My first wedding we spent $5000 and out of that the dress was $1000 and that was 1995. Total waste of money since we got divorced in 1998. I then married my first love in 1999. I spent$20 on my dress and we had a justice of the peace come to an outdoor location. Total cost of wedding was $500 and we have been married for 24 years. Take your money and buy a house.
I've heard that there is a correlation between the cost of wedding and the longevity of the relationship. Cheaper weddings tend to feature greater longevity in the relationship!
Got married in my back yard and it probably cost less than $200 in 1988. My parents bought food, we borrowed tables, I made table cloths out of white sheets. And here we are - 35 years later 😊
My spouse and I did the same we had our wedding in the backyard with friends and family and gave them one time use cameras instead of hiring a photographer and for music made a CD using Limewire before there were viruses on it. Had a friend that was a reverend marry us of the mother i-laws and people brought in drinks, snakes and our local bakery made us sheet cakes about 40.00 dollars very affordable and our 19th anniversary is in September.
Another charity scam is when you make a purchase at a store and they ask if you would like to donate to a charity. That donation is made by the company, not you, and the company gets the tax write-off.
When I was 17 working my first retail job, the moment my boss told me I have to ask every single customer to donate I was like "thissss feels wrong?" I looked into it and most of the proceeds just cover the actual campaign of running the donation at all these different retailers. So the money you "donate" ends up being a tax write off for all these businesses, as you said, AND pays to have it pop up on your screen for a few months at checkout. TOTAL SCAM
Good to know. Plus the things they claim to pay for aren't really helpful. Like breast Cancer awareness. If it pays for a mammogram, then what? The woman has now a preexisting condition and if she has no insurance she needs a doctor to tell her the results of the test, more appointments. Not helping at all!!
The exact reason I do not do it. I also have my own list of charities I want to support and do not like that they assume I'll support the one they've picked.
like the McDonald's charity that's allegedly for childrens hospitals, they use their customers to donate to the hospitals to fix the damage their products did in the first place
@@mindlessdillan I also understood that they empty the 'jar' and then start by 'paying themselves' for 'putting the jar', 'time spent on reminding the people to put something in the jar', 'handling the proceeds of the jar', 'administration to count and forward the net leftover'... and often come to the conclusion that there is no net leftover... and yeah, whatever they donate, they still get a taxcut on that...
One of the biggest scam I see is the influencing industry. So many persons are trying to get us to make these purchases when these things just dont work as they say they would.
@angellawalker4948 Probably around 10 or 15 years ago is when I started seeing job listings for _"influencers"_ and immediately my *bs meter* went off. There wasn't a single qualification in the ad except to have followers. Fast forward to the present, and many *corporations* hire and *pay free-lance* $$$$ to these _"influencers"_ who are making bank. The popularity and _perceived importance _ of influencers, I believe, represent both a symptom and a result of the world we now live in.
Seriously, who ARE these people that we should be impressed/influenced by their opinions? I absolutely do not understand it. Additionally, I would never purchase any brand/item solely on their say so. My feelings about influencers is probably best portrayed in American Horror Story "Hotel" - the episode where Liz Taylor and Iris take on a couple of completely arrogant, entitled idiots who finally get what they deserve.
Higher education is a scam. Tooooooo many administrators, outrageously priced textbooks, huge classrooms. Allowing 18 year olds sign a loan is a crime. And parents and peer pressure are terrible influences.
I worked the A**** help desk years ago and could only take a couple months of that. The salary was an insult, we had to clock in and out on the very minute, few bathroom breaks, calls were monitored, quotas for every single thing you can think of, a very limited healthcare policy, and we were expected to make sales!! Unfortunately, I love A**** products because the OS is so straightforward and everything is fast. I bet the corporate culture is even worse now than it ever was. I never had to choose between a jab or my job.
Right to repair is a legal right for owners of devices and equipment to freely modify and repair products such as automobiles, electronics, and farm equipment. This right is framed in opposition to restrictions such as requirements to use only the manufacturer's maintenance services, restrictions on access to tools and components, and software barriers.
I liked what you said about Charities, Nicole. To build off that, don't donate when the cashier asks you to do so when you're at a store. All the money you give usually goes to overhead costs, and the company takes YOUR MONEY to make THEMSELVES look good. Sure you get a little paper taped to the wall with your name on it... but then a few weeks later you read the headline "X Corp Donates $1M to Z Charity" and it makes THEM look good! When in reality it was the consumers...
Was a list some years ago that broke down charities and what they used your dollar for, it's disgusting how little of you donation actually went to help people. If I recall breast cancer charity was the worst offender on that list.
You forgot to mention that those charitable donations are tax deductible. Why in the hell would I want to give your corporation a tax break? Goodwill pisses me off the most. Not only do they get their inventory for free and pay their employees crap money, but now they want poor people (most of their customers) to help them pay their taxes. No, I'll be taking my change, thank you.
Right again on every point. My daughter got married on july 15th. She spent $100 on her wedding dress & got married at the courthouse. Photographer was $250. With court fee the total was under $500. They are buying a house now. Great plan.
When I was about to get married by the Justice of the Peace, we stopped at a florist that morning because I wanted some white flowers. We made the mistake of letting her know we wanted them for the wedding. She gave us a bad attitude because she wanted to charge wedding bouquet prices even though we didn't ask for anything fancy done to them. We wound up getting flowers at the grocery store.
57 yo married, American here. I 100% agree with you on all 5 points. We had a minimalist wedding, plan to be cremated with a small, or possibly no memorial service. I hate corporate culture. I'm here because you pay me, no other reason. Not an Apple user but even the Android phones make it hard to replace the battery. Finally, I despise HoAs and will never, ever be a part of one. One of my neighbors keeps their yard a bit too trashy for my taste, so I built a privacy fence. Problem solved and I didn't have to involve them at all .
I'm 47 and totally agree. I've been married twice. First time was in 2001 and a $400 wedding at a B&B, it was lovely. Second time me and my husband eloped in a beautiful mountainous setting for free (well, we paid $30 for paperwork). Will be cremated and no service.
There you go- don't want to be in an HOA, then don't purchase the house that is part of one! Case closed! It always strikes me as funny when people bitch about HOAs when 1) they purchased a home knowing it was in an HOA, or 2) they don't understand what an HOA is and just think that it's people who are complaining about trivial things and fining you for them. Growing up, I lived in a nice neighborhood that was part of an HOA, and yes, it came with its fun quirks like you couldn't park more than 1 car in your driveway, trash cans had to be removed, lawns manicured, etc. One of the laws was that the home didn't have to be occupied by the owner (as long as they still did the appropriate maintenance and gardening), but there was absolutely NO RENTING. I remember asking my dad about why that was, and he said it's because people don't take care of things that aren't theirs. As I grew up and bought my own houses, those words from pops sure make sense now. I had a house surrounded by renters, and they fucking made that neighborhood miserable. Ended up selling that house at a loss.
I retired this year from an executive position with a large consulting firm. I had a large team and hired lots of people over the years. I told my team many times that your job is your job; your family is your family. Don’t conflate the two. I never referred to our work team as a family and recommend running as fast as you can away from a hiring manager that refers to their company as a family.
although I refer to the people I work with as being like a little family (there are only 6 of us counting the cleaning lady, and we run a tiny public library in a small rural town) We are there for each other, make sure shifts are covered if someone is sick, give each other rides if we need to and share each other joys and losses (they are in the top 10 people I message regularly on FB) - I've been there for 14 years, only the directors been there longer, the the newest person has been there 7. BUT I would think it was weird and off if I applied at a big business and they started talking about how they were all one big family..... Ummm NO!
I quickly learned with my first job at 16 in the 90's, that these companies / business don't care about you and never will. My first job as a grocery store bagger, one of the things you had to do before clocking off was clear the parking lot of carts. As a 16 year old in school, I couldn't work after 10pm. So if it was busy and I couldn't get the carts, I would clock out without doing it. Couldn't tell you how many times they would get mad at me, or think I would stay after to do it. Flat out told them I would be more then happy to report them, to the state labor board.
I will speak a minute for renters. I’m one of the good ones, take care of the property and call landlord if something is broke. Frankly many landlords will drag their feet on fixing stuff unless it’s a water leak and even then they wait. I hold landlords responsible for doing maintenance on their yards(don’t make it part of renters job). And they should Vet their renters. Half your problem is selfish landlords who refuse to take the time to take care of their properties. I’ve been on both sides, renter and owner-and they both have a lot of issues.
About weddings. I gave my daughter and son in law a money gift where they went and bought a home on 60 acres of land. Till this day they are forever grateful.
When you said the wedding industry I was really hoping you would mention the funeral industry and you did not disappoint. You forgot the baby industry though. They have us by the balls from cradle to grave.
I do like hearing that the current generation is checking out of the corporate culture. Come in at eight, leave at five on the dot, take exactly an hour for lunch. It's lovely.
You're probably the smartest woman on TH-cam. I joined as a subscriber when you had around 5000 of them, and the growth in your channel is not a surprise.
My HOA in my old condo complex charged $450 a month. My mortgage was half that. The balconies were literally rotting off and the place had no landscaping, but I got written up for leaving a bag of potting mix pot on my patio overnight. Absolute madness.
You've nailed corporate culture. Known this for years (in my 60s). Worst I ever saw was when I was working a second job at a stop-and-rob, also known as a convenience store. The district manager would come in all excited (not faking excitement) about some new layout to boost sales for the store. Couldn't wait until I could quit that job. You also nailed wedding/funeral industry. We spent about $150 on our wedding, best wedding you could have, and no debt. Married 23 yrs and still happy. Charities are another scam for the most part - like sending you a blanket or letterhead, address labels, etc. Send all the money possible to the cause - I don't need a blanket etc. And don't get me started on "Societies" that spend 80-90% of donations on admin and overhead - that's true B.S.! Rad Cross, SPCA, Breast Cancer, MS society (my wife has MS - we found them to be an utterly useless group), and many others.
I am really suspicious about the Susan G Komen breast cancer foundation. They are everywhere and get so much attention. Where is money really going to? Prob their pockets and torturing animals. That is not to say breast cancer awareness isn't important. However, more women die from heart disease. We don't hear about it nearly enough.
As breast cancer person I totally agree. They were no help to me despite all their ads. I have to regularly contact their corporate office to get me off their email notices. I unsubcribe regularly but it never lasts more than few weeks hence the call to corporate, they always promise I'm off lists but they always start sending again after few months. The letters are incredibly "begging" that offends me. I never signed up for anything but believe the cancer agency signed me up. Could not get any assistance and almost lost my home as was spending all my $ travelling for treatment 4 hours away with no public transport available. I have no sympathy as all the various agencies fundraising seems to go to all the galas that the "elite" attend. I am so disgusted with them.
Totally agree with everything you said, especially the wedding/funeral extortionate costs. A couple of things I would add to your list are gender reveal parties - the fact that couples spend hundreds, or even a few thousand on elaborate ways, just to find out what sex their baby is going to be. Ridiculous in my opinion. Another one I’ve never heard of until recently is a “Halfway to one” party. Basically, a big party with family, friends, balloons, cake etc for a 6 month old baby! I thought it was a joke at first but a quick search online showed me that it’s big business.
Good grief! And I was a bit astounded when told by a friend of my 'daughter-in-law' ( they are not actually married) that I SHOULD have organised a baby shower for her but that it was OK because she ( the friend) was doing it for my'DIL' anyway but if I wanted I could come along!! However it did prove a bit useful - it was only last year that my 'DIL' and I used up the baby lotion that was gifted ( my beautiful granddaughter is now 7!). Btw my 'DIL' and I get on very well and she wasn't expecting or even wanting a baby shower!
I despise HOA'S. They are not as bad as Condo Assosciations but..they are like the mafia for sure. I live in a townhouse, there is a community pool, tennis court, tot lot and many "common areas" that are grassy green spaces unbuilt on, and community parking areas. If there were no HOA (The Board members are all owners), who/ how would upkeep of all those things happen? Like: Lawn and tree maintenance, pool service, repave parking lots and repaint buildings, the list is much more but you get the point. As much as I hate being in one, If we were to legally dissolve it, who does all that? The structure of an assosciation carries luability and accountability too. Has anyone in this tgread ever tried to eliminate an Assosciation? If so, how did it turn out?
The halfway-to-one party sounds nice as a cute way to couch friends coming over and checking in on the new parents’ health, how they’re keeping up with the challenges of a new baby. But throwing a huge party is absurd and more work for the parents!
The audacity of corporations to refer to their employees as associates, partners and any other kind of name but employee. And these employees are paid minimum wage too. If they were true associates or partners, I don't think they would be paid minimum wage and be treated like shit.
I remember a couple spent 37 thousand dollars on a wedding in New Orleans, all expenditures were on a credit card. They broke up `1.5 years later. they still have the debt
My sister had an at home wedding with everyone bringing a dish. All they paid for was the cake and wedding dress, so all in all less than $500. The wedding was so homey and charming. They didn't even make it to the 2 year mark. Cheap weddings do not equal happy marriage.
You are SO right about the corporate culture. Sadly, I've been a part of it for many years. Work HARDER, do MORE with LESS!!! Lay off dedicated people who have 20+ years of service and just add their duties to the backs of already overworked and over stressed people. They call it a "duty expansion" not a promotion... so no pay increase.
You are absolutely Correct about corporate retail. I worked grocery store depts for 22 years. Very poorly paid, extremely overworked+ understaffed. I noticed OSHA violations, so mgmt wanted me Gone. Tried to write me up for too many vegetables on a sandwich. I quit on the spot+ walked out. Around 8 people quit in a few weeks. My life is So Much Better now!!
I hate HOAs that restrict the number of dogs someone can have. Apparently it's to stop puppy mills. But to tell someone they can't get a second rescue dog is cruel.
If you are a homeowner in an HOA you have the right to put to a vote any changes you want made to the CC&Rs and By-Laws of the contract. Do not let them railroad you if you feel you are in the right. Unfortunately, these days everything has to be turned into a fight because 'reasonable' has left the building.
@@BS-detector You can put anything to a vote and you will lose. You need 67% for a change in the By-laws in my HOA. But many owners are absentee and never vote. We have to nag people to at least submit a proxy in order to achieve a quorum to hold a meeting! And you think your issue is going to get the super majority needed to pass? It will never happen.
I have managed to not buy Apple, and never buy in an HOA. lol. I did come home one day to find a city inspector leaning over my backyard fence, taking pictures of furniture under my covered porch. He told me that indoor furniture was not allowed outside. I told him it was for the dogs, he was tresspassing, and he should leave before I let them out. I have not seen him since. I have a truck, so I still pick up furniture along the road if it is better that what the dogs currently have.
Omg weddings yes. I worked in a major hotel chain many years ago where we catered to the wealthy weddings. Back then, I mean decades ago, the bride's family would easily shed out 30-40g's in one day. I cannot imagine today but even a few grand is too much. Wedding gowns that you need to take bank loans out for. Under the illusion you will someday pass the gown on is a delusion. By the time the kids are in a position to get married, the gown is already old and outdated. A wedding is nothing more than a party where one person is the center of attention for a few hours, a big white cake and cash that doesn't equal anything close to what was spent. I have said it since I was a little girl, it's the biggest waste of money and girls are led to believe that it's the most important day of their life. In actuality, it's what comes after that day of partying that is the most important.
I used to work in an auto insurance call center and you'd get all kinds of people who prioritized stupid crap over auto insurance. I'll never forget the one guy who called in and said he couldn't pay his insurance because he had a $30K wedding coming up. I guess when the officer stops you and asks to see your proof of insurance, tell them you had your wedding. I'm sure they'll just let you go. /s
It is important though, very, just not the way corporate world has Cheapened it and made it tacky. Women who think they have style can’t muster up their own ideas and how to make it personal and beautiful to both of them… Who you are with for the rest of your life is important. Women just copy the shit that they are force fed through trends, celebs, and “fashion”. Nobody is doing anything that is original it’s always the same wak ass shit .
Thats why we eloped for our marriage, didnt tell anyone so no drama, and did not even buy a wedding dress I used a nice dress I already had. After 10 years we still say that was the absolute best decision we ever made!
Nicole, I’m a 67-year-old ex-corporate refugee (whatever you want to call), nominally retired but i never did because i stopped working to take care of my father for 12 years after my father died. You are smart because you cut right through the bs that bamboozles others. I am a “highly educated” chemical engineer and i don’t recommend that career to anyone. Anything you do that means you’re working in a polluted city with a huge chemical factory - which kept going in a non-union state with a reasonably smart blue-collar population looking for a good salary (for the area) and benefits - well, you are doomed to ridiculous corporate culture. All of us got in this type of career because we enjoyed chemistry and math in high school and got great grades. Plus, it was an ego boost because it was acknowledged as the most difficult major. When you start working, NONE of that matters. You are a bean controlled by bean counters, ultimately expendable even when theoretically you’re not. My brilliant mechanical engineer friend was chosen to be the ‘valve, pump, and flange” expert after the old guy retired and taught her the ropes. No chemical manufacturer can survive without such an engineer. But the company cut her job (she was developing seniority, a bigger salary, lots of vacation weeks, and with age she was going to start costing them medical expenses as the company was “self-insured”. Of course, she and all my other engineer friends who were dumped in early 2009 went into major depressions. Well - the company had already contracted out a lot of its maintenance functions to a smaller company and my friend ended up having to work for them so she could keep living in this area where she had built her dream house. Of course, she was at square one with this new company - much lower salary, down from five weeks to two weeks of vacation, and many fewer benefits. In the 1990’s i was asked, as one of the more experienced (yet low-paid and promoted only once) engineers to give a speech to a local high school about engineering careers. They couldn’t stop me once i had the podium, and i told those kids the truth that no other adult had the cojones or desire to tell them. Don’t do it. Engineers in the U.S. are thought of under the British system, which sees them as glorified mechanics with grease under their fingernails - not the French system, which had always thought of engineers as highly intelligent mathematical types like their own wonderful scientists throughout history. Sorry for this long comment, which might not be relevant any more. But i feel morally compelled to say the truth they keep hidden from you so they can exploit you.
Bruh! I work in the U.S. Navy and you pretty much explained it within the first 5 minutes. There are people that I work with that breath, eat, live and sh*t Navy.
I worked retail for a big box tech store for 3 years and the amount of mind control, bootlicker mentality,intellectuality dishonest culture surrounding this hell hole gave me a literal stroke while on the clock. I was so convinced something was wrong with ME because I couldn’t conform or adapt to it at all. And so began my frugal journey to never have to endure these things ever again lol I feel so validated by your rants!
"We are not even close to done yet". Sadly, that is true. Everyday a world full of people wake up and say "how can I get more money and do even less to earn it". As for corporate culture, yup. I've spent a career as a software developer. And you repeatedly see the same pattern, young company has good ideas and treats people well and work is a blast because you have autonomy. Then the company grows and either gets bought by a corp or becomes a corp and things go downhill. That's a signal it's time to find another young company and start the cycle over. On my 4th and final cycle now. Company is starting to fossilize but I don't care because I'm a few months away from retirement.
When I worked in a corporate environment the management had a "rule" that employees could not discuss their salaries amongst each other and this was obviously because of the pay inequities. I was always amazed at how seriously my co-workers took this. To me, the reason was obvious and I felt management had no right to control my private conversations, but some others were so brainwashed they felt they were being "disloyal" by breaking this rule.
That is sadly still a rule and practice today, peers get really awkward and evasive if that topic is brought up...as if they're scared, but truth be told there is always someone waiting to report people in the office so that probably contributes to that hesitation, it's still ridiculous.
Well it's official. You're my new best friend. You are THE first person ever who thinks exactly what I think about corporate culture. Praise God I am not alone!
My best friend works as a cook. He gets offended anytime I mention eating at a similar restaurant. It's kind of sweet that he cares so much, but it's also kind of sad. If I were to eat where he works, he wouldn't see a penny from my purchase. I'd only be making his employer richer. I've never defended an employer I worked for, and they always took advantage of me and underpaid me to boot. It is a transactional relationship, they aren't family. The moment they don't need you or can replace you with someone cheaper, they will.
Wow, this was so satisfying to watch. I have to agree with everything this lady said. I so wish more people could see through the scams/scammers and not be afraid to call them out like this woman. People have been brainwashed and taught not to rock the boat for too long...go along to get along culture.
The CEO of ASPCA makes more than $800,000. Learning that both broke my heart and infuriated me! That's when I did what I should have done in the first place: donate locally, whether monetarily or some other way. I like that my local shelter maintains a list of stuff they need, so we can actually buy the item (s) and deliver in person or have it shipped to them.
ASPCA offers so little help to overwhelmed shelters, and spends Most of it's $ on advertising and apparently salaries. It's always local volunteers actually helping the most animals... I was buying low-cost s/n certificates for giveaways, when I realized that our shelter stretches $ farthest on their own. Who needs looong, pitiful commercials, when our locals are hustling the most?
ALL charities are eventually a scam. ALL. They may not all start out that way, but they all end up that way. Imagine the balls on someone stealing 800K wanting people making 40K to donate to maintain their jet setting lifestyle. Disgusting.
The main benefit of the HOA in the neighborhood I lived in was the pool. It was a very nice pool, and the dues were only $41 a month. But I agree with you, in most cases the fees are crazy high for seemingly not much benefit. They also sent us a letter one time that we needed to put down mulch in our yard. Well, we lived on a huge hill, and it was hard to find any landscaper that would even do it, not to mention the expense of it. So I definitely wanted to write back and tell them to shove it. What’s really upsetting is that if you read the fine print, they are legally allowed to put a lien on your house if you don’t do what they tell you. It’s screwed up.
As a homeowner in an HOA you own an equal share of the rights to change, negotiate or request special accommodations for unusual property or circumstances regarding your property and they must take your input into consideration before taking any kind of action against you. You can rally your neighbors, consult with a lawyer, create a message board, put things to a vote...you have more power than you realize so I encourage you to take the initiative for fairness.
Living peacefully is one thing, being forced to spend thousands of dollars on something unnecessary under the threat of losing your home is quite another. Not knowing the details of your particular circumstances, all I'm saying is don't let an HOA bully you or anyone else if your property has a different shape, slope, or feature than the rest. Most people think they're under some kind of unalterable authority when it comes to HOAs and that's simply not the law. I'd like to see them either abolished or restricted to the common areas only. Stealing someone's house over a minor landscaping issue is over the top BS in this country, yet it happens. John Oliver did a segment on it last spring...spot on. @@annahowland6346
@@BS-detector I see the point you are making. My point is more a matter of principle. If I own the mortgage on my property, even the idea that I have to read all of the fine print and constantly watch my back to keep from being screwed because of the scam that is an HOA is so ludicrous. It should be illegal for people to be intimidated like that. It shouldn’t be a matter of some people being more savvy and others getting scammed. HOAs absolutely should be abolished, or at least have regulating laws put in place.
Everything you said about corporate culture is so true. You took the words right out of my mouth! I hate everything about it; the fake niceness between people, the whole we-are-a-family nonsense, the forced activities you have to attend after the hours…That one colleague or manager that lives for his/ her job, because his/her personal life is boring and wants us all to invest more in our job( are you kidding me?),…well I am here for that sweet check at the end of the month and that it. Period.😂😅
Omg, this is so true! No one really wants to be at work and yet pretend we're all family. I say NO to the after work get togethers and hate the office parties were expected to attend. Our monthly goal for bonuses has increased to the point we can never reach them and yet we're a "family" so just keep working harder to make the boss his millions. My goal is to get the heck out at the end of this year!
I think you would enjoy the film "The Corporation." It basically analyzes corporations as though they were a person and the filmmakers realized corporations are psychopaths.
I think you can appellate my wedding. I rode a Harley Davidson behind my husband to be to a pull off the road Lookout that overlooked the Puget Sound. I wore Jeans that i already owned. A leather jacket that i already owned. And I did spend a few bucks on a top. We asked anybody with a Motorcycle to ride up with us and everybody else met us there. A friend of ours had gotten an internet license so he could marry someone else. So he did it for free. I wrote my wedding vows. It was really nice. Then everybody that wanted to came back to our house and we had a Barbecue that was BYOB. So we had a free wedding and I’m not sorry at all. I think it was beyond smart.
It’s nice to hear someone else echo how I’ve thought and felt about stuff like this. It’s kind of excruciating when you point out these things but you’re made to feel like you’re crazy. Especially when others ask your opinion. It’s like they are looking for you to say “Oh yeah, that’s great!”, when really you’re thinking “these people are nuts!”
Nicole`s experience with the morning gatherings at her retail job reminded me of the ones I tolerated at mine some 24 years ago. This was at B and Q in England - a DIY and hardware store like Home Depot. At around 9am there would be gatherings of colleagues and the managers with their self congratulatory bollocks and how great the sales figures were. Customers would walk past look at the crowd with "WTF?" expressions on their faces and they were probably wondering why they weren't assisting them. I used to go to them for the first few weeks just to keep the managers as sweet as possible but after that I couldn't be arsed to carry on with it. It was so cringey.
Don’t say the word wedding when getting a hall or hair done You should have seen the hairdresser after doing my hair and I told her I’m getting married today
I agree with everything you say. I would never buy any real estate with an HOA. The best of them have a tendency to mismanage the money and then have "special assessments" where they require home owners to shell out thousands of dollars to do major repairs because they didn't save any money for it. The worst of them embezzle the money or hire their relatives to provide maintenance at outrageous prices. On top of that, all of them hire management companies who make most of their money in extra fees they charge residents for "non compliance" with their bylaws (which they write themselves).
I don't want to be in an HOA but it's impossible to not be in one if you live in a condo. Fortunately my HOA isn't bad, but unless I want to own a single family home and all the maintenance that goes with it, I'm stuck,
@@Christine-zk6hkI’m with you! I don’t currently live in a condo but am definitely interested in one as an option eventually but I don’t really want to be with an HOA. I’d rather just pay a basic maintenance fee for things like lawn care or other basic repairs or services but without being told what I can do with my own home.
My sister lives in an HOA. They kind of remind me of a sorority or fraternity. You essentially buy access to a social life with neighbors you don't really trust (hence the arbitrary rules) I could never live in one that's for sure.
Once again, you nailed it with this video! I wish there was a “love” button instead of just a like button. All of these Scam Videos that you make are just spot on and I wish that there was a way to broadcast them to everyone so that society would just wake the hell up. This is why I look forward to the next video every Sunday. You are one of the most refreshing human beings I know. You just “get it”, Nicole. You are a tiny island of human sanity, in a world that has just gone insane. Huge fan. Thank you.
i worked for one of the biggest companies in the uk for 40 years and i spent years dodging BS.and over time the BS increased to the point where i forgot why they were paying me.because i managed to get my finances in place i switched off because it gets scary.
You're right about weddings! Imagine spending a years salary on a party when you're trying to start a life with somebody, and should be saving for a house, travel, kids or ANYTHING else 😂
Pro tip: I donated my body to the local medical school to be used for educational/scientific purposes. My family will have zero funeral or cremation expenses.
When John and I got married in 2015, we were both older, so we opted for a very small wedding ceremony at our house. A Buddhist priest performed the ceremony. Our guests/ My parent, his grandmother, and his aunt were our only guests. John's friend donated about two hours of his time for some photos before, during, and after the ceremony. My parents took everyone to lunch. For dinner, John and I went to a now-defunct vegan restaurant that was very special to us. Oh... Have you already done the engagement ring scam? Because that three months salary rule is a huge scam!!
I find shoestring weddings charming. It just takes some creative thought. Marriage is expensive anyway. The debt of a wedding shouldn't add on to the stresses a new marriage goes through.
One man I talked to about HOA things , we were talking about water rates, had no idea what his water cost quarterly because it was included in his HOA fee. Supposedly they cover snow removal, trash removal, and those types of things. The property management companies don't always use the money as it is supposed to be used. Big Surprise, right.
Only charity I give to is my family. Never give to cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc. when I’m asked at the grocery store to donate a dollar for xyz I say. Absolutely not.
Give and donate locally to charities you see making a difference in your communities! Whether you choose an Android or an iPhone, the scam part is the pressure to upgrade every 1-2 years. Most phones/tablets have lasted me about 5 years and I upgrade out of necessity rather than the pressure to have the "latest and greatest". The wedding industry is definitely a scam- a contest to show off. There are so many better (and more affordable) ways to celebrate.
I'm still salty that, after five years with my MS Lumia - which still functions well in terms of hardware - I had to change my phone because Microsoft decided to stop updating the phone's software and I couldn't use more than 2/3 of the apps any more.
I remember as a young kid, finding out that you could get married without having an actual wedding, & it was a revelation. Being a kid, since that's what everyone around me did I thought it was 'required'. The thought of wearing a dress & being stared at made me uncomfortable, & don't get me started with the garter belt toss. Your spouse reaching under your dress, pulling off essentially an undergarment, with your family watching, & then throwing it at a bunch of dudes in rented tuxedos is horrifying to me, but I digress
I want self-employment more than anything. I absolutely hate working for other people. I get frustrated knowing I'm just at the beginning, and even though I'm working hard to develop my talents, I have no idea how long it is going to take me to reach my goal. Thanks for the content Nicole.
Reminds me of where i used to work at that horrible company called Walmart! We were called employees, but then they decided to refer to us as Walmart associates! They thought it was great, but I said no! I would remain called an employee. Never would i ever want to be 'associated' with Walmart!
You are so on point Nicole. I'm often disappointed about how the masses are quite gullible. Not to mention the wreckless drivers.....What is going on out there? Entitlement, me me me culture, and a need to keep up with the Joneses mentality.
Most of these scams exist because we are sheep and scammers play off of that. That's why education standards are falling, film and literature are being mass-marketized, and no one really complains. It's time for massive boycotts of all these goods and services but consumers have been too dumbed down to react.
You got the “corporate culture” bs down! I couldn’t wait to retire to get the hell out! We had a formalized REQUIRED computer study all around “the greater good”. It was such a pile of crap. I recognized the evil of NGOs even before that moniker came on the scene.
Great video, as always, and cheers for sticking it to corporations and charities! I just have a minor quibble about terminology: I don't think NIMBY refers to busybody neighbors. The way I've always heard it used (and I've been aware of the acronym since at least the late 80s), it refers to a situation where a project is proposed that is supposed to benefit the public (such as a transit line or affordable housing), and people in a given area claim not to oppose the project, but they want it somewhere else. Anywhere else. Which is a major reason it takes forever to build anything in North America.
I remember I was buying a piece of white natural silk for fabric painting and all fabrics in the store were untagged; and then a sale clerk asked me if this is for a wedding. Then it looked as a very weird question to me, but now I understand why.
One of favorite weddings was in Heartland a movie about homesteading Wyoming in the 1800s. Everyone brought a dish…the long tables were covered with quilts and the bride almost forgot to take off her apron.
There’s also elite universities. I swear to God this is true: i went to a fancy-pants dinner because it was helping my friend’s daughter who had a classical music group. I knew no one else at my table and was ignored by all the suits around me. Finally someone asked me what I did, and i said I’d been a chemical engineer. They asked me where I’d gone to school. I said “Stanford” because that was my last engineering education, three years in grad school. All of a sudden i was the belle of the ball. Getting business cards, guys eager to introduce me to their friends who ran prestigious local companies and schools - practically job offers - whereas, five minutes before, i was a nothing.
I've been at the same company for 22 years. I've played the game and acted interested in all their BS and bootlicking. It's seriously taken a toll on my mental well being. Thankfully I got my last promotion and am only 2.5 years from retirement so I don't have to kiss butt any more. I say thankfully because our new VP has been micromanaging and forcing people back into the office just so he can keep his boot on everyones' necks and stress us all out. At least I have that light at the end of the tunnel.
HOAs have a lot of drawbacks, but one of the benefits is limiting the people coming into the community (reduced theft and other crimes) and limiting what your neighbor can store outside their house, i.e. broken down cars, etc. So it is partly security and partly aesthetics.
At this point the white people aren’t even going to be able to afford to live in a condo with an HOA if that’s what you mean. So bad in Florida. I don’t know how anybody’s children will be able to survive what this country is dishing out to them.🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼@@ruthmaier755
Rarely the case, more about har a ssing regular folks. Increases costs with admin fees, etc. Encourages fi nes to pay for such fees. Increases opportunities for wro ng doing on part of bo ard. How many la w s uits? which limits ability to sell. how much stress at home?
I owned a townhouse in Surrey, BC and we had a HOA. Rules were reasonable aand so were the fees. It was run by owners elected to the HOA annually, and all funds received and spent were available to the owners monthly. We had a rule about not putting garbage out the night before collection that was kind of annoying, but once i did, and the next morning i found my garbage can had been ransacked by racoons and my garbage was everywhere. Lesson learned.
I have one - landlords aka scumlords dividing houses into millions of rooms and renting each for a bajillion dollars. Also, renting out sheds for the same price as an apartment (might not be the case in Canada, but it is absolute hell here in Sydney)
I served on a small community hoa board for years. For me it was mostly keeping the common areas mowed and without weeds, [ finding a lawn service that was reasonably priced and did good work was a real challenge] keeping the kids playground equipment in the small park maintained and safe, keeping the drainage area clear to prevent flooding and so on. We were all volunteers from the community. Folks loved to complain about the fees and things not being done to their satisfaction, but it was very rare that anyone would agree to help out and find alternatives and collect bids to lower costs or improve results. I know there are some obnoxious HOAs... but there are also folks giving up their evenings and weekends to keep things going.
You are spot on! I agree with everything you say. I also wish I live in Canada where the government takes care of it's people. Here in the U.S. it's all about money and greed!!!
Thanks for your comments about even more scams. We have an HOA in the neighborhood we live in in Boise, Idaho. It’s overseen by volunteers who live in the neighborhood. Because the neighborhood has only a small common area to tend to its dues are only about $6 a month. From what I can see, almost all the neighborhood follow the reasonable rules that were set up 30 years ago.
My current pet peeve is we are told higher wages in the fast-food industry are forcing franchisees to raise their prices, while ignoring the fact that the corporate overlords of these businesses are reaping enormous profits right off the top without sharing the increased expenses. WallStreet is the root of our woes.
I work in corporate, but we have none of those culture. We work from home (anywhere really), have flexible work hours. I haven't worked 40 hrs a week in the last 3 yrs. We have PTO but honestly, the company doesn't count it. As long as all high priority work is done, you're free to take time off. No meetings (at all!). Communication is through email or Slack. As an introvert mom of two, this is my dream work set up.
Our neighborhood has ~250 single family homes. Gated. Private roads, acres of common area, community dock. HOA has to pave the roads, maintain the dock, mow the common areas, water the common grass, service the gate & callbox.
Since you wanted to know if there was anything good about an HOA, some of them do provide good things like outside maintenance mowing your lawn, etc. in the front, you’re responsible for the back, swimming pool, a clubhouse, gym, a person I know lives in one that actually has a sports bar. Some are just full of power-hungry figureheads that do nothing but harass homeowners because you moved a plant on your porch or your garbage can was out too long because you were at work but they help keep the neighborhood looking nice. Frankly I don’t want a next-door neighbor that has 10 cars on their front lawn that they’re working on constantly or a next-door neighbor that decides they’re going to tear their house down and put in a pig farm, OK that couldn’t happen because of zoning regulations, but still darn close, we already have neighbors that have chickens.
The HOA I have here is 300.00 a year, so it's not that bad, but it's not worth the hassle. It covers very little lawn care around the entrance and the pool and pool area. The one pool is way to small for the neighborhood. ( and it was closed most of the year because it was leaking and they couldn't find the leak ) Almost 300 homes so close to 1200 people living here. ( 300 by 4 people per house= 1200, give or take) They fine you for anything, mailbox isn't level/paint is chipped, grass needs to be cut, lawn needs to be edged better, can't have this color can, 't have that color. I have been fined because the neighbors windows are reflecting the sun against my siding, acting like a magnifing glass and it has warped and melted. I was over 4000.00 in fines at one point because of this. Problem is if I get this fixed, it will do it again after a few years and here we go again. Fixing the whole house's siding a few years ago with the same siding would be almost 30,000.00, for siding that it won't melt almost 50,000.00. Today I bet it's even more.
So sad! Sorry to hear. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 I live in Florida and my HOA fee just went up to a whopping $628 per month so I think I am going to have to pray for me too.🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼@@paultomaszewski1964
Here is another idea for a scam topic!! Salaried / exempt status employees in the US. You get paid for 40 hours but end up having to work 60 or more because they've given you so much to do. So many hours of "volunteer" time and not even a simple "thank you".
HOAs are beneficial to DEVELOPERS and local government because it's easier, faster to get approval to develop when the city doesn't have to maintain the infrastructure they normally would. And the city still gets to collect the property taxes.
Can you go more into the scammy funeral industry? I feel like that deserves its own number. I've worked at 3 nonprofits for most of my career and you are absolutely right. You have the ginormous nonprofits that waste money on embroidered sweaters and then there are the smaller nonprofits where they're trying to do too much with the few staff they have. In the smaller ones, the staff are underpaid and overworked, there is waste because the few staff don't have the time to do basic things like inventory, and a general lack of planning and efficiency. I have worked at an "educational nonprofit" that was actually a religious organization and the nonprofit a tax shelter for the religious leader. In the U.S. there isn't much oversight into nonprofits, so they can get away with much more abuse and fraud than typical corporations. The nonprofit I'm currently at is legit, but it's small and lacks organization which leads to accidental waste, but that's why I'm here, to whip it into shape!
I worked my whole life as a midwife in the nhs in uk . I loved my job because here in England midwives used to have professional autonomy and we delivered all the babies that were delivered naturally. We had caseloads and took full responsibility for all the antenatal and post natal care and the safe delivery of the infants in our area. The women developed strong bonds with us and were empowered to be in charge of their care . When I retired I had a letter from my boss telling me that my kit would be checked in on a certain day at a certain time in case I had misappropriated any pieces of equipment. There was not a single thank you for any of my work. I realised then that work is work and family is family
My first wedding we spent $5000 and out of that the dress was $1000 and that was 1995. Total waste of money since we got divorced in 1998. I then married my first love in 1999. I spent$20 on my dress and we had a justice of the peace come to an outdoor location. Total cost of wedding was $500 and we have been married for 24 years. Take your money and buy a house.
Hey! At least it was only $5k and not $50k 🤷🏼♀️
I've heard that there is a correlation between the cost of wedding and the longevity of the relationship. Cheaper weddings tend to feature greater longevity in the relationship!
@melissalee-so you married someone you didn’t love? Are you at all surprised that it didn’t last?
That is exactly what my husband and I did - get a Justice of the Peace. So much cheaper, and all you need are a couple of witnesses.
"Waste of money" is always hind sight...
Got married in my back yard and it probably cost less than $200 in 1988. My parents bought food, we borrowed tables, I made table cloths out of white sheets. And here we are - 35 years later 😊
Same, we got married in my parents' backyard in 1991, and many people helped us out. It worked!
That’s brilliant!
We had a $300 wedding with 6 guests in our back yard in 2020. COVID was a great excuse to keep it small and cheap.
Congratulations on 35 years
My spouse and I did the same we had our wedding in the backyard with friends and family and gave them one time use cameras instead of hiring a photographer and for music made a CD using Limewire before there were viruses on it. Had a friend that was a reverend marry us of the mother i-laws and people brought in drinks, snakes and our local bakery made us sheet cakes about 40.00 dollars very affordable and our 19th anniversary is in September.
Another charity scam is when you make a purchase at a store and they ask if you would like to donate to a charity. That donation is made by the company, not you, and the company gets the tax write-off.
When I was 17 working my first retail job, the moment my boss told me I have to ask every single customer to donate I was like "thissss feels wrong?"
I looked into it and most of the proceeds just cover the actual campaign of running the donation at all these different retailers. So the money you "donate" ends up being a tax write off for all these businesses, as you said, AND pays to have it pop up on your screen for a few months at checkout.
TOTAL SCAM
Good to know. Plus the things they claim to pay for aren't really helpful.
Like breast Cancer awareness. If it pays for a mammogram, then what? The woman has now a preexisting condition and if she has no insurance she needs a doctor to tell her the results of the test, more appointments. Not helping at all!!
The exact reason I do not do it. I also have my own list of charities I want to support and do not like that they assume I'll support the one they've picked.
like the McDonald's charity that's allegedly for childrens hospitals, they use their customers to donate to the hospitals to fix the damage their products did in the first place
@@mindlessdillan I also understood that they empty the 'jar' and then start by 'paying themselves' for 'putting the jar', 'time spent on reminding the people to put something in the jar', 'handling the proceeds of the jar', 'administration to count and forward the net leftover'... and often come to the conclusion that there is no net leftover... and yeah, whatever they donate, they still get a taxcut on that...
One of the biggest scam I see is the influencing industry. So many persons are trying to get us to make these purchases when these things just dont work as they say they would.
@angellawalker4948 Probably around 10 or 15 years ago is when I started seeing job listings for _"influencers"_ and immediately my *bs meter* went off. There wasn't a single qualification in the ad except to have followers. Fast forward to the present, and many *corporations* hire and *pay free-lance* $$$$ to these _"influencers"_ who are making bank.
The popularity and _perceived importance _ of influencers, I believe, represent both a symptom and a result of the world we now live in.
I was thinking that too. Would love her take on influencers who do these must buy things off Amazon and all.
Seriously, who ARE these people that we should be impressed/influenced by their opinions? I absolutely do not understand it. Additionally, I would never purchase any brand/item solely on their say so. My feelings about influencers is probably best portrayed in American Horror Story "Hotel" - the episode where Liz Taylor and Iris take on a couple of completely arrogant, entitled idiots who finally get what they deserve.
Yes! On Utube!
Just like the creator of this video :)
Higher education is a scam. Tooooooo many administrators, outrageously priced textbooks, huge classrooms. Allowing 18 year olds sign a loan is a crime. And parents and peer pressure are terrible influences.
That rubbish starts in high school. Oftentimes, guidance counselors sell college and Uni under the guise of you won't amount to much without college.
Nowadays we have so many quality TH-cam tutorials, many way better than campus lectures.
As a “Genius” technician at an apple retail location, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you stated. Also, working there feels like a cult
Apple is a cult
Is it like the south park episode? Lol
I worked the A**** help desk years ago and could only take a couple months of that. The salary was an insult, we had to clock in and out on the very minute, few bathroom breaks, calls were monitored, quotas for every single thing you can think of, a very limited healthcare policy, and we were expected to make sales!! Unfortunately, I love A**** products because the OS is so straightforward and everything is fast. I bet the corporate culture is even worse now than it ever was. I never had to choose between a jab or my job.
It is so true corporate culture is nauseating to watch and live through. Complete eye roller here!
LinkedIn makes me 🤮
@@AccordingtoNicole Research "Right to repair" in the USA. Another scam. Seems John Deere is leading the charge in it. Thanks
Right to repair is a legal right for owners of devices and equipment to freely modify and repair products such as automobiles, electronics, and farm equipment. This right is framed in opposition to restrictions such as requirements to use only the manufacturer's maintenance services, restrictions on access to tools and components, and software barriers.
I never towed the company line. Eye roller here too!😂
@@MichelleHenleyJohnson Love it, Seems Brown nosing is alive and well.
I liked what you said about Charities, Nicole. To build off that, don't donate when the cashier asks you to do so when you're at a store. All the money you give usually goes to overhead costs, and the company takes YOUR MONEY to make THEMSELVES look good. Sure you get a little paper taped to the wall with your name on it... but then a few weeks later you read the headline "X Corp Donates $1M to Z Charity" and it makes THEM look good! When in reality it was the consumers...
... And it is their tax write off!!!
Was a list some years ago that broke down charities and what they used your dollar for, it's disgusting how little of you donation actually went to help people.
If I recall breast cancer charity was the worst offender on that list.
@@theaccountant666 You can write it off too.
@@itsamystery888 I’m not arguing that it’s worth it, but if you ask for a receipt, that’s your proof.
You forgot to mention that those charitable donations are tax deductible. Why in the hell would I want to give your corporation a tax break? Goodwill pisses me off the most. Not only do they get their inventory for free and pay their employees crap money, but now they want poor people (most of their customers) to help them pay their taxes. No, I'll be taking my change, thank you.
Right again on every point. My daughter got married on july 15th. She spent $100 on her wedding dress & got married at the courthouse. Photographer was $250. With court fee the total was under $500. They are buying a house now. Great plan.
When I was about to get married by the Justice of the Peace, we stopped at a florist that morning because I wanted some white flowers. We made the mistake of letting her know we wanted them for the wedding. She gave us a bad attitude because she wanted to charge wedding bouquet prices even though we didn't ask for anything fancy done to them. We wound up getting flowers at the grocery store.
57 yo married, American here. I 100% agree with you on all 5 points. We had a minimalist wedding, plan to be cremated with a small, or possibly no memorial service. I hate corporate culture. I'm here because you pay me, no other reason. Not an Apple user but even the Android phones make it hard to replace the battery. Finally, I despise HoAs and will never, ever be a part of one. One of my neighbors keeps their yard a bit too trashy for my taste, so I built a privacy fence. Problem solved and I didn't have to involve them at all .
I'm 47 and totally agree. I've been married twice. First time was in 2001 and a $400 wedding at a B&B, it was lovely. Second time me and my husband eloped in a beautiful mountainous setting for free (well, we paid $30 for paperwork). Will be cremated and no service.
There you go- don't want to be in an HOA, then don't purchase the house that is part of one! Case closed! It always strikes me as funny when people bitch about HOAs when 1) they purchased a home knowing it was in an HOA, or 2) they don't understand what an HOA is and just think that it's people who are complaining about trivial things and fining you for them.
Growing up, I lived in a nice neighborhood that was part of an HOA, and yes, it came with its fun quirks like you couldn't park more than 1 car in your driveway, trash cans had to be removed, lawns manicured, etc. One of the laws was that the home didn't have to be occupied by the owner (as long as they still did the appropriate maintenance and gardening), but there was absolutely NO RENTING. I remember asking my dad about why that was, and he said it's because people don't take care of things that aren't theirs. As I grew up and bought my own houses, those words from pops sure make sense now. I had a house surrounded by renters, and they fucking made that neighborhood miserable. Ended up selling that house at a loss.
soon, you'll be paying through the nose to replace the glass case on your phone tool. Samsung sued to be the exclusive supplier of glass cases
I retired this year from an executive position with a large consulting firm. I had a large team and hired lots of people over the years. I told my team many times that your job is your job; your family is your family. Don’t conflate the two. I never referred to our work team as a family and recommend running as fast as you can away from a hiring manager that refers to their company as a family.
You’re a smart man.
Precisely correct.
So is that supposed to make you somehow better because at least you’re honest about how little you care about your employees?
although I refer to the people I work with as being like a little family (there are only 6 of us counting the cleaning lady, and we run a tiny public library in a small rural town) We are there for each other, make sure shifts are covered if someone is sick, give each other rides if we need to and share each other joys and losses (they are in the top 10 people I message regularly on FB) - I've been there for 14 years, only the directors been there longer, the the newest person has been there 7. BUT I would think it was weird and off if I applied at a big business and they started talking about how they were all one big family..... Ummm NO!
I quickly learned with my first job at 16 in the 90's, that these companies / business don't care about you and never will.
My first job as a grocery store bagger, one of the things you had to do before clocking off was clear the parking lot of carts.
As a 16 year old in school, I couldn't work after 10pm. So if it was busy and I couldn't get the carts, I would clock out without doing it.
Couldn't tell you how many times they would get mad at me, or think I would stay after to do it. Flat out told them I would be more then happy to report them, to the state labor board.
I will speak a minute for renters. I’m one of the good ones, take care of the property and call landlord if something is broke. Frankly many landlords will drag their feet on fixing stuff unless it’s a water leak and even then they wait. I hold landlords responsible for doing maintenance on their yards(don’t make it part of renters job). And they should Vet their renters. Half your problem is selfish landlords who refuse to take the time to take care of their properties. I’ve been on both sides, renter and owner-and they both have a lot of issues.
About weddings.
I gave my daughter and son in law a money gift where they went and bought a home on 60 acres of land.
Till this day they are forever grateful.
When you said the wedding industry I was really hoping you would mention the funeral industry and you did not disappoint. You forgot the baby industry though. They have us by the balls from cradle to grave.
Yes! You are so right! The baby industry is absolutely another industry that needs to be called out. Total scam.
I do like hearing that the current generation is checking out of the corporate culture. Come in at eight, leave at five on the dot, take exactly an hour for lunch. It's lovely.
I am happily retired and not having to put up with any corporate BS anymore is the best part.
You're probably the smartest woman on TH-cam. I joined as a subscriber when you had around 5000 of them, and the growth in your channel is not a surprise.
She’s mastered not being a consumer for the sake of it. I know for a fact I spend more eating out in 2 weeks than she does all year.
I think my cooking is better than most restaurants 💁🏼♀️👩🏼🍳
And healthier. @@AccordingtoNicole
@@easiersaidwithmeglol
Yes, you’re like Rush, a one off.
My HOA in my old condo complex charged $450 a month. My mortgage was half that. The balconies were literally rotting off and the place had no landscaping, but I got written up for leaving a bag of potting mix pot on my patio overnight. Absolute madness.
You've nailed corporate culture. Known this for years (in my 60s). Worst I ever saw was when I was working a second job at a stop-and-rob, also known as a convenience store. The district manager would come in all excited (not faking excitement) about some new layout to boost sales for the store. Couldn't wait until I could quit that job.
You also nailed wedding/funeral industry. We spent about $150 on our wedding, best wedding you could have, and no debt. Married 23 yrs and still happy. Charities are another scam for the most part - like sending you a blanket or letterhead, address labels, etc. Send all the money possible to the cause - I don't need a blanket etc. And don't get me started on "Societies" that spend 80-90% of donations on admin and overhead - that's true B.S.! Rad Cross, SPCA, Breast Cancer, MS society (my wife has MS - we found them to be an utterly useless group), and many others.
It is taking me about 20 years to use up all the address labels that charities have sent me.
I am really suspicious about the Susan G Komen breast cancer foundation. They are everywhere and get so much attention. Where is money really going to? Prob their pockets and torturing animals. That is not to say breast cancer awareness isn't important. However, more women die from heart disease. We don't hear about it nearly enough.
As breast cancer person I totally agree. They were no help to me despite all their ads. I have to regularly contact their corporate office to get me off their email notices. I unsubcribe regularly but it never lasts more than few weeks hence the call to corporate, they always promise I'm off lists but they always start sending again after few months. The letters are incredibly "begging" that offends me. I never signed up for anything but believe the cancer agency signed me up. Could not get any assistance and almost lost my home as was spending all my $ travelling for treatment 4 hours away with no public transport available. I have no sympathy as all the various agencies fundraising seems to go to all the galas that the "elite" attend. I am so disgusted with them.
Totally agree with everything you said, especially the wedding/funeral extortionate costs.
A couple of things I would add to your list are gender reveal parties - the fact that couples spend hundreds, or even a few thousand on elaborate ways, just to find out what sex their baby is going to be. Ridiculous in my opinion.
Another one I’ve never heard of until recently is a “Halfway to one” party. Basically, a big party with family, friends, balloons, cake etc for a 6 month old baby! I thought it was a joke at first but a quick search online showed me that it’s big business.
Good grief! And I was a bit astounded when told by a friend of my 'daughter-in-law' ( they are not actually married) that I SHOULD have organised a baby shower for her but that it was OK because she ( the friend) was doing it for my'DIL' anyway but if I wanted I could come along!!
However it did prove a bit useful - it was only last year that my 'DIL' and I used up the baby lotion that was gifted ( my beautiful granddaughter is now 7!). Btw my 'DIL' and I get on very well and she wasn't expecting or even wanting a baby shower!
Omfg..never heard of that one yet. A way to get gifts and appease attention seeking parents🤨
I despise HOA'S. They are not as bad as Condo Assosciations but..they are like the mafia for sure. I live in a townhouse, there is a community pool, tennis court, tot lot and many "common areas" that are grassy green spaces unbuilt on, and community parking areas. If there were no HOA (The Board members are all owners), who/ how would upkeep of all those things happen? Like: Lawn and tree maintenance, pool service, repave parking lots and repaint buildings, the list is much more but you get the point. As much as I hate being in one, If we were to legally dissolve it, who does all that? The structure of an assosciation carries luability and accountability too.
Has anyone in this tgread ever tried to eliminate an Assosciation? If so, how did it turn out?
The halfway-to-one party sounds nice as a cute way to couch friends coming over and checking in on the new parents’ health, how they’re keeping up with the challenges of a new baby. But throwing a huge party is absurd and more work for the parents!
The audacity of corporations to refer to their employees as associates, partners and any other kind of name but employee. And these employees are paid minimum wage too. If they were true associates or partners, I don't think they would be paid minimum wage and be treated like shit.
I remember a couple spent 37 thousand dollars on a wedding in New Orleans, all expenditures were on a credit card. They broke up `1.5 years later. they still have the debt
My sister had an at home wedding with everyone bringing a dish. All they paid for was the cake and wedding dress, so all in all less than $500. The wedding was so homey and charming. They didn't even make it to the 2 year mark. Cheap weddings do not equal happy marriage.
Idiots
The wedding industry might as well be the funeral industry....same results
You are SO right about the corporate culture. Sadly, I've been a part of it for many years. Work HARDER, do MORE with LESS!!! Lay off dedicated people who have 20+ years of service and just add their duties to the backs of already overworked and over stressed people. They call it a "duty expansion" not a promotion... so no pay increase.
You are absolutely Correct about corporate retail. I worked grocery store depts for 22 years. Very poorly paid, extremely overworked+ understaffed. I noticed OSHA violations, so mgmt wanted me Gone. Tried to write me up for too many vegetables on a sandwich. I quit on the spot+ walked out. Around 8 people quit in a few weeks. My life is So Much Better now!!
The people out here throwing their money at unnecessary things, are the first to look down on a person struggling.
I hate HOAs that restrict the number of dogs someone can have. Apparently it's to stop puppy mills. But to tell someone they can't get a second rescue dog is cruel.
They were lying to you. Has nothing to do with puppy mills.
If you are a homeowner in an HOA you have the right to put to a vote any changes you want made to the CC&Rs and By-Laws of the contract. Do not let them railroad you if you feel you are in the right. Unfortunately, these days everything has to be turned into a fight because 'reasonable' has left the building.
@@BS-detector You can put anything to a vote and you will lose. You need 67% for a change in the By-laws in my HOA. But many owners are absentee and never vote. We have to nag people to at least submit a proxy in order to achieve a quorum to hold a meeting! And you think your issue is going to get the super majority needed to pass? It will never happen.
I have managed to not buy Apple, and never buy in an HOA. lol. I did come home one day to find a city inspector leaning over my backyard fence, taking pictures of furniture under my covered porch. He told me that indoor furniture was not allowed outside. I told him it was for the dogs, he was tresspassing, and he should leave before I let them out. I have not seen him since. I have a truck, so I still pick up furniture along the road if it is better that what the dogs currently have.
Omg weddings yes. I worked in a major hotel chain many years ago where we catered to the wealthy weddings. Back then, I mean decades ago, the bride's family would easily shed out 30-40g's in one day. I cannot imagine today but even a few grand is too much. Wedding gowns that you need to take bank loans out for. Under the illusion you will someday pass the gown on is a delusion. By the time the kids are in a position to get married, the gown is already old and outdated. A wedding is nothing more than a party where one person is the center of attention for a few hours, a big white cake and cash that doesn't equal anything close to what was spent. I have said it since I was a little girl, it's the biggest waste of money and girls are led to believe that it's the most important day of their life. In actuality, it's what comes after that day of partying that is the most important.
My parents wedding in 1997 was $17k
I used to work in an auto insurance call center and you'd get all kinds of people who prioritized stupid crap over auto insurance. I'll never forget the one guy who called in and said he couldn't pay his insurance because he had a $30K wedding coming up. I guess when the officer stops you and asks to see your proof of insurance, tell them you had your wedding. I'm sure they'll just let you go. /s
You nailed it.
It is important though, very, just not the way corporate world has
Cheapened it and made it tacky.
Women who think they have style can’t muster up their own ideas and how to make it personal and beautiful to both of them…
Who you are with for the rest of your life is important. Women just copy the shit that they are force fed through trends, celebs, and “fashion”. Nobody is doing anything that is original it’s always the same wak ass shit .
100% !! why are there so few of us women who don't believe the lie ?
We have local animal rescues here that I help. They list the vet’s office and number so you can call the vet yourself to contribute to the bill.
I love you have more balls than most men to speak the truth about modern society and it degradation and how we have become sheep.
The wedding biz has a lot in common with the funeral biz. Nothing like starting out a marriage $40k in debt.
I love this girl. She knows of what she speaks. Keep it up it will educate people
Thats why we eloped for our marriage, didnt tell anyone so no drama, and did not even buy a wedding dress I used a nice dress I already had. After 10 years we still say that was the absolute best decision we ever made!
Nicole you've become one of my favorite TH-cam creators! Absolutely love your videos ❤❤❤
Wow, thank you!
Nicole, I’m a 67-year-old ex-corporate refugee (whatever you want to call), nominally retired but i never did because i stopped working to take care of my father for 12 years after my father died. You are smart because you cut right through the bs that bamboozles others. I am a “highly educated” chemical engineer and i don’t recommend that career to anyone. Anything you do that means you’re working in a polluted city with a huge chemical factory - which kept going in a non-union state with a reasonably smart blue-collar population looking for a good salary (for the area) and benefits - well, you are doomed to ridiculous corporate culture. All of us got in this type of career because we enjoyed chemistry and math in high school and got great grades. Plus, it was an ego boost because it was acknowledged as the most difficult major. When you start working, NONE of that matters. You are a bean controlled by bean counters, ultimately expendable even when theoretically you’re not. My brilliant mechanical engineer friend was chosen to be the ‘valve, pump, and flange” expert after the old guy retired and taught her the ropes. No chemical manufacturer can survive without such an engineer. But the company cut her job (she was developing seniority, a bigger salary, lots of vacation weeks, and with age she was going to start costing them medical expenses as the company was “self-insured”. Of course, she and all my other engineer friends who were dumped in early 2009 went into major depressions. Well - the company had already contracted out a lot of its maintenance functions to a smaller company and my friend ended up having to work for them so she could keep living in this area where she had built her dream house. Of course, she was at square one with this new company - much lower salary, down from five weeks to two weeks of vacation, and many fewer benefits. In the 1990’s i was asked, as one of the more experienced (yet low-paid and promoted only once) engineers to give a speech to a local high school about engineering careers. They couldn’t stop me once i had the podium, and i told those kids the truth that no other adult had the cojones or desire to tell them. Don’t do it. Engineers in the U.S. are thought of under the British system, which sees them as glorified mechanics with grease under their fingernails - not the French system, which had always thought of engineers as highly intelligent mathematical types like their own wonderful scientists throughout history. Sorry for this long comment, which might not be relevant any more. But i feel morally compelled to say the truth they keep hidden from you so they can exploit you.
@@AccordingtoNicole you're welcome ❤️
@@AccordingtoNicoleme too! I was there when you had a 1K subscribers! Look at your growth. We love your content.
You're the queen of uncovering Bullshit. 😊
Bruh!
I work in the U.S. Navy and you pretty much explained it within the first 5 minutes. There are people that I work with that breath, eat, live and sh*t Navy.
I worked retail for a big box tech store for 3 years and the amount of mind control, bootlicker mentality,intellectuality dishonest culture surrounding this hell hole gave me a literal stroke while on the clock. I was so convinced something was wrong with ME because I couldn’t conform or adapt to it at all. And so began my frugal journey to never have to endure these things ever again lol
I feel so validated by your rants!
"I hate corporate culture and having part of your identity part of that structure." "I am an Apple person." ;)
"We are not even close to done yet". Sadly, that is true. Everyday a world full of people wake up and say "how can I get more money and do even less to earn it".
As for corporate culture, yup. I've spent a career as a software developer. And you repeatedly see the same pattern, young company has good ideas and treats people well and work is a blast because you have autonomy. Then the company grows and either gets bought by a corp or becomes a corp and things go downhill. That's a signal it's time to find another young company and start the cycle over. On my 4th and final cycle now. Company is starting to fossilize but I don't care because I'm a few months away from retirement.
When I worked in a corporate environment the management had a "rule" that employees could not discuss their salaries amongst each other and this was obviously because of the pay inequities. I was always amazed at how seriously my co-workers took this. To me, the reason was obvious and I felt management had no right to control my private conversations, but some others were so brainwashed they felt they were being "disloyal" by breaking this rule.
That is sadly still a rule and practice today, peers get really awkward and evasive if that topic is brought up...as if they're scared, but truth be told there is always someone waiting to report people in the office so that probably contributes to that hesitation, it's still ridiculous.
They try to make it seem like insubordination if you break the rule.
Well it's official. You're my new best friend. You are THE first person ever who thinks exactly what I think about corporate culture. Praise God I am not alone!
My best friend works as a cook. He gets offended anytime I mention eating at a similar restaurant. It's kind of sweet that he cares so much, but it's also kind of sad. If I were to eat where he works, he wouldn't see a penny from my purchase. I'd only be making his employer richer. I've never defended an employer I worked for, and they always took advantage of me and underpaid me to boot. It is a transactional relationship, they aren't family. The moment they don't need you or can replace you with someone cheaper, they will.
Wow, this was so satisfying to watch. I have to agree with everything this lady said. I so wish more people could see through the scams/scammers and not be afraid to call them out like this woman. People have been brainwashed and taught not to rock the boat for too long...go along to get along culture.
The CEO of ASPCA makes more than $800,000. Learning that both broke my heart and infuriated me! That's when I did what I should have done in the first place: donate locally, whether monetarily or some other way. I like that my local shelter maintains a list of stuff they need, so we can actually buy the item (s) and deliver in person or have it shipped to them.
Well, you gotta know that CEOs have expensive taste 😅
Awesome. Totally agree.
ASPCA offers so little help to overwhelmed shelters, and spends Most of it's $ on advertising and apparently salaries. It's always local volunteers actually helping the most animals... I was buying low-cost s/n certificates for giveaways, when I realized that our shelter stretches $ farthest on their own. Who needs looong, pitiful commercials, when our locals are hustling the most?
ALL charities are eventually a scam. ALL. They may not all start out that way, but they all end up that way. Imagine the balls on someone stealing 800K wanting people making 40K to donate to maintain their jet setting lifestyle. Disgusting.
The main benefit of the HOA in the neighborhood I lived in was the pool. It was a very nice pool, and the dues were only $41 a month. But I agree with you, in most cases the fees are crazy high for seemingly not much benefit. They also sent us a letter one time that we needed to put down mulch in our yard. Well, we lived on a huge hill, and it was hard to find any landscaper that would even do it, not to mention the expense of it. So I definitely wanted to write back and tell them to shove it. What’s really upsetting is that if you read the fine print, they are legally allowed to put a lien on your house if you don’t do what they tell you. It’s screwed up.
As a homeowner in an HOA you own an equal share of the rights to change, negotiate or request special accommodations for unusual property or circumstances regarding your property and they must take your input into consideration before taking any kind of action against you. You can rally your neighbors, consult with a lawyer, create a message board, put things to a vote...you have more power than you realize so I encourage you to take the initiative for fairness.
@@BS-detector Good to know, but that sounds like a lot of labor and stress to just live peacefully in my own neighborhood.
Living peacefully is one thing, being forced to spend thousands of dollars on something unnecessary under the threat of losing your home is quite another. Not knowing the details of your particular circumstances, all I'm saying is don't let an HOA bully you or anyone else if your property has a different shape, slope, or feature than the rest. Most people think they're under some kind of unalterable authority when it comes to HOAs and that's simply not the law. I'd like to see them either abolished or restricted to the common areas only. Stealing someone's house over a minor landscaping issue is over the top BS in this country, yet it happens. John Oliver did a segment on it last spring...spot on. @@annahowland6346
@@BS-detector I see the point you are making. My point is more a matter of principle. If I own the mortgage on my property, even the idea that I have to read all of the fine print and constantly watch my back to keep from being screwed because of the scam that is an HOA is so ludicrous. It should be illegal for people to be intimidated like that. It shouldn’t be a matter of some people being more savvy and others getting scammed. HOAs absolutely should be abolished, or at least have regulating laws put in place.
@@annahowland6346right on 🎯 HOA is BS and a rip-off
Everything you said about corporate culture is so true. You took the words right out of my mouth! I hate everything about it; the fake niceness between people, the whole we-are-a-family nonsense, the forced activities you have to attend after the hours…That one colleague or manager that lives for his/ her job, because his/her personal life is boring and wants us all to invest more in our job( are you kidding me?),…well I am here for that sweet check at the end of the month and that it. Period.😂😅
Exactly! All the people I can't stand at work seem to attend all the "after hours" team building parties at our local pub. NO THANK YOU!!
I don't like them sober let alone drunk!
Omg, this is so true! No one really wants to be at work and yet pretend we're all family. I say NO to the after work get togethers and hate the office parties were expected to attend. Our monthly goal for bonuses has increased to the point we can never reach them and yet we're a "family" so just keep working harder to make the boss his millions. My goal is to get the heck out at the end of this year!
I think you would enjoy the film "The Corporation." It basically analyzes corporations as though they were a person and the filmmakers realized corporations are psychopaths.
I think you can appellate my wedding. I rode a Harley Davidson behind my husband to be to a pull off the road Lookout that overlooked the Puget Sound. I wore Jeans that i already owned. A leather jacket that i already owned. And I did spend a few bucks on a top. We asked anybody with a Motorcycle to ride up with us and everybody else met us there. A friend of ours had gotten an internet license so he could marry someone else. So he did it for free. I wrote my wedding vows. It was really nice. Then everybody that wanted to came back to our house and we had a Barbecue that was BYOB. So we had a free wedding and I’m not sorry at all. I think it was beyond smart.
That sounds great!!
It’s nice to hear someone else echo how I’ve thought and felt about stuff like this. It’s kind of excruciating when you point out these things but you’re made to feel like you’re crazy. Especially when others ask your opinion. It’s like they are looking for you to say “Oh yeah, that’s great!”, when really you’re thinking “these people are nuts!”
Nicole`s experience with the morning gatherings at her retail job reminded me of the ones I tolerated at mine some 24 years ago. This was at B and Q in England - a DIY and hardware store like Home Depot. At around 9am there would be gatherings of colleagues and the managers with their self congratulatory bollocks and how great the sales figures were. Customers would walk past look at the crowd with "WTF?" expressions on their faces and they were probably wondering why they weren't assisting them. I used to go to them for the first few weeks just to keep the managers as sweet as possible but after that I couldn't be arsed to carry on with it. It was so cringey.
Don’t say the word wedding when getting a hall or hair done You should have seen the hairdresser after doing my hair and I told her I’m getting married today
That's funny! 😂😂
Corporate culture won't rest until we have an HR officer in every home
I love this channel. Nicole is a common sense person.
Nicole is my spirit animal.
Ha ha. Me too!
I agree with everything you say. I would never buy any real estate with an HOA. The best of them have a tendency to mismanage the money and then have "special assessments" where they require home owners to shell out thousands of dollars to do major repairs because they didn't save any money for it. The worst of them embezzle the money or hire their relatives to provide maintenance at outrageous prices. On top of that, all of them hire management companies who make most of their money in extra fees they charge residents for "non compliance" with their bylaws (which they write themselves).
HOA’s earn money from collecting money from infractions to their rules. They come up with more rules to collect more money from violations.
I don't want to be in an HOA but it's impossible to not be in one if you live in a condo. Fortunately my HOA isn't bad, but unless I want to own a single family home and all the maintenance that goes with it, I'm stuck,
@@Christine-zk6hkI’m with you! I don’t currently live in a condo but am definitely interested in one as an option eventually but I don’t really want to be with an HOA. I’d rather just pay a basic maintenance fee for things like lawn care or other basic repairs or services but without being told what I can do with my own home.
My sister lives in an HOA. They kind of remind me of a sorority or fraternity. You essentially buy access to a social life with neighbors you don't really trust (hence the arbitrary rules)
I could never live in one that's for sure.
Once again, you nailed it with this video! I wish there was a “love” button instead of just a like button. All of these Scam Videos that you make are just spot on and I wish that there was a way to broadcast them to everyone so that society would just wake the hell up. This is why I look forward to the next video every Sunday. You are one of the most refreshing human beings I know. You just “get it”, Nicole. You are a tiny island of human sanity, in a world that has just gone insane. Huge fan. Thank you.
i worked for one of the biggest companies in the uk for 40 years and i spent years dodging BS.and over time the BS increased to the point where i forgot why they were paying me.because i managed to get my finances in place i switched off because it gets scary.
You're right about weddings! Imagine spending a years salary on a party when you're trying to start a life with somebody, and should be saving for a house, travel, kids or ANYTHING else 😂
Pro tip: I donated my body to the local medical school to be used for educational/scientific purposes. My family will have zero funeral or cremation expenses.
Spot on again!!! Great summary exposing all this BS. When i showed critical thinking i was told i was " not on the bus"
When John and I got married in 2015, we were both older, so we opted for a very small wedding ceremony at our house. A Buddhist priest performed the ceremony. Our guests/ My parent, his grandmother, and his aunt were our only guests. John's friend donated about two hours of his time for some photos before, during, and after the ceremony. My parents took everyone to lunch. For dinner, John and I went to a now-defunct vegan restaurant that was very special to us.
Oh... Have you already done the engagement ring scam? Because that three months salary rule is a huge scam!!
I find shoestring weddings charming. It just takes some creative thought.
Marriage is expensive anyway. The debt of a wedding shouldn't add on to the stresses a new marriage goes through.
This series is good as a checklist. Checklist for making sure you are not getting screwed (at least not too hard). Good job
Omg dont even get me started on corporate culture! Toxic is to light of a word
I love these! You are saying what we all are thinking, keep it up Sis
Nicole, you are one of the best voices on TH-cam. I LOVE your rants ! It's like you read my mind, with every one of your videos.
One man I talked to about HOA things , we were talking about water rates, had no idea what his water cost quarterly because it was included in his HOA fee. Supposedly they cover snow removal, trash removal, and those types of things. The property management companies don't always use the money as it is supposed to be used. Big Surprise, right.
Only charity I give to is my family.
Never give to cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc. when I’m asked at the grocery store to donate a dollar for xyz I say. Absolutely not.
Give to your Church projects that are actually helping people.
@@deehubs1353 Noooo. They are the worst.
My husband I do that very thing too. Our motto is " we take care of our own and everyone else needs to figure it out"!
@@dianejensen3420
Exactly. Everyone in our families are in need. Eating once a day to reduce the amount spent on food
@@Agapy8888 Wow! That's love and dedication to your family - it takes our beliefs and ideas to a whole new level! Peace to you 🙂
Give and donate locally to charities you see making a difference in your communities! Whether you choose an Android or an iPhone, the scam part is the pressure to upgrade every 1-2 years. Most phones/tablets have lasted me about 5 years and I upgrade out of necessity rather than the pressure to have the "latest and greatest". The wedding industry is definitely a scam- a contest to show off. There are so many better (and more affordable) ways to celebrate.
The Funeral business is also a Racket!
I'm still salty that, after five years with my MS Lumia - which still functions well in terms of hardware - I had to change my phone because Microsoft decided to stop updating the phone's software and I couldn't use more than 2/3 of the apps any more.
The funeral industry is a scam as well.
I remember as a young kid, finding out that you could get married without having an actual wedding, & it was a revelation. Being a kid, since that's what everyone around me did I thought it was 'required'. The thought of wearing a dress & being stared at made me uncomfortable, & don't get me started with the garter belt toss. Your spouse reaching under your dress, pulling off essentially an undergarment, with your family watching, & then throwing it at a bunch of dudes in rented tuxedos is horrifying to me, but I digress
Thoroughly enjoying your work, thank you.
I want self-employment more than anything. I absolutely hate working for other people. I get frustrated knowing I'm just at the beginning, and even though I'm working hard to develop my talents, I have no idea how long it is going to take me to reach my goal. Thanks for the content Nicole.
Reminds me of where i used to work at that horrible company called Walmart! We were called employees, but then they decided to refer to us as Walmart associates! They thought it was great, but I said no! I would remain called an employee. Never would i ever want to be 'associated' with Walmart!
Walmart where made in Amerika includes Honduras lol
Well, I thought Honduras is a part of the US 😂
These videos just get better and better. DONT stop
Love this series, Nicole! Thanks for talking about it. I've had many similar thoughts myself.
You are so on point Nicole. I'm often disappointed about how the masses are quite gullible. Not to mention the wreckless drivers.....What is going on out there? Entitlement, me me me culture, and a need to keep up with the Joneses mentality.
Most of these scams exist because we are sheep and scammers play off of that. That's why education standards are falling, film and literature are being mass-marketized, and no one really complains. It's time for massive boycotts of all these goods and services but consumers have been too dumbed down to react.
You got the “corporate culture” bs down! I couldn’t wait to retire to get the hell out! We had a formalized REQUIRED computer study all around “the greater good”. It was such a pile of crap. I recognized the evil of NGOs even before that moniker came on the scene.
Great video, as always, and cheers for sticking it to corporations and charities!
I just have a minor quibble about terminology: I don't think NIMBY refers to busybody neighbors. The way I've always heard it used (and I've been aware of the acronym since at least the late 80s), it refers to a situation where a project is proposed that is supposed to benefit the public (such as a transit line or affordable housing), and people in a given area claim not to oppose the project, but they want it somewhere else. Anywhere else. Which is a major reason it takes forever to build anything in North America.
I remember I was buying a piece of white natural silk for fabric painting and all fabrics in the store were untagged; and then a sale clerk asked me if this is for a wedding. Then it looked as a very weird question to me, but now I understand why.
One of favorite weddings was in Heartland a movie about homesteading Wyoming in the 1800s. Everyone brought a dish…the long tables were covered with quilts and the bride almost forgot to take off her apron.
Your views are through the roof!! I’m so happy your channel took off, I can’t think of anyone more deserving. Thanks for all the work you do 😊
Thank you so much!!
3:09 when I meet people try to ask about their hobbies first. Because I truly don’t care about what “you do”, and I know they don’t either
Love this
There’s also elite universities. I swear to God this is true: i went to a fancy-pants dinner because it was helping my friend’s daughter who had a classical music group. I knew no one else at my table and was ignored by all the suits around me. Finally someone asked me what I did, and i said I’d been a chemical engineer. They asked me where I’d gone to school. I said “Stanford” because that was my last engineering education, three years in grad school. All of a sudden i was the belle of the ball. Getting business cards, guys eager to introduce me to their friends who ran prestigious local companies and schools - practically job offers - whereas, five minutes before, i was a nothing.
I've been at the same company for 22 years. I've played the game and acted interested in all their BS and bootlicking. It's seriously taken a toll on my mental well being. Thankfully I got my last promotion and am only 2.5 years from retirement so I don't have to kiss butt any more. I say thankfully because our new VP has been micromanaging and forcing people back into the office just so he can keep his boot on everyones' necks and stress us all out. At least I have that light at the end of the tunnel.
HOAs have a lot of drawbacks, but one of the benefits is limiting the people coming into the community (reduced theft and other crimes) and limiting what your neighbor can store outside their house, i.e. broken down cars, etc. So it is partly security and partly aesthetics.
Limiting what people!?
At this point the white people aren’t even going to be able to afford to live in a condo with an HOA if that’s what you mean. So bad in Florida. I don’t know how anybody’s children will be able to survive what this country is dishing out to them.🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼@@ruthmaier755
I assume the writer is referring to gated communities where entrants are required to have a gate key or passcode.
@ruthmaier755 for example, self employed contractors who may store building supplies or vehicles on their property
Rarely the case, more about har a ssing regular folks. Increases costs with admin fees, etc. Encourages fi nes to pay for such fees. Increases opportunities for wro ng doing on part of bo ard. How many la w s uits? which limits ability to sell. how much stress at home?
I owned a townhouse in Surrey, BC and we had a HOA. Rules were reasonable aand so were the fees. It was run by owners elected to the HOA annually, and all funds received and spent were available to the owners monthly. We had a rule about not putting garbage out the night before collection that was kind of annoying, but once i did, and the next morning i found my garbage can had been ransacked by racoons and my garbage was everywhere. Lesson learned.
I have one - landlords aka scumlords dividing houses into millions of rooms and renting each for a bajillion dollars. Also, renting out sheds for the same price as an apartment (might not be the case in Canada, but it is absolute hell here in Sydney)
I served on a small community hoa board for years.
For me it was mostly keeping the common areas mowed and without weeds, [ finding a lawn service that was reasonably priced and did good work was a real challenge] keeping the kids playground equipment in the small park maintained and safe, keeping the drainage area clear to prevent flooding and so on. We were all volunteers from the community. Folks loved to complain about the fees and things not being done to their satisfaction, but it was very rare that anyone would agree to help out and find alternatives and collect bids to lower costs or improve results.
I know there are some obnoxious HOAs... but there are also folks giving up their evenings and weekends to keep things going.
@@ConvSegmet hoa's shouldnt exist. the entire system needs an overhaul. playgrounds should be maintained by the local government
You are spot on! I agree with everything you say. I also wish I live in Canada where the government takes care of it's people. Here in the U.S. it's all about money and greed!!!
Thanks for your comments about even more scams. We have an HOA in the neighborhood we live in in Boise, Idaho. It’s overseen by volunteers who live in the neighborhood. Because the neighborhood has only a small common area to tend to its dues are only about $6 a month. From what I can see, almost all the neighborhood follow the reasonable rules that were set up 30 years ago.
My current pet peeve is we are told higher wages in the fast-food industry are forcing franchisees to raise their prices, while ignoring the fact that the corporate overlords of these businesses are reaping enormous profits right off the top without sharing the increased expenses. WallStreet is the root of our woes.
I work in corporate, but we have none of those culture. We work from home (anywhere really), have flexible work hours. I haven't worked 40 hrs a week in the last 3 yrs. We have PTO but honestly, the company doesn't count it. As long as all high priority work is done, you're free to take time off.
No meetings (at all!). Communication is through email or Slack.
As an introvert mom of two, this is my dream work set up.
Wow, that's awesome!
Our neighborhood has ~250 single family homes. Gated. Private roads, acres of common area, community dock. HOA has to pave the roads, maintain the dock, mow the common areas, water the common grass, service the gate & callbox.
Since you wanted to know if there was anything good about an HOA, some of them do provide good things like outside maintenance mowing your lawn, etc. in the front, you’re responsible for the back, swimming pool, a clubhouse, gym, a person I know lives in one that actually has a sports bar. Some are just full of power-hungry figureheads that do nothing but harass homeowners because you moved a plant on your porch or your garbage can was out too long because you were at work but they help keep the neighborhood looking nice. Frankly I don’t want a next-door neighbor that has 10 cars on their front lawn that they’re working on constantly or a next-door neighbor that decides they’re going to tear their house down and put in a pig farm, OK that couldn’t happen because of zoning regulations, but still darn close, we already have neighbors that have chickens.
The HOA I have here is 300.00 a year, so it's not that bad, but it's not worth the hassle. It covers very little lawn care around the entrance and the pool and pool area. The one pool is way to small for the neighborhood. ( and it was closed most of the year because it was leaking and they couldn't find the leak ) Almost 300 homes so close to 1200 people living here. ( 300 by 4 people per house= 1200, give or take) They fine you for anything, mailbox isn't level/paint is chipped, grass needs to be cut, lawn needs to be edged better, can't have this color can, 't have that color. I have been fined because the neighbors windows are reflecting the sun against my siding, acting like a magnifing glass and it has warped and melted. I was over 4000.00 in fines at one point because of this. Problem is if I get this fixed, it will do it again after a few years and here we go again. Fixing the whole house's siding a few years ago with the same siding would be almost 30,000.00, for siding that it won't melt almost 50,000.00. Today I bet it's even more.
So sad! Sorry to hear. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 I live in Florida and my HOA fee just went up to a whopping $628 per month so I think I am going to have to pray for me too.🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼@@paultomaszewski1964
Here is another idea for a scam topic!!
Salaried / exempt status employees in the US. You get paid for 40 hours but end up having to work 60 or more because they've given you so much to do. So many hours of "volunteer" time and not even a simple "thank you".
HOAs are beneficial to DEVELOPERS and local government because it's easier, faster to get approval to develop when the city doesn't have to maintain the infrastructure they normally would. And the city still gets to collect the property taxes.
HOA's have become just another way for developers to earn passive income after the sale nowdays.
The whole world is filled with so many issues it feels like it will implode any moment
Can you go more into the scammy funeral industry? I feel like that deserves its own number.
I've worked at 3 nonprofits for most of my career and you are absolutely right. You have the ginormous nonprofits that waste money on embroidered sweaters and then there are the smaller nonprofits where they're trying to do too much with the few staff they have. In the smaller ones, the staff are underpaid and overworked, there is waste because the few staff don't have the time to do basic things like inventory, and a general lack of planning and efficiency. I have worked at an "educational nonprofit" that was actually a religious organization and the nonprofit a tax shelter for the religious leader. In the U.S. there isn't much oversight into nonprofits, so they can get away with much more abuse and fraud than typical corporations. The nonprofit I'm currently at is legit, but it's small and lacks organization which leads to accidental waste, but that's why I'm here, to whip it into shape!
I worked my whole life as a midwife in the nhs in uk . I loved my job because here in England midwives used to have professional autonomy and we delivered all the babies that were delivered naturally. We had caseloads and took full responsibility for all the antenatal and post natal care and the safe delivery of the infants in our area. The women developed strong bonds with us and were empowered to be in charge of their care . When I retired I had a letter from my boss telling me that my kit would be checked in on a certain day at a certain time in case I had misappropriated any pieces of equipment. There was not a single thank you for any of my work. I realised then that work is work and family is family