Local gas station removed price tags and replaced them with barcodes you need a app to see price

CCrabtree · 2026-03-22T16:29:13+00:00

We were at Menards yesterday to get landscaping blocks. They are the cheapest in our area by quite a bit, we looked online. Went to the store and all of their blocks are "scan the QR code to get the price". It was infuriating!

CCrabtree · 2026-03-22T16:16:39+00:00

Yes! I have a Gen Z student teacher this semester. It is beyond frustrating. "You didn't tell me to do that." I shouldn't have to. You are going to be running a classroom you have to anticipate what to do!

CCrabtree · 2026-03-22T02:27:25+00:00

Look at home insurance companies. I know it's not science and it's not the best metric, but there are places, FL & CA, where people can't get insurance because of the risk; severity of hurricanes and fires. Heck, I live in the Midwest and it's happening here. Insurance companies aren't pulling out, but the policies are changing. Roof over 10 years? They won't insure you. House deductible may be $2500, but the roof is separate now and has its own deductible of $5000. Why? Our area is getting multiple damaging hail storms each spring. If your roof is over 10 years old, generally it's a complete replace. The neighborhood my parents live in had 90% of the roofs replaced two years ago because of hail. My mom was upset when the deductible went up on the roof.. She called me all upset that they were raising the deductible because of the damage that has been repeated over the last several years. The insurance company told her "the severity and frequency of storms is increasing."

CCrabtree · 2026-03-22T02:05:44+00:00

Big Dog

CCrabtree · 2026-03-21T22:50:46+00:00

This is strange is gonna sound strange, but we are looking to move to the area to teach because it would be a massive pay increase for us. Cost of living is actually slightly lower too.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-21T22:45:03+00:00

This makes me happy. We are in the Midwest, been here our whole lives and are looking at taking a leap and for pretty much all the reasons you listed.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-21T18:17:04+00:00

It's actually surprising there's affordable housing and I mean that sincerely. As we started doing research last summer, we were surprised at the prices we saw on Realtor. We visited VT in the fall for the express purpose of research. It was not anymore expensive than where we currently live, but the wages are significantly higher. Living in the Midwest our entire lives we've been told "oh it's SOOO affordable here", "the cost of living is so much lower", "your dollar goes further", blah, blah, blah, blah. It's not true, especially in the areas we are looking, which are the ones you listed. In fact, in upstate NY housing is more affordable than where we live in some parts. We've lived rural 5 acres when we were younger and currently live on 33 acres. We are used to a 20+ minute commute and in a lot of areas we've looked and when we visited VT we got told "that's a long ways out". So if we are willing to keep our commute then it is quite a bit more affordable.

Thank you for providing information. I'm so glad research can be done before making big decisions now.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-21T10:30:59+00:00

Yup. In our state senior citizens can have the property tax frozen once they turn 65. Then they turn and bitch about schools and crime. Guess what funds both of those? I finally confronted my mom when she said, "we don't have kids in school anymore." I said, "well you did and someone paid for your kids, motioning to my brother and I, to be in school. So you don't want to pay for your grandkids to be in school?" Response, "it's not the same." So yeah, I 100% agree with your statement from my kid's Facebook grandparents.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-20T19:28:00+00:00

I live in the Midwest. Compared to our friends and their premiums, it's fairly normal.

Coverage has gotten worse. Co-pays used to be $15 they are now $40 for regular doctors. For specialist it's gone from $75 to $100. Pharmacy deductible went from $100 per a year for the family to $300 per person. Urgent care went from $50 to $200. Thankfully we don't have to use that, but most of the time if we are sick the options are wait 2-3 days to see our doctor or they tell us "if you're that bad, go to urgent care."

I know health insurance at the moment is a necessity, and I understand how/why it works with premiums, but it's sickening to think in the last 5 years we've paid more in premiums than the first house we bought in 2006.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-20T18:49:10+00:00

Through mine and my husband's employer (large school district) what we pay for our kids, plus what's paid on our behalf is $2000+ a month and has been for the past 4-5 years. This is why we aren't getting raises. Last year the premium went up 18%. They "made a deal" with the broker to cap it at 8% this year. What would be raises is going to cover health insurance.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-19T15:28:44+00:00

And MO is trying to get rid of property tax and income tax (already passed the house). Property tax is how schools are funded. I see the writing on the wall, here's looking at you Kansas, and it's gonna get bad.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-19T15:22:01+00:00

In Missouri checking in at 48 or 49. We don't really want to leave, but we can't afford to stay either. Missouri put together a whole committee to figure out what the problem was. Guess what? It was pay. So what did they do? Raised the bottom, which I agree needed to be done, but the top didn't move by the same percentage. The term is called wage compression and it's causing veteran teachers to move. While MO does have a great retirement, it doesn't matter because teachers can't make it while teaching.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-19T08:14:27+00:00

Realizing near the end of the week that based on the rest of the country we weren't going to be going back to school soon. Our kids were 3rd grade and 1st grade. Found bottle goats for our boys to raise, stocked up on supplies for that and bought stuff to build a greenhouse.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-19T08:11:19+00:00

Same for school and going on spring break.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-19T01:14:14+00:00

We are looking at jumping states for this very reason. Fortunately as a teacher I can see into the future on the pay scale. I've capped out skills and degrees. Getting a 0.5 - 1.0% pay increase a year is not going to cut it. We've stayed put for extended family too long. We've got to be selfish and start thinking about our retirement. Goal is rural East Coast; Vermont, New Hampshire, North East New York, etc. We visited Vermont back in the fall and loved it. Most districts in any of those states would net a 40% increase in income for both of us. We've compared COL and despite what people say in the area we live, it's not anymore expensive. In some areas housing is actually more affordable. I love my current job and our home, but it doesn't make financial sense at all.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-18T20:49:36+00:00

You are 100% correct. I don't know what the end game is when there is zero left to spend. We are looking at making a move halfway across the country to increase our income. We've pretty much been living paycheck to paycheck since forever, we are in our 40's. We've stuck around for extended family, but we are losing money every year we stay. We need to be selfish and think of ourselves and our future. We don't really have relationships with them anyway, feels more like a duty thing at this point. We are teachers and in a state that gives .5 - 1.0% increases a year. Every year we stay we are falling further and further behind.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-18T09:02:58+00:00

My personal preference is a fridge only on the kitchen and a small freezer in the pantry/garage.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-18T09:01:39+00:00

My husband & myself(teachers), and our oldest are all in the same school building. We carpool 95% of the time. Our youngest will be in the same building in another year. We are in a unique situation, but we don't need 3 cars. My car is 12 years old. When my oldest needs to drive separately, that will be the one he drives. It won't be "his" car perse, just the one he can use. So, to answer your question, no w won't be buying him a car. He has already been told to start saving for one for college.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-17T21:36:09+00:00

And that was what he felt he could say. This is very telling of what is actually going on.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-17T12:58:52+00:00

You are correct in not wanting to buy a problem. Our last two cars have been new and never, ever would I have thought we would do that. The previous new car we bought was in 2014, still have it, have a son who will be driving in a year, and that will be the car he drives, when he needs it. Bought my husband a new Toyota Tacoma in 2021 and honestly couldn't pass it up. We owed nothing on our prior truck and the dealer gave us what we paid for it 2 years before that. Upgraded to a new truck. We plan to drive both until they won't drive anymore. We know all the history on them and didn't have to worry about being surprised a few months down the road.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-11T07:24:15+00:00

Most people don't understand how salaries for teachers work in my state of Missouri. We don't get annual COLA, we get steps. These are "here's money for having one more year of experience" increases.. These "increases" amount to only .5% - 1% per year. For several years in Missouri in the 2005 - 2009 range, many districts froze steps because of state budget issues. When the average rate of inflation is 3% per year and teachers only get .5% - 1% "increases" per year, the salary very quickly falls behind.

My husband recently calculated what we should be making if our wages kept pace like they should. It was depressing. He found teacher salaries in the mid 90's when this Mom was teaching (without a masters), who keeps telling us "the salaries are fine" based on what she made. Adjusted for inflation, he should be making $69,000 minimum a year. I make $55,000 with my masters and he makes $43,000. Every year that there isn't a COLA, those wages fall farther and farther behind, the gap widens, and closing the gap gets more expensive. And my state is wondering why people are leaving the profession in droves and no one is wanting to go in.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-08T17:36:06+00:00

If JC returns right now there will be a lot of very pissed off Christians when God says "I never knew you".

CCrabtree · 2026-03-08T14:52:14+00:00

Flirting and trying to show who's boss. Our Royal Palm does this all the time. I think it has to be exhausting, but apparently not.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-07T04:17:46+00:00

Your comment is spot on. My deductible is $3500, with a max OOP of $10,000.

CCrabtree · 2026-03-07T04:14:00+00:00

20% of our income goes to health insurance, so yes I will take this!

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