Megan McArdle<\/a> was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their goods at an inflated price because they neither have the ready cash to buy the couch they want, nor do they qualify for a traditional loan or a credit card \u2014 and her commenters nearly uniformly observed that someone who\u2019s poor enough to be looking at a rent-to-own couch really ought to be paying a visit to the thrift shop instead (and that most low income people do exactly that).<\/p>\nTo be sure, I\u2019m not sure that, even if finances were tight, I would feel comfortable buying upholstered furniture used.\u00a0 Maybe there are ways to treat it to ensure that no bugs or germs move in with you, say, a spray or even a hot iron?\u00a0 But the point still stands that the immediate gratification comes at a high cost when it\u2019s financed via rent-to-own, as well as the larger point that individuals on a tight budget need to learn the sort of basic life skills that mean they\u2019re not at the mercy of such businesses.<\/p>\n
On a tangent, I observed that my husband and my father are both pretty good in the handyman department, though in Dad\u2019s case, we really should be using the past tense as the number of things he can fix these days is pretty limited, and I myself, although I\u2019m pretty clueless in the home repairs department, can manage anything involving a needle and thread and\/or a sewing machine.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
And my husband and I were talking, earlier today, and purely coincidentally, about the fact that I wanted him to be sure to teach the kids, as they move into their teenage and young adult years, his basic home repair (electrical wiring, installation, simple plumbing) and carpentry skills (his dad was an actual master carpenter, though he later moved to a sales job).\u00a0 For my part, I suppose I\u2019m going to have to make sure they know the basics of sewing, even if only to sew a button or hem a pair of pants (though my oldest is pretty bad in his fine motor skills).<\/p>\n
What else?\u00a0 I think it\u2019s important that they have some basic understanding of cooking \u2014 hey, one good thing about Boy Scouts is that the boys plan the meals for their campouts \u2014 and the idea of meal planning.<\/p>\n
Car maintenance isn\u2019t what it was \u2014 you can\u2019t really expect your kid to learn much more than how to jump start the car and how to change a tire.\u00a0 I suppose also how to check air pressure, and check the oil and that sort of thing.<\/p>\n
Oh, and laundry \u2014 and the ability to iron a shirt.<\/p>\n
What else is on your list of must-have life skills?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their goods at an inflated price because they neither have the ready cash to buy the couch they want, nor do they qualify for a traditional loan or a credit card \u2014 and her commenters nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[178],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-life-skills"],"yoast_head":"\n
What are your "life skill" must-haves?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are your "life skill" must-haves?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-24T02:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-27T05:13:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html\",\"name\":\"What are your \\\"life skill\\\" must-haves?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-24T02:42:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-27T05:13:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What are your “life skill” must-haves?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What are your \"life skill\" must-haves?","description":"Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What are your \"life skill\" must-haves?","og_description":"Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2014-10-24T02:42:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-27T05:13:42+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html","name":"What are your \"life skill\" must-haves?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-24T02:42:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-27T05:13:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"Megan McArdle was mixing personal finance with well, impersonal finance today, discussing rent-to-own retailers and their customers, who purchase their","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/10\/what-are-your-life-skill-must-haves.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What are your “life skill” must-haves?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}