We've been Steve'd

littlerobothead — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:17:50 -0800

AppleNerdFilter: What is with the upgrade pricing on the iPhone 3G S? Seriously? I can't think of a way that Apple wins on this one. From Apple.com:

"For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB). "

I cannot begin to imagine a scenario in which this makes sense, other than the obvious one where Uncle Steve gets to swim in a pool of cash. Is there some angle I'm not seeing to this madness? The high prices will surely deter upgrades from current iPhone users (me included), will force users of other smartphones on AT&T's network to buy another brand, and may even push early adopters of the original iPhone (whose contracts are ending/going month-to-month just about now) to defect altogether for a Pre, BlackBerry or Nokia.

Does this mean AT&T is pissed at Apple about rumors that they want their handsets on other carriers? Help me make sense of this!

Save our future children from being David Copperfield.

Sockpuppet The First — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:12:10 -0800

Help us figure out if we can afford to have a family! Can two people on $200k a year have some babies? The wife and I are planning to buy a house and have two kids. I'm trying to work out a budget, and failing. I have a hard time believing that it's not working out, and that perhaps I've made errors, or that my lifestyle is outrageous in some way I don't perceive. I need help to come up with a reasonable budget!

One problem is estimating the cost of raising a child in Silicon Valley. My guess is about $10k per kid per year, plus part-time day care (which is another $10k per kid per year through my work [more for infants, less for toddlers, but this is the average]). Is this accurate?

This budget includes a $500k mortgage on a $1M house, which is pretty low by local standards. I can't live with renting--that's just a non-starter for me. This is a psychological issue I cannot overcome.

It also includes large 401k contributions, which our financial planner recommended--and is apparently necessary if we're to retire. It would also be insane to turn down the $7500 employer match.

Here's our monthly budget (which seems austere to me):



auto insurance      $100

auto registration   $12

car maintenance     $116

clothes             $100

food                $1100

entertainment       $70

fuel                $200

gifts               $145

hobbies             $145

medical             $160

misc                $500

phone               $88

school loans        $804

dry cleaning        $12

travel              $458

401k                $2583

home maintenance    $550

house cleaning       $170

netflix             $15

gas & electric      $108

income tax          $2470

water & trash       $72

house payment	    $4784

children            $3400

Some items are amortized--for example, gifts and travel. The travel plans are for visiting family on the holidays plus a 1-week family vacation. We were told to set aside 0.5% of the house's value for maintenance (which, given the termites around here, is probably necessary).

The balance is that we're losing almost $1900 a month. How do people do this? I've tried coming up with budgets assuming we lived in other places, and the end result is remarkably similar--so I have a feeling it's not just Silicon Valley doing us in.

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We've been Steve'd

Save our future children from being David Copperfield.