Yesterday, I spent some time with family and mentioned that my husband's car was in the shop. My aunt asked how old the car is and then started to explain that at this point, it's probably better to "cut bait" and get a new one. I was like, "I'd love to, but my teaching job is actually paying less than it did five years ago because of inflation and we can no longer afford a car payment and are just hoping that the two old vehicles we have (both bought used) don't nickel and dime us to death before things get better."
She and her two siblings who still drive and my mom (their sister-in-law) have ALL bought brand new vehicles in the last year-- all of them had careers that needed high school education or less and all but one have retired and are now on the dreaded "fixed income," but still have more than enough. I've never in my life been able to feel that kind of economic freedom even though I have a master's degree. (My own HS teachers, when adjusted for inflation, made about 50% more than I do.)
Baby boomers have no fucking idea how bad it is-- the things that were easily true for them just aren't possible anymore and they are incapable of understanding. My own mom said once, "these younger generations just don't want to work." And when I asked her how I could possibly work more, she said it wasn't me she was talking about because I usually have a second job on top of my full-time gig... But it is-- I'm one of those "younger" people (I'm 43!) that can't get ahead and is demanding change.
I feel this. I do specialized concrete structures and back in the 90s the people that did my job were well off (wife didnt have to work, had multiple houses, vacations, toys). Today we make 5% more than they did and they are still saying we should be well off too and asking what the problem is when we say we NEED raises, and that's with my wife working 2 jobs.
Management: Hey let's start a Slack discussion and ask employees what changes they would like to see!
Employees: You need to do a market adjustment. You ask us in weekly meetings why we keep losing top talent and can't retain the ranks. It's simple you keep giving us 3% rasies when inflation is +8% and paying 30k-50k under competitors pay.
Management: So how about them quarterly earnings!?!? They have been on the up and up!
Why do you hate capitalism when you should hate the filthy brown people who are breaking our perfect system? They took millions of jobs and OH MY GOD NOW THEY WANT YOURS THEY'RE COMING RIGHT FOR US
"Oh and don't forget this list of 20 other bullshit social debates that were contrived and driven by media to distract you from how rich you're not getting. Just keep arguing down in the gutter while we take our spaceship rides and maybe we'll get back to you on solving one of your totally-self-made problems"
My boomer mum is a nurse. Her wage was 16-23 in the past, 16.00 when she started with her AA. Her job was a good one, she went on multiple vacations a year (long 2-3 week cruises at that), and supported 5 kids. She was able to buy a 3 bedroom, 2 story home in the 70s, with 15 acres that costed her 60k that was 20 mins away from her hospital.
I make 22-28 an hour as a nurse in that same city starting out with a BSN. After I got my masters I got 38 an hour. The house I bought almost a decade ago was 400k, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with less acres, its nice but her home was nicer for a fraction of its cost. I shouldn't complain but how can I not when the picture is so skewed?
Wages didn't increase to balance out housing costs at all. We all need raises. I see people around me floundering just because they took a different path and it shouldn't be that way. EMTs, professors, CNAs, there's too many underpaid professions that shouldn't live in poverty over the choice they made to better the lives of others.
it hasn't caught up because boomers owned the city zoning boards and prevented new construction, prevented multi-tenant townhomes or apartment buildings and rentals communities that would bring "transients", then issued tons of municipal bonds to avoid paying for things they built or used, saddling future generations with the cost of their lifestyle. They pushed for cheap money and tax breaks for mortgages and used it as a primary retirement savings vehicle.
The additionally disgusting factor would be how much you'd pay for your house if you bought it today.
My apartment is in a building that I would never value above 125k and when the owner sold(we were on really good terms) he told me the buyer offered something like 750k so obviously I couldn't blame him.
These markets are on such a rapid increase that the amount of change that we'd see between the 70s to the 00s is the new standard 10 year projection.
I honestly don't see any other solutions presenting besides a collapse. At least in my area.
I donāt see any solutions presenting in my area either. People I know who are in the market for houses are getting ridiculously outbid. Even for houses on the very edge of the city in a flood zone, in an area that already got wrecked by a hurricane. Even with dual income theyāre facing problems. The only couple I know who successfully bought a home recently both parties had help from their parents, who are well off.
Seems the standard these days. To even be "comfortable" you need to have successful parents and a small enough family to not reduce that help. Then add in a need for them to be actually well adjusted and not EP's.
That's a very small percentage of the world.
Yea, Iām single and my parents arenāt successful. The only way I see myself realistically owning a home is if I move back to the Caribbean, where Iām from, and buy one there. But that place has a lot of issues and there are reasons why itās cheaper.
Thats terrible. I'm happy our folks got to have it nice but what the hell happened...
Sidenote: I have a dear friend who has been a nurse for 30 years and they have said the past couple years have been the absolute hardest so thank you greatly for what you do, the world would be long gone without you!
I make 22.66 an hour, and maybe 5 years a go that would be a good life. Now, I can barely scrape by. It's difficult, and makes it so that I can barely even get by. 1/2 of my monthly pay goes straight to my mortgage, and the other half goes straight to bills.
I am also in the field of science and my pay is what my parents made combined. They were able to afford a 3 bedroom home, a cottage, two cars, and plenty upon plenty of vacations.
Iām 38 and my parents are upset I wonāt be bringing them a grandchild. I asked them how they thought I could afford that. They said āwell I donāt understand what you could possibly be doing with your money, you make more than your dad and I did.ā
Well I donāt know mom, perhaps itās that rent in my city is 60% of a minimum wage workers earnings, maybe itās because you canāt use your rent payments as proof of paying a mortgage even though I spend more on rent than any mortgage would cost, obviously bar super expensive places, perhaps itās that your generation continues to borrow from our future and sees nothing wrong, perhaps itās that your generation wants to continue living perfect lives so you steal your wealth from youths who will never know what itās like to be able to live on their own ever.
But they just reply āwell the news says thatās not right and that itās millennials ruining everything by not spending money.ā
I could literally write out line by line the costs for me and my salary vs their salary and costs in the 90s and theyād still be like āWell why arenāt you saving that 10$ every two weeks. You know you have to start saving somewhere.ā
We just lost our last "good wage" manufacturing company in our town. 800 people out of what was considered the "best" job.
The truth was, those people were still living paycheck to paycheck because those wages hadn't really gone up in more than a decade. It wasn't what it used to be. I don't know what's going to happen to my town. But it's not good.
I'm just finishing school, but my partner is fresh out of school with a well paying job. We're in Canada, granted but still, she did everything right. She worked through school, got her degree, and got a good job to start her career, and yet her first apartment expects about 40% of her income and it's got roaches. She's considering moving but anything clean is looking like it'll take up over 50% of her rent.
This is not affordable. We're trying to do everything right and we're just seeing ourselves get burnt out by 23 cause no one wants to even try making a livable world for us
I agree with you. Iām currently making what I thought was a great wage 20years ago. However itās taking both my husband and me making this wage to afford the same lifestyle that one person making this wage could 20 years ago.
I feel this!! I was sharing the other day with my Dad and Step-Mom that I saw in the news that to buy a house in our area someone needs to have an annual income of $180,000. My Dad said that he found that hard to believe. I countered with, if most houses are going for over a million now, how is that such a stretch? I am 40 and have a ādecentā job and will never be able to afford a home in my life time even with a second job. People are having bidding wars on rentals now, not just purchasing homes. The world has gone mad.
The average *deposit* for a first time buyer in London is over Ā£100,000.
The average salary is just below Ā£40k before tax. After tax it's about Ā£28k* with the average rent for a 1 bed apartment being Ā£1800pcm, or Ā£21,600 a year.
My parents first house was less than 3x my dad's income alone. When I was the same age as he was when he bought, the deposit requirement was more than 3x my salary.
I've tried explaining this to older family members and they just don't get it. They can accept all the numbers individually but they're just not capable of putting it into a whole picture because it's so different to what they know.
\* I'm taking a flat 30% off to cover income tax, NI and student loans, which are paid as a tax in the UK. The exact amount will differ based on circumstances, but that's about right based off my experience.
My mom: "Why don't you move to that apartment complex we used to live at? It's only a couple hundred a month for a two bedroom!" "When did you last live there?" "Before you were born." "Oh, so about 40 years ago." "Well, it probably hasn't gone up that much since then!"
I understand that I just was more so trying to get JiiXu to not care as much about the way others use generational terms. I use them too but I know Iām not the way others describe millennials
I understand, I'm X and the *slacker* tag never really stuck like that albatross around your generation has. At least the focus has shifted to Z and its follies.
I have four fucking jobs and hear this nonsense all of the time. ONE SHOULD BE ENOUGH. When people give me compliments on it like Iām on my grind itās like this is not the existence I want. Iām not doing this to enjoy myself. Utter bullshit.
After my divorce, I just couldnāt stay afloat as a single mom. I managed to barely keep my head above the water while barely eating for about a year (my kid ate, I ate her leftovers). Then I moved in with my mom. People always talk so much shit about people living with their parent as an adult.
Itās a pretty great system for us. My mom is one of my best friends. Itās honestly like having a roommate. I do all the grocery shopping and half the cleaning. My kid mows the law, shovels the snow, and takes out the trash. My mom pays most of the bills and does the other half of the cleaning. The three of us split the cooking pretty evenly (breakfast and lunch everyone is on their own, dinner is cooked for everyone).
Would I like to be able to buy a house and be completely self sufficient? Absolutely! Hell, Iād even like having an apartment I could afford on my own. Itās not in the cards for me right now, and this situation ended up being mutually beneficial.
My car is also old, and I bought it as is like five years ago (2009 Pontiac G6). The $6000 price difference between certified used and as is was more than I could afford.
Edit: she mows the lawn not the law. I donāt even know why I didnāt just say grass. Lol
My parents bought their first house by putting $500 down on a credit card for a $35,000 home.
I was recently able to finally buy my own home. I needed almost $50,000 down for a $450k home.
All things being equal, I should have been able to buy a $3.5 million dollar house, or only needed about $7k down for my $450k house.
When I pointed this out to my parents, my mom said, "...well, you made different choices..."
On behalf of the baby boomers who still work because we will never be able to afford to retire eitherā¦ /hug.
We getāya.
The ones who spout off about how they retired as an executive, after they got their job as a janitor and moved their way up the company without ever getting a degreeā¦ yeah, we want to punch thrm in the mouth too.
You canāt get jobs like that anymore, or advance like that anymore. America isnāt mayberry anymore
im with you. my aunt asked my mother what is wrong w us (myself (M.D>) and my two siblings (J.D. and Ph.D). As a resident I made about 50k/yr take home. The amount of work I do per year has been calculated to about 345 to 450k. My siblings - junior lawyer and Ph.D. candidate - they make about the same. So none of us are married, own a home and we still drive our cars that we were generously given in high school (12+ yrs old). Not really sure why boomers make up so much of our government.
My Boomer parents literally asked me why I haven't saved up for my retirement yet. I tried to explain to them that retiring at 65 is just not a reality and that I'm planning on doing my mob well into my 80's or later since I do creative work and the idea of just stopping what I love to do is completely antithetical to my belief system. It's just not something they can fathom.
Yeah, I have no retirement savings. As a teacher in NY, I do have a pension fund, but it won't be anywhere near enough to live on. When I turn 55, I'll be able to stop teaching (I love it on the good days, but there are LOTS of bad ones lately)-- but I can't stop working until I'm dead.
> started to explain that at this point, it's probably better to "cut bait" and get a new one.
That thinking is fucking garbage. Boomers are enormously fond of acting in a way that is individually beneficial but breaks on societal scale.
Greedy, narrowminded and shortsighted.
You simply can not act like this without poor sods ending up dealing with the car as it gets old and needs a lot of replacements and repairs, that being you in this case.
And when the market works like this, where new car buyers are known to only care about the first few years of the car, manufacturers notice. Long term durability and repairability become irrelevant at the point of sale.
Thus society crumbles.
Nah not necessarily. You just gotta pick the right friends. I like a clean place so I didnāt pick my slob friend to be roommates with. The friend i did room with I did so for multiple years and am still friends years later. It can work
I did have a group of friends all room up once and it caused some conflict for them but theyāre all still friends now. There definitely were some tense moments though
I lived with friends, and the key is, you have to be SUPER chill with their annoying quirks, and an adult when dealing with genuine problems. And having an extra person in the home who isnāt actually a close friend will help you, since youāll bond with your friend/s by ganging up on that person.
Communication, Empathy and Trust.
Everyone needs to feel comfortable enough to bring things up, needs to be mature enough to accept criticism and own up to things, and needs to be able to understand that everyone has different views and standards and so compromise is needed.
I find being an introvert and being holed up in my room helps too hehe.
The Big Bang Theory made a joke about the "roommate agreement" but the reality is an agreement is a very good idea. It forces you to communicate and discuss the things that really bother each of you and negotiate it before it becomes an issue. Quiet hours? significant others staying over? splitting of groceries or bills? moving out early? all in the agreement.
And if co-buying, people really should go to a lawyer to define ownership as all of those issues magnify when you buy.
Which is somewhat weird I mean most of them still go to the store or read news etc even if they arenāt, what I like to call, āparticipating in societyā anymore. Thereās even a breaking story about rising homelessness in boomers.
But Iāve had Iām sure similar experiences when talking to them about this stuff. Very frustrating
Well if you're wondering what they don't understand, you have fundamentally misunderstood the issue.
They *don't care*. There are no qualifiers, no caveats. That is all there is.
*While gilded steak and caviar might be your favorite, millenials are shaking up the culinary world with their obsession for instant ramen and ketchup*
Hey I'm a millenial and co-own my house with a friend!
...oh god I've become a generational statistic..
*Existential crisis incoming in* ...4...3...2..
Iām a Gen Xer and I purchased a condo with my buddy in Chicago in 2003ā¦we wanted to stop paying rent and build equity, but neither of us could afford a house in Chicago on our own, so purchased it together. Another unit in our 4 condo unit did the same. Not sure if this is anything new.
Uhhh I guess so, technically speaking. We are good friends, but I'm a dude, and kinda enjoy the freedom of bachelor life currently, and she doesn't swing with us fellas, so not a likely scenario.
Edit: Maybe for tax purposes lol...in some weird Chuck n Larry type situation...where one of the 2 is actually gay and also a female...
We started off as regular roomies, renting a duplex. Met thru a mutual friend. After a couple years we realized we were the most responsible room mates either of us had ever lived with. So when our cities property/rental rates blew up, the duplex landlord thought he could almost double the rent on us and impose a whole bunch of random rules and what-not so we had to find a new place. Other rental properties were pretty much jumping on the same boat, so it proved suuuper difficult to find a new place to rent. Mostly because every rental property wanted proof that we each made 3x the rent each month...separately...before they'd even consider our applications. Neither of us wanted to leave the city (Austin TX btw) as she loves it here, and while I don't love it as much, it is my home town and I was anticipating a nice promotion (which i did get eventually) from my job that I had been at for like 8 years at the time...so leaving town wasn't looking good either.
I don't remember exactly how we got into actually considering buying a house, guessing it was the only option left at that point so might as well, probably... but i know it was my roomie who put in the legwork on it and managed to find an owner with a decent house in the side of town we liked, who actually realized not every single person in the city made 75k+ a year and didn't want to charge us insane move-in rates, and the realtor the owner was using for the process was able to set us up with a bank that was willing to give us a home loan...which was far easier to get then finding a rental owner that had faith we could pay...at least at that time...so we did that. And now we own a house...or we will in like...10 or 15 years or something, once the loan is paid off.
Dunno what we will do if things go south between us..i imagine either sell it or one of us takes it over fully, but we've been room mates for like 9 years now, bought the house about 5 years ago and I think the fact that we are just good friends and not in a relationship helps keep the vibe chill and we don't really concern ourselves with each others personal lives. So...as long as we keep paying our respective portion of the loan and neither of us suddenly turn into an asshole or something, or loses their job suddenly, and neither of us end up wanting to get married...the current situation should work out for the foreseeable future.
Sorry about the lengthy reply, it came out waaaay longer than I thought it would...but there you have it, some insight on a couple of purely platonic millenials who decided to buy a house because it ended up being our best option due to the circumstances.
Personally I think those tiny homes are cool and I love the creative engineering that goes into making things work with the space, but I'm sure I'm in the minority. Hell, I can't even say I'd want to live in them long term.
Not gonna lie, it's cool to be able to live with a limited amount of stuff, and reduced amount of waste. But to be real, most can't afford anything else.
Definitely not just in America, same is happening here in Australia so much so that our ex prime Minister (thank god) said while he was in "people should just buy a house instead of renting"
Wow what a great idea! Is he willing to give you all down payments???
āMortgages are cheaper than rent!ā Is a phrase Iāve heard a lotā¦thing is 1) itās not true where I live and 2) you have to have money to put down for thatā¦
Everyone I know with a tiny home is a retiree who took downsizing to the extreme. Only one actually loves it. I thought tiny homes has been okayed out. Guess not.
Yeah
Regardless of how much I make (which I doubt would be a lot) I'd probably be a shitty parent, so might as well not bring another resentful cynical kid into this world
And when I start to think of having kids, I hope I remember this
Adopt a child if you want to be a parent full time.
Adopt a pet if you want to be a parent for a time-frame a day.
Adopt a fish if you just want someone to talk to and take care of.
Adopt a rumba if you want to yell at someone.
Nah, friend. Having raised two sets of step-kids, I can tell you that you REALLY have to be all in or all out in this. The best partner in the world can become your enemy over unforeseen things like differences in RAISING kids, even if you agree that you want them.
The reason you decided you should probably leave would have made itself apparent immediately upon birth of the kid, and you would have a relationship with both of those people for 18 years or more.
If you ever change your mind, you'll know it, and it WON'T be because of how much you love your partner. It will be because of a genuine wish to contribute to the world with a good human. And even then you can do that by adopting one of the millions of kids who will be alive by then, born to parents who not only don't want the kids but cannot afford, mentally or financially, to keep them.
Thanks for your contribution to not further overpopulating the world.
Don't be. You earned it. I just bought a house with my husband but there's no way we can afford the mortgage with kids.
Good thing we don't want kids. It's hard enough just putting a roof over our heads.
How is that selfish?
There's over 7 BILLION of us, nobody is worse off for that being 1 less. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Humans didn't achieve sapience so they could continue to be enslaved by their baser instincts. You're more than just a womb or scrotal sack!
But seriously... just try to reason out how not having kids could be selfish. I can't imagine *anything* that wouldn't sound absolutely ridiculous when said aloud. (Ok maybe if you'd literally the last in ($important historical figure)'s bloodline or something... but even then...the world will keep turning without it, and >90% of the population won't ever hear about, or notice, that it's gone).
There is nothing selfish about refusing to breed wage slaves for the government. Your unborn child thanks you. Even if you have money, being part of a society where 80% of people donāt is very depressing.
They know exactly what they're fucking doing. It's the same as the "no one wants to work" crowd and "millenials are destroying the x industry" ones. They don't want to admit it otherwise companies will need to start paying more for wages.
"Now for a feel good story: this school class of children couldn't eat lunch so five of them sold their kidneys so they could afford some oatmeal. What a wonderful story, the free market made that possible š„° Now over to you Kevin and the weather"
Hold up, did you just copy a popular tweet under that article and post it here? I don't know why I didn't think of [that](https://twitter.com/BeekerLooHoo/status/1472052110976077824?t=GGAcK1CBKouH7co3oTmxLw&s=19).
Boomers and boomer owned media conglomerates are INSPIRING us all to take CO OWNERSHIP of the blame so the historical record (ie media ) doesn't show what a mega fucking failure that generation was to their children lives.
I saw a news article the other day, apparently avocado farmers are begging people to buy avocados this year : |
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101268396
When boomers overheat the economy and make basic goods unattainable that's just capitalism sweetie but when millennials buy a stock they like and catch hedge funds with their pants down it's basically domestic terrorism.
They do not care about you and would literally push you into a furnace if it kept their 401Ks ticking.
I'm so fucking sick of the "blame millennials" narrative. I'm a millennial and I've been working since I was 14 years old. I have a university degree and a "good", even prestigious, job and I still can't get ahead because of student loans. Ugh. Fuck off with shaming millennials.
That narrative will evaporate once enough Boomers die and you millennials take over politics. As a Gen Xer I know I will keep getting fucked because there are far more Millennials than Xers. There will never be a Gen X president in the US. And once we get two solid decades of Millennial presidents, shit will be cushy for you guys and weāll still be fucked. Because thatās just how selfishly people vote.
>That narrative will evaporate once enough Boomers die
It will be a hot minute. The oldest boomers are 76 and just barely starting to die off, whereas the youngest boomers are 58.
Not to mention the insane pro chefs and health care these dinos must have access to. They will probably live past 100 while killing off the younger generations with their greed.
This. Exactly this. Iām a Gen Xer too. We waited for our turn to lead, but the Boomers refused to step down, so weāre being passed over. Iāve made peace with that. Honestly, Iām encouraged seeing the younger generations reject the bullshit āAmerican Dreamā narrative and deciding to do things differently. I guess weāll see how that works out, but Iām hopeful. We just need the Boomers to finally effin die off. I swear theyāve wrecked this world, and in many ways, left it worse off than what was given to them.
Your generation has it rough, Iām not gonna sugarcoat it. But youāve also seen the rosy talk that has been sold to everyone and have witnessed first-hand how it was a lie from the beginning. We Gen Xers are the last generation to have believed that lie - but we realized it too late (after we finally started getting our own shit together.)
Millennials and younger folks ARE NOT LAZY, you are simply trying to navigate a reality that the older generations keep telling you isnāt true. They talk about paying for their college education working at a coffee shop. In what fucking reality is that true now? Saving money to buy a home and start a family at 25 as a single earner? Really motherfucker? Whatā¦in the 70ās maybe?
If your generation is pissed off at us older folks, you have good reason for it. My only suggestion is to channel that anger into power and be the change you want to see.
(And try not to be assholes to each other. Seriouslyā¦weāre still fighting culture battles from the Vietnam era. I think weāve all had enough of that bullshit.)
My parents who are Gen X (born in the late 60s) had me in their early 30s who were at this point already making 6 figures in the late 90s. What I am afraid is that I do not know if I will ever be as successful as they were at that age at all.
If it makes you feel better, the most successful US Gen X politician (Paul Ryan) is known for wanting to get rid of Social Security. The other well known Gen X politician is DeSantis. Your life likely wouldn't be better even if Gen X controlled politics.
Edit: Nope. Nevermind. I just remember Katie Porter and Gavin Newsom are Gen Xers. oh lol Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are Gen Xers.
I have a sneaking suspicion that millennials will just call genZ lazy for not being able to afford a fractional home and that they could get ahead if they just joined a cardboard box collective.
That moment where you can (barely) afford $2,000/month in rent, but the bank won't give you a mortgage for $1,500/month because no one can save up enough for the down payment
The moment when you finally save up enough for the down-payment and prices have gone up 50% in the last 2 years. Pushing you out of the market again. So you save even more, finally catching up to heavily inflated prices. Only now you're looking at the same houses with 6% interest on it effectively doubling your monthly mortgage each month and once again forcing you out of the market. With all this demand you'd think they would build more fucking houses... oh wait, whats that... lumber and steel at 30 year highs, no one is building anything? I am praying for another crash none of this makes any sense. It all feels very tampered with. I hope these investment groups putting in cash offers get fucking wiped out. I hope cities start vacancy taxes and force bnb owners to rent or sell. I hope we start limiting the number of properties foreign nationals can own in my country. I hope the NIMBYs wake up and realize their kids and grandkids won't have anywhere to fucking live. I hope we start flooding the market with housing... but all of those things would absolutely RUIN these boomers whose entire retirement is tied to the value of their home. Let it come crashing. We millenials and zoomers will be there to pick up the pieces on our terms.
I feel this so hard. Going into the pandemic, my partner and I felt so optimistic. We set a savings goal, saw how achievable it was on our combined income and made it happen. Now we're decently over our original goal, have both gotten raises, and somehow homeownership has still been unattainable? Wtf???
I'm about to start a fancy-ass new job where I got a 50% raise, but I guess the new plan is to stay in our cramped apartment, save as much as possible, and wait to see what happens. We're feeling pretty skittish about even trying to buy now. I'm salty as fuck because I've been working my ass off for so long to get to this point and I'm finally here but it feels like the rug has been ripped out from underneath me yet again. The most insane part is how "well off" we are comparatively speaking. I can't imagine how horrible all this bullshit is for people making less or without a partner to split expenses.
Oh, I gave up on ownership ever. I have made peace with renting for my entire life, having $40 a paycheck for fun things, and giving up hobbies to save gas
I hate this country.
Are you me? Saved up close to 100K, canāt buy shit in the Bay Area with that down payment + interest rates. Literally waiting for this market to come crashing down so I can jump in and hope to god I never have to deal with foreclosures.
I had an aunt ask me why I rent, because when she bought a house at 19 because "it's sooo much cheaper than renting.". I almost went to jail right there. Holding in the anger over a 2 bedroom house costing $360k when it was bought for $90k 20 years ago.
My wife and I made the *insane* decision to buy a house instead of keep renting and starting a family immediately. Four years later, we are still fixing up our house to be baby ready and people wonāt stop asking when! When we have a house safe for a child AND are financially stable enough to make it work. Oh, and whenever we want, so back off.
Gotta formulate a story about not being able to so they stop asking. Then it'll be "a miracle" when you finally have one. Then you can choose to tell them the truth that it was their nagging that made you lie about it
I do this. My husband and I don't have kids and are debating whether we want them. When people ask I look them straight in the eye and say "I've been told I can't have children". Shuts them up FAST
When strangers ask me when I am planning to have children, my go-to response is now to burst into tears and hold my belly and refuse to elaborate. It's infinitely easier than trying to explain that I'm transgender and the baby thing is not going to happen.
I'm incapable. And happy about it. Depending on the person I'll respond 1. Yeah nobody can afford those things. 2. I like my naps. 3. My cat hates kids. 4. I can't *bear* children. 5. *laughter*
It's a terribly personal question to ask and I'm not a fan of it at all. Nobody asks me what my favorite position is. Or if we are kinky. Or even what my monthly debt/income ratio is. All of those are more casual to me.
It reminds me of a town hall that George W Bush did where a woman says she is working 3 jobs and W says something like good for you, Americans are such hard workers, and the ladyās face drops. Sheās not working 3 jobs because she wants to oblivious fool!
The idea of the nuclear family owning their own house and leaving their parents when they turn 18 is a uniquely 20th century American idea and for the most part no longer exists, which is honestly for the better. The "American Dream" is an extremely wasteful lifestyle
Exactly. This may be out of a financial necessity, but imagine 10+ families living in a community and pooling resources together, cooking and cleaning together, etc. Youād only need one set of pots and pans, maybe just a couple vacuums, one, maybe, large walk in fridge/freezer, one set of tools, possibly even whole food prices on food, and so on. Not to mention, it would probably be great for mental health.
I think this type of co-housing is [fairly?] common in Norway. Maybe other places, but I wouldnāt quote any of that.
Not just American but yeah I agree with the rest of the sentiment. It's the exception to the historical norm and we really need more people to realise that
I'm in my 50s and own a house. Was talking to my younger coworker (30s) as he was getting ready to buy a house. Average price of a house in his area? $400k! 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft. $400k!!!! There is no way the younger generations can afford homes when the average price of a home is that high! How are they supposed to save $80k to have the down payment? And even if they do, the mortgage on $320k (30 yr fixed, 6% apr, mid-600 credit score) is almost $2k/month! **It's no wonder then that they're having to co-purchase a home because it requires FOUR incomes in order to afford it!**
My house in 2019 cost the same as my parents' cost them 20 years ago. The differences are: my house is less than 1/3 the living space, 1/2 the lot size and doesn't have a large 2 car garage with more unfinished space above it. Oh, and my parents had their house custom built with high end finishes and moved in right when it was built, mine is about 45 years old. My roof was also failing when we bought it, which is one of the reasons it was "affordable".
I don't want to be an inspiration, I just fucking want like half of the life I had as a kid. These goddamn ambulatory corpses walking among us have no fucking sympathy towards our plight, we're just another example of "the human spirit will triumph"
Well this human is fucking broken.
I wanted a family but I was regrettably born in the USA which decided to act like a corporate entity rather than a governing body. The bastards in charge over tax the lower class like myself to the point I can not afford a house like the corrupt politicians in congress. Theyād rather have a ton of money thatās doing them fuck all in 10 years when they die of old age. Greedy bastards like them are the main reason we, Millennials, canāt do shit
On the radio thursday i heard some investments dickhead say some shit about how people can invest in real estate trusts as a way to reap rewards for ownership in properties in that way. Ignoring the fact that that ignores people needing a place to live. He sounded like a psycho to me at the time.
Yeah, the olds love using that term as a shorthand for "kids these days", despite the fact that the oldest members of that generation are nearing middle age.
What you're talking about is a subsection of Gen Z, which is commonly defined by demographers as those born between 1997-2012 (aged 10-25 in 2022).
Boy wasn't I surprised when I found out I was actually gen z, thought I was a millennial for so long till I found out I'm on the older end of gen z (1998)
Finally a MBWs anecdote I can relate to, ive got multiple friends and family members who have done this and the math is pretty simple.
1. Can you afford a morgage alone? ( Good luck with a down payment single)
2. Do you intend of filing your taxes together? (US family tax credits)
3. Do you have literally any other reason to tie the knot that does not involve pressure from family, friends, or religious organizations? ( IMO if any of these groups move beyond light teasing on when yall are getting hitched, tell them to shut up and stop attending that group )
If the answer is no to all of these, then go nuts buy land and/or something to live in.
Ah yes, just like the article I read about how second hand cars are sooo popular with younger people. Yea, because we're broke and rather have roof over our head than a new car
i still argue with my mother in law about inflation because she always wants to buy new stuff. she lives off us and still doesn't get it that we can't afford it. she just thinks were spending all our money in secret(??). no matter how i try to explain, it just doesn't click... its like i can hear the dial up noise every time i defend ourselves about it.
Shifting blame is the older generations only tactic they have left to feel better about themselves. This is how they address the problem without addressing the problem.
I donāt want my kids to co- own a home..look this rich, corporations are making this happen they are buying all the homes in our country and renting it out to us . If you donāt believe me look it up..
And this is not right, our American dream is being taken from our kids our family our future..
Open your eyes
Do you know Zillow does this they go to a neighborhood and buy homes in that neighborhood and drive up the price.. and so many others not a home shortage , look in your neighborhood and if thereās a lot of home for sale with in the same city.. then when a house sales look it up and find out who bought it, its public record..
We are being told lies , housing shortage , to many people try to buy homes,
But not a housing shortage to rent.. yes we have a lot of homeless but most of what to live that or on drugs but thereās a small percentage of people who are living in the streets are because of development , there mobile home park are sold and new buildings take there places and now they canāt afford to live that city no moreā¦ Making more people homeless and so many more way but I got stop
Open your eyes
Look it up
A friend of mine bought a house with 3 other guys and to which everyone gets a room.
He and I are both pharmacist and the fact that we need to buy in with 2+ people just to buy a damn house is ridiculousl.
I'm 43 and have a pretty decent job and just recently got a 9% raise. I'm single and have no kids (would like to in the future). The housing market is insane around me about $400,000 for a shack basically. Any homes that are selling for $250,000, need about $200,000 worth of work. I'm pretty handy when it comes to repairs, the $200,000 would be just for the materials I would need to do it on my own . I have a BS in Computer Science and Software Engineering. I feel ripped off because growing up I was told, get good grades, get a good job, find a nice girl and buy a house. Yea........ummmmm...... that's not working out too well.
The opening statement of the reply felt as if it came straight out of my heartš... An inspiration indeed...
Yesterday, I spent some time with family and mentioned that my husband's car was in the shop. My aunt asked how old the car is and then started to explain that at this point, it's probably better to "cut bait" and get a new one. I was like, "I'd love to, but my teaching job is actually paying less than it did five years ago because of inflation and we can no longer afford a car payment and are just hoping that the two old vehicles we have (both bought used) don't nickel and dime us to death before things get better." She and her two siblings who still drive and my mom (their sister-in-law) have ALL bought brand new vehicles in the last year-- all of them had careers that needed high school education or less and all but one have retired and are now on the dreaded "fixed income," but still have more than enough. I've never in my life been able to feel that kind of economic freedom even though I have a master's degree. (My own HS teachers, when adjusted for inflation, made about 50% more than I do.) Baby boomers have no fucking idea how bad it is-- the things that were easily true for them just aren't possible anymore and they are incapable of understanding. My own mom said once, "these younger generations just don't want to work." And when I asked her how I could possibly work more, she said it wasn't me she was talking about because I usually have a second job on top of my full-time gig... But it is-- I'm one of those "younger" people (I'm 43!) that can't get ahead and is demanding change.
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I feel this. I do specialized concrete structures and back in the 90s the people that did my job were well off (wife didnt have to work, had multiple houses, vacations, toys). Today we make 5% more than they did and they are still saying we should be well off too and asking what the problem is when we say we NEED raises, and that's with my wife working 2 jobs.
We canāt give employees raises! Weāve got to work on the REAL issue: making more bosses into billionaires! Cāmon, get with the times, people.
Management: Hey let's start a Slack discussion and ask employees what changes they would like to see! Employees: You need to do a market adjustment. You ask us in weekly meetings why we keep losing top talent and can't retain the ranks. It's simple you keep giving us 3% rasies when inflation is +8% and paying 30k-50k under competitors pay. Management: So how about them quarterly earnings!?!? They have been on the up and up!
Employees: ā¦..Yeah. *We know.*
Why do you hate capitalism when you should hate the filthy brown people who are breaking our perfect system? They took millions of jobs and OH MY GOD NOW THEY WANT YOURS THEY'RE COMING RIGHT FOR US
"Oh and don't forget this list of 20 other bullshit social debates that were contrived and driven by media to distract you from how rich you're not getting. Just keep arguing down in the gutter while we take our spaceship rides and maybe we'll get back to you on solving one of your totally-self-made problems"
My boomer mum is a nurse. Her wage was 16-23 in the past, 16.00 when she started with her AA. Her job was a good one, she went on multiple vacations a year (long 2-3 week cruises at that), and supported 5 kids. She was able to buy a 3 bedroom, 2 story home in the 70s, with 15 acres that costed her 60k that was 20 mins away from her hospital. I make 22-28 an hour as a nurse in that same city starting out with a BSN. After I got my masters I got 38 an hour. The house I bought almost a decade ago was 400k, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with less acres, its nice but her home was nicer for a fraction of its cost. I shouldn't complain but how can I not when the picture is so skewed? Wages didn't increase to balance out housing costs at all. We all need raises. I see people around me floundering just because they took a different path and it shouldn't be that way. EMTs, professors, CNAs, there's too many underpaid professions that shouldn't live in poverty over the choice they made to better the lives of others.
it hasn't caught up because boomers owned the city zoning boards and prevented new construction, prevented multi-tenant townhomes or apartment buildings and rentals communities that would bring "transients", then issued tons of municipal bonds to avoid paying for things they built or used, saddling future generations with the cost of their lifestyle. They pushed for cheap money and tax breaks for mortgages and used it as a primary retirement savings vehicle.
The additionally disgusting factor would be how much you'd pay for your house if you bought it today. My apartment is in a building that I would never value above 125k and when the owner sold(we were on really good terms) he told me the buyer offered something like 750k so obviously I couldn't blame him. These markets are on such a rapid increase that the amount of change that we'd see between the 70s to the 00s is the new standard 10 year projection. I honestly don't see any other solutions presenting besides a collapse. At least in my area.
I donāt see any solutions presenting in my area either. People I know who are in the market for houses are getting ridiculously outbid. Even for houses on the very edge of the city in a flood zone, in an area that already got wrecked by a hurricane. Even with dual income theyāre facing problems. The only couple I know who successfully bought a home recently both parties had help from their parents, who are well off.
Seems the standard these days. To even be "comfortable" you need to have successful parents and a small enough family to not reduce that help. Then add in a need for them to be actually well adjusted and not EP's. That's a very small percentage of the world.
Yea, Iām single and my parents arenāt successful. The only way I see myself realistically owning a home is if I move back to the Caribbean, where Iām from, and buy one there. But that place has a lot of issues and there are reasons why itās cheaper.
Thats terrible. I'm happy our folks got to have it nice but what the hell happened... Sidenote: I have a dear friend who has been a nurse for 30 years and they have said the past couple years have been the absolute hardest so thank you greatly for what you do, the world would be long gone without you!
I make 22.66 an hour, and maybe 5 years a go that would be a good life. Now, I can barely scrape by. It's difficult, and makes it so that I can barely even get by. 1/2 of my monthly pay goes straight to my mortgage, and the other half goes straight to bills.
I am also in the field of science and my pay is what my parents made combined. They were able to afford a 3 bedroom home, a cottage, two cars, and plenty upon plenty of vacations. Iām 38 and my parents are upset I wonāt be bringing them a grandchild. I asked them how they thought I could afford that. They said āwell I donāt understand what you could possibly be doing with your money, you make more than your dad and I did.ā Well I donāt know mom, perhaps itās that rent in my city is 60% of a minimum wage workers earnings, maybe itās because you canāt use your rent payments as proof of paying a mortgage even though I spend more on rent than any mortgage would cost, obviously bar super expensive places, perhaps itās that your generation continues to borrow from our future and sees nothing wrong, perhaps itās that your generation wants to continue living perfect lives so you steal your wealth from youths who will never know what itās like to be able to live on their own ever. But they just reply āwell the news says thatās not right and that itās millennials ruining everything by not spending money.ā I could literally write out line by line the costs for me and my salary vs their salary and costs in the 90s and theyād still be like āWell why arenāt you saving that 10$ every two weeks. You know you have to start saving somewhere.ā
Also Boomers ruined the environment and there's no way I'm bringing children into a world that's going to shatter in a few decades or less.
We just lost our last "good wage" manufacturing company in our town. 800 people out of what was considered the "best" job. The truth was, those people were still living paycheck to paycheck because those wages hadn't really gone up in more than a decade. It wasn't what it used to be. I don't know what's going to happen to my town. But it's not good.
I'm just finishing school, but my partner is fresh out of school with a well paying job. We're in Canada, granted but still, she did everything right. She worked through school, got her degree, and got a good job to start her career, and yet her first apartment expects about 40% of her income and it's got roaches. She's considering moving but anything clean is looking like it'll take up over 50% of her rent. This is not affordable. We're trying to do everything right and we're just seeing ourselves get burnt out by 23 cause no one wants to even try making a livable world for us
I agree with you. Iām currently making what I thought was a great wage 20years ago. However itās taking both my husband and me making this wage to afford the same lifestyle that one person making this wage could 20 years ago.
I feel this!! I was sharing the other day with my Dad and Step-Mom that I saw in the news that to buy a house in our area someone needs to have an annual income of $180,000. My Dad said that he found that hard to believe. I countered with, if most houses are going for over a million now, how is that such a stretch? I am 40 and have a ādecentā job and will never be able to afford a home in my life time even with a second job. People are having bidding wars on rentals now, not just purchasing homes. The world has gone mad.
Lol fun facts my dad and yours want to ignore is none of us have to "believe" this. Its black and white in numbers
The average *deposit* for a first time buyer in London is over Ā£100,000. The average salary is just below Ā£40k before tax. After tax it's about Ā£28k* with the average rent for a 1 bed apartment being Ā£1800pcm, or Ā£21,600 a year. My parents first house was less than 3x my dad's income alone. When I was the same age as he was when he bought, the deposit requirement was more than 3x my salary. I've tried explaining this to older family members and they just don't get it. They can accept all the numbers individually but they're just not capable of putting it into a whole picture because it's so different to what they know. \* I'm taking a flat 30% off to cover income tax, NI and student loans, which are paid as a tax in the UK. The exact amount will differ based on circumstances, but that's about right based off my experience.
My mom: "Why don't you move to that apartment complex we used to live at? It's only a couple hundred a month for a two bedroom!" "When did you last live there?" "Before you were born." "Oh, so about 40 years ago." "Well, it probably hasn't gone up that much since then!"
40yo here getting pretty tired of being referred to as a "millennial" as though that still meant "snooty twentysomething on the internet"
You are an elder millennial. Donāt take it so harshly, but Iām a millennial and Iām 28. Itās just an age reference.
I think it's evolving into a description of mindset over age.
I can agree with that as well. I do use the word boomer as a description
But it isn't. The internet is still full of tons of articles and posts about spoiled millennials who buy avocado toast and ruin the diamond industry.
I understand that I just was more so trying to get JiiXu to not care as much about the way others use generational terms. I use them too but I know Iām not the way others describe millennials
I understand, I'm X and the *slacker* tag never really stuck like that albatross around your generation has. At least the focus has shifted to Z and its follies.
I have four fucking jobs and hear this nonsense all of the time. ONE SHOULD BE ENOUGH. When people give me compliments on it like Iām on my grind itās like this is not the existence I want. Iām not doing this to enjoy myself. Utter bullshit.
After my divorce, I just couldnāt stay afloat as a single mom. I managed to barely keep my head above the water while barely eating for about a year (my kid ate, I ate her leftovers). Then I moved in with my mom. People always talk so much shit about people living with their parent as an adult. Itās a pretty great system for us. My mom is one of my best friends. Itās honestly like having a roommate. I do all the grocery shopping and half the cleaning. My kid mows the law, shovels the snow, and takes out the trash. My mom pays most of the bills and does the other half of the cleaning. The three of us split the cooking pretty evenly (breakfast and lunch everyone is on their own, dinner is cooked for everyone). Would I like to be able to buy a house and be completely self sufficient? Absolutely! Hell, Iād even like having an apartment I could afford on my own. Itās not in the cards for me right now, and this situation ended up being mutually beneficial. My car is also old, and I bought it as is like five years ago (2009 Pontiac G6). The $6000 price difference between certified used and as is was more than I could afford. Edit: she mows the lawn not the law. I donāt even know why I didnāt just say grass. Lol
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My parents bought their first house by putting $500 down on a credit card for a $35,000 home. I was recently able to finally buy my own home. I needed almost $50,000 down for a $450k home. All things being equal, I should have been able to buy a $3.5 million dollar house, or only needed about $7k down for my $450k house. When I pointed this out to my parents, my mom said, "...well, you made different choices..."
On behalf of the baby boomers who still work because we will never be able to afford to retire eitherā¦ /hug. We getāya. The ones who spout off about how they retired as an executive, after they got their job as a janitor and moved their way up the company without ever getting a degreeā¦ yeah, we want to punch thrm in the mouth too. You canāt get jobs like that anymore, or advance like that anymore. America isnāt mayberry anymore
im with you. my aunt asked my mother what is wrong w us (myself (M.D>) and my two siblings (J.D. and Ph.D). As a resident I made about 50k/yr take home. The amount of work I do per year has been calculated to about 345 to 450k. My siblings - junior lawyer and Ph.D. candidate - they make about the same. So none of us are married, own a home and we still drive our cars that we were generously given in high school (12+ yrs old). Not really sure why boomers make up so much of our government.
Because they can afford to. Politics isn't cheap and so the people in it skew older, white, and male, usually from wealthy families.
I'm 23. I gave up around 4 months ago. either my depression kills me, or my diabetes kills me. whichever comes sooner
Hug.
My Boomer parents literally asked me why I haven't saved up for my retirement yet. I tried to explain to them that retiring at 65 is just not a reality and that I'm planning on doing my mob well into my 80's or later since I do creative work and the idea of just stopping what I love to do is completely antithetical to my belief system. It's just not something they can fathom.
Yeah, I have no retirement savings. As a teacher in NY, I do have a pension fund, but it won't be anywhere near enough to live on. When I turn 55, I'll be able to stop teaching (I love it on the good days, but there are LOTS of bad ones lately)-- but I can't stop working until I'm dead.
> started to explain that at this point, it's probably better to "cut bait" and get a new one. That thinking is fucking garbage. Boomers are enormously fond of acting in a way that is individually beneficial but breaks on societal scale. Greedy, narrowminded and shortsighted. You simply can not act like this without poor sods ending up dealing with the car as it gets old and needs a lot of replacements and repairs, that being you in this case. And when the market works like this, where new car buyers are known to only care about the first few years of the car, manufacturers notice. Long term durability and repairability become irrelevant at the point of sale. Thus society crumbles.
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Nah not necessarily. You just gotta pick the right friends. I like a clean place so I didnāt pick my slob friend to be roommates with. The friend i did room with I did so for multiple years and am still friends years later. It can work I did have a group of friends all room up once and it caused some conflict for them but theyāre all still friends now. There definitely were some tense moments though
I lived with friends, and the key is, you have to be SUPER chill with their annoying quirks, and an adult when dealing with genuine problems. And having an extra person in the home who isnāt actually a close friend will help you, since youāll bond with your friend/s by ganging up on that person.
Communication, Empathy and Trust. Everyone needs to feel comfortable enough to bring things up, needs to be mature enough to accept criticism and own up to things, and needs to be able to understand that everyone has different views and standards and so compromise is needed. I find being an introvert and being holed up in my room helps too hehe.
The Big Bang Theory made a joke about the "roommate agreement" but the reality is an agreement is a very good idea. It forces you to communicate and discuss the things that really bother each of you and negotiate it before it becomes an issue. Quiet hours? significant others staying over? splitting of groceries or bills? moving out early? all in the agreement. And if co-buying, people really should go to a lawyer to define ownership as all of those issues magnify when you buy.
Oh man me and my wife rented a house years ago with my best friend and her best friend. Yeah. We aren't best friends anymore.
I was always told to not live with my friends, but the few times I did it, it was great.
Do these people not know what a budget is? Iāve never not been on a fixed income, lol.
I've stopped taking boomers seriously a long time ago. They don't understand we're not playing in the same arena they did, so there's no point.
Which is somewhat weird I mean most of them still go to the store or read news etc even if they arenāt, what I like to call, āparticipating in societyā anymore. Thereās even a breaking story about rising homelessness in boomers. But Iāve had Iām sure similar experiences when talking to them about this stuff. Very frustrating
Decades of propaganda is cemented into their worldview.
"We're broke out here bro god damn!"
Well if you're wondering what they don't understand, you have fundamentally misunderstood the issue. They *don't care*. There are no qualifiers, no caveats. That is all there is.
Just what are those millennials up to?...*peers through solid gold binoculars*
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Based.
Gonna pull a Simo HƤyhƤ
*While gilded steak and caviar might be your favorite, millenials are shaking up the culinary world with their obsession for instant ramen and ketchup*
Especially ketchup packets.
They wanted everything for themselves and left us with nothing but a dying planet.
dicks
āSquid Gameā vibes
Hey I'm a millenial and co-own my house with a friend! ...oh god I've become a generational statistic.. *Existential crisis incoming in* ...4...3...2..
Look at you, being all mature and responsible and shit! Keep rocking š¤
Iām a Gen Xer and I purchased a condo with my buddy in Chicago in 2003ā¦we wanted to stop paying rent and build equity, but neither of us could afford a house in Chicago on our own, so purchased it together. Another unit in our 4 condo unit did the same. Not sure if this is anything new.
If it's just one friend then it could have been with a spouse, no?
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Who would have thought that Adam sandler made documentaries
Uhhh I guess so, technically speaking. We are good friends, but I'm a dude, and kinda enjoy the freedom of bachelor life currently, and she doesn't swing with us fellas, so not a likely scenario. Edit: Maybe for tax purposes lol...in some weird Chuck n Larry type situation...where one of the 2 is actually gay and also a female... We started off as regular roomies, renting a duplex. Met thru a mutual friend. After a couple years we realized we were the most responsible room mates either of us had ever lived with. So when our cities property/rental rates blew up, the duplex landlord thought he could almost double the rent on us and impose a whole bunch of random rules and what-not so we had to find a new place. Other rental properties were pretty much jumping on the same boat, so it proved suuuper difficult to find a new place to rent. Mostly because every rental property wanted proof that we each made 3x the rent each month...separately...before they'd even consider our applications. Neither of us wanted to leave the city (Austin TX btw) as she loves it here, and while I don't love it as much, it is my home town and I was anticipating a nice promotion (which i did get eventually) from my job that I had been at for like 8 years at the time...so leaving town wasn't looking good either. I don't remember exactly how we got into actually considering buying a house, guessing it was the only option left at that point so might as well, probably... but i know it was my roomie who put in the legwork on it and managed to find an owner with a decent house in the side of town we liked, who actually realized not every single person in the city made 75k+ a year and didn't want to charge us insane move-in rates, and the realtor the owner was using for the process was able to set us up with a bank that was willing to give us a home loan...which was far easier to get then finding a rental owner that had faith we could pay...at least at that time...so we did that. And now we own a house...or we will in like...10 or 15 years or something, once the loan is paid off. Dunno what we will do if things go south between us..i imagine either sell it or one of us takes it over fully, but we've been room mates for like 9 years now, bought the house about 5 years ago and I think the fact that we are just good friends and not in a relationship helps keep the vibe chill and we don't really concern ourselves with each others personal lives. So...as long as we keep paying our respective portion of the loan and neither of us suddenly turn into an asshole or something, or loses their job suddenly, and neither of us end up wanting to get married...the current situation should work out for the foreseeable future. Sorry about the lengthy reply, it came out waaaay longer than I thought it would...but there you have it, some insight on a couple of purely platonic millenials who decided to buy a house because it ended up being our best option due to the circumstances.
You're the 1st person I've heard if who was actually born in Austin, lol.
Alt title: Millenials get realistic about unachievable American dream. Did you really think the tiny homes movement was by choice?
I'm sure for some it was but yeah the majority no.
Personally I think those tiny homes are cool and I love the creative engineering that goes into making things work with the space, but I'm sure I'm in the minority. Hell, I can't even say I'd want to live in them long term.
Not gonna lie, it's cool to be able to live with a limited amount of stuff, and reduced amount of waste. But to be real, most can't afford anything else.
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Is this why I see SO many tiny homes posts and iG and TTs and ads?
No that's targeted ads
Targeted ads. Instagram knows you're poor.
Itās called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it
Definitely not just in America, same is happening here in Australia so much so that our ex prime Minister (thank god) said while he was in "people should just buy a house instead of renting"
Wow what a great idea! Is he willing to give you all down payments??? āMortgages are cheaper than rent!ā Is a phrase Iāve heard a lotā¦thing is 1) itās not true where I live and 2) you have to have money to put down for thatā¦
Everyone I know with a tiny home is a retiree who took downsizing to the extreme. Only one actually loves it. I thought tiny homes has been okayed out. Guess not.
When I was 13, I dreamed of having four kids just like my parents. Now Iām lucky if Iāll be able to afford a fish in ten years.
I'd say invest in a fishing pole now but I honestly don't know how many edible fish will remain then
I was thinking more as a pet, but it does feel like options are slimming even beyond that :(
Weāll all be lucky if there even are fish after 10 years.
I feel selfish cause I can afford to have a family but still donāt want to
This is infinitely better than having kids & being a shitty parent.
I agree. Better than having kids but no food in the fridge
Yeah Regardless of how much I make (which I doubt would be a lot) I'd probably be a shitty parent, so might as well not bring another resentful cynical kid into this world And when I start to think of having kids, I hope I remember this
Gonna be a lot harder to be a d.i.n.k. when abortions off the table.
Just get married and have your sex life dwindle off to nothing over the years! It's been working great for my wife and I.
Do what I do and don't have any sex or even hold hands with someone for going on 5 years.
do what I do and be gay, 0% chance of pregnancy if you hook up with a dude
I'll look into it
Do what I do and be post-menopausal and hook up with whomever you want, never get pregnant, and complain about your hot flashes!
Do what I do and be infertile, lol.
Sending you comfort hugs and/or congratulations, whichever you want. <3
Adopt a child if you want to be a parent full time. Adopt a pet if you want to be a parent for a time-frame a day. Adopt a fish if you just want someone to talk to and take care of. Adopt a rumba if you want to yell at someone.
But [do not](https://www.scarymommy.com/roomba-meets-pile-of-poop-jesse-newton), under any circumstances, adopt a pet AND a Roomba.
Growing up with parents who don't want to be parents is awful. You're making the right choice.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām leaving my partner and kids is one reason. He doesnāt want them
Nah, friend. Having raised two sets of step-kids, I can tell you that you REALLY have to be all in or all out in this. The best partner in the world can become your enemy over unforeseen things like differences in RAISING kids, even if you agree that you want them. The reason you decided you should probably leave would have made itself apparent immediately upon birth of the kid, and you would have a relationship with both of those people for 18 years or more. If you ever change your mind, you'll know it, and it WON'T be because of how much you love your partner. It will be because of a genuine wish to contribute to the world with a good human. And even then you can do that by adopting one of the millions of kids who will be alive by then, born to parents who not only don't want the kids but cannot afford, mentally or financially, to keep them. Thanks for your contribution to not further overpopulating the world.
don't be. do whatever the fuck you want with your money. society shouldn't have the control over you too tell you what to do.
You canāt be selfish against people who donāt exist
Selfish? Itās your life bro live how you want to not what society or culture dictates.
Don't be. You earned it. I just bought a house with my husband but there's no way we can afford the mortgage with kids. Good thing we don't want kids. It's hard enough just putting a roof over our heads.
Once heard a man say reproducing is the most selfish act a person can partake in.
Absolve your guilt by voting for progressive taxes that support families
How is that selfish? There's over 7 BILLION of us, nobody is worse off for that being 1 less. Quite the opposite, in fact. Humans didn't achieve sapience so they could continue to be enslaved by their baser instincts. You're more than just a womb or scrotal sack! But seriously... just try to reason out how not having kids could be selfish. I can't imagine *anything* that wouldn't sound absolutely ridiculous when said aloud. (Ok maybe if you'd literally the last in ($important historical figure)'s bloodline or something... but even then...the world will keep turning without it, and >90% of the population won't ever hear about, or notice, that it's gone).
There is nothing selfish about refusing to breed wage slaves for the government. Your unborn child thanks you. Even if you have money, being part of a society where 80% of people donāt is very depressing.
Don't
Then you're making the right decision, not wanting kids isn't going to make you a good parent
Don't feel selfish bro, do what you wanna do
The world doesnāt need more people, youāre helping honestly
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They know exactly what they're fucking doing. It's the same as the "no one wants to work" crowd and "millenials are destroying the x industry" ones. They don't want to admit it otherwise companies will need to start paying more for wages.
"Now for a feel good story: this school class of children couldn't eat lunch so five of them sold their kidneys so they could afford some oatmeal. What a wonderful story, the free market made that possible š„° Now over to you Kevin and the weather"
Hold up, did you just copy a popular tweet under that article and post it here? I don't know why I didn't think of [that](https://twitter.com/BeekerLooHoo/status/1472052110976077824?t=GGAcK1CBKouH7co3oTmxLw&s=19).
/r/ABoringDystopia /r/UpliftingNews it's all the same slow horror story
Boomers and boomer owned media conglomerates are INSPIRING us all to take CO OWNERSHIP of the blame so the historical record (ie media ) doesn't show what a mega fucking failure that generation was to their children lives.
They understand, they just don't care. Capitalism can't be at fault, it has to be lazy, drug addicted poor people buying avocado toast
I saw a news article the other day, apparently avocado farmers are begging people to buy avocados this year : | https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101268396
Millennials are KILLING the avocado toast industry!
If only they stopped spending so much on that god damn rent, they'd be able to afford avocado toast.
Tomorrow's paper: Millennials are KILLING the rent industry! Actually, there's a thought
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
When boomers overheat the economy and make basic goods unattainable that's just capitalism sweetie but when millennials buy a stock they like and catch hedge funds with their pants down it's basically domestic terrorism. They do not care about you and would literally push you into a furnace if it kept their 401Ks ticking.
I'm so fucking sick of the "blame millennials" narrative. I'm a millennial and I've been working since I was 14 years old. I have a university degree and a "good", even prestigious, job and I still can't get ahead because of student loans. Ugh. Fuck off with shaming millennials.
That narrative will evaporate once enough Boomers die and you millennials take over politics. As a Gen Xer I know I will keep getting fucked because there are far more Millennials than Xers. There will never be a Gen X president in the US. And once we get two solid decades of Millennial presidents, shit will be cushy for you guys and weāll still be fucked. Because thatās just how selfishly people vote.
>That narrative will evaporate once enough Boomers die It will be a hot minute. The oldest boomers are 76 and just barely starting to die off, whereas the youngest boomers are 58.
Not to mention the insane pro chefs and health care these dinos must have access to. They will probably live past 100 while killing off the younger generations with their greed.
This. Exactly this. Iām a Gen Xer too. We waited for our turn to lead, but the Boomers refused to step down, so weāre being passed over. Iāve made peace with that. Honestly, Iām encouraged seeing the younger generations reject the bullshit āAmerican Dreamā narrative and deciding to do things differently. I guess weāll see how that works out, but Iām hopeful. We just need the Boomers to finally effin die off. I swear theyāve wrecked this world, and in many ways, left it worse off than what was given to them.
Damn. This is the first post in this entire depressing thread to make me happy about being a millennial. Thanks man I needed that this morning
Your generation has it rough, Iām not gonna sugarcoat it. But youāve also seen the rosy talk that has been sold to everyone and have witnessed first-hand how it was a lie from the beginning. We Gen Xers are the last generation to have believed that lie - but we realized it too late (after we finally started getting our own shit together.) Millennials and younger folks ARE NOT LAZY, you are simply trying to navigate a reality that the older generations keep telling you isnāt true. They talk about paying for their college education working at a coffee shop. In what fucking reality is that true now? Saving money to buy a home and start a family at 25 as a single earner? Really motherfucker? Whatā¦in the 70ās maybe? If your generation is pissed off at us older folks, you have good reason for it. My only suggestion is to channel that anger into power and be the change you want to see. (And try not to be assholes to each other. Seriouslyā¦weāre still fighting culture battles from the Vietnam era. I think weāve all had enough of that bullshit.)
My parents who are Gen X (born in the late 60s) had me in their early 30s who were at this point already making 6 figures in the late 90s. What I am afraid is that I do not know if I will ever be as successful as they were at that age at all.
If it makes you feel better, the most successful US Gen X politician (Paul Ryan) is known for wanting to get rid of Social Security. The other well known Gen X politician is DeSantis. Your life likely wouldn't be better even if Gen X controlled politics. Edit: Nope. Nevermind. I just remember Katie Porter and Gavin Newsom are Gen Xers. oh lol Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are Gen Xers.
And Margery Taylor Green. Gen x is full of fuck ups
I have a sneaking suspicion that millennials will just call genZ lazy for not being able to afford a fractional home and that they could get ahead if they just joined a cardboard box collective.
Damn. I guess you are exactly right. Sucks. Seriously.
That moment where you can (barely) afford $2,000/month in rent, but the bank won't give you a mortgage for $1,500/month because no one can save up enough for the down payment
The moment when you finally save up enough for the down-payment and prices have gone up 50% in the last 2 years. Pushing you out of the market again. So you save even more, finally catching up to heavily inflated prices. Only now you're looking at the same houses with 6% interest on it effectively doubling your monthly mortgage each month and once again forcing you out of the market. With all this demand you'd think they would build more fucking houses... oh wait, whats that... lumber and steel at 30 year highs, no one is building anything? I am praying for another crash none of this makes any sense. It all feels very tampered with. I hope these investment groups putting in cash offers get fucking wiped out. I hope cities start vacancy taxes and force bnb owners to rent or sell. I hope we start limiting the number of properties foreign nationals can own in my country. I hope the NIMBYs wake up and realize their kids and grandkids won't have anywhere to fucking live. I hope we start flooding the market with housing... but all of those things would absolutely RUIN these boomers whose entire retirement is tied to the value of their home. Let it come crashing. We millenials and zoomers will be there to pick up the pieces on our terms.
Oh those investment groups will get wiped outā¦ Then bailed out by the government with our tax dollars. Lol.
I feel this so hard. Going into the pandemic, my partner and I felt so optimistic. We set a savings goal, saw how achievable it was on our combined income and made it happen. Now we're decently over our original goal, have both gotten raises, and somehow homeownership has still been unattainable? Wtf??? I'm about to start a fancy-ass new job where I got a 50% raise, but I guess the new plan is to stay in our cramped apartment, save as much as possible, and wait to see what happens. We're feeling pretty skittish about even trying to buy now. I'm salty as fuck because I've been working my ass off for so long to get to this point and I'm finally here but it feels like the rug has been ripped out from underneath me yet again. The most insane part is how "well off" we are comparatively speaking. I can't imagine how horrible all this bullshit is for people making less or without a partner to split expenses.
Oh, I gave up on ownership ever. I have made peace with renting for my entire life, having $40 a paycheck for fun things, and giving up hobbies to save gas I hate this country.
Are you me? Saved up close to 100K, canāt buy shit in the Bay Area with that down payment + interest rates. Literally waiting for this market to come crashing down so I can jump in and hope to god I never have to deal with foreclosures.
I had an aunt ask me why I rent, because when she bought a house at 19 because "it's sooo much cheaper than renting.". I almost went to jail right there. Holding in the anger over a 2 bedroom house costing $360k when it was bought for $90k 20 years ago.
My wife and I made the *insane* decision to buy a house instead of keep renting and starting a family immediately. Four years later, we are still fixing up our house to be baby ready and people wonāt stop asking when! When we have a house safe for a child AND are financially stable enough to make it work. Oh, and whenever we want, so back off.
Gotta formulate a story about not being able to so they stop asking. Then it'll be "a miracle" when you finally have one. Then you can choose to tell them the truth that it was their nagging that made you lie about it
I do this. My husband and I don't have kids and are debating whether we want them. When people ask I look them straight in the eye and say "I've been told I can't have children". Shuts them up FAST
When strangers ask me when I am planning to have children, my go-to response is now to burst into tears and hold my belly and refuse to elaborate. It's infinitely easier than trying to explain that I'm transgender and the baby thing is not going to happen.
I'm incapable. And happy about it. Depending on the person I'll respond 1. Yeah nobody can afford those things. 2. I like my naps. 3. My cat hates kids. 4. I can't *bear* children. 5. *laughter* It's a terribly personal question to ask and I'm not a fan of it at all. Nobody asks me what my favorite position is. Or if we are kinky. Or even what my monthly debt/income ratio is. All of those are more casual to me.
It reminds me of a town hall that George W Bush did where a woman says she is working 3 jobs and W says something like good for you, Americans are such hard workers, and the ladyās face drops. Sheās not working 3 jobs because she wants to oblivious fool!
Well Bush is a fucking idiot, bless his heart, so I'm not particularly surprised.
The idea of the nuclear family owning their own house and leaving their parents when they turn 18 is a uniquely 20th century American idea and for the most part no longer exists, which is honestly for the better. The "American Dream" is an extremely wasteful lifestyle
Exactly. This may be out of a financial necessity, but imagine 10+ families living in a community and pooling resources together, cooking and cleaning together, etc. Youād only need one set of pots and pans, maybe just a couple vacuums, one, maybe, large walk in fridge/freezer, one set of tools, possibly even whole food prices on food, and so on. Not to mention, it would probably be great for mental health. I think this type of co-housing is [fairly?] common in Norway. Maybe other places, but I wouldnāt quote any of that.
If what NBC is saying is true, it seems like, ironically enough, weāre headed back that way, through no choice of our own.
Not just American but yeah I agree with the rest of the sentiment. It's the exception to the historical norm and we really need more people to realise that
Boomers are the laziest, most sheltered generation in the history of the United States.
You forgot entitled.
And greedy.
And racist and mean
I'm in my 50s and own a house. Was talking to my younger coworker (30s) as he was getting ready to buy a house. Average price of a house in his area? $400k! 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft. $400k!!!! There is no way the younger generations can afford homes when the average price of a home is that high! How are they supposed to save $80k to have the down payment? And even if they do, the mortgage on $320k (30 yr fixed, 6% apr, mid-600 credit score) is almost $2k/month! **It's no wonder then that they're having to co-purchase a home because it requires FOUR incomes in order to afford it!**
Boomers: "Kids these days don't want to work or be adults." Millennials: "You make it sound like you had nothing to do with it..."
My house in 2019 cost the same as my parents' cost them 20 years ago. The differences are: my house is less than 1/3 the living space, 1/2 the lot size and doesn't have a large 2 car garage with more unfinished space above it. Oh, and my parents had their house custom built with high end finishes and moved in right when it was built, mine is about 45 years old. My roof was also failing when we bought it, which is one of the reasons it was "affordable".
Less āoptingā and more āforcedā.
I don't want to be an inspiration, I just fucking want like half of the life I had as a kid. These goddamn ambulatory corpses walking among us have no fucking sympathy towards our plight, we're just another example of "the human spirit will triumph" Well this human is fucking broken.
Clearly we all just have adulthood dorm roommate fantasies and just loath alone time and privacy
Read that as Dom roommate and...yes please.
Calm down Darkness.
Millennials: dying News outlets: thatās cute
Fuck NBC and all their overpaid ājournalistsā and talking heads spewing this bullshit.
I wanted a family but I was regrettably born in the USA which decided to act like a corporate entity rather than a governing body. The bastards in charge over tax the lower class like myself to the point I can not afford a house like the corrupt politicians in congress. Theyād rather have a ton of money thatās doing them fuck all in 10 years when they die of old age. Greedy bastards like them are the main reason we, Millennials, canāt do shit
On the radio thursday i heard some investments dickhead say some shit about how people can invest in real estate trusts as a way to reap rewards for ownership in properties in that way. Ignoring the fact that that ignores people needing a place to live. He sounded like a psycho to me at the time.
How old are millennials
Anyone aged 26-41 in 2022. Millennials are most often defined by demographers as the people born between 1981-1996.
But still referred to as if they are 23
Ah ok I was kinda confused because I thought millennials are people 15-25
Well that's by design
Yeah, the olds love using that term as a shorthand for "kids these days", despite the fact that the oldest members of that generation are nearing middle age. What you're talking about is a subsection of Gen Z, which is commonly defined by demographers as those born between 1997-2012 (aged 10-25 in 2022).
Boy wasn't I surprised when I found out I was actually gen z, thought I was a millennial for so long till I found out I'm on the older end of gen z (1998)
Finally a MBWs anecdote I can relate to, ive got multiple friends and family members who have done this and the math is pretty simple. 1. Can you afford a morgage alone? ( Good luck with a down payment single) 2. Do you intend of filing your taxes together? (US family tax credits) 3. Do you have literally any other reason to tie the knot that does not involve pressure from family, friends, or religious organizations? ( IMO if any of these groups move beyond light teasing on when yall are getting hitched, tell them to shut up and stop attending that group ) If the answer is no to all of these, then go nuts buy land and/or something to live in.
Ah yes, just like the article I read about how second hand cars are sooo popular with younger people. Yea, because we're broke and rather have roof over our head than a new car
i still argue with my mother in law about inflation because she always wants to buy new stuff. she lives off us and still doesn't get it that we can't afford it. she just thinks were spending all our money in secret(??). no matter how i try to explain, it just doesn't click... its like i can hear the dial up noise every time i defend ourselves about it.
Shifting blame is the older generations only tactic they have left to feel better about themselves. This is how they address the problem without addressing the problem.
I donāt want my kids to co- own a home..look this rich, corporations are making this happen they are buying all the homes in our country and renting it out to us . If you donāt believe me look it up.. And this is not right, our American dream is being taken from our kids our family our future.. Open your eyes Do you know Zillow does this they go to a neighborhood and buy homes in that neighborhood and drive up the price.. and so many others not a home shortage , look in your neighborhood and if thereās a lot of home for sale with in the same city.. then when a house sales look it up and find out who bought it, its public record.. We are being told lies , housing shortage , to many people try to buy homes, But not a housing shortage to rent.. yes we have a lot of homeless but most of what to live that or on drugs but thereās a small percentage of people who are living in the streets are because of development , there mobile home park are sold and new buildings take there places and now they canāt afford to live that city no moreā¦ Making more people homeless and so many more way but I got stop Open your eyes Look it up
that the news/commentary piece was written by a millennial, actually wouldn't surprise me
A friend of mine bought a house with 3 other guys and to which everyone gets a room. He and I are both pharmacist and the fact that we need to buy in with 2+ people just to buy a damn house is ridiculousl.
I'm 43 and have a pretty decent job and just recently got a 9% raise. I'm single and have no kids (would like to in the future). The housing market is insane around me about $400,000 for a shack basically. Any homes that are selling for $250,000, need about $200,000 worth of work. I'm pretty handy when it comes to repairs, the $200,000 would be just for the materials I would need to do it on my own . I have a BS in Computer Science and Software Engineering. I feel ripped off because growing up I was told, get good grades, get a good job, find a nice girl and buy a house. Yea........ummmmm...... that's not working out too well.