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In 1989 I paid $325 for a 425 sq ft. Studio in downtown Sacramento CA. Same studio as of last week...$1325. it had 25 year old appliances when I moved in and I did a walkthrough and now it has newer appliances...from about 2005.
As a busser in 2 restaurants working about 50 hours a week I took home about $1800 in 1989.
If I were to have a minimum wage job today full time I would take home about $1800.
WTF? I am not sure how people survive much less put a roof over their head.
My late gen X friends in the late 90s in the ghetto town I grew up in were making around 12 dollars an hour and a two bedroom apartment built in the 70s or 80s was 300 bucks with most utilities included. The same jobs now pay around 15 but rent for a unit that is 15-20 years old is now more around 1200.
I am mid-Gen X and made $12/hr in 1996. The 2-bedroom I shared was, I want to say $600/mo and included heat and water, but not electricity or phone. I later moved to a 1BR in the same complex that was $500/mo.
But you know what, the 1BR I was renting—same area, same age of building, same amenities—in 2009 right before buying my house, cost $625/mo plus an additional $25 for my garage. (Limited availability) The phenomenon of outrageous rents is much more recent than the 90s. That same apartment now rents for $1200/mo. From 1996 to 2009, rents went up a hundred bucks or so. From 2009 to 2024, they doubled.
Similar situation. In the early 2000s I lived in a happening district full of artists and musicians. My rent for a room in a nice house was $75 per month. Granted, I had 10 roommates, so it wasn't all roses, but the rest of them were musicians so it was a lot of fun.
Most of these roommates worked a night or two per week as bartenders and otherwise focused on their music. This lifestyle was common and the scene was extremely hot. So much good music was constantly evolving and the neighborhood was somewhat the pride of the city. So, inevitably, the condos started going up and the rent exploded.
Today you can't live on working any less than full time. Somehow, there's no longer a music scene?????
From 1989 -- 1992, I rented a 3br/1 bath *HOUSE* in Charlotte NC for $360/mo +electric & water. It sat on an almost half-acre lot, most of it wooded.
The house was in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and right at the 'blow horn' spot of busy railroad tracks, but had easy access to public transport, and was walking distance to most necessary amenities.
The whole neighborhood was torn down a decade+ ago, and now the 2br condos in the giant complex built there run $1900/month.
🖕🤬🖕
October 1996: My first apartment. 2br, 1ba. Excellent/fun city neighborhood for a couple dudes in their early 20’s. Medium size metro area. $575. Meaning we each paid $287.50. Add in heat, cable, and landline, under $400 per month total expenses. What a time to be alive.
My mother's mortgage is 785 a month for her 3-bedroom 2 bath house in Mesa/Phoenix. They bought the house in 1998. If only I was smart enough to have bought a house then, rather than focus on high school...
Parents bought the current house in 1995 for like 150k, goes for over 800k so yeah, at least my parents realize how bad the housing market is but I just don't k ow how anyone is expected to own a house when a standard family sized house is almost a mil in a city of like 180k people not even a major city
After my father died, I offered to help my mom with their mortgage. She was worried it was too much for anyone to help. It was $400/month. That's who's running this shit show of a country: senior citizen politicians and business owners who are willfully ignorant to modern costs. It's bonkers.
On the one hand, it's nice she was worried it was too much for anyone to help with. A lot of people would have been like "my children must pay this for me" in her shoes.
Funny how the elderly can’t fathom inflation for housing or living expenses that the younger generations face but they sure damn bitch when Social Security doesn’t increase enough each year…
Only until it affects them.
Meanwhile my dad just retired two years ago. He was so flippin excited too, to not have to work ever again. Then I noticed he put a chunk of lake property he bought for cheap during the 08 recession up for sale. Unfortunately it hasn't budged because the housing/ land markets have stalled and nothing is really selling atm.
Now he's back to working.
Something tells me that he got his SS check and realized it wasn't enough to cover his monthly cost of groceries and gas.
Was gonna say just this.
My grandparents mortgage was 120.40/month for 30 years… they bought the house for $25,000 and had no clue how they were going to make ends meet when my single earner grandfather only made 40/week.
Just like Op I sat down with them at one point and went through “modern” finances. They were gobsmacked that our mortgage was nearly 10x that. When they found out what obtaining 2 masters degrees cost at state schools, and what those monthly payments looked like for us, I thought my grandfather was going to have a stroke.
It went from us being “bad with money” to “I don’t know how anyone is affording anything” pretty quick. Silver lining for me is they saw the logic pretty quick and were simply dumbfounded.
I had a $450 mortgage on a 1-bedroom foreclosure condo that I bought in the 90s plus $200 HOA fees in California. I bought it for $59,500 and assumed a 7% VA mortgage. Those days are long gone.
I am having a lot of trouble with this. The monthly payment on the home I grew up in, in the 80s, was $300. This was a 2 bedroom in a small town in the middle of nowhere that we bought as a bank foreclosure.
How in the HELL does anyone think a mortgage payment for a real house is $400? I don't think I could find a one bedroom to rent in my whole state for that.
My daughter’s father in law (her husband’s father) is a retired accountant and does their taxes for them every year. The year they had their daughter, the FIL was flabbergasted that they’d spent so much on child care and wanted to know why—couldn’t they find somewhere that “wouldn’t rip them off”? They were paying an average amount for full time child care for an infant, but he had no clue how much child care cost.
The true kicker is that his wife (SIL’s mom) watches the two children from their other adult child (my SIL’s sister) for free, but “couldn’t handle” watching the third grandkid, so my daughter and SIL paid a small fortune for child care.
OMG, this hit some kind of nerve in me or something. Back in the mid90's to mid 2000's my childcare cost TWICE as much as my rent, which was completely terrible as a single mom getting no child support from my ex-husband. My whole family is super right-wing and told me that if I ever accepted food stamps or Medi-Cal, they would disown me. They lived about 1600 miles away, I don't know what I was thinking...believing that they would ever find out. I was 20.
About 3-4 years ago, my brother got married and had a baby. Our mom actually moved states to be closer to him and his wife so she could "relieve their childcare burden$$$". She actually called me once their child was born and told me how excited she was to have her first grandchild. When I pointed out that she had a 16 year old grandchild--MY CHILD!--she just said "well, you know what I mean". It absolutely flipped a switch inside me, and I just can't talk to them anymore and to be completely honest? I am a lot happier now.
My dad got a dog a decade ago and couldn’t stop talking about how, for the first time in his life, he finally thought he understood “just how much love a mother must feel when she holds her newborn child for the first time”.
Again, my dad said this. To me. His actual human child.
To be fair, he didn’t have to share custody of the dog with an angry ex-wife, so I imagine that made the experience much more pleasant than raising kids ever was.
To be fair to your mother, I am a father of a truly special 4 year old boy who I love more than anything in the world. But I've never liked kids much, even now!
Parent to a slightly behind 3 yr old. Love them to pieces, I'd steal the moon for them, and I'd fight someone to protect them.
But godDAMN do they piss me off, make me strangle a pillow some days, and nothing gets done because they want to read the same book 6 times in a row "again please?"
I can't say no and the house can get clean tomorrow.
Mine "wasnt ready to be a grandma" when I had my first, so she has nothing to do with my oldest child. My two sisters each had a child my mother just simply adored. Then I had two more kids. At that point my mother was "too old to do anything". Of course when my sister then had 3 more children and my brother had one she was all over being a daily grandma and watching the kids while my siblings worked etc.
I just explain to people that I had very different parents than my siblings did which is why my siblings talk about their wonderful childhood and I am low contact with children who could not pick their grandparents out in a crowd.
Siblings having “different parents” really struck me. I look at the siblings,and can’t believe we were raised by the same people. I guess we were not,actually.
That's hilarious. I just had to block my ex husband's family last night because they continue to ignore my kids existence IRL while gma from hell occasionally pops off pix and memories from like 8 years ago on SM from when she last bothered to see the boys. Now, Im wondering if her other spawn happen to pop out a kid, will she act the same way as your mom? 🤦♀️
Also, no offense, but screw your mom. You and your kiddo are better off, and so are we.
Your mother definitely deserves to be considered persona non grata for that comment and all of their previous treatment of you. Don’t ever answer their calls again, don’t feel guilt, I’m glad you’re feeling freedom from them. Make it permanent.
ETA: I am so sad for you to have such a family.
I was paying more for daycare for my two daughters (spaced apart 5 years) than it cost me to attend college in the early 90’s (20-25k/ year). My mom (a boomer herself, just not the foolish kind), laments the costs to young (and not so young) families and asks how the hell we managed it when it was so costly. Granted this was in a major metro area, but even the roughly 15k I spent in very rural PA when we moved 6 years ago is a heavy burden if you don’t have a pretty high income.
I like it! I tend to go with "thank you so much for offering to find it cheaper! It needs to be safe and local without a long history of issues. Let me know when you find one" They want to help right? that's why they make these suggestions, so I let them help.
That last part hits home. My in laws take my niece and SIL’s dog 6 days a week, sometimes even overnight. My FIL is retiring this summer because it’s really hard for them to watch both especially with the baby being mobile these days. Husband and I are expecting our first this summer. I’m expected to return to work in November. It’s fully expected we’ll be figuring out a different form of child care… all because SIL happened to get pregnant first
My golden child brother had his first child 4 years after my sister had her child, 3 years after I had my first six weeks after I had my second. My mom watched grandchild #4 full time for 8 years for free, and says things like "you should retire like your brother". Wish I could but I didn't get all that free childcare
My mother for years while i was living with my parents post divorce would not stop harping on “I Don’t know why you don’t just go buy your own house! Anyone with a full time job and 2k down can get a new house” 😑 literally caused me so much mental anguish until I literally showed her the numbers
We managed to buy a $140,000 house in 2007 with only $3000 down. So much as changed since then. Wish we had never sold it to move closer to family. I fear it'll be the only house we'll ever own.
I was actually closer to owning a home when I was 23 than I am now at 43. Was fresh out of college, good engineering job and almost bought a house with my girlfriend at the time who later became my wife and even later my ex-wife. My partner of 10 years and I now make 3x what my ex and I made 20 years ago, but houses in the area we live in cost at least 4-5x what they cost in 2003.
She was very delusional about it and it was fueled over her not wanting me to be there which was also fueled by her feeling like she somehow failed me by my ending up living with here lol. She stopped being a wicked witch but I was stressed the fk out for a few years
I'm the opposite way. I realize how lucky I was when I bought my first house for $90,500 with $100 down (plus closing costs off course).
I know my kids who are 21 and 22 won't be able to do something like that, so they are living with my wife and I after college for a few years to save up to buy a place since rent is ungodly. Besides I'm not selling because I am not giving up my 2.25 percent mortgage and will pay cash for my final retirement home.
I have two 26 year old working teachers home with me. They are diligently saving money for a house. We are ready for them to move out but also don't want them to be house poor so the nest is still filled. Rent is also ridiculous so they might as well keep saving.
My car payment is $283 a month and my insurance (which is good insurance I think?) is another $230 a month. Got my car right before the used market went to shit during Covid. I feel lucky to have the payments I have tbh
FWIW the car markets started going to shit (aka inflated to hell) due to the computer chip shortages. COVID just gave it a little shot of steroids that helped prevent it coming back down.
It's started to get better, but it's still nowhere near relative "normal". Even with old used cars...good luck finding anything under $3-5K that runs and drives.
Go to a tow yard. They sell 5-50 cars a year simply because they need them out of the way. It's a great way to buy a cheap and (usually) pretty reliable car.
Another place you might check is if you have a local "Pick-A-Part" salvage yard. Same thing as with tow yards. They end up with fully operational vehicles that people just sell to them for scrap prices, so they sell them to the public for cheap. I've seen cars and vans that would Blue Book for $6-7k being sold for $2k.
I was perfectly happy with my nearly $700 a month payment for my fancy sports car because it was only costing me $100 a month in insurance and I gladly spend more on the big things because I’m very frugal when it comes to myself and little things. That insurance went from $100 to $400 a month. No change in driving record. Just premium increase. I sold that car SO FUCKING FAST
Bought my car brand new in 2019 with a $673 a month payment (was a 60 month loan), plus $135 a month insurance. Nothing special either, '19 Toyota Yaris sedan. I also had middling credit, which contributed to the less than awesome interest rate, which I cannot remember. I just paid it off last year (had a decent job at the time paying more than we needed).
But when you met your banker did you look him in the eye while giving him a firm handshake with a winning smile on your face? After all, isn’t that all it takes?
For 80% off and -10% APR, I would make handjobs my full-time career. They could call me “bank slut” and I’ll ask them how their weekend was while I’m crankin. That’s too good a deal to pass up.
I was a single mother with a sick kid. I was so desperate I think I told the bank guy that I was willing to do anything including him if he got me this house.
I told the bank there was "no way I was gonna pay more than $400/month"—put four one-hundred dollar bills on the desk and said "good day to you, sir." You just have to show them you're not going to be pushed around.
You know what tho? This somehow always WORKS for my boomer father! It is *insane* how he gets these deals. He’s repeatedly negotiated thousands off car prices this way, basically just saying I’m going to pay this price or else and walking out. They’ve always call him back! Granted he hasn’t bought a new car yet since COVID so I’m curious how it’ll go next time. He also called his cell phone carrier and told them he just wasn’t going to pay their prices and somehow got his bill down to about $35 a month. I seriously don’t understand and I wish I had inherited at least some of this skill and charisma. I try and people are just like yeah… no.
For cars in particular it's actually good advice to set a hard limit on how much you'll pay and stick to it. If a car is listed for $35k you should get a $30k car loan from your bank or a credit union then go to the dealership and tell them you have a hard limit of $30k (but don't tell them you already have finicaing set up)
You'd be amazed how much of modern car prices are chalked up to random bullshit markups. Especially if you're trying to buy a sought after car like special packages or rare models. They'll literally just mark up the price 100% for no reason other than "someone will pay it eventually"
We need to replace them. Get political, join your local party, and start running for office. There's a few millennials in my area that are working a full time job and campaigning for municipal/county level offices and I can't wait to vote for them in November.
yep, these people vote more consistently than any other group of individuals… and at every level of governance too.
meanwhile, a man like bernie sanders gets his first win by just ten (10) votes… after a recount! it’s no wonder conservatives are getting the policies they want while the country regresses.
With a male boomer, it’s possible they’ve never done the grocery shopping.
My boomer mom thinks $25 on groceries per week is enough for two people. They’re both at the older side of Boomer. Old people seriously barely eat anything. They’re not broke, it’s not a money problem. A little plate of buttered noodles with a couple pieces of broccoli is plenty for her and her partner’s dinner. They rarely prepare anything more complicated than that. I think they consume about 600 calories per day. My MIL is the same.
My mom thinks we spend way too much on groceries and overeat, despite my husband and I being at healthy weights and being younger, active, working people. She seems to forget that she used to prepare and eat big meals like fried chicken with mashed potatoes and a big, green salad. They eat like birds. And that’s fine.
I figure the same thing will happen to me eventually, so yeah, I’ll be over here preparing delicious meals while I still have an appetite. We’re fairly frugal with the grocery budget and use everything we buy. We just still enjoy eating and spend our calorie intake.
I remember my grandmother thinking a single small scoop of peanut butter was good enough for supper when she was really old. Their is a reason senior places have to cook meals for these people otherwise they will barely eat anything.
Eventually all old people just end up eating pre-packaged chicken salad from the grocery store and boxed see’s candy for their 1 meal a day. Every. Single. One.
I just blew 206 dollars on about a weeks worth of groceries. I did buy a decent amount of fruit and veggies but fuck me...... what am I to do. I'm not going to feed my kids cheap/frozen/preservative filled garbage. I should just stop eating.....
I grew up eating a lot of cheerios and peanut butter sandwiches as a kid because it was poor people food. My loaf of bread is now almost 5 dollars and cheerios are like 6 dollars a box. Five dollars for a loaf of bread! ITS BREAD! It should not be that damn expensive.
I presume you mean just nuggets or frozen TV dinners and the like, but in case you didn't, frozen fruit and veg can be higher nutrient dense than canned, and even fresh in some cases. Because they are frozen the same day of picking, so no degradation from the canning process or sitting on a truck traveling to the produce section.
So I noticed your folks also made zero effort to help you out either. I love how that generation is quick to be judgy based on erroneous assumptions without offering to help.
Exmil when things were going to shit, "why don't you use the money that was saved for a rainy day." She was upset when I told her it fckin poured a few years before and we were swimming as fast as we could. It was a very very bad few years. Meantime despite us both working our butts off and eating noodles, she would try to sign us up to her mlm. Only a 5k buyin and the vitamins are so good. So glad that pos is out of my life.
OMG I'm so sorry but happy you cut contact.
My spouse had cancer (in remission now) and my job only offers VERY high deductible plans. Neither of our sets of parents understands how we could be footing the bill for almost $10k with insurance. I think they think we are lying about it 🤷🏻♀️
2007. It had sat empty in the middle of nowhere for several years, is a shitty house, and we had a VA loan. My husband watched the interest rates (obsessively) and after we bought it, maybe at about a year, interest rate dropped to 3.5 and we sprinted to the mortgage company and refinanced. VA loan is a fixed rate loan, so when everything picked back up, we were fine. It was right as the economic crisis was happening. I mean a shitty house. We have put a lot of work into it. A lot of stuff was stupid. We had to re-wire it ( never want to have to pull wire again), clean literal shit out of the toilet, stuff like that.
My first apartment we paid $385/month back in 1992 and my current mortgage is just under $2000/month which is a bargain in comparison to rent here in a suburb of a major American city
They'll gripe about minimum wage being too high, then turn around and sell a home for half a million they bought for 40k and can't make the connection between these two things. Or maybe they don't want to. Anything to maintain a positive emotional state!
Well, he paid $3.59 and a glint in his eye for his same sized house, that was paid off in 2 years, you must be doing something wrong. I'm a technical boomer (TB) and I cannot understand how people can not understand housing costs right now. (We literally bought a 4 bedroom house on 7 acres in 2007 for $55,500 and paid it off in 25 years, people are warped by their experiences)
I had two people show up (separately) insisting that they wanted to hand their resume to the hiring manager (me). Neither one of them got to see me, one had to be threatened with calling the cops before he'd leave. And the bizarre part was that we weren't even advertising an open position at the time.
For context, this was in the early '00s, during the dotcom bust, and the two people were both engineers.
Yes I was told to "hit the pavement!" to find a job during the late '00s because "that's just how it works!" and boy howdy was I pissed because that's 100% NOT how it works but because I was applying to things ONLINE I was NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH.
There was a lot of yelling when I was trying to find a job in the economic boom (lol) of post-2008 world...
The way my property taxes are skyrocketing, by the time I pay off my mortgage, the taxes will be a bigger payments in the mortgage ever was. And don't even get me started on the insurance.
It’s intentional ignorance. Acknowledging that the economy is out of hand and that they had a lot of easy lay ups in life destroys the narrative that they worked hard and discredits literally any opinion they have of the world around them, so they keep themselves in the dark
They don't get costs today, and assume pay has gone up with the costs. Which is far from the truth.
It is not just the house. We have extra costs they never had - Self funded pensions (401Ks). Student Loans. Medical Benefits + High Medical Bills (gotta pay like $4K deductible on a good plan before insurance even starts). Those are big chunks of income.
Then add in higher costs for gas, cars, home insurance, and so on.
They just don't get it. At least they actually listened and looked at the facts. Most will just blow it off and say you overpaid for the house (you are a sucker and got ripped off).
As a former mortgage lender I had to do the math. To get a $400 loan payment you’d have to have borrowed no more than $85K on a 30 year loan when the rates were at historic lows (I used 4% but I got out of the business almost 20 years ago when rates were in the 6% range so I have no idea what the actual historical low is)
And that’s a $400 LOAN payment, not including taxes and insurance. Idk what real estate market you’re in, but in my town that would be about a $500-600K house at bare minimum, with at least a $6K annual property tax at a guess and no less than $1500-$2k to insure. Which adds up to more than $400 in and of itself, closer to $650 using very optimistic figures. And you haven’t put the electricity, water, natural gas, etc on
Oblivious people must be so happy in their little worlds 😂
For the first time ever in his life the man was speechless. I showed him my app that showed what I pay each month and what I paid for the house and he just sat there. He knows my house isn’t anything special and I think he was shocked at how much it actually cost. The fact that my house cost as much as it does and it’s the lower end of the spectrum probably blew his mind. He’s probably at home having a existential crisis right now.
To be honest, it's nice he reacted that way and didn't just argue over you and tell you you must be wrong and do the whole deny, attach, reverse routine. At least he's capable of assimilating new information.
My mom pulled that years ago when I lived in LA and paid $2100/mo (rent controlled!) for rent. "That's a mortgage payment!!!" she exclaimed. I got my tablet and pulled up Zillow. "Find me a condo or home in Los Angeles, Orange, or Ventura County that I could buy and pay $2100 a month for. After 15 minutes she conceded my point.
The most frustrating thing about Boomers - this information is all readily available online. They could find out how much it costs to buy a box of cereal or the mythical "starter home" if they wanted. They might even figure out how to vote for anyone from City Council on up to help out the younger generations. But they'd rather just feel superior and yell at The Youths (many of us having passed the half-century mark) instead of making a difference or even keeping their mouths shut.
Just had this conversation with my mother and aunt. We were talking about how teachers dont get paid shit and how my uncle started off making 28k a year in the early 80s. I ran that through the inflation calculator and pointed out that is almost equvilent to 100k nowadays. All i got was its all about perspective. Like no it isnt its about the math. My aunt was even talking about how ramen noodles used to be like 10-15 cents and i pointed out yeah now they are around 50+. Once again supporting the inflation rate argument.
It’s because his mortgage was probably about $400 a month. My in laws bought a house in the 70s. When we went to buy our first house they flipped out. And told us there is no way we should be paying more than what they paid a month. I asked how much that was. $300. I laughed so hard I was crying, and crossing my legs to keep from peeing my pants. I then explained that even when we lived with roommates our portion of rent was never even that low and that was splitting the cost 3 ways for a 2 bed 1 bath. This is also why they’re sooooo annoyed about complaints about the interest rate. They had double digit interest rates. But their mortgages were still $300 or $400. I explained the interest rate now compared to when we bought means that if we would be paying over $3k a month for our house instead of $2.5k. They were baffled and would not believe me.
I spoke to a boomer the other day that had no clue that Jared Kushner worked in the Trump administration. 🤦♀️ and of course he’s voting for that orange ass clown. Lucky for me his vote doesn’t count cuz I live in a blue state. But damn they’re dumb as stumps. And get their news from Facebook.
>we can no longer afford our house and will need to sell it and downsize to a trailer.
I want point out some of the hidden costs with a trailer. Prepare for your electric bill to be double or triple what you're currently paying, due to lackluster/nonexistant insulation. Gas bill will be higher in the winter for the same reason. The cold wintry air will blast under the trailer and literally cool it from all 6 sides. The water line coming from the ground to the floor of the trailer is prone to freezing as well.
Nearly everything about a trailer is exclusive to a trailer and you'll pay more for it being such. Doors and some plumbing connections immediately come to mind.
Source: grew up in a trailer, never again.
Yes, and trailers depreciate. If you're not renting then trying to hang onto your house until you can refinance a better mortgage rate may be the better solution... depending on the state there are even resources for helping mitigate, especially if you can relate it all to COVID :https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/homeowner-struggling-to-make-payments-due-to-pandemic-help-available-or-coming-soon/
About 12 years ago, my brother moved out and rented a room from some friends. Huge room, mediocre house in a small town. $300 a month. Ugly as hell, but no beating that price for anything anywhere.
My mom thought it was an outrageous price, thought he was being cheated. She'd never rented or house shopped in her entire life. She moved from her parents house to her husband's (inherited) house in the mid 70s. Spent 90% of her life on a farm, chattering with other farm wives about how much they know about economics. Never knew a damn thing, still doesn't. Both parents are Hard right Republicans, own multiple portraits of Ronald Reagan. Always ranting about black people stealing the welfare money, but cheats taxes, take farm and healthcare subsidies, and has never known a single black person by name.
no one gives a crap about common people's quality of life anymore. so much wealth and prosperity yet somehow only a certain segment of the population keeps getting better lives. then you have scabs like the boomers blaming the poor for their plight.
My boomer uncle was visibly shocked when I told him my modest house in a nice area cost $415k. This conversation started by him guessing my house payment. His guess was $900 🙄 which btw doesn’t even cover one month of room and board for my son in college.
That's an impressive level of obliviousness there. No wonder they think we're all just squandering money! $400 a month is a JOKE. And a cheeseburger and fries costs 10 cents, right??
When my fiancé and I were saving up for our first home, my father was overly involved in my finances and became enraged when we had not saved $40,000 by the time we were 20 for a down payment. Also… It was 2020.
I work in talent acquisition and was telling my uncle some jobs I recruit for only pay like $41k a year. His response: “thats a good salary”. I was going to explain it’s not enough to live off as I myself make more than that and am single and I am hardly making ends meet. Keeping groceries in the house is a struggle and I cannot afford a new vehicle when my 20 year old car finally dies.
They just REFUSE to live in the reality they created.
My grandma(80) and I (27) were driving around neighborhoods near us the other day. We passed a few houses that sold recently. I asked her "guess how much that sold for?" My grandma says, knowing the market is crazy right now "$200k?"
It was $419k.
🙃
So, stay with me here-
A demographic that agrees inflation is too high, their medicine prices are too high, groceries are too high and gas is too high, yet believe people don’t need raises or tips, think that the cost of housing is magically untouched?
Man I live in a shoebox (900 sq ft) with a "yard" that is maybe 400 sq ft in an alley with no parking. Thankfully I bought it in 2016 before shit went full nutty but still pay 900.
Edit, spelling
My parents are the same way. They believe that everything stopped increasing in price back in 1972, other than items they regularly purchase which they blame on Biden.
As I get older I’m beginning to understand. It is EASY to have ten or twenty year old ideas about things. I paid $56,000 for my first house. I don’t feel like it should be a $360,000 house now, but it is! I bought that house in 1989, and at that point I was in my early 20’s. Luckily for me I buy houses all the time and I know where those markets are, but it blows my mind when I go buy clothes or try to buy freekin plywood nowadays
lol, what a dumbass.
$400 a month ?
You can literally go from affording to not overnight.
Because of the bullshit with inflation (the Fed literally lying), companies don’t increase salaries…but the government likes to increase property taxes….way faster than “inflation”.
I mean, they should at least be capped at their own bullshit.
You can literally be priced out of an area.
What I don't get is in they say Biden's destroying the economy, but in the same breath say young people just waste everything they have on Starbucks and avocado, and things aren't that expensive. Which is it?
It's this exact mentality that makes them angry at the idea that minimum wage should be raised. They were able to work a single fast food job, or be a shoe salesman and feed their entire family, own a large home, and pay for their kids college, so why can't we all do the same... As if they are completely oblivious to the cost of living.
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$400 mortgage. Those must have been the days
True story — I paid $300. To rent. A one bedroom apartment. In 1985.
In 1989 I paid $325 for a 425 sq ft. Studio in downtown Sacramento CA. Same studio as of last week...$1325. it had 25 year old appliances when I moved in and I did a walkthrough and now it has newer appliances...from about 2005. As a busser in 2 restaurants working about 50 hours a week I took home about $1800 in 1989. If I were to have a minimum wage job today full time I would take home about $1800. WTF? I am not sure how people survive much less put a roof over their head.
My late gen X friends in the late 90s in the ghetto town I grew up in were making around 12 dollars an hour and a two bedroom apartment built in the 70s or 80s was 300 bucks with most utilities included. The same jobs now pay around 15 but rent for a unit that is 15-20 years old is now more around 1200.
I am mid-Gen X and made $12/hr in 1996. The 2-bedroom I shared was, I want to say $600/mo and included heat and water, but not electricity or phone. I later moved to a 1BR in the same complex that was $500/mo. But you know what, the 1BR I was renting—same area, same age of building, same amenities—in 2009 right before buying my house, cost $625/mo plus an additional $25 for my garage. (Limited availability) The phenomenon of outrageous rents is much more recent than the 90s. That same apartment now rents for $1200/mo. From 1996 to 2009, rents went up a hundred bucks or so. From 2009 to 2024, they doubled.
Similar situation. In the early 2000s I lived in a happening district full of artists and musicians. My rent for a room in a nice house was $75 per month. Granted, I had 10 roommates, so it wasn't all roses, but the rest of them were musicians so it was a lot of fun. Most of these roommates worked a night or two per week as bartenders and otherwise focused on their music. This lifestyle was common and the scene was extremely hot. So much good music was constantly evolving and the neighborhood was somewhat the pride of the city. So, inevitably, the condos started going up and the rent exploded. Today you can't live on working any less than full time. Somehow, there's no longer a music scene?????
From 1989 -- 1992, I rented a 3br/1 bath *HOUSE* in Charlotte NC for $360/mo +electric & water. It sat on an almost half-acre lot, most of it wooded. The house was in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods and right at the 'blow horn' spot of busy railroad tracks, but had easy access to public transport, and was walking distance to most necessary amenities. The whole neighborhood was torn down a decade+ ago, and now the 2br condos in the giant complex built there run $1900/month. 🖕🤬🖕
They don't.
My first apartment was 650 in 1997. Last I saw it up for rent a couple years ago it was 2200, 2bd 1 ba in a shitty neighborhood suburb of LA.
Must be ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ these days.
China is *here* U/MrFrance1010...
I paid $400 for one room in a shared apartment in 1997.
October 1996: My first apartment. 2br, 1ba. Excellent/fun city neighborhood for a couple dudes in their early 20’s. Medium size metro area. $575. Meaning we each paid $287.50. Add in heat, cable, and landline, under $400 per month total expenses. What a time to be alive.
1984 major Midwest city, great 2-bedroom (1 bath) with living room and separate dining room in an in-demand neighborhood. Charm galore. $425 month.
That will get you a "coffin house" in Hong Kong now.
My mother's mortgage is 785 a month for her 3-bedroom 2 bath house in Mesa/Phoenix. They bought the house in 1998. If only I was smart enough to have bought a house then, rather than focus on high school...
I looked up the Zillow on the house my dad grew up in. His mom bought the house for $16k. It sells for $800k today.
Parents bought the current house in 1995 for like 150k, goes for over 800k so yeah, at least my parents realize how bad the housing market is but I just don't k ow how anyone is expected to own a house when a standard family sized house is almost a mil in a city of like 180k people not even a major city
After my father died, I offered to help my mom with their mortgage. She was worried it was too much for anyone to help. It was $400/month. That's who's running this shit show of a country: senior citizen politicians and business owners who are willfully ignorant to modern costs. It's bonkers.
On the one hand, it's nice she was worried it was too much for anyone to help with. A lot of people would have been like "my children must pay this for me" in her shoes.
Funny how the elderly can’t fathom inflation for housing or living expenses that the younger generations face but they sure damn bitch when Social Security doesn’t increase enough each year…
Only until it affects them. Meanwhile my dad just retired two years ago. He was so flippin excited too, to not have to work ever again. Then I noticed he put a chunk of lake property he bought for cheap during the 08 recession up for sale. Unfortunately it hasn't budged because the housing/ land markets have stalled and nothing is really selling atm. Now he's back to working. Something tells me that he got his SS check and realized it wasn't enough to cover his monthly cost of groceries and gas.
Oh no, that's the amount he thought it ballooned to after all these years. He probably paid $120.
Was gonna say just this. My grandparents mortgage was 120.40/month for 30 years… they bought the house for $25,000 and had no clue how they were going to make ends meet when my single earner grandfather only made 40/week. Just like Op I sat down with them at one point and went through “modern” finances. They were gobsmacked that our mortgage was nearly 10x that. When they found out what obtaining 2 masters degrees cost at state schools, and what those monthly payments looked like for us, I thought my grandfather was going to have a stroke. It went from us being “bad with money” to “I don’t know how anyone is affording anything” pretty quick. Silver lining for me is they saw the logic pretty quick and were simply dumbfounded.
I had a $450 mortgage on a 1-bedroom foreclosure condo that I bought in the 90s plus $200 HOA fees in California. I bought it for $59,500 and assumed a 7% VA mortgage. Those days are long gone.
I am having a lot of trouble with this. The monthly payment on the home I grew up in, in the 80s, was $300. This was a 2 bedroom in a small town in the middle of nowhere that we bought as a bank foreclosure. How in the HELL does anyone think a mortgage payment for a real house is $400? I don't think I could find a one bedroom to rent in my whole state for that.
My first house in 2004. Currently paying 850 for a 20 year mortgage.
It's one banana, Micheal. What could it cost? $10?
My daughter’s father in law (her husband’s father) is a retired accountant and does their taxes for them every year. The year they had their daughter, the FIL was flabbergasted that they’d spent so much on child care and wanted to know why—couldn’t they find somewhere that “wouldn’t rip them off”? They were paying an average amount for full time child care for an infant, but he had no clue how much child care cost. The true kicker is that his wife (SIL’s mom) watches the two children from their other adult child (my SIL’s sister) for free, but “couldn’t handle” watching the third grandkid, so my daughter and SIL paid a small fortune for child care.
OMG, this hit some kind of nerve in me or something. Back in the mid90's to mid 2000's my childcare cost TWICE as much as my rent, which was completely terrible as a single mom getting no child support from my ex-husband. My whole family is super right-wing and told me that if I ever accepted food stamps or Medi-Cal, they would disown me. They lived about 1600 miles away, I don't know what I was thinking...believing that they would ever find out. I was 20. About 3-4 years ago, my brother got married and had a baby. Our mom actually moved states to be closer to him and his wife so she could "relieve their childcare burden$$$". She actually called me once their child was born and told me how excited she was to have her first grandchild. When I pointed out that she had a 16 year old grandchild--MY CHILD!--she just said "well, you know what I mean". It absolutely flipped a switch inside me, and I just can't talk to them anymore and to be completely honest? I am a lot happier now.
My dad got a dog a decade ago and couldn’t stop talking about how, for the first time in his life, he finally thought he understood “just how much love a mother must feel when she holds her newborn child for the first time”. Again, my dad said this. To me. His actual human child.
The lack of self-awareness is staggering sometimes.
To be fair, he didn’t have to share custody of the dog with an angry ex-wife, so I imagine that made the experience much more pleasant than raising kids ever was.
Honestly, I would rather hold a dog than a baby any day.
Same, but then again I’m not the one who chose to deliberately have kids.
My mom told me at a restaurant once, when hearing a screaming child at another table “I really hate kids”. To be fair, she’s silent gen, but still.
To be fair to your mother, I am a father of a truly special 4 year old boy who I love more than anything in the world. But I've never liked kids much, even now!
Parent to a slightly behind 3 yr old. Love them to pieces, I'd steal the moon for them, and I'd fight someone to protect them. But godDAMN do they piss me off, make me strangle a pillow some days, and nothing gets done because they want to read the same book 6 times in a row "again please?" I can't say no and the house can get clean tomorrow.
The time will be gone before you know it.
Mine "wasnt ready to be a grandma" when I had my first, so she has nothing to do with my oldest child. My two sisters each had a child my mother just simply adored. Then I had two more kids. At that point my mother was "too old to do anything". Of course when my sister then had 3 more children and my brother had one she was all over being a daily grandma and watching the kids while my siblings worked etc. I just explain to people that I had very different parents than my siblings did which is why my siblings talk about their wonderful childhood and I am low contact with children who could not pick their grandparents out in a crowd.
That's sad how your mom picks favorite. Some day it will bite her in the arse.
Probably not— but what can this daughter do— but learn from her mother and do good when in the future when she has her own grandkids
This makes me furious, it’s disgusting.
Seriously, this is beyond awful.
Siblings having “different parents” really struck me. I look at the siblings,and can’t believe we were raised by the same people. I guess we were not,actually.
Your mother is disgusting! I’m glad you went NC. I’m amazed at how people can behave in completely opposite ways and not see it!
Thats when you agree that she is correct, that IS her first grandchild. And then never speak to that family ever again.
That's hilarious. I just had to block my ex husband's family last night because they continue to ignore my kids existence IRL while gma from hell occasionally pops off pix and memories from like 8 years ago on SM from when she last bothered to see the boys. Now, Im wondering if her other spawn happen to pop out a kid, will she act the same way as your mom? 🤦♀️ Also, no offense, but screw your mom. You and your kiddo are better off, and so are we.
Your mother definitely deserves to be considered persona non grata for that comment and all of their previous treatment of you. Don’t ever answer their calls again, don’t feel guilt, I’m glad you’re feeling freedom from them. Make it permanent. ETA: I am so sad for you to have such a family.
I was paying more for daycare for my two daughters (spaced apart 5 years) than it cost me to attend college in the early 90’s (20-25k/ year). My mom (a boomer herself, just not the foolish kind), laments the costs to young (and not so young) families and asks how the hell we managed it when it was so costly. Granted this was in a major metro area, but even the roughly 15k I spent in very rural PA when we moved 6 years ago is a heavy burden if you don’t have a pretty high income.
Meanwhile, the daycares are paying their employees minimum wage.
There is corporate mentality in day care, too! What a shame. Nothing ever will seem right any more money wise!
Casual 'remember that in your Will' should be dropped in conversation at regular intervals.
"Oh, wow Dad! You're a genius! Simply find a cheaper service - that's absolutely brilliant! I never would have thought of that on my own."
I like it! I tend to go with "thank you so much for offering to find it cheaper! It needs to be safe and local without a long history of issues. Let me know when you find one" They want to help right? that's why they make these suggestions, so I let them help.
That last part hits home. My in laws take my niece and SIL’s dog 6 days a week, sometimes even overnight. My FIL is retiring this summer because it’s really hard for them to watch both especially with the baby being mobile these days. Husband and I are expecting our first this summer. I’m expected to return to work in November. It’s fully expected we’ll be figuring out a different form of child care… all because SIL happened to get pregnant first
My golden child brother had his first child 4 years after my sister had her child, 3 years after I had my first six weeks after I had my second. My mom watched grandchild #4 full time for 8 years for free, and says things like "you should retire like your brother". Wish I could but I didn't get all that free childcare
There's always money in the banana stand 🍌
Oh my god we're having a fire...sale.
Sounds like it's time for a new start.
Anustart
And she never even saw the license plate.
No touching!
Give PopPop your hair!
I’ve made a terrible mistake…
Go see a Star War.
https://preview.redd.it/bw0myx90p67d1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5dfc0c4aa3b1c0346aec94876641da2399a943aa
Here’s some money, go see a star war.
My mother for years while i was living with my parents post divorce would not stop harping on “I Don’t know why you don’t just go buy your own house! Anyone with a full time job and 2k down can get a new house” 😑 literally caused me so much mental anguish until I literally showed her the numbers
$2000? Jeezus. That MIGHT get you a down payment on a used car. Not a great one, either.
We managed to buy a $140,000 house in 2007 with only $3000 down. So much as changed since then. Wish we had never sold it to move closer to family. I fear it'll be the only house we'll ever own.
I was actually closer to owning a home when I was 23 than I am now at 43. Was fresh out of college, good engineering job and almost bought a house with my girlfriend at the time who later became my wife and even later my ex-wife. My partner of 10 years and I now make 3x what my ex and I made 20 years ago, but houses in the area we live in cost at least 4-5x what they cost in 2003.
She was very delusional about it and it was fueled over her not wanting me to be there which was also fueled by her feeling like she somehow failed me by my ending up living with here lol. She stopped being a wicked witch but I was stressed the fk out for a few years
I'm the opposite way. I realize how lucky I was when I bought my first house for $90,500 with $100 down (plus closing costs off course). I know my kids who are 21 and 22 won't be able to do something like that, so they are living with my wife and I after college for a few years to save up to buy a place since rent is ungodly. Besides I'm not selling because I am not giving up my 2.25 percent mortgage and will pay cash for my final retirement home.
I have two 26 year old working teachers home with me. They are diligently saving money for a house. We are ready for them to move out but also don't want them to be house poor so the nest is still filled. Rent is also ridiculous so they might as well keep saving.
It is difficult to get a car today for $400 a month
And then the insurance for it is practically another $200
My car payment is $283 a month and my insurance (which is good insurance I think?) is another $230 a month. Got my car right before the used market went to shit during Covid. I feel lucky to have the payments I have tbh
FWIW the car markets started going to shit (aka inflated to hell) due to the computer chip shortages. COVID just gave it a little shot of steroids that helped prevent it coming back down. It's started to get better, but it's still nowhere near relative "normal". Even with old used cars...good luck finding anything under $3-5K that runs and drives.
Finding my gf a car that I didn’t think we were gonna have to replace in 2 years was a god damn nightmare. People selling cars on blocks for $2k smh
Go to a tow yard. They sell 5-50 cars a year simply because they need them out of the way. It's a great way to buy a cheap and (usually) pretty reliable car.
I wish I had known this about 2 weeks ago lol
Another place you might check is if you have a local "Pick-A-Part" salvage yard. Same thing as with tow yards. They end up with fully operational vehicles that people just sell to them for scrap prices, so they sell them to the public for cheap. I've seen cars and vans that would Blue Book for $6-7k being sold for $2k.
We bought our car brand new because the price difference between that and a 4 year old model with 30k miles was 2 grand.
Ours was the same, but actually cheaper! A new 2024 was about the same price as used 2020-2022 models. The interest rate was also much lower for new.
I was perfectly happy with my nearly $700 a month payment for my fancy sports car because it was only costing me $100 a month in insurance and I gladly spend more on the big things because I’m very frugal when it comes to myself and little things. That insurance went from $100 to $400 a month. No change in driving record. Just premium increase. I sold that car SO FUCKING FAST
“You kids only speak in payments! When I was your age I paid cash for my car! Just get another job mowing lawns or something!”
Bought my car brand new in 2019 with a $673 a month payment (was a 60 month loan), plus $135 a month insurance. Nothing special either, '19 Toyota Yaris sedan. I also had middling credit, which contributed to the less than awesome interest rate, which I cannot remember. I just paid it off last year (had a decent job at the time paying more than we needed).
But when you met your banker did you look him in the eye while giving him a firm handshake with a winning smile on your face? After all, isn’t that all it takes?
This is the way. They took 80% off and gave me a -10% APR so I got paid to buy the house. Eye contact is the secret there.
And a firm handshake :)
For what they think it costs that's gonna have to be a firm handjob, with the eye contact.
I don’t know why you don’t have thousands of upvotes for this comment 😆
A discounted house is a discounted house. I'll jerk off the whole bank. I just don't give a shit
For 80% off and -10% APR, I would make handjobs my full-time career. They could call me “bank slut” and I’ll ask them how their weekend was while I’m crankin. That’s too good a deal to pass up.
No shit. I'm 43 and I'll never be able to buy a house on $20.50 an hour.
Gumption. You forgot to add gumption.
Dont forget moxie, kid.
Chutzpah!
Kids these days don’t have GRIT.
How do you get grit? Put some elbow grease into it.
Sticktuitiveness. Gotta have sticktuitiveness.
I was a single mother with a sick kid. I was so desperate I think I told the bank guy that I was willing to do anything including him if he got me this house.
I'm married and i felt the same way when we bought ours.
In real estate you’d be surprised how often that happens.
Yes, I believe I also saw this documentary on the internet.
"What are you doing step-realtor"
That went from 0-60 real quick
Username checks out
In the 1970s interest was in the teens. The principal was much lower, but Boomers should have some idea of how the economy can really screw you.
They usually had jobs with benefits though
And make your coffee on the way there? And hand write a thank you note? And call to follow up????
I thought you were quoting 'dogs' by pink floyd
I told the bank there was "no way I was gonna pay more than $400/month"—put four one-hundred dollar bills on the desk and said "good day to you, sir." You just have to show them you're not going to be pushed around.
You know what tho? This somehow always WORKS for my boomer father! It is *insane* how he gets these deals. He’s repeatedly negotiated thousands off car prices this way, basically just saying I’m going to pay this price or else and walking out. They’ve always call him back! Granted he hasn’t bought a new car yet since COVID so I’m curious how it’ll go next time. He also called his cell phone carrier and told them he just wasn’t going to pay their prices and somehow got his bill down to about $35 a month. I seriously don’t understand and I wish I had inherited at least some of this skill and charisma. I try and people are just like yeah… no.
For cars in particular it's actually good advice to set a hard limit on how much you'll pay and stick to it. If a car is listed for $35k you should get a $30k car loan from your bank or a credit union then go to the dealership and tell them you have a hard limit of $30k (but don't tell them you already have finicaing set up) You'd be amazed how much of modern car prices are chalked up to random bullshit markups. Especially if you're trying to buy a sought after car like special packages or rare models. They'll literally just mark up the price 100% for no reason other than "someone will pay it eventually"
Those people are running the country too.
That's the scary part!
We need to replace them. Get political, join your local party, and start running for office. There's a few millennials in my area that are working a full time job and campaigning for municipal/county level offices and I can't wait to vote for them in November.
yep, these people vote more consistently than any other group of individuals… and at every level of governance too. meanwhile, a man like bernie sanders gets his first win by just ten (10) votes… after a recount! it’s no wonder conservatives are getting the policies they want while the country regresses.
I wonder if he knows that’s 1-2 weeks of groceries now lol
With a male boomer, it’s possible they’ve never done the grocery shopping. My boomer mom thinks $25 on groceries per week is enough for two people. They’re both at the older side of Boomer. Old people seriously barely eat anything. They’re not broke, it’s not a money problem. A little plate of buttered noodles with a couple pieces of broccoli is plenty for her and her partner’s dinner. They rarely prepare anything more complicated than that. I think they consume about 600 calories per day. My MIL is the same. My mom thinks we spend way too much on groceries and overeat, despite my husband and I being at healthy weights and being younger, active, working people. She seems to forget that she used to prepare and eat big meals like fried chicken with mashed potatoes and a big, green salad. They eat like birds. And that’s fine. I figure the same thing will happen to me eventually, so yeah, I’ll be over here preparing delicious meals while I still have an appetite. We’re fairly frugal with the grocery budget and use everything we buy. We just still enjoy eating and spend our calorie intake.
I remember my grandmother thinking a single small scoop of peanut butter was good enough for supper when she was really old. Their is a reason senior places have to cook meals for these people otherwise they will barely eat anything.
Eventually all old people just end up eating pre-packaged chicken salad from the grocery store and boxed see’s candy for their 1 meal a day. Every. Single. One.
My grandfather spent his last years eating chicken pot pies from the frozen section. And ice cream.
I just blew 206 dollars on about a weeks worth of groceries. I did buy a decent amount of fruit and veggies but fuck me...... what am I to do. I'm not going to feed my kids cheap/frozen/preservative filled garbage. I should just stop eating.....
The ceo of Kelloggs suggested struggling families eat cereal for dinner. 🫠🫠🫠
Has he seen how expensive his own products are? Shocking he doesn't seem to know what happened to the last person who said "let them eat cake."
honestly, i see my cereal as an expensive snack; it's not a cheap meal, especially when you include the price of adding milk to it.
I might eat cereal for dinner but it'll be Walmart brand for sure 😂 Fuck that CEO I hope he squats on a cactus.
Side-eyeing my $6 Cheerios over here.
I grew up eating a lot of cheerios and peanut butter sandwiches as a kid because it was poor people food. My loaf of bread is now almost 5 dollars and cheerios are like 6 dollars a box. Five dollars for a loaf of bread! ITS BREAD! It should not be that damn expensive.
I presume you mean just nuggets or frozen TV dinners and the like, but in case you didn't, frozen fruit and veg can be higher nutrient dense than canned, and even fresh in some cases. Because they are frozen the same day of picking, so no degradation from the canning process or sitting on a truck traveling to the produce section.
So I noticed your folks also made zero effort to help you out either. I love how that generation is quick to be judgy based on erroneous assumptions without offering to help.
My boomers love telling me how I need a new couch, central air, better car, newer phone etc. yet they haven't given me a dime since I was 16 lmao.
Exmil when things were going to shit, "why don't you use the money that was saved for a rainy day." She was upset when I told her it fckin poured a few years before and we were swimming as fast as we could. It was a very very bad few years. Meantime despite us both working our butts off and eating noodles, she would try to sign us up to her mlm. Only a 5k buyin and the vitamins are so good. So glad that pos is out of my life.
OMG I'm so sorry but happy you cut contact. My spouse had cancer (in remission now) and my job only offers VERY high deductible plans. Neither of our sets of parents understands how we could be footing the bill for almost $10k with insurance. I think they think we are lying about it 🤷🏻♀️
2007. It had sat empty in the middle of nowhere for several years, is a shitty house, and we had a VA loan. My husband watched the interest rates (obsessively) and after we bought it, maybe at about a year, interest rate dropped to 3.5 and we sprinted to the mortgage company and refinanced. VA loan is a fixed rate loan, so when everything picked back up, we were fine. It was right as the economic crisis was happening. I mean a shitty house. We have put a lot of work into it. A lot of stuff was stupid. We had to re-wire it ( never want to have to pull wire again), clean literal shit out of the toilet, stuff like that.
Jesus. 26 years ago, my wife and I bought a little 3br/1ba 1050 sq ft house and our mortgage payment was $700/month. And that was LAST CENTURY.
Last MILLENIUM. Now you have me thinking about housing costs in Rome.
My first apartment we paid $385/month back in 1992 and my current mortgage is just under $2000/month which is a bargain in comparison to rent here in a suburb of a major American city
They'll gripe about minimum wage being too high, then turn around and sell a home for half a million they bought for 40k and can't make the connection between these two things. Or maybe they don't want to. Anything to maintain a positive emotional state!
Hit the nail on the head with the connection
Well, he paid $3.59 and a glint in his eye for his same sized house, that was paid off in 2 years, you must be doing something wrong. I'm a technical boomer (TB) and I cannot understand how people can not understand housing costs right now. (We literally bought a 4 bedroom house on 7 acres in 2007 for $55,500 and paid it off in 25 years, people are warped by their experiences)
Everything is possible when you're willing to show up at an office in a suit with a resume and refuse to leave until you get a job offer,............
You’ll definitely be able to feed yourself and put a roof over your head if you do that! It just might be 3 lukewarm meals a day and a cot.
And a roommate you don't much like.
And you’re lucky if he doesn’t like you ***too much***
I had two people show up (separately) insisting that they wanted to hand their resume to the hiring manager (me). Neither one of them got to see me, one had to be threatened with calling the cops before he'd leave. And the bizarre part was that we weren't even advertising an open position at the time. For context, this was in the early '00s, during the dotcom bust, and the two people were both engineers.
Yes I was told to "hit the pavement!" to find a job during the late '00s because "that's just how it works!" and boy howdy was I pissed because that's 100% NOT how it works but because I was applying to things ONLINE I was NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH. There was a lot of yelling when I was trying to find a job in the economic boom (lol) of post-2008 world...
I appreciate your sentiment, but the math ain’t mathing. *When* did you buy that house?
Oh, and that was supposed to say, "paid it off in 15 years", sorry, I'm queen typo.
Congrats on that. Must feel pretty amazing to send off that last check.
The way my property taxes are skyrocketing, by the time I pay off my mortgage, the taxes will be a bigger payments in the mortgage ever was. And don't even get me started on the insurance.
It’s intentional ignorance. Acknowledging that the economy is out of hand and that they had a lot of easy lay ups in life destroys the narrative that they worked hard and discredits literally any opinion they have of the world around them, so they keep themselves in the dark
I paid $2000 a month for a 400 square foot apartment in LA up until a couple months ago. Get fucked, boomers.
They don't get costs today, and assume pay has gone up with the costs. Which is far from the truth. It is not just the house. We have extra costs they never had - Self funded pensions (401Ks). Student Loans. Medical Benefits + High Medical Bills (gotta pay like $4K deductible on a good plan before insurance even starts). Those are big chunks of income. Then add in higher costs for gas, cars, home insurance, and so on. They just don't get it. At least they actually listened and looked at the facts. Most will just blow it off and say you overpaid for the house (you are a sucker and got ripped off).
As a former mortgage lender I had to do the math. To get a $400 loan payment you’d have to have borrowed no more than $85K on a 30 year loan when the rates were at historic lows (I used 4% but I got out of the business almost 20 years ago when rates were in the 6% range so I have no idea what the actual historical low is) And that’s a $400 LOAN payment, not including taxes and insurance. Idk what real estate market you’re in, but in my town that would be about a $500-600K house at bare minimum, with at least a $6K annual property tax at a guess and no less than $1500-$2k to insure. Which adds up to more than $400 in and of itself, closer to $650 using very optimistic figures. And you haven’t put the electricity, water, natural gas, etc on Oblivious people must be so happy in their little worlds 😂
Cue Mr. Burns voice. "Here's a quarter young rascal. Go buy yourself a Happy Meal."
So....what was his reaction when you pointed out the absurdity of how wrong he was that a mortgage in 2024 doesn't cost 400 bucks?
For the first time ever in his life the man was speechless. I showed him my app that showed what I pay each month and what I paid for the house and he just sat there. He knows my house isn’t anything special and I think he was shocked at how much it actually cost. The fact that my house cost as much as it does and it’s the lower end of the spectrum probably blew his mind. He’s probably at home having a existential crisis right now.
To be honest, it's nice he reacted that way and didn't just argue over you and tell you you must be wrong and do the whole deny, attach, reverse routine. At least he's capable of assimilating new information.
My mom pulled that years ago when I lived in LA and paid $2100/mo (rent controlled!) for rent. "That's a mortgage payment!!!" she exclaimed. I got my tablet and pulled up Zillow. "Find me a condo or home in Los Angeles, Orange, or Ventura County that I could buy and pay $2100 a month for. After 15 minutes she conceded my point. The most frustrating thing about Boomers - this information is all readily available online. They could find out how much it costs to buy a box of cereal or the mythical "starter home" if they wanted. They might even figure out how to vote for anyone from City Council on up to help out the younger generations. But they'd rather just feel superior and yell at The Youths (many of us having passed the half-century mark) instead of making a difference or even keeping their mouths shut.
The fact she even conceded your point puts her ahead of a majority of her peers.
Just had this conversation with my mother and aunt. We were talking about how teachers dont get paid shit and how my uncle started off making 28k a year in the early 80s. I ran that through the inflation calculator and pointed out that is almost equvilent to 100k nowadays. All i got was its all about perspective. Like no it isnt its about the math. My aunt was even talking about how ramen noodles used to be like 10-15 cents and i pointed out yeah now they are around 50+. Once again supporting the inflation rate argument.
"Perspective" = we are not and never will be interested in passing on the quality of life we took for granted to anybody else. Fucking boomers.
It’s because his mortgage was probably about $400 a month. My in laws bought a house in the 70s. When we went to buy our first house they flipped out. And told us there is no way we should be paying more than what they paid a month. I asked how much that was. $300. I laughed so hard I was crying, and crossing my legs to keep from peeing my pants. I then explained that even when we lived with roommates our portion of rent was never even that low and that was splitting the cost 3 ways for a 2 bed 1 bath. This is also why they’re sooooo annoyed about complaints about the interest rate. They had double digit interest rates. But their mortgages were still $300 or $400. I explained the interest rate now compared to when we bought means that if we would be paying over $3k a month for our house instead of $2.5k. They were baffled and would not believe me.
I spoke to a boomer the other day that had no clue that Jared Kushner worked in the Trump administration. 🤦♀️ and of course he’s voting for that orange ass clown. Lucky for me his vote doesn’t count cuz I live in a blue state. But damn they’re dumb as stumps. And get their news from Facebook.
>we can no longer afford our house and will need to sell it and downsize to a trailer. I want point out some of the hidden costs with a trailer. Prepare for your electric bill to be double or triple what you're currently paying, due to lackluster/nonexistant insulation. Gas bill will be higher in the winter for the same reason. The cold wintry air will blast under the trailer and literally cool it from all 6 sides. The water line coming from the ground to the floor of the trailer is prone to freezing as well. Nearly everything about a trailer is exclusive to a trailer and you'll pay more for it being such. Doors and some plumbing connections immediately come to mind. Source: grew up in a trailer, never again.
Yes, and trailers depreciate. If you're not renting then trying to hang onto your house until you can refinance a better mortgage rate may be the better solution... depending on the state there are even resources for helping mitigate, especially if you can relate it all to COVID :https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/homeowner-struggling-to-make-payments-due-to-pandemic-help-available-or-coming-soon/
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Wood burning stoves and lung issues don’t mix well… Good luck with this situation. I hope everything works out for you and your daughter.
A good stove does not leak back into the house much
A properly plumbed chimney pipe prevents this too, regardless of the stove model.
About 12 years ago, my brother moved out and rented a room from some friends. Huge room, mediocre house in a small town. $300 a month. Ugly as hell, but no beating that price for anything anywhere. My mom thought it was an outrageous price, thought he was being cheated. She'd never rented or house shopped in her entire life. She moved from her parents house to her husband's (inherited) house in the mid 70s. Spent 90% of her life on a farm, chattering with other farm wives about how much they know about economics. Never knew a damn thing, still doesn't. Both parents are Hard right Republicans, own multiple portraits of Ronald Reagan. Always ranting about black people stealing the welfare money, but cheats taxes, take farm and healthcare subsidies, and has never known a single black person by name.
My mom read an article the other day announcing the average annual salary required to own a home is like $160k. Her flabbers were ghasted.
no one gives a crap about common people's quality of life anymore. so much wealth and prosperity yet somehow only a certain segment of the population keeps getting better lives. then you have scabs like the boomers blaming the poor for their plight.
Boomers are also somewhat responsible for the "it's rude to talk about money" so of course they have no idea what things cost anymore.
My boomer uncle was visibly shocked when I told him my modest house in a nice area cost $415k. This conversation started by him guessing my house payment. His guess was $900 🙄 which btw doesn’t even cover one month of room and board for my son in college.
That's an impressive level of obliviousness there. No wonder they think we're all just squandering money! $400 a month is a JOKE. And a cheeseburger and fries costs 10 cents, right??
When my fiancé and I were saving up for our first home, my father was overly involved in my finances and became enraged when we had not saved $40,000 by the time we were 20 for a down payment. Also… It was 2020.
I work in talent acquisition and was telling my uncle some jobs I recruit for only pay like $41k a year. His response: “thats a good salary”. I was going to explain it’s not enough to live off as I myself make more than that and am single and I am hardly making ends meet. Keeping groceries in the house is a struggle and I cannot afford a new vehicle when my 20 year old car finally dies. They just REFUSE to live in the reality they created.
My grandma(80) and I (27) were driving around neighborhoods near us the other day. We passed a few houses that sold recently. I asked her "guess how much that sold for?" My grandma says, knowing the market is crazy right now "$200k?" It was $419k. 🙃
So, stay with me here- A demographic that agrees inflation is too high, their medicine prices are too high, groceries are too high and gas is too high, yet believe people don’t need raises or tips, think that the cost of housing is magically untouched?
Man I live in a shoebox (900 sq ft) with a "yard" that is maybe 400 sq ft in an alley with no parking. Thankfully I bought it in 2016 before shit went full nutty but still pay 900. Edit, spelling
My parents are the same way. They believe that everything stopped increasing in price back in 1972, other than items they regularly purchase which they blame on Biden.
I cannot wait until the last boomer is gone. God they are exhausting.
The great die off is underway. Google “Boomer Death Clock”. That always brings a smile to my face.
2086 is far too long for Extinction.
Good news and bad news there… Good news: Boomers probably won’t be around that long. Bad news: Most of us probably won’t be around that long.
As I get older I’m beginning to understand. It is EASY to have ten or twenty year old ideas about things. I paid $56,000 for my first house. I don’t feel like it should be a $360,000 house now, but it is! I bought that house in 1989, and at that point I was in my early 20’s. Luckily for me I buy houses all the time and I know where those markets are, but it blows my mind when I go buy clothes or try to buy freekin plywood nowadays
lol, what a dumbass. $400 a month ? You can literally go from affording to not overnight. Because of the bullshit with inflation (the Fed literally lying), companies don’t increase salaries…but the government likes to increase property taxes….way faster than “inflation”. I mean, they should at least be capped at their own bullshit. You can literally be priced out of an area.
They don't just walk among us, they out vote us because of our apathy.
What I don't get is in they say Biden's destroying the economy, but in the same breath say young people just waste everything they have on Starbucks and avocado, and things aren't that expensive. Which is it?
It's this exact mentality that makes them angry at the idea that minimum wage should be raised. They were able to work a single fast food job, or be a shoe salesman and feed their entire family, own a large home, and pay for their kids college, so why can't we all do the same... As if they are completely oblivious to the cost of living.
What is the biggest increase in the cost of the house for you?
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>This particular house cannot be insulted. What a fun typo, please don't edit. "Ha! I laugh in the face of your pejoratives"