CarVan 14: The Abeka Boxes Have Started to Arrive

[SassyPants]

3 hours ago, Kiki03910 said:

The ill-educated fuckfaces of the Bates 2.0 generation never stood a chance. They don't know anything, AND they're living in the Influencer Epoch. And let's face it, do any of them seem that bright?

I think Michaela might be above average in a more broad based knowledge level. Tiffany might have more knowledge based on having had more experiences, same with Jeremy V. I am sure Derick is probably the most academically bright among all the Duggar and Bates associates. Others might have skills and knowledge in a specific area: Chad, the airplane dudes, Abbie, Jill, Kelton, Josie, Mr Katie, Erin, Jana and John. The rest???? I’m not sure the rest have shown us anything that would indicate skills or knowledge or what they do with their time (especially the men who are not tasked with childcare duties).

And Austin- I always forget someone=

Edited March 1 by SassyPants

[dawn9476]

So it looks Carlin and Evan are definitely putting in a pool. They know someone who puts in pools for a living. Layla has her first swim class on Monday. Zade is on a wait list.  Carlin said she hopes that they can get him in a class by the middle of the month.

Edited March 2 by dawn9476

[SoSoNosy]

Oh wow.  They are spending money like the tree in their back yard is flourishing and dropping $100 bills constantly.  I hope it doesn't come back to bite them.

[Kiki03910]

9 hours ago, SoSoNosy said:

Oh wow.  They are spending money like the tree in their back yard is flourishing and dropping $100 bills constantly.  I hope it doesn't come back to bite them.

No kidding! Pools are super expensive to put in.

[0 kids n not countin]

16 hours ago, SoSoNosy said:

Oh wow.  They are spending money like the tree in their back yard is flourishing and dropping $100 bills constantly.  I hope it doesn't come back to bite them.

As do Zach & Whitney, Katie & Travis, Josie & Kelton, and probably some of the others. Do any of them believe in saving for a rainy day, or saving for the future, or think about where they'll be when the influencer income runs dry?  I know Kelton's business is successful as is BSB, but this may not always be the case.  I suppose not saving for your blessings to go to college leaves more disposable income.  

[SassyPants]

1 hour ago, 0 kids n not countin said:

As do Zach & Whitney, Katie & Travis, Josie & Kelton, and probably some of the others. Do any of them believe in saving for a rainy day, or saving for the future, or think about where they'll be when the influencer income runs dry?  I know Kelton's business is successful as is BSB, but this may not always be the case.  I suppose not saving for your blessings to go to college leaves more disposable income.  

ALL of the Bateses and Duggars who procreate prolifically are spending more money than most folks; that’s the biggest expenditure imaginable, but I do not think beyond the kids, that Kelton and Josie live as extravagantly as some of the others.

[JDuggs]

25 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

ALL of the Bateses and Duggars who procreate prolifically are spending more money than most folks; that’s the biggest expenditure imaginable, but I do not think beyond the kids, that Kelton and Josie live as extravagantly as some of the others.

While I’m sure that I hate Kelton’s conservative views, I do respect him as a hardworking businessperson. His business actually brings value to people. He’s not just a content creator. I think he has the most long term vision out of any of the siblings and in-laws. He has education in finance and he’s obviously not afraid to get his hands dirty. I believe Josie has said that they are looking for a new house, but it seems like they’ll take their time to make a good decision. However, Kelton and Josie seem to be totally okay with exploiting their kids and monetizing their lives for social media. And while I don’t mind Josie’s personality, I’m afraid her influence on her daughters is that the only thing women bring to the world is knowledge/skill in makeup, hair and fashion.

[Melissa1977]

6 hours ago, 0 kids n not countin said:

As do Zach & Whitney, Katie & Travis, Josie & Kelton, and probably some of the others. Do any of them believe in saving for a rainy day, or saving for the future, or think about where they'll be when the influencer income runs dry?  I know Kelton's business is successful as is BSB, but this may not always be the case.  I suppose not saving for your blessings to go to college leaves more disposable income.  

Kelton runs a succesful business in a non-trendy field. Plumbing will always be necessary. If things turn difficult for the company, he can fire some employees, but I doubt he will find himself with no earnings. They travel, but they don't seem to be spending that much (no 10K stove and 10K couch like Zach). Kelton invests in new trucks for the business and things like that. I won't be surprised if they start saving for Miles college (Kelton went to an accredited one).

The others, I'm not sure. Many of them can work in building, cutting trees, etc. But without the social network earnings, their income would be low in most cases. I wonder if that *influencer era* is going to last. I still think Zach did a wrong move quitting his police job.

And then, there is Lawson. I don't think he'll be able to find a job. I think Tiffany (or his eventual second wife) would be the one working if things became financially difficult.

[Keys]

Funny enough, my coworkers and I were just talking about putting in pools. A few of them have recently put one in over the last few years. We were discussing prices, and the lowest price mentioned was $40k, which was JUST for the pool itself. The others spent closer to $100k with landscaping/putting in the pool deck + fence etc. Definitely not something a lot of people can afford. 

[rebeccawriter01]

6 hours ago, Keys said:

Funny enough, my coworkers and I were just talking about putting in pools. A few of them have recently put one in over the last few years. We were discussing prices, and the lowest price mentioned was $40k, which was JUST for the pool itself. The others spent closer to $100k with landscaping/putting in the pool deck + fence etc. Definitely not something a lot of people can afford. 

And unfortunately, it adds very little value to the home itself on resell. If you are planning to stay and would use it, that's great. If not, it might be smarter to consider it for your next home purchase. I have to question who is going to do the maintenance on it.

[HereticHick]

15 hours ago, rebeccawriter01 said:

And unfortunately, it adds very little value to the home itself on resell. If you are planning to stay and would use it, that's great. If not, it might be smarter to consider it for your next home purchase. I have to question who is going to do the maintenance on it.

Does putting in a pool raise your home insurance rates, because of the liability?

[OHFL2009]

22 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Does putting in a pool raise your home insurance rates, because of the liability?

We are in the process of putting in a pool, and my insurance agent told me that we'll have to let the insurance company know that we've put in a pool, but that it shouldn't raise the premium. I don't know if that's true everywhere, and ours isn't done yet so I can't confirm it will be true for us, but it's what I've been told. 

[Bassett Lady]

1 hour ago, HereticHick said:

Does putting in a pool raise your home insurance rates, because of the liability?

Yes, it did for us. 
 

We filled in the pool at a house we bought and afterwards had a nice sized yard where the kids could play football ⚽️ and the dogs could practice their agility training. 
 

When the pool was completely removed we documented the change and submitted it to our home insurance company and our rates dropped.

[SoSoNosy]

My husband had to have a pool, he spent hours just floating and relaxing.  We installed the pool as we built the house so I don't know how much more the insurance is but I also carry a huge liability umbrella that covers everything.

[ifosterkittens]

I've heard diving boards with personal pools really raise the insurance costs. 

[gobucks]

This week's video.. BSB turns 5 years old. Insert photo shoot. Carlin and Evan get their teeth cleaned at the dentist. Carlin has a cavity. Evan doesn't have any. Layla started swim lessons.. if you are curious where, you can see the giant sign in the video of the place. Zade is still on the waitlist. Evan has FOMO now that Carlin can do things on her own. 

[rebeccawriter01]

3 hours ago, gobucks said:

This week's video.. BSB turns 5 years old. Insert photo shoot. Carlin and Evan get their teeth cleaned at the dentist. Carlin has a cavity. Evan doesn't have any. Layla started swim lessons.. if you are curious where, you can see the giant sign in the video of the place. Zade is still on the waitlist. Evan has FOMO now that Carlin can do things on her own. 

Maybe it is just me misremembering but these people go to the dentist a bunch. Clearly, I'm not obsessed with documenting every moment of my life or posting videos of my life, but I'm not sure I would think of dentist visits as entertaining content. My dentist visits are a pain, boring, and anxious times for me. 

For the safety of her kids, she needs to stop with posting the signs and locations of her kids' activities. 

[AussieKrissy]

She wants free swimming lessons is all I can think of why she would be so stupid to post where they are. Jill duggar does it too. 

[gobucks]

8 hours ago, AussieKrissy said:

She wants free swimming lessons is all I can think of why she would be so stupid to post where they are. Jill duggar does it too. 

Jill's is at least a paid sponsorship! 

[LillyP]

On 3/4/2024 at 10:17 AM, Keys said:

Funny enough, my coworkers and I were just talking about putting in pools. A few of them have recently put one in over the last few years. We were discussing prices, and the lowest price mentioned was $40k, which was JUST for the pool itself. The others spent closer to $100k with landscaping/putting in the pool deck + fence etc. Definitely not something a lot of people can afford. 

It has gotten crazy expensive to do a pool install....as has everything! I remember my parents putting their VERY small pool in many years ago and it was a fraction of what it cost us just 2 years ago. Granted, we live in a resort area so that already adds the cost up, and we opted for a concrete pool instead of fiberglass. Ours was a huge undertaking requiring a whole new septic (because the old one was in the way of where the pool needed to be) and moving irrigation lines. Between all of that, fence, sod/landscaping, etc, I know we were upwards of $130k...which feels insane to type out. That being said it's been on my husband's wish list forever, because he grew up with a pool, and we are in our forever home with two small kids so I know we will have years of use out of it. We're going into our third summer with the pool and it really does get used every single day that it's warm enough. This year we're adding a pool heater to get an extra month on each end of the season. There definitely isn't a monetary return on the investment but for us the biggest return is the family time and enjoyment we get out of it. 

[gobucks]

On 3/13/2024 at 12:54 PM, LillyP said:

It has gotten crazy expensive to do a pool install....as has everything! I remember my parents putting their VERY small pool in many years ago and it was a fraction of what it cost us just 2 years ago. Granted, we live in a resort area so that already adds the cost up, and we opted for a concrete pool instead of fiberglass. Ours was a huge undertaking requiring a whole new septic (because the old one was in the way of where the pool needed to be) and moving irrigation lines. Between all of that, fence, sod/landscaping, etc, I know we were upwards of $130k...which feels insane to type out. That being said it's been on my husband's wish list forever, because he grew up with a pool, and we are in our forever home with two small kids so I know we will have years of use out of it. We're going into our third summer with the pool and it really does get used every single day that it's warm enough. This year we're adding a pool heater to get an extra month on each end of the season. There definitely isn't a monetary return on the investment but for us the biggest return is the family time and enjoyment we get out of it. 

Pretty sure they mentioned it being above ground pool. They said they have a "friend at church" that can do it. 

[rebeccawriter01]

19 hours ago, gobucks said:

Pretty sure they mentioned it being above ground pool. They said they have a "friend at church" that can do it. 

In previous social media Carlin and Evan have said they don't think their backyard is right for an inground pool. They left it kind of vague about the church friend and what he does. Is he in installation or sales? Sales people can find solutions where the rest of us can't - for a price.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I can easily understand not wanting to put in an in ground pool in TN. A pool in Florida or Arizona would be different. But a lot of months of the year in Tennessee are too cold for swimming. Basically October through April. So I wouldn’t want to spend big bucks on an in ground pool if we aren’t using it more than half the year. Plus an above ground pool can be gotten rid of pretty easily. Which I like. My cousin just had an in ground pool filled in and it was way more work and money than taking down an above ground pool. 

[rebeccawriter01]

48 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I can easily understand not wanting to put in an in ground pool in TN. A pool in Florida or Arizona would be different. But a lot of months of the year in Tennessee are too cold for swimming. Basically October through April. So I wouldn’t want to spend big bucks on an in ground pool if we aren’t using it more than half the year. Plus an above ground pool can be gotten rid of pretty easily. Which I like. My cousin just had an in ground pool filled in and it was way more work and money than taking down an above ground pool. 

I would agree but this is Carlin and Evan. Common sense and logic don't always follow. If I remember correctly, Carlin has wanted one and said she would prefer in ground. Evan said their yard was too sloped and rocky for it. Was that the response of a professional or someone who was just pontificating? Half of the houses in that area today are built on land that experts said was unbuildable. Technology has improved but not that much.

Hoping it is an above ground that can be removed. But I just wouldn't be surprised if this "friend" said it would be no problem to put an in ground one in for them. 

As for weather, the past few Octobers have been hot in Tennessee. So I'd say it won't be used November through March/April.

[SoSoNosy]

I have too many trees around my pool; I have it closed and covered not long after Labor Day because of leaves.  Then I wait to uncover it until after the oak trees have shed their little blooms or whatever they are, because they can clog a skimmer fast.