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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I had a degree, roommates and cooked at home when I was in my 20s.  That was the 1990s.  Not sure things are so very different now.[/quote]

Housing and degrees are more expensive now.[/quote]

You missed the point, which is that it's normal to have room mates and cook at home in your 20's. Why do young people now expect own housing and going out to eat to be the norm?

I also had room mates until I was about 28 - I got my own apartment after finding a well paying job in a low cost of living area and it just didn't make sense to share housing anymore - even had a den in my apartment for my hobbies. [/quote]

+1  And, yes, degrees are more expensive now but there are ways to get a good degree that is more financially responsible with minimal debt (merit aid from a less-highly-ranked schools, community college + transfer to public U, etc.)

People talk about the good old days when you could support a family with a single middle-class wage earner.  You still can if you are willing to live the same way -- small house (avg. size in the 50s was a bit under 1K sq ft), one car, very rarely eat out, small wardrobe (there's a reason the closets in those old houses are so small), no extracurricular activities for kids - just send them out to play or maybe piano lessons with the lady down the street, limit travel to an annual camping trip and maybe a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disney.  DIY everything - no housecleaners, mow your own lawn, do your own nails, change your own oil etc.  Stay in your hometown so the grandparents can help with babysitting, or when they aren't available hire the 14 yr old girl down the street.

The "FIRE" (financial independence/retire early) community is full of people who are living that way with a goal of super-high savings to reach early retirement.

But most people seem expect 2500+ sq ft houses, at least two cars, buying new clothes regularly, eat out daily for lunch + several times a week for other meals, air travel multiple times a year, and, when you have kids, couldn't possibly trust your kids with a young teen babysitter and must put them in lots of extracurricular activities.

Yes, a lot of those things are nice to have, but you can't expect to have that lifestyle in your 20s and build a solid financial foundation.  Buckle down in your 20s so you can have more of those nice-to-haves in your 40s and not be destitute in your 70s.[/quote]

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