It's a good feeling, isn't it? I had mine just shy of 15 years and managed to dispense with it more by luck than judgement, but it was nice not having it hanging over me any longer!
Yeah, I was not expecting it and asked her like five times "Are you absolutely sure?". My folks did pretty well planning for their retirement and she said she would just feel better in this economic climate if her kids had a roof over their heads no one could take away. She still has more than enough money to take care of herself regardless. I didn't expect to own a home outright at this stage of my life - it is a big load off my mind.
$8.00 USD an hour at a crappy job for 60 hours through 6 days of the week. FML. Having money is nice, but hell, I just want to sit at home and relax, not stand up all day doing crap work.
I get paid $7.85/hour at Starbucks. I'm saving up my money to build a computer, which I should probably hop over to the tech thread and get some help with. I also get tips each week and I spend those on video games and food.
Yeah, great time for importing stuff, not so for our export industry .
"median weekly rent is ~$200". Petrol costs around $1.40/L ($5.30/gallon). The median house price in my city is somewhere around $550,000, I think (even if that's wrong, I'm pretty sure the lowest it'd be is~$400,000). 'Course, that varies a lot between suburbs.
EDIT: Also, a lot of people have a lot of debt. Median mortgage repayments are ~$1600/Month, from what a quick search tells me.
that is about how much rent costs here in the USA (or at least in Washington)... making me seriously consider moving to Australia if that is the minimum wage. I work 8 hours a day lifting 60 pound stuff and doing every one else's job for them but only get paid $9.50 an hour. true I only started 3 months ago but still, one of my colleagues has worked there a year and only earns a dollar more I think.