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I'm not sure who's supposed to be impressed with these anecdotes, but it isn't me. I've had the aches and the pains that come with all the hard work I could handle. I've gone from being a homeowner to homeless and back again. Try teaching yourself how to be a man in this world without someone named "Dad" to help you do it. Now add racism to all of that, then come back and tell me how hard you've had it.
I said that I know plenty of people our age that would happily work hard for 15/hr and that's just what I meant. I haven't played video games since high school, so you certainly aren't talking about me or anyone I'm considering.
Not meant to impress. Telling it like it is from my point of view.
My father didn't help me. He wanted me under his thumb to be his field slave, wanted to shelter/restrict me from what I wanted in life. If he had it his way I'd be running his businesses and he'd be making the money to go retire... God forbid I did what I wanted or had plans to improve on his short comings.
BUT Many of the guys I know, brother in law included, overtime is a curse word.
5 o'clock works done time to come home and fire up call of duty he's the definition of worthless. Is jealous of me claims I don't know how rough it is, yet my sister is the bread winner and pays all the bills says things like oh must be nice to have a fancy truck! must be nice to have a Harley...
Nah must be nice having a wife pay all the bills plus come home clean your mess does your laundry and cook your dinner so you can play games. He hasn't mowed their yard since I got down here. Calls me up sounding like he's giving birth how hard a day he's had and how tired he is. Unfortunately if the town didn't fine you for not maintaining your lawn I'd refuse to do it. Always some excuse oh it's hot out (welcome to Florida Einstein) my back is killing me, had a rough day...
Racism, I don't have time or tolerance for it. I judge based on peoples skills, ambition, and personality. Race not an issue. Others judge on skin color and ethnic back ground... Why? Don't know.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NY_refugee87
Not meant to impress. Telling it like it is from my point of view.
My father didn't help me. He wanted me under his thumb to be his field slave, wanted to shelter/restrict me from what I wanted in life. If he had it his way I'd be running his businesses and he'd be making the money to go retire... God forbid I did what I wanted or had plans to improve on his short comings.
BUT Many of the guys I know, brother in law included, overtime is a curse word.
5 o'clock works done time to come home and fire up call of duty he's the definition of worthless. Is jealous of me claims I don't know how rough it is, yet my sister is the bread winner and pays all the bills says things like oh must be nice to have a fancy truck! must be nice to have a Harley...
Nah must be nice having a wife pay all the bills plus come home clean your mess does your laundry and cook your dinner so you can play games. He hasn't mowed their yard since I got down here. Calls me up sounding like he's giving birth how hard a day he's had and how tired he is. Unfortunately if the town didn't fine you for not maintaining your lawn I'd refuse to do it. Always some excuse oh it's hot out (welcome to Florida Einstein) my back is killing me, had a rough day...
Racism, I don't have time or tolerance for it. I judge based on peoples skills, ambition, and personality. Race not an issue. Others judge on skin color and ethnic back ground... Why? Don't know.
I see you mention overtime in multiple posts; before I became a truck driver, I worked any overtime I could get for 3 straight years in a warehouse AND had a second job on weekends delivering pizzas in addition. But guess what? Employers don't like paying overtime, so in a cost saving move, the company eventually farmed out a couple of part time temp workers and put a moratorium on overtime, as in RESTRICTED all hourly employees to 40 hrs, that would have caused me to take a 30% hit in pay, so I put in my 2 week notice the same day, after 2 weeks got my CDL and the rest is history.
The moral of the story being that employers usually hate overtime because they feel they are paying you 50% more for the same or even less work, since after 8 hrs in a single day, productivity usually declines due to fatigue.
I could see that being a positive situation for both of you with the bills, I just dont think your situation is common though because alot of millennials living at home that I know are just spending ridiculous amount of money on other things than rent
My brother lives at home, and my dad put him on a budget and he was complaining while he was sipping on 5$ pumpkin spice latte from starbucks! He has a 70$ a month cell phone bill , he pays 95$ a month for high speed internet, has to have the fastest internet, and has a college loan payment of 295$ a month plus a car payment, mainly eats at home but likes to go out on weekends!
Thats all changing pretty fast now that my dad is involved but I think it comes down to incomes dropping during the Great Recession and they haven't fully recovered, college grads are saddled with alot of debt and the crazy cost of housing.
I really regret my student loan, college was not a greatest investment at all.
I could do the same thing I do now by going to a one or two year computer school and I would not have spent 10,000's of thousand of dollars for dorm partying, classes and books on art and medieval history and classes I will never use, and run up a huge student debt
When I was 19 I had an apartment, nice clothes, AND I went out drinking 6x/wk while working pt. Try doing that today! Everybody loves to point the finger at irresponsible kids, but the truth is that kids have always been irresponsible. We just got away with it because we had higher wages.
Haha I've got an ex who went to college got a big fancy degree, 130k in school debt she makes 13.50 an hour as a social worker... But she's got that big degree though! Fights I had with her... She was capable of so much more, very bright girl and quite ambitious... I wanted her to join me in flipping houses back in NY. She put her bedroom together at her parents house herself, tongue and groove hardwood floors, trim/crown moulding, paint. (She added glitter to the paint mixed it with a drill and when the light came in, her walls were glistening it was neat almost like metal flake paint on a car) bathroom she did herself short of the shower/tub and toilet. Her dad and I did the walls, back splash and counter top, and the plumbing. She painted it and put the tile down on the floor and the fancy tile designs on the walls. Very fancy.
She didn't want anything to do with that... Despite enjoying doing it, she didn't want to do that... Business minor and some other classes plus psych major courses... She's another one of those well college should be free or subsidized with tax money to be more affordable... She put the cart before the horse.
If she joined me and split 50/50 she wouldn't have had to go to college. We'd probably be married and I wouldn't be up to my elbows in grease anymore... Flip a couple houses together get real estate license, hire an accountant, then hire a crew of laborers and would never have to lift a finger ever again... Do home repairs as well as fix and flip...
Well I say that with all due respect to my ex but it is interesting that people don't realize how hard it is to make a living and how wages are. It isn't even the older generation, rather people in general. Basically I would have to pay for the apartment and food because besides her financial aide, any work would likely go-to school costs. People just aren't realistic.
I didn't live within my means? I don't think you know what that means.
Yes I do
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
For many of us, living within our means requires living with roommates. In my case, I could technically afford to live on my own (though even the cheapest studio apartments way out in the suburbs within an hour from my suburban office are upwards of $1300 a month plus utilities - not at all "doable" for many people!), but I wouldn't have much left over to save. Staying put means I keep advantage of lower rent since comparable rooms cost at least $200 a month more than what I'm paying now due to the dramatic increase in cost of living since I moved in 5 years ago. Right now, I put the entire difference between what I would pay to live on my own and what I pay now into savings, and then some, which is why many people live at home or with multiple roommates even when they can afford not to. Living beyond my means? Hardly! I'm just preparing for my future, including if my cancer were to return, and will be in good shape to try to locate somewhere cheaper (though with a weaker job market) when I finish my employer-paid-for master's degree.
You choose all of this. Ever wonder why the paychecks don't keep up with the cost of living?
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
If my parents lived locally, I had a good relationship with them, and they found it mutually beneficial, would I live at home? Absolutely! I could pay them rent instead of a landlord, helping keep wealth in the family rather than outside, or, if they didn't demand rent, I could save upwards of 50% of my income toward that $70,000 downpayment for a starter home that I'll need if I want to put down 20%.
Again you choose all of this. You choose not to live and work close to your parents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
In my social circle (well educated, middle class workers at early stages of our careers), the high cost of living means that many families find it advantageous to build family wealth by allowing their adult children to live at home so long as they are in school or working. That's a big reason why my former roommate moved out - he realized he was working 2 jobs and eating ramen for independence and had nothing at the end of the day to show for it. His mom asked for half the rent he was paying here which was a huge help to her household, and he was able to save the rest. Win-win.
Granted, in lower cost of living areas, this may not be such a big deal. But then again, I grew up in a very cheap area and many of my friends from high school lived at home until they could buy a house. None were slackers and their families all ended up better positioned at the end.
My own parents both lived with my grandmother for several years until they could put a downpayment down on a condo, helping her update the house and lightening her financial load. This is nothing new.
My comment was simply pointing out that living with people you don't know isn't that uncommon in high cost of living areas. Everyone I know who has roommates lived with people who were originally strangers since our lease cycles never line up. Occasionally it might work out, but generally you're finding people who you get a good feeling from and they check out online and through roommate references, and hope for the best.
Everything you said is understandable but it was your choice. That's my entire point. No one stuck a gun to your head and said do it.
Here's another point you're missing. The age group is 18-34 not 18-21.
btw, The bolded part of my post is what matters. You have to open your eyes to see. Reasons matter.
When I was 19 I had an apartment, nice clothes, AND I went out drinking 6x/wk while working pt. Try doing that today! Everybody loves to point the finger at irresponsible kids, but the truth is that kids have always been irresponsible. We just got away with it because we had higher wages.
The icing on the cake was being able to go out drinking 6 times a week? Sweet.
The icing on the cake was being able to go out drinking 6 times a week? Sweet.
You missed the point entirely. I'm not condoning the behavior; quite the opposite. The point is that kids today are NOT irresponsible compared to past generations. They have had to suffer through an unprecedented collapse in wages. In the aggregate, they don't make enough money to support themselves. This is not their fault.
When I was 19 I had an apartment, nice clothes, AND I went out drinking 6x/wk while working pt. Try doing that today! Everybody loves to point the finger at irresponsible kids, but the truth is that kids have always been irresponsible. We just got away with it because we had higher wages.
I find that this is the issue. Too many don't realize what they did is not able to be done today. Go to school for about $1,000 each year at a university, now it's $4,000 for a semester, even at community college. $1 beers were an expensive night, now it's a special night... Gas is roughly a dollar more but in real dollars, maybe that was more.
With this calculator, one can compare wages, retail prices, etc. It's not a "cost of living calculator" just a US$ x inflation calculator.
In 1960, the newly established NYS min. wage was $1.00/hr.; that comes to $8.21/hr. in 2017 dollars.
In 1970, it was raised from $1.60 ($10.25 in 2017 dollars) to $1.85 ($11.85 in 2017 dollars).
In 1981, the NYS min. wage was $3.35/hr.; that comes to $9.37 in 2017 dollars.
By the time the NYS min. wage was increased, in 1990, that $3.35/hr. was worth $6.71 in 2017 dollars.
Today, the NYS min. wage is $9.00/hr.
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he's the definition of worthless. Is jealous of me claims I don't know how rough it is, yet my sister is the bread winner and pays all the bills
says things like oh must be nice to have a fancy truck! must be nice to have a Harley... 
Fights I had with her... She was capable of so much more, very bright girl and quite ambitious... I wanted her to join me in flipping houses back in NY. She put her bedroom together at her parents house herself, tongue and groove hardwood floors, trim/crown moulding, paint. (She added glitter to the paint mixed it with a drill and when the light came in, her walls were glistening it was neat almost like metal flake paint on a car) bathroom she did herself short of the shower/tub and toilet. Her dad and I did the walls, back splash and counter top, and the plumbing. She painted it and put the tile down on the floor and the fancy tile designs on the walls. Very fancy. 
