Thoughts on price increases???

[scout123]

*then again, if I found an above ground pool for $74, I'd probably get that and save for a few years.

That was a great deal, but that pool bit the dust at the end of last summer. Plus, my 8-year-old never wanted to swim in it since I have a cousin up the street with an inground that we can use whenever we want. Only that got boring too bc my cousin is so worried about lawsuits that she won't let anyone swim in her pool except family. 8-year-olds don't like to swim without friends. Which is why I'm back here pondering my own inground. It's such a hard decision. I'm one of those debt adverse people someone mentioned. But then the person who mentioned that we're only here a certain amount of time is right. I'm leaning toward going ahead. I'm a teacher so I'm home all summer, we need something fun in the yard, right?!

 

[Newdude]

That was a great deal, but that pool bit the dust at the end of last summer.

My condolences. if it helps any, you are my gold standard until somebody finds a complete pool for $72, which, well, I'm not holding my breath for that.

It's such a hard decision.

No doubt. But to paraphrase whoever said it above, if we were psychic we would be playing lotto for a living.

We didn't exactly sink ourselves in the hole the first time. The pool loan was cheaper than the 2nd kid's daycare when she went to kindergarten. We actually 'saved' almost $100 a month and got something WAY cooler for our funds. We sat down as a family (the kids got votes too) when that daycare money was coming off the books and chose if we wanted to start taking vacations or get a pool. It was 4-0 for the pool. And only 3 of them..... wait... I mean....... us...... complained on years 2-7 of the pool loan that we didn't take vacations.

We had a 15 to 20 get togethers a year and made far more laid back memories than some weeks away ever could have. And our close friends wouldn't be in those memories. One year, a close friend family came over on Wed evenings and Sundays. They brought pizzas on Wednesday and I made burgers or something easy on Sunday. It was legit the best summer of my life. It whooped anything from being a kid, when summer 'felt like summer'.

But there is that debt tho.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

I didn't even know you could finance a pool. We met with a few builders to get a baseline for a budget. They told us about the financing options. I told my wife, had I known you could finance a hole in the ground on a signature, I'd have had a pool 5 years earlier! Ours was a shift from a car payment to a pool payment. The pool payment is cheaper. The wife and I have lots of years of earning potential left.

I was kicking myself for losing those years that the kids could have been using it. They were 9 and 11 when it went in. The summer before, I told my wife "we need to figure out how to have a pool by next summer. The kids aren't going to be here forever." That was summer of 2019. Construction started November 2019. Completed end of January 2020. Who coulda predicted the following summer the entire world would be in some state of lockdown. I shoulda bought a lottery ticket then.

--Jeff

 

[Wolfepack88]

My condolences. if it helps any, you are my gold standard until somebody finds a complete pool for $72, which, well, I'm not holding my breath for that.

No doubt. But to paraphrase whoever said it above, if we were psychic we would be playing lotto for a living.

We didn't exactly sink ourselves in the hole the first time. The pool loan was cheaper than the 2nd kid's daycare when she went to kindergarten. We actually 'saved' almost $100 a month and got something WAY cooler for our funds. We sat down as a family (the kids got votes too) when that daycare money was coming off the books and chose if we wanted to start taking vacations or get a pool. It was 4-0 for the pool. And only 3 of them..... wait... I mean....... us...... complained on years 2-7 of the pool loan that we didn't take vacations.

We had a 15 to 20 get togethers a year and made far more laid back memories than some weeks away ever could have. And our close friends wouldn't be in those memories. One year, a close friend family came over on Wed evenings and Sundays. They brought pizzas on Wednesday and I made burgers or something easy on Sunday. It was legit the best summer of my life. It whooped anything from being a kid, when summer 'felt like summer'.

But there is that debt tho.

That's a great story. Kids today will never have what we had, making up games, playing with all the neighbor kids spontaneously, rolling from one game to another. I guess they will have their own memories which will different. Your oasis for them with their friends is awesome. Only one spin on this globe for sure and it's about to get much harder for the next generation for sure, but you also can't take it with you. A balancing act but financial security has to be numero uno first or a host of other problems nobody wants follows.

 

[Waiawa]

As mentioned, it's all about wants and needs. We all want everything and we all need something...our job is to determine which is more important at the time. If you future finances look good for the next 5yrs or so and you want it, go for it, the kids will love it. If your finances don't look good for the next year, you might want to think about it. Even if you take a gamble for the sake of memories...watch out those memories don't turn into nightmares. Usually when finances are lacking, a lot of other things will go down hill.
Something you might want to keep in mind, it's not so much the cost of things going up as it is the value of the Dollar going down. Our dollar is not as strong as it was back in 2020, and the way things look I don't think it'll be getting stronger any time soon. I just past on a new car that I wanted for a weekend toy, but decided that $40k might come in handy in the near future. Maybe in another couple of years, but then again that was just for my own memories and not the kids, which made the decision much easier.
Also looking at how things are happening around the world (supply line etc. China cracking down, and having port issues) may help you to make a educated/calculated choice.
Decisions, decisions, decisions....it's what life is all about.

 

[red-beard]

I put my pool in 15 years ago. It did so much more than just exist as a pool. It became the focal point for the parties, because we doubled our porch.

My neighbor was considering putting in a pool. His daughter is turning 15. He should have put the pool in when she was 3, so she could have enjoyed it all these years.

The funny thing, the pool is finally adding more value to my house than I paid for it...

On the above ground front, one of my friends put in a pool last year. Her husband is VERY handy and they put it in themselves. They used me for helping with the equipment design and where to buy equipment. They spent the entire summer soaking in that pool. But they are also "stay at home" types.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

It did so much more than just exist as a pool. It became the focal point for the parties, because we doubled our porch.

This... It is amazing how much outdoor living space we gained. We added the 14' x 14' cabana off the back of the house to give some shade, and I now use part of the yard that the only reason I ventured into prior was to mow it. We spend much more time outdoors even if we aren't in the pool. Sure we may be watching a movie or a sporting event, which we could do indoors, but there is something about having that space that you can spread out into.

My wife will host PTA planning meetings and other events in the fall/spring specifically because they can meet outside on the porch and enjoy the area while they meet.

--Jeff

 

[kul]

My wife will host PTA planning meetings and other events in the fall/spring specifically because they can meet outside on the porch and enjoy the area while they meet.

Same same! The revamp of an outdoor space lets all the kids play and parents chat! It basically feels like usable square footage gets added to a home.

 

[Bad DNA]

Truth. My home needs a new roof. I knew it was old when I bought it but it was in decent shape for the age, not a single leak, and unlikely to leak given the steep pitch and almost no valleys or other common leakage points. Cut to a few years later and our home insurance dropping us solely because of roof age and having VERY limited options of other carriers due to roof age. If we were just talking cosmetic, I'd be kicking that can further down the road for sure. But since hurricanes are real, and it's affecting my insurance options? Will be going through with it.

Oh, and roof quotes right now? Good for 7 days max. Last roofer told me "prices are going up $750 a week right now. No pressure to make a quick decision, though." Oh, really? Looks a lot different on my end! LOL

Metal roofs are not seeing the same price gouging as asphalt shingle. And they outlive you -- the quality ones.

 

[sacredcow]

Metal roofs are not seeing the same price gouging as asphalt shingle. And they outlive you -- the quality ones.

I had a metal roof at a previous home (installed by previous owners) and had some mixed feelings about it (but mostly good). A bad hailstorm that saw all of my neighbors scrambling to replace their roof? Mine was perfectly fine, and the inspector said until we saw baseball sized hail I had no worries. This house had little attic space, though, so when it rained? Man, was it ever LOUD!! I also had an argument with my insurance about it- They were threatening to drop me because their experts said metal roofs were bad for fires because they cause the flames to spread rapidly, rather than by punching out of the roof. We were able to compromise by me adding more fire protection sensors to my alarm system, though.

It would have been a hassle to get a metal roof where I am now, though. My HOA doesn't ban them, but making ANY change to the exterior of your home requires applications, studies, surveys, pictures, samples, documents, a blood sample, your firstborn child, and possibly a human sacrifice.

 

[Pv2]

I had a metal roof at a previous home (installed by previous owners) and had some mixed feelings about it (but mostly good). A bad hailstorm that saw all of my neighbors scrambling to replace their roof? Mine was perfectly fine, and the inspector said until we saw baseball sized hail I had no worries. This house had little attic space, though, so when it rained? Man, was it ever LOUD!! I also had an argument with my insurance about it- They were threatening to drop me because their experts said metal roofs were bad for fires because they cause the flames to spread rapidly, rather than by punching out of the roof. We were able to compromise by me adding more fire protection sensors to my alarm system, though.

It would have been a hassle to get a metal roof where I am now, though. My HOA doesn't ban them, but making ANY change to the exterior of your home requires applications, studies, surveys, pictures, samples, documents, a blood sample, your firstborn child, and possibly a human sacrifice.

I have a metal roof and I love it for a number of reasons, but also live where rain is rare and cherished, so hearing it is NO problem!