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Just so younger frogs know, this isn't just a meme. This was how it really was.
My maternal grandfather was a plumber, my grandmother was a homemaker. They had 8 children. They owned their own home and had a car. They retired into a private gated community.
My paternal grandfather was a truck driver. My grandmother on this side was also a stay at home mother. They had 2 children. They owned their own home, had nice cars, traveled the world, owned vacation property, and retired into a custom built home on 3 acres.
And we will never know a life like that. I don’t know if I can ever retire, and we live simply & sensibly on around 100k per year.
Wants vs. needs
My wife and I live on 65k
We own a house and 2 paid for cars
and her mom lives with us contributing $300 a month for groceries and utilities
We do not own a $1900 phone, don't have cable TV, and eat well at home by not wasting $ on crappy restaurant food.
We tend a garden in the summer and can our vegetables
If we still had kids at home we would need 30k more.
1970
My dad was in the military.
Earning $18,000 a year
My parents owned a house, an Oldsmobile, belonged to a country club, and raised 5 kids
It was not that long ago.
My father grew in Communist Bosnia, oldest of 10 kids. Dide was a peasant and Baba was raising the kids, killing the pig and cooking savoury meals for everyone.
Later in the 80s, Dide had to spend much time on a construction yard in Germany to « add some butter to the spinach ». I guess it just did not only happen to Western families.