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[quote=Anonymous]I'm a single mother with a take home pay of about $4000 a month after taxes. 
Our rent will be $2000 a month. Phone, internet and car insurance is another $200 total.
We live well on $1800 a month. While I'm not millennial, I got a very late start in going to school (at 30), building a career (never did), and investing because I was illegal the first ca 10-12 years after moving here. I got my papers right when financial crises hit in 2007-2009. Illegal meant that I couldn't go to school, I couldn't easily change jobs, I was often underpaid and overworked. 4 restaurants didn't even bother to pay the $2.77 an hour and/or pay up to meet the DC minimum wage. Not sure if it was the law back in a day.
Not being able to invest or buy a home really bothered me. I had been homeless before and all I wanted to do is to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Saving $400-$500 a month and not investing it, wasn't going to do it.
Once I got my papers, all extra money monthly went into real estate and market. I'm not touching any of it and it has grown a lot. I may be able to stop working soon and all this never making more than $4000 a month and in ca 15 years. 
I made many mistakes, but learned a lot. not buying any real estate unless it's for living. Market grew so much faster than real estate because of the timing and location.
For young people, let's stop telling them that them market grows 8-10%, because it seems discouraging. Just put some in an index fund (inside Roth ) and a little in high growth. Make it a bill you got to pay.
Wait to upgrade car and home. Couple of years of that is a lot of help.Why parents don't teach their kids all that, I don't know. Maybe they don't listen. Maybe they are waiting for inheritance. Schools won't because world wants them to spend money. Parents are pushing for higher education which costs a lot. Even they don't see the value of investing the money in the market vs education (can do both). And even if they do, it's in that lousy 529 plan pushed by the companies. 
Just a little bit of financial education goes a long way. So does life experience, but why not use the one parents have so kids don't waste their time on it.

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