I think my family has often bundled things to a fault. I fix everything, my wife has honeybees and hens. But you are so correct about the tactile things that become memories and experiences. I'm thinking of the example I received from my own parents and all the hand-made pottery, furniture, and art we had growing up. The Victorian farmhouse we remodeled and hauling ridiculous amounts of wood to heat it in Minnesota winters. All of this is RICH, important to a family's development, and makes us inherently stronger and more resilient. You make an excellent point!
It's funny that for all the ease and convenience that we can now experience, all I really long for is a home where, as you put it, we have "think" and "tactile" experiences maintaining our own household.
You make a good case for rebundling on its own merits. I think it might also ultimately be financially profitable.
The net gain to a household from a second income is much smaller than it seems. It's actually the new income MINUS the costs of outsourcing household management tasks (which are non-trivial for a family). Especially since new income is taxed and then used to pay third parties who want profit margin and also must pay taxes.
The breakeven for a second income is probably in the $100K - $120K range. If one person is making less than that, it's probably FINANCIALLY better for them to stay home and tend to kids, food, housework directly.
I did a more detailed look at this on another site - maybe I'll recreate for Substack sometime...
I think my family has often bundled things to a fault. I fix everything, my wife has honeybees and hens. But you are so correct about the tactile things that become memories and experiences. I'm thinking of the example I received from my own parents and all the hand-made pottery, furniture, and art we had growing up. The Victorian farmhouse we remodeled and hauling ridiculous amounts of wood to heat it in Minnesota winters. All of this is RICH, important to a family's development, and makes us inherently stronger and more resilient. You make an excellent point!
Just hearing you describe all that, yes, it IS rich
There's something to be said for an engineer and an artist to get together, have a large family, and teach them well.
Appreciating your Substack so far. Keep up the good work!
All you engineers and artists out there, you now know what to do.
It's funny that for all the ease and convenience that we can now experience, all I really long for is a home where, as you put it, we have "think" and "tactile" experiences maintaining our own household.
You make a good case for rebundling on its own merits. I think it might also ultimately be financially profitable.
The net gain to a household from a second income is much smaller than it seems. It's actually the new income MINUS the costs of outsourcing household management tasks (which are non-trivial for a family). Especially since new income is taxed and then used to pay third parties who want profit margin and also must pay taxes.
The breakeven for a second income is probably in the $100K - $120K range. If one person is making less than that, it's probably FINANCIALLY better for them to stay home and tend to kids, food, housework directly.
I did a more detailed look at this on another site - maybe I'll recreate for Substack sometime...
This is an excellent point.