Justin RootofGood, Worker Emeritus

Growing your wealth may require a bit of struggle and sacrifice at times. It might even be a grind! You know what's even more of a grind? Being poor forever.

A very important thing for young people to know: there really isn't a secret cabal of folks running things. From major corporations to White House on down, it's all imperfect information, conflicts over what to do, and (generally) earnest hardworking people trying their best. 1/3

@JPBillingsgate That's about double North Carolina prices for similar spots so it feels rather expensive. Also about double most of the rest of Europe that I've been to.

@JPBillingsgate Ah ok. I try to avoid NYC but I've heard similar comments. "Oh those are the same as SF prices". If you're accustomed to $30-50 per person prices at regular sit down restaurants then yeah that's about what I've seen for Norway from walking around and looking at menus @ places

Researching for a monthlong vacation in Norway but can't figure out how they can afford to go out to eat. Answer: they rarely do. Income is ~10% more than in the USA pre-tax but restaurants cost 2-3 as much. Just gonna pack a sandwich everyday I guess!!

@vsyo I liked Norway better. Feels more like Europe. Iceland - got ripped off w/ rental car (argued; resolved in my favor). Didn't feel very special there if you've been to big waterfalls and Rocky Mtns and Yellowstone etc.

@RootofGoodBlog Is Norway any better than Iceland? Some Dutch Canadian friends of mine visited Iceland and were quite disappointed with the service and the way tourists were treated. This video compares the restaurant experience in the US and France: facebook.com/share/v/18Bduc…

@JPBillingsgate Is $30 USD for a burger and fries or a plate of Chinese food a lot? Basically Norway prices unless you want to spend $17 at McDonalds for a combo meal.

@RootofGoodBlog It's been a few years, but I don't remember restaurants in Norway being especially expensive.

@StIroningShirts @Tawcan It's too bad mutton isn't a better meat!

@RootofGoodBlog @Tawcan Mah $12/lb chicken in Iceland to ensure sheep was a cheaper protein...

@StIroningShirts @BoringBiz_ His take on FIRE is pretty wild considering 90% of workers just do grunt work then eventually move up to management and superintend others doing grunt work of various sorts. Grunt works need to be done and it's socially valuable, but we don't have to overglorify grunting

@BoringBiz_ I typed stuff into a computer and made money appear. Then got into management and sat in pointless meetings. The world is just fine if I checked out to go surfing.

The FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement has done an immense amount of harm to society This is coming from someone who used to be a believer in FIRE, but I have realized just how much of a fallacy it is, as I have grown older Taking a bunch of high potential income earners and convincing them that their life goal should be to pursue a net worth that allows them to check out of society is immensely damaging to the social fabric Many of these people sit on the upper echelon of office jobs, have built great businesses, or are at the top of their field in their career field They should be inspired to continue doing what they are best at, and ultimately, mentor and give back to the next generation who want to pursue those same goals Instead, many of these FIRE folks become wandering retirees with a meaningless life who are trying to grasp on to money as their north star It is a false sense of security and accomplishment. Becoming wealthy should never be a goal in the first place. It should have always been to pursue something that adds meaning to your own life and to society It is a completely fallacy to believe that retiring will be your source of happiness. More often than not, it has the complete opposite effect

@StIroningShirts @Tawcan When you tax, tariff, regulate, "protect" domestic industry, and promote anti-competitive oligopolies enough, anything is achievable! Although some remote parts of NO are mildly challenging to get to so distribution costs are high. But pop density similar to ME/UT/NM in USA.

@RootofGoodBlog @Tawcan Surprising since cold storage is the biggest driver of food costs

@enovinson Yeah, I don't remember many fast food places there either, not even in Oslo (I'm sure they're there though). Pizza, kebabs/shwarma, thai/chinese, cafe food, burgers.

@RootofGoodBlog I don't think they have that many fast-food restaurants either. Seemed like mostly casual-dining when I went there a long time ago.

@mattrigney In Norway they apparently have some cheaper options at lunch time in some places too. Seems to be common in much of Europe (and the USA for that matter).

@RootofGoodBlog My experience in Sweden (only been in norway for a few days) is that it's relatively easy to find a moderate priced meal ($12-18), especially for lunch, but that there is very little "cheap" food.

@Tawcan The lodging (at least in the western Norway Fjords area) and the rental cars don't look too bad expensive. Cheaper than the USA (though probably lower quality, smaller cars etc)

@Tawcan Funny story about that - was just researching and looking at Rema 1000 prices and was SHOCKED at how much cheaper it was now vs when I was shopping in Norway a few wks ago. Then eventually realized I was on the Rema dot dk site lol. Denmark groceries more like rest of EU imho

@goingfire Just went to Iceland a few weeks ago and restaurant prices were pretty shocking. I assume the same thing - rare to dine out bc avg wages aren't that much higher. $16 for a dinky burger or $30 for chinese noodles - no thanks!

@RootofGoodBlog I noticed this in Iceland

@vsyo Do they have nice fjord areas with tall mountains along them? I looked around a bit. The various archipelagos in Sweden look nice but not as nice as Norway. Just gonna eat hot dogs and pay the premium I guess!

@RootofGoodBlog I'd go to Sweden.

Thank goodness. I'm reminded of the idiocracy of parking mins every time I drive through the nearly vacant Lidl parking lot. Never seen a car parked in ~40% of their parking lot, even on the day before Thanksgiving or pre-Superbowl.

@vsyo Yes

@RootofGoodBlog Is it for the summer of 2027?

The other answer: "hot dogs". They eat poor people's food bc it's comparatively cheap. I was joking about how to get by in Norway and said "just eat hotdogs every day" but that is apparently the answer...

@SteveOnSpeed 100 South African rands is like 6 bucks USD. Must be expensive takeout menus in South Africa!

This is only true if you have absolutely no idea how to shop like a competent individual.

100% would complain to flight attendant if someone used the Knee Defender to prevent me from reclining some. Just never seen it on a plane before.