husband I don't feel this way. If I did I would just stop paying for stuff. Why would someone stay married if they feel exploited? It's bizarre.
    Because a non-working wife is still a lot cheaper than a divorce?

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    Because a non-working wife is still a lot cheaper than a divorce?
    Especially when the non-working wife has a law degree!
    hullexile, shri, Mat and 2 others like this.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skierx:
    I didn't read the letter, but from the quotes in the first post these were my exact thoughts. Reminds me of another complainy pants article I read a while back in The Atlantic.

    Many Middle-Class Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck - The Atlantic
    that article appears to just highlight that Americans cannot budget and are financially illiterate and make stupid decisions. Apply Darwin and they should starve to death and not reproduce such stupidity. Sadly nobody allows Americans to starve these days, they just run up debts and continue to make bad decisions and blame their governments for "economic stagnation" when it's just a readjustment in the global wealth balance. Get used to it.

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    that article appears to just highlight that Americans cannot budget and are financially illiterate and make stupid decisions. Apply Darwin and they should starve to death and not reproduce such stupidity. Sadly nobody allows Americans to starve these days, they just run up debts and continue to make bad decisions and blame their governments for "economic stagnation" when it's just a readjustment in the global wealth balance. Get used to it.
    Isnt it pretty much the same with the folks in the UK who are unable to save and whinge? I see little difference in the financial / political / <insert whatever you like to think americans are not good at> literacy of Americans vs Brits ...

    Like I said about the brexit vote and the comments brits like to make about american voters - karma is a bitch and will turn around and bite you in the arse.
    HK_Katherine and Fiona in HKG like this.

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    Isnt it pretty much the same with the folks in the UK who are unable to save and whinge? I see little difference in the financial / political / <insert whatever you like to think americans are not good at> literacy of Americans vs Brits ...

    Like I said about the brexit vote and the comments brits like to make about american voters - karma is a bitch and will turn around and bite you in the arse.
    I agree. Inability to budget seems to be a first world problem. I mean - in the developing world people REALLY don't have any money. But in the developed world people just make bad choices. Live in an expensive area, pay for expensive schools - heck even that daily coffee is a complete waste of money if you look at the annual costs. But they don't. They think its some kind of "right" to be able to afford a takeaway coffee etc etc. It's not. A few hundred years ago, people with no money starved or went to the workhouse. There were strong disincentives to being frivolous. And even back then you had drinkers or gamblers who left their families in financial ruin. But now there is even less incentive and even more people are on the brink of disaster at any point in time. Its crazy. All our "safety nets" have just created a society that no longer looks after itself.
    Skierx, M Khan and Elegiaque like this.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    that article appears to just highlight that Americans cannot budget and are financially illiterate and make stupid decisions. Apply Darwin and they should starve to death and not reproduce such stupidity. Sadly nobody allows Americans to starve these days, they just run up debts and continue to make bad decisions and blame their governments for "economic stagnation" when it's just a readjustment in the global wealth balance. Get used to it.
    Americans don't have the social welfare and public healthcare safety net that many others do. Education is more expensive so student loan obligations are higher. Also overdrafts are really expensive in the US, whereas in the UK I was surprised to come across so many people who use bank overdrafts just to manage month-to-month.
    z754103 likes this.

  9. #19

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    @shri I think its worse in the US. Even well educated, well earning adults poorly manage money. Partly the fault of an intense culture of marketing and consumerism.

    Was surprised to learn there's "life skills" courses in German secondary schools. This would be so useful in the US and UK.

    HK_Katherine likes this.

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiaque:
    @shri I think its worse in the US. Even well educated, well earning adults poorly manage money. Partly the fault of an intense culture of marketing and consumerism.

    Was surprised to learn there's "life skills" courses in German secondary schools. This would be so useful in the US and UK.
    My daughter had life skills at school in the UK, pretty sure it is compulsory.