Gramp's Story Hour

[Gramps]

When we were first married (`68) my wife drove a `67 Beetle and I acquired a `67 Austin Healy Sprite. Our total finance charges were $90/month. I sold the AH right before I had to leave for basic and monthly finance was $60. The $50 match almost covered the cost of the VW,
My wife was working as a dental assistant. We moved from a 2 bedroom house to a one bedroom upstairs apt. As a result we were financially ok. When she caught up with me in El Paso it took her 2 weeks to find a job in a dental office. I had gotten a raise at the end of basic so we weren`t strapped while I was active duty.

[scott]

When we were first married (`68) my wife drove a `67 Beetle and I acquired a `67 Austin Healy Sprite. Our total finance charges were $90/month. I sold the AH right before I had to leave for basic and monthly finance was $60. The $50 match almost covered the cost of the VW,
My wife was working as a dental assistant. We moved from a 2 bedroom house to a one bedroom upstairs apt. As a result we were financially ok. When she caught up with me in El Paso it took her 2 weeks to find a job in a dental office. I had gotten a raise at the end of basic so we weren`t strapped while I was active duty.

I remember mid-90s making about $1500 per month, including language and jump pay. That was the first time I didn't feel "poor" but I really had no idea how good it was until I was 28 making $34K at a bank with a car payment, rent, utilities, food, parking, gas for a daily commute, etc. I was much richer when I was 24 .

[80zephyr]

I know that in the late 1950s, the mortgage on our little 3BR VA-financed post-war rancher (maybe 1000 sq. ft?) was $60/month, so $50/month would not have cut it, but then, it was assumed the house would be paid off by the time you retired.

In '68, we moved to DC for Dad to take a job with DoD where, as a GS-12 (senior engineer), he would be making almost $10K/year, and Mom didn't have to go back to work until my college tuition was impending; we thought we were in high cotton! But by 1976, my entry-level salary in retail management, fresh out of college, was almost $10K, and I assume the cost of living had increased at least proportionately.

In 1982, I bought a house me and my brothers built because I basically had to. We had formed a construction company in 1976, and things were going semi smoothly until the interest rates went crazy. So I borrowed 40 grand at 16-1/2% interest to give us some breathing room. My monthly payment was 550 bucks a month. 20 dollars of that went to principal, the rest interest.

Mark