@this*old*attic wrote:
This isn’t directed at you, but.......sheesh.
Maybe they wouldn’t all be so broke if they didn’t borrow tens of thousands of dollars for fancy - even destination - weddings, lease new cars every 2 years, eat out all the time, take 3 out of state/country vacations a year.....
Signed,
The mother of 2 broke 30-somethings who spend their money faster than a drunken sailor in port, and then complain they can’t afford a house
Can't speak for weddings... but I never leased cars every 2 years... only bought used Hondas that wouldn't leave me stranded. The last time I took a vacation was 2009. However, I do own a house. The reason for that is that I got involved in a startup and had original issue stock options that later converted to stock in a much larger company when we were bought out, which I then sold to cover my down payment. Without that windfall, I still would not have been able to afford to buy a house, and I, on a salary basis, made quite a bit more per year than average.
I grew up in a major metropolitan region, and even the housing that was 50 miles outside of the city was still going for $350K - $750K for a 1970's rancher in need of full reno on a 1/2 acre lot in the middle of nowhere.
So, I dunno what your children's situation actually is, but keep in mind that many in that generation had to "buy a house" just to get a job before they could get to the point of saving money to actually buy a house.
My Boomer parents refused to recognize just how expensive cost of living was starting out until I actually wrote out a detailed budget spreadsheet and showed them that basic cost of living expenses alone were totaling $2800/mth and that was only food/clothing/shelter/utilities/car and nothing fancy at that. I lived in a 1000 sqft basement apt 25 miles from work in a poor section of town and like I said, drove a Honda Civic 4 door sedan and had all of the same furniture and whatnot I bought when I first moved out at 18 years old, most of which I bought from thrift stores.
