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WTF Adulthood?!

If there was one thing I learned upon graduating college, it was this: Adult life is expensive. I’m talking real expensive. What do you mean I have to pay for toilet paper? All these years the roll has always magically been refilled. Are you trying to tell me I’m  now responsible for this magic? Fudge, I didn’t sign up for this.

Maybe I was spoiled, but I had almost all of my daily expenses taken care of as a kid. Some of these expenses I didn’t even realize (ie health insurance), so graduating to adulthood came as a giant financial shock.

Here are a few of the expenses I’m not too stoked about….

Income tax:

Unfortunately I live in California. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the greatest place in the world. We have income tax, sales tax, property tax, and a tax for farting….okay maybe not the last one. I grew up in Washington state, where there is no such thing as income tax, so making the adjustment to California’s system was not the funnest. Unbeknownst to me, dibs were called on 9.3% of my pay check by the the golden state.

Insurance:

What the heck is this insurance stuff? Do I really have to pay $300 a month for all the different insurances I need? You mean I can’t spend that money on Xbox, Hot Pockets, and Barbies? Is rental, car, health, dental, and vision insurance really necessary? Okay fine. You win. I’ll fork over the darn money, but I’m not happy about it. When I was a kid Ninja I never had to pay for these things. Being an adult sucks.

Random Household Stuff:

Toilet paper, paper towels, soap, sponges, toothpaste, etc. What the heck! These suckers add up quick. There are so many “hidden fees” that come with adulthood I’m starting to feel nauseous. Please hold while I throw up….

….I can’t handle the nickel and dime-ing going on. I know, I’m being a whiner, but really what kid realizes all things things actually cost money? I sure as heck didn’t. I blame Mom Ninja for my naivety.

The list goes on and on. There is no denying that the transition from childhood to adulthood is an expensive one. And there is no denying that transition kind of sucks balls. I want to hear some of the hidden fees that shocked you? Did you have everything taken care of as a kid? Or did you always understand the costs of life?

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33 COMMENTS

  1. For me, it’s been the heat/water bill. I never saw those or had to pay them, and when winter time rolled around, I was like WTF. Those things sucked.

    It also sucks about your income taxes, 9.3% is much higher than the 0 I pay the state.

  2. We also had a ton of animals growing up and I now have a cat and a dog. Holy money pits! Food, litter, shots, medications…it’s all easily $100 a month if they don’t get sick!

    Gas bills suck too. $250 to heat and light my 1500 sq ft house in the winter? Ugh.

  3. Air filters. Especially in Arizona. Out of sight, out of mind… and then BAM the waterline to your A/C is blocked and your A/C breaks and that $20 filter costs you like $180.

    Oh… and stamps. I don’t buy them often but am always shocked by how much they cost.

  4. My mom “reminded” (nagged) us of how much everything cost even though my parents paid for it all, so I wasn’t too surprised by most of it when I grew up.

    BUT, I never really understood how much federal income tax hurt until I was on my own.

    I was also unpleasantly surprised by chores…I was supposed to do them when I lived at home, but I was a crappy kid. I still don’t like them, so my husband and I budget for a biweekly housekeeper (about $100 a month that I gladly spend…we don’t have “habits” like drinking or smoking, but Jacquie is a keeper).

    See Mom, I don’t ever really have to “learn to like it”, so hah! Now, I just have to remember to empty the dishwasher after hubby runs it and do my own laundry when I run out of panties…woot!

  5. My parents and I never had a huge conversation about money – but I’ve always asked questions. So the cost of real life wasn’t really a surprise – painful yes, but not a surprise.

  6. Oh don’t you even start with the whining about your 9.3%. LOL By the time all the taxes and other mandatory deductions come off of my husbands cheque, we’re looking at 21%. TWENTY ONE PERCENT. *gag* Welcome to Canada!

    We do have a wicked healthcare system I guess…but still!!!

      • So then I’m curious (because I have no idea) what the TOTAL taxes taken off paychecks are, in CA…

        • A “moderate” federal tax bracket is 25% — add that to individual state income taxes(here in NJ it’s about 5.5%), plus 7.5% in Social Security taxes, and then 1% in state disability/unemployment tax. Oh, plus any deductions paid through your employer for health insurance. In simple math, that’s 39% of pay gone *poof*.

          Still want to gag over your 21% in paycheck deductions? AND you have managed healthcare!

          • Let’s say he reports $50,000 as his taxable wages. This already is a lower number than his gross, as Social Security and Medicare are not included. Assuming 1 exemption, filing status single, a standard deduction, and no other tax complications, in 2009 he owed $7269 to the feds – an effective tax rate of over 14%.

  7. I had to chuckle a little. I remember setting out on my own after college…..and not much surprised me.

    I think what really choked me up was once we got married and started buying gifts for the family. I was used to my parents, my brother…now I had in-laws! In the beginning it was just buying for my hubby’s parents, and then his brother, then his wife, then the nieces and nephews came along…..Kaching!!!!

    Just wait until you have kids….$$$$!

    • oh yeah, i agree about the kids – multiply all your own expenses by no. of kids + spouse – AAGH!!

  8. I think that’s why most people’s relationships with their parents improve once they are not living together anymore. You finally realize how much they sacrificed for us. And after you have kids of your own, you really have a lot of gratitude.

  9. It just gets worse doesn’t it? Bills, bills bills!

    What I was most surprised about was the cost of car upkeep and gas, the cost of medical bills (dentist, medicine), property/municipal taxes, and household bills (phone, hydro, heat, etc)! Oh and food was another one I learned as a student, wow I sure like food but man is it ever expensive! If I didn’t have to eat, I’d be rich!

  10. Hey Ninja! Don’t think you’re getting out of the stick figures buddy! Thats 2 days in a row! Your Point of Difference is your dodgy stick figure drawings so whatever you do, dont stop doing them!

    • don’t worry linda. I’ll have plenty more cartoons/stick figures to come. I’m wrapping up my business trip in miami so it’s been a little hectic and I haven’t had the time to craft some clever drawings. Thanks for keeping me accountable though. Tomorrow I will put up a custom cartoon 🙂

  11. You haven’t grown up that much bozo because MAKING FUN OF DEAD MEN STILL TOPS YOUR LIST. You and your website SUCK.

    • My website sucks so bad that you still take time out of your day to comment on it? Oh the irony.

      p.s. I didn’t make fun of Michael Jackson’s death, I have more respect then that. I poked fun at his botched plastic surgery, that he got when he was still alive. lighten up dude or at least take your hate speech somewhere else.

      • I figured you were lurking on your own site …. Listen here, o hypocritical bible thumper. Michael Jackson is dead and, yes, you ARE making fun of him whether or not you think allusion counts. You’re making fun of someone who died and you SUCK. In fact, I’m amazed that you finally decided to respond. Just GROW UP.

          • LOL People who would rather take the time to post criticism rather than get off the site (or the computer) crack me up.
            You may suck, but HE is still the one posting on YOUR blog and not the other way around. ROFL so funny.

  12. Cell Phones! I am about to start paying over $100 a month for our cell phone bill… Why do parents even sign up for these things? Thought they were just free phones 🙂

  13. I was laughing today, and a bit sad, at work over the passive aggressive hate mail we get in response to our marketing emails.

    Some people are so miserable with their lives that yelling at an automatically generated email makes them feel better.

    Then I read your rude comment and felt even more sad.

  14. Once I bought a home I was shocked that I had to pay for gas. I knew water wouldn’t be included, like in the apartment, but man……Also, the cost of lawn care. Weekly mowing and leave removal in the fall is one of my most expensive bills. More expensive than gas, electric, water and even fuel for the car.

    So, overall, I guess I was surprised at the cost of home ownership because you always hear people say, ‘If you can afford rent, you can afford to own your own home’. Absolutely not true, I gave up home phone (which I didn’t care about anyway), cable TV (ditto), gym membership–all to be able to pay for added cost of home ownership.

  15. The insurance was difficult to get used to — not really the cost, but figuring out what to get and why and such.

    As far as costs… hmm, I guess savings was sort of new to me. But I’d lived and managed money on my own, so it really was only insurance.

    PS – i am a huge fan of california, despite the taxes.

  16. Toothbrushes!!
    I thought these were free but apparently they cost like $5 each if you want a cool one with a tongue scrubber etc. and dont even get me started on electric toothbrush heads!

  17. When my father passed away his mortgage life insurance paid off the house. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize I’d still be renting the house from the county government. I didn’t know that there was an escrow account that kept property taxes and insurance along with the mortgage. Then we get this surprise bill that only comes around once a year, the sewer bill. I was wondering if this bill was for real because I thought bills came around monthly or even quarterly, not once a year.

    As for home maintenance, the spring on my garage door snapped causing the opener to break costing me $500. Had to replace the water heater costing me $500. Had to fix a leak in the roof costing me $500. Had to fix a leak in the wall where the water softener leaked costing me $1000. Had to replace the AC costing me $3000. Home ownership is expensive. The American dream can be a nightmare.

    Independence is expensive.

  18. Thats why as a single 27 year old, I plan to live in apartments until I have kids.

    Currently the only standard basic bills I have to pay for – well, what I consider basic – is Netflix, Internet and my cell phone.

    My apartment complex is awesome! It even has a very nice gym, a pool and a party room. The only thing I’m responsible for is electric and its like $50 a month!

  19. Cleaning supplies, toiletries, clothes, food, rent… bahhhh! it never ends!

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