How is the economy affecting your hobbying?

[Lalallala]

lol... same here. If you have to worry about a few hundred bucks, you 're in the wrong hobby. If you're on tight budget, spend it wisely.

I guess there is always someone with the insensitive comments

I am going to try to reduce my spend from
$3k+/month to $1.2k/month. Let’s see how this goes…

 

[Hornet]

I’m less likey to try a new girl unless there are some reliable glowing reviews. Usually it’s a bad session and that is just money thrown away. Much more likely to stick to the tried and true mpa’s.

I find the bodyrubs have priced themselves out of consideration though. Here are some of the latest pricing:

Spa	40/45 minute price/service	60 minute price	notes
Allure	$200	$290	Strict limits. Bodyslide pricing
SRM	$170+	$250+	Bodyslide pricing (“+” for extras)
Premier	$210-270	$310-370	BJ-FS
Seduction	$180+	$240+	Bodyslide pricing (“+” for extras)
Flirt	$200	$260	Bodyslide pricing

I can go for 60 minutes at an Asian semi-legit and get a better massage and good bodyslide for $160-180 range. Not sure what Allure is thinking these days charging those prices for only a BS.

 

[cupcrazy]

lol... same here. If you have to worry about a few hundred bucks, you 're in the wrong hobby. If you're on tight budget, spend it wisely. Never try to bargain. It's a mood killer for the girls and your chances of getting a good time is slim. Go less often.

Easy for you. You get paid monthly to shill for spas

 

[Hornet]

I guess there is always someone with the insensitive comments

I am going to try to reduce my spend from
$3k+/month to $1.2k/month. Let’s see how this goes…

Yes, $3k is huge.

Force yourself to a once/week or twice/week routine and you’ll save a tonne. My rules are: 1) hobby money needs to less than my monthly investments; 2) Mix low mileage sessions with higher mileage to average down the costs; 3) No more than 2 trips per week max. Aim for one/week and even skip a week or two (much easier in the warmer weather though when there is more distractions)

 

[Lalallala]

Yes, $3k is huge.

Force yourself to a once/week or twice/week routine and you’ll save a tonne. My rules are: 1) hobby money needs to less than my monthly investments; 2) Mix low mileage sessions with higher mileage to average down the costs; 3) No more than 2 trips per week max. Aim for one/week and even skip a week or two (much easier in the warmer weather though when there is more distractions)

Yeah I do mix high and low mileage and legit and semi spas. But the problem is that I often do 2 or 3 visits a day… let alone a week. Even today was 2

 

[startbeforeIfinish]

I guess there is always someone with the insensitive comments

I am going to try to reduce my spend from
$3k+/month to $1.2k/month. Let’s see how this goes…

Good advise. Just rub one off when you are thinking of making a bad choice. I have been trying to limit once a week with the hobby and usually ended up twice. Now I am which I never used too rubbing one off and I think I can go two weeks without a session which will give me life more balance and it is good timeing since I am much healthier after a bunch of surgeries. Still like to have a decent sex life but I have always liked balance.

 

[Hornet]

Yeah I do mix high and low mileage and legit and semi spas. But the problem is that I often do 2 or 3 visits a day… let alone a week. Even today was 2

You need to force yourself to cut back to one per day then down to 2 or 3 per week just from an addiction standpoint.

 

[J sav]

the economy being terrible has hurt everyone financially myself included. But I’ve noticed that the regulars I see are really appreciative for me being a regular and the already good service has become great and extra mileage has been much easier with theripest that I didn’t think would be possible. I still tip similar to before but I have cut down from a weekly session to 3 times a month

 

[Mema]

lol I'd be weary of shills giving you advice on how to spend your money. If you can negotiate prices, why wouldn't you? If the Canadian dollar drops even lower, you'll feel the pinch everywhere, from grocery stores all the way down to your utility bills.

 

[IXOHOXI]

This is an interesting topic. For me its not the economy that's determining the frequency of visits but rather my age. I'm actually heading out more often now than before figuring there may only be another year left before I'll be forced to switch my hobby to golf where I at least have a chance of my driver and balls working!

 

[WHORExKILLER69]

Yes, $3k is huge.

Force yourself to a once/week or twice/week routine and you’ll save a tonne. My rules are: 1) hobby money needs to less than my monthly investments; 2) Mix low mileage sessions with higher mileage to average down the costs; 3) No more than 2 trips per week max. Aim for one/week and even skip a week or two (much easier in the warmer weather though when there is more distractions)

What investments? Whats good?

 

[Hornet]

What investments? Whats good?

Rules to investing:

1. Don’t take advice from someone on the internet
2. Find a financial advisor that is a fiduciary. Will have to contact a private wealth manager. These firms can offer a range of products not found elsewhere and build a customized portfolio. Banks or some other big name companies usually only sell mutual funds, bonds a GIC’s. Private wealth management firms can offer stocks, preferred shares (instead of bonds), access to real estate investing, etc.
3. Build a plan based on your risk profile (conservative to very aggressive range).
4. Diversify your products holdings: RRSP contributions reduce your taxes payable. This just defers tax payment until you withdraw (retirement) at a lower tax rate, FHSA (First Home Savings Account), RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan), TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account), Non-Registered Account, physical gold and silver, real estate. A wealth manager can setup the non-registered account up as a “Corporate Account”. That means activity within it, such as dividends paid, can be reinvested and little to no taxes are paid.
5. Diversify your holdings. There are multiple diversification strategies here: 1) Product mix (common stock, Preferred stock, bonds, GIC/T-Bills, cash, ETF’s etc.); 2) Sector (Tech, Biotech, Financials, Industrials, Consumer, Energy, Real Estate, etc.); 3) Country (US, Canada, Europe, Asia Major (e.g.Japan and South Korea), Asia, Developing Countries. The US market has had the best returns so getting a good amount of your holdings there is wise. But, there is risk (FX = if the Canadian dollar strengthens your returns are smaller), until the recent declines the US stock market was overvalued and ripe for a correction (drop).
6. Most advisors will steer you away from crypto. They might allow you a small mix 1-2% of your investments. Many still view crypto as a Ponzi scheme. Guys on the web will still say you should be looking at 10-20% of you investments into Crypto. Crypto can be broken down roughly into 3 categories: 1) Bitcoin; 2) Tier 1 and Tier 2 alt-coins (Etherium, Solana, XRP, etc….). These are trying to be real and provide a useful service 3) Memecoins or Shitcoins. Dogecoin falls into this category. But, these offer no product or service and are the ones that you risk the “rug-pull”: the creators own 95% of the circulation, get attention to get people buying in a frenzie, pump the price up 10,000-100,000% the sell it all taking the money and run. Also called “the pump & dump”
7. Most important rule is invest at least 10% of what you make. 20% or more should be your target though. Example: if you make $100k, you should be investing $20k/yr. RRSP’s allow you to invest up to 18%. So, if you put $18k in the RRSP that will give you a $5-6K tax refund that next year you reinvest in the RRSP and now you only need to come up with $14-15K to hit $20K. Once you have that plan then be disciplined and stick to that plan. That means making sacrifices like smaller house, less expensive car, no big trips, avoid spending too much in restaurants and bars, don’t go crazy in clothes (buy stuff you can where for years that do not go out of style). Often those that are financially better off are the ones not showing it. Some of those with the expensive cars and clothes might be heavily in debt.
8. Be disciplined. Buy and hold in solid companies is what made Warren Buffet a billionaire. Don’t buy just because a stock is up. Don’t sell just because it dropped. Some years you’ll have great returns and some years you’ll lose. But if you hold, the in the long run, you’ll be up. For example if you analyze a mutual fund returns don’t look at 1 year returns. 5 year and 10 years are what to look at as they normalize the good years and bad years.
9. Understand taxes. If you have a non-registered account that is being managed for you there will be fees. These fees are tax deductible. Pull the statements and record those fees and claim them as a deduction. Dividends, interest (bonds), and capital gains are all taxed differently.
10. Start early and take advantage of compounding. Compounding is interest upon interest. Warren Buffet described it as a snowball rolling down a hill. The longer the hill the bigger the ball at the end. The length of the hill is from when you start until when you retire. So, starting in your 20s is best. Do that amd tou can be financially independent 5-10 years before you actual retirement date.

Note: if you are just starting out though and have a small portfolio that a private wealth manager doesn’t want to take on then buy index funds:

1. 50% US
2. 15-25% Canada
3. 10-15% Europe, Japan/South Korea
4. 10% Bonds
5. 5% Cash, GIC’s, T-Bills

 

[WHORExKILLER69]

Rules to investing:

1. Don’t take advice from someone on the internet
2. Find a financial advisor that is a fiduciary. Will have to contact a private wealth manager. These firms can offer a range of products not found elsewhere and build a customized portfolio. Banks or some other big name companies usually only sell mutual funds, bonds a GIC’s. Private wealth management firms can offer stocks, preferred shares (instead of bonds), access to real estate investing, etc.
3. Build a plan based on your risk profile (conservative to very aggressive range).
4. Diversify your products holdings: RRSP contributions reduce your taxes payable. This just defers tax payment until you withdraw (retirement) at a lower tax rate, FHSA (First Home Savings Account), RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan), TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account), Non-Registered Account, physical gold and silver, real estate. A wealth manager can setup the non-registered account up as a “Corporate Account”. That means activity within it, such as dividends paid, can be reinvested and little to no taxes are paid.
5. Diversify your holdings. There are multiple diversification strategies here: 1) Product mix (common stock, Preferred stock, bonds, GIC/T-Bills, cash, ETF’s etc.); 2) Sector (Tech, Biotech, Financials, Industrials, Consumer, Energy, Real Estate, etc.); 3) Country (US, Canada, Europe, Asia Major (e.g.Japan and South Korea), Asia, Developing Countries. The US market has had the best returns so getting a good amount of your holdings there is wise. But, there is risk (FX = if the Canadian dollar strengthens your returns are smaller), until the recent declines the US stock market was overvalued and ripe for a correction (drop).
6. Most advisors will steer you away from crypto. They might allow you a small mix 1-2% of your investments. Many still view crypto as a Ponzi scheme. Guys on the web will still say you should be looking at 10-20% of you investments into Crypto. Crypto can be broken down roughly into 3 categories: 1) Bitcoin; 2) Tier 1 and Tier 2 alt-coins (Etherium, Solana, XRP, etc….). These are trying to be real and provide a useful service 3) Memecoins or Shitcoins. Dogecoin falls into this category. But, these offer no product or service and are the ones that you risk the “rug-pull”: the creators own 95% of the circulation, get attention to get people buying in a frenzie, pump the price up 10,000-100,000% the sell it all taking the money and run. Also called “the pump & dump”
7. Most important rule is invest at least 10% of what you make. 20% or more should be your target though. Example: if you make $100k, you should be investing $20k/yr. RRSP’s allow you to invest up to 18%. So, if you put $18k in the RRSP that will give you a $5-6K tax refund that next year you reinvest in the RRSP and now you only need to come up with $14-15K to hit $20K. Once you have that plan then be disciplined and stick to that plan. That means making sacrifices like smaller house, less expensive car, no big trips, avoid spending too much in restaurants and bars, don’t go crazy in clothes (buy stuff you can where for years that do not go out of style). Often those that are financially better off are the ones not showing it. Some of those with the expensive cars and clothes might be heavily in debt.
8. Be disciplined. Buy and hold in solid companies is what made Warren Buffet a billionaire. Don’t buy just because a stock is up. Don’t sell just because it dropped. Some years you’ll have great returns and some years you’ll lose. But if you hold, the in the long run, you’ll be up. For example if you analyze a mutual fund returns don’t look at 1 year returns. 5 year and 10 years are what to look at as they normalize the good years and bad years.
9. Understand taxes. If you have a non-registered account that is being managed for you there will be fees. These fees are tax deductible. Pull the statements and record those fees and claim them as a deduction. Dividends, interest (bonds), and capital gains are all taxed differently.
10. Start early and take advantage of compounding. Compounding is interest upon interest. Warren Buffet described it as a snowball rolling down a hill. The longer the hill the bigger the ball at the end. The length of the hill is from when you start until when you retire. So, starting in your 20s is best. Do that amd tou can be financially independent 5-10 years before you actual retirement date.

Note: if you are just starting out though and have a small portfolio that a private wealth manager doesn’t want to take on then buy index funds:

1. 50% US
2. 15-25% Canada
3. 10-15% Europe, Japan/South Korea
4. 10% Bonds
5. 5% Cash, GIC’s, T-Bills

I have very little info on investing and I'm affriad of losing my money.

To start out u suggest index funds? Also should I first contact my bank to get Intouch with a wealth advisor. What u recommended for a collage aged guy is decent money saved?

 

[Hornet]

I have very little info on investing and I'm affriad of losing my money.

To start out u suggest index funds? Also should I first contact my bank to get Intouch with a wealth advisor. What u recommended for a collage aged guy is decent money saved?

Your bank will not recommend a wealth advisor with broad offerings. They”ll recommend their own people that can only sell mutual funds and a limited set at that. You can still get index funds through them. But they are generally not proper advisors. You are better off contacting Edward Jones, Fisher Investments or IG. Ask your tamily and friends who they or their parent use and ask for an introduction. Usually advisors want people with bigger portfolios already but some will recognize that if you are starting out and young you could be that type of client in 10 years or so and will take you on. Learn the fee structure. Most should get a piece of the MER (management expense ratio). If investing in stocks the fees are different. If a mutual fund has a 2% MER, then the fund needs to earn 9% returns so that you see 7%. The 2% goes to the fund administrator and your advisor (assume 50/50). So, if your portfolio is $100,000 then they’ll earn $2,000 off you but you’d still have $107,000 after a year. Later, once you get a bigger portfolio you can find more sophisticated advisors with broader offerings. Once you hit $1,000,000 in investments then those are easy to find and will often come knocking. Generally you might have to start with the banks until you have $100k plus then move to those companies I already mentioned. Once you are north of $500K then the better wealth management companies begin to get interested. Think of it in terms of sophistication. The banks are less sophisticated, those larger companies are more sophisticated with wealth planning software and other products (life insurance, stock, retirement planning software), and then top companies are more bespoke but are more sophisticated and usually have CFA’s giving investment advice offering other products.

To start you need to understand your goals. Are you investing for a house or other big purchase? Are you investing for retirement? Depending in the answer will determine if a RRSP, a TFSA, a non-registered account is the right product. For example: if you save for a house, you can withdraw from the RRSP tax free up to a limit. Then you pay tax. So, a TFSA. might be better. You need a proper wealth advisor to discuss that with.

Saving money will make you poor. You are already losing money by saving because of inflation. If there is 3%/year inflation then what you paid $100 today will cost you $103 next year, $106.09 the next year, $109.27 the next year and so on. So, after 3 years, your $100 saved lost 9% of it’s value. If your investments earn 7% then you are 4% better off (7% less 3% inflation)..

You won’t lose your money unless you invest in high risk investments (crypto coins, startup companies) or if you panic sell when the market corrects and goes down. Buy and Hold. An Index fund is a mutual fund that “mirrors” the index (e.g the Dow Jones). It will have stocks in it that represent the mix of the stock exchange. So, it will have Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, etc. in it). The stock market can go down so live with it and don’t panic. When Covid hit my portfolio value dropped huge (like 20% at one point). I did not sell so I lost nothing. And now I’m up alot. Buy and Hold.

Go online and find some retirement savings calculators and investment calculators to play around with. It’s a start to be educated. Learn some other investment principles such as Rule of 72 and the 4% Rule. Rule of 72 is a guideline on how many years to double your money (assuming no further annual contributions). It’s faster to double when you continue to invest. Take 72 and divide by rate of return. So, 72 / 7% equals a little over 10 years. 4% Rule is how much do you need to live off in retirement where your cash withdrawals from you investments will last 30 years or more. So, if you need $100k in income then you need $2.5M in investments (today’s money). If you need $80K, then you need $2.0M.

Just remember that investing is a marathon and not a sprint. There is a saying “the first $100K is the hardest”. That is your first milestone. Then the milestones are $250K, $500K, $1M, $2M, end goal. A good goal is that with contributions, try to double your investment value every 6 or 7 years (give or take). That might be faster when you start given the impact of contributions but slower later on when the returns are bigger than your contributions.

 

[Mav]

Doesn't affect me. Other factors affect my hobby frequency though, mostly being time, my location, and waves of desire and what that desire is. I've lately been going less and less and focusing on other things in life. But the economy tanking wont affect me, but I do feel for those that it will.

 

[Urbangigalo]

I’m less likey to try a new girl unless there are some reliable glowing reviews. Usually it’s a bad session and that is just money thrown away. Much more likely to stick to the tried and true mpa’s.

I find the bodyrubs have priced themselves out of consideration though. Here are some of the latest pricing:

Spa	40/45 minute price/service	60 minute price	notes
Allure	$200	$290	Strict limits. Bodyslide pricing
SRM	$170+	$250+	Bodyslide pricing (“+” for extras)
Premier	$210-270	$310-370	BJ-FS
Seduction	$180+	$240+	Bodyslide pricing (“+” for extras)
Flirt	$200	$260	Bodyslide pricing

I can go for 60 minutes at an Asian semi-legit and get a better massage and good bodyslide for $160-180 range. Not sure what Allure is thinking these days charging those prices for only a BS.

Who wants to just pay for a body slide. Nonsense

 

[json214]

I'm making more money currently but seeing less girls a mix of seeing how the tariffs are gonna affect my job and rising STI cases

I do find it hilarious seeing girls say they will be upping rates when Johns are clearly spending less

 

[Urbangigalo]

Rules to investing:

1. Don’t take advice from someone on the internet
2. Find a financial advisor that is a fiduciary. Will have to contact a private wealth manager. These firms can offer a range of products not found elsewhere and build a customized portfolio. Banks or some other big name companies usually only sell mutual funds, bonds a GIC’s. Private wealth management firms can offer stocks, preferred shares (instead of bonds), access to real estate investing, etc.
3. Build a plan based on your risk profile (conservative to very aggressive range).
4. Diversify your products holdings: RRSP contributions reduce your taxes payable. This just defers tax payment until you withdraw (retirement) at a lower tax rate, FHSA (First Home Savings Account), RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan), TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account), Non-Registered Account, physical gold and silver, real estate. A wealth manager can setup the non-registered account up as a “Corporate Account”. That means activity within it, such as dividends paid, can be reinvested and little to no taxes are paid.
5. Diversify your holdings. There are multiple diversification strategies here: 1) Product mix (common stock, Preferred stock, bonds, GIC/T-Bills, cash, ETF’s etc.); 2) Sector (Tech, Biotech, Financials, Industrials, Consumer, Energy, Real Estate, etc.); 3) Country (US, Canada, Europe, Asia Major (e.g.Japan and South Korea), Asia, Developing Countries. The US market has had the best returns so getting a good amount of your holdings there is wise. But, there is risk (FX = if the Canadian dollar strengthens your returns are smaller), until the recent declines the US stock market was overvalued and ripe for a correction (drop).
6. Most advisors will steer you away from crypto. They might allow you a small mix 1-2% of your investments. Many still view crypto as a Ponzi scheme. Guys on the web will still say you should be looking at 10-20% of you investments into Crypto. Crypto can be broken down roughly into 3 categories: 1) Bitcoin; 2) Tier 1 and Tier 2 alt-coins (Etherium, Solana, XRP, etc….). These are trying to be real and provide a useful service 3) Memecoins or Shitcoins. Dogecoin falls into this category. But, these offer no product or service and are the ones that you risk the “rug-pull”: the creators own 95% of the circulation, get attention to get people buying in a frenzie, pump the price up 10,000-100,000% the sell it all taking the money and run. Also called “the pump & dump”
7. Most important rule is invest at least 10% of what you make. 20% or more should be your target though. Example: if you make $100k, you should be investing $20k/yr. RRSP’s allow you to invest up to 18%. So, if you put $18k in the RRSP that will give you a $5-6K tax refund that next year you reinvest in the RRSP and now you only need to come up with $14-15K to hit $20K. Once you have that plan then be disciplined and stick to that plan. That means making sacrifices like smaller house, less expensive car, no big trips, avoid spending too much in restaurants and bars, don’t go crazy in clothes (buy stuff you can where for years that do not go out of style). Often those that are financially better off are the ones not showing it. Some of those with the expensive cars and clothes might be heavily in debt.
8. Be disciplined. Buy and hold in solid companies is what made Warren Buffet a billionaire. Don’t buy just because a stock is up. Don’t sell just because it dropped. Some years you’ll have great returns and some years you’ll lose. But if you hold, the in the long run, you’ll be up. For example if you analyze a mutual fund returns don’t look at 1 year returns. 5 year and 10 years are what to look at as they normalize the good years and bad years.
9. Understand taxes. If you have a non-registered account that is being managed for you there will be fees. These fees are tax deductible. Pull the statements and record those fees and claim them as a deduction. Dividends, interest (bonds), and capital gains are all taxed differently.
10. Start early and take advantage of compounding. Compounding is interest upon interest. Warren Buffet described it as a snowball rolling down a hill. The longer the hill the bigger the ball at the end. The length of the hill is from when you start until when you retire. So, starting in your 20s is best. Do that amd tou can be financially independent 5-10 years before you actual retirement date.

Note: if you are just starting out though and have a small portfolio that a private wealth manager doesn’t want to take on then buy index funds:

1. 50% US
2. 15-25% Canada
3. 10-15% Europe, Japan/South Korea
4. 10% Bonds
5. 5% Cash, GIC’s, T-Bills

The cheat code to retire with unlimited bjs at the spa!

 

[Hornet]

I have very little info on investing and I'm affriad of losing my money.

To start out u suggest index funds? Also should I first contact my bank to get Intouch with a wealth advisor. What u recommended for a collage aged guy is decent money saved?

Not sure which bank you use. Here are some returns from TD as a reference. Don’t look at bond index returns as bonds are all about the quarterly interest payouts. The returns are based on a change in price which is driven by a change in interest rates. .

Index	5 yr annual return	10 year annual return
US	14.57%	10.79%
Canada	12.34%	7.84%
Europe	10.23%	6.17%
International	11.54%	7.14%

 

[DareDevil]

If you have to travel further, are you saving much? Gas is pricey… especially when you are sitting in traffic.

I think I am starting to become super selective on who I see now. Less likely to see someone on a whim.

Try using Gas Buddy app. I am finding gas pump prices drop almost 10cents after 8pm..