👉🏻 https://x.com/tgrammie2/status/2011915331460350348
👉🏻 https://nitter.net/tgrammie2/status/2011915331460350348
I’m worn out hearing people moan, “Our grandparents could buy a house on one paycheck, but now we can’t even afford rent on two!”
Yeah, maybe because Grandma wasn’t dropping half her income on $14 iced lattes and avocado toast shaped like art projects. Back then, if they wanted coffee, they boiled it at home in a dented pot. It tasted like burnt rubber and regret — but it woke you up and cleaned your pipes.
And Grandma wasn’t “out to brunch.” You think she had time for mimosas and hashtags? She was making something called whatever’s left in the fridge and feeding six people with it.
Don’t even start with Uber Eats. You think Grandpa was out here paying $38 to have a burger delivered three blocks away? Please. He grilled mystery meat on a rusted barbecue, and everyone called it dinner.
Now people cry about being broke while sitting in a house full of gadgets. Two SUVs in the driveway, six streaming services, three air fryers, and matching tattoos that cost more than their light bill. You think Grandpa had a tattoo? He did. It said “Korea, 1951,” and it came with trauma, not Instagram likes.
And the kids—Lord help us. “We can’t make ends meet, but Brayden needs the new iPhone!” No, he doesn’t. You’re handing an $1100 device to a child who still eats crayons and forgets to flush.
When we were kids, there was one phone. It hung on the wall like a family relic. The cord stretched just far enough for you to whisper secrets before someone yelled, “Get off, I need to make a call!” And guess what? We lived.
The TV? One. In the living room. With three channels and a dial that clicked like a safe. And if Dad wanted to watch bowling, you were a fan of bowling, end of story.
Now there’s a flat screen in every room, the baby’s got an iPad, the dog’s got a camera, and everyone’s wondering why they can’t afford rent. Because you’re living like rock stars on retail salaries, that’s why.
Grandpa wasn’t leasing Teslas or buying $12 smoothies called “Green Zen Awakening.” He drove a truck that coughed smoke, rattled like a storm, and smelled like oil and hard work.
They lived within their means. Whatever Grandpa brought home on Friday — that’s what they had. They weren’t keeping up with the Joneses; they were keeping the lights on.
So yeah, Grandpa bought a house on one salary. But he also didn’t have a gym membership, three delivery apps, and emotional support crystals on his nightstand. His only support system was Grandma, who told him to quit whining and mow the yard.
Nowadays, everyone’s broke, anxious, and “manifesting abundance” while ordering tacos on DoorDash for the fourth time this week.
It’s not the economy — it’s the lifestyle.
Wake up, turn off your subscriptions, make your own coffee, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll smell the truth.
Credit to original author, unknown
It's a nice screed and totally spot on in many respects except the salient causes are the economy, the fiat printing, the fraud and the disgusting system as a whole. UberEats goat's cheese and lemon-chipotle-humus infused pizzas barely rate next to the elephant in the room.
If they bought a coffee back in 1951 it would have cost ~10 cents.
I would categorize trying to pass off the destruction of the middle class as lazy people buying stupid consumables as gaslighting.
The social commentary aspects regarding "babies with Ipads" and recidivist UberEatards are spot on, but probably more of a symptom of the oppressive system and the dopamine addicts it incentivizes than in any way causative.
Stupid argument.
The average income in 1951 was $3,700.
Today's coffee is $5.00 and the average income is $66,200.00.
It's still 3 times as many coffees per average income for the 1951 hominid. How much we have been squeezed is much worse than that though I do agree. I know how much my energy bills increased since the 90's and how much less disposable income it left me with.
According to these numbers a coffee in 1951 would have been ~0.0027% of the average income and today it is ~0.0076%. To put in perspective to have a daily coffee in 1951 for a year would have cost ~1% of the average income, and to have a daily coffee today (who the hell is going to Starbucks every day anyway?) would cost ~2.8% of the average income.
That coffee costs a lot more today, but it is still just a drop in the bucket compared what is paid in taxes, estimated 34.7% for the average American accounting for federal and state taxes across income, property, sales, and vehicle ownership. In 1951, the average amount paid in taxes was only 15-20%.
Also, in 1951, the average American household spent 20-22% of their total income on food, including groceries and dining. Today the average American household only spends 10-11% of their total income on food, half as much, so blaming the inability to buy a house on coffee and avocado toast seems a bit disingenuous.
The other monthly expenditures that the average American has today that did not exist in 1951 surely do play a role, so some of those criticisms may be more valid. Gramps and Granny back in the day didn't have cable TV, cable internet, or wireless cellphone plans. But economy, inflation, etc. surely are significant factors as well.
Taxes in 1951 were not as high, factor in health care expenditures as well.
An ER visit is damn near a years avg salary. Could be why they are making us sick on purpose to exploit and bankrupt us.
Health care, insurance, rent, debt from school, etc. are all absolutely through the roof.
And the inflation rate by actual meaningful commodity numbers instead of B/S doctored CPI ranges anywhere from 2400% for WTI crude pricing to 12900% for gold's pricing in that time.
Ratio that $3,700 dollars with WTI oil's price, today's income ought be $89,577. Copper, salary should be 289,000. Silver, would be $374,000. Gold, and it's $479,000. Tin is $117,000.
Damn near every fungible commodity has outpaced income growth significantly, but no, we're getting poorer because of muh coffees. We are all getting pissed on by the Federal Reserve, and you expect us to take it as rain?
My TV time was limited to 2 hours of Saturday cartoons. I had chores, real chores starting at age 10. Feed the chickens, feed the dogs, help mom with the household chores. As I got older my chores got a little more demanding, younger brother took over my little kid chores. We did our homework at the kitchen table in the evenings. And I didn’t get paid to do chores - we were expected to help because we were a family.
I notice no one addresses the crux of my argument...
Houses were out of reach for me at $5.00 and hour income raising two children. I didn't have the newest inventions, toys, etc. I lived very meager. Eating out was a treat we did few and far between.
Back in the 50's and in the 70's when I raised children we didn't blame others for our situation. We dealt with it and moved on with our heads held high.
I didn't buy disposable diapers I used cloth diapers.
Quit the damn blaming and justifying while you have expensive vehicles and phones.
You know nothing about me.
Yeah, my car is approaching 200k miles and I paid cash for it. Wife's van we're financing it but with 3 kids we have to have one. We live on my single income, and it's certainly not easy but with some compromise it's doable. I blame nothing but the central bank for the devaluation of our currency for the struggles we face.
Ok.
I agree with all of those statements. Part of our problem as a society though is that we have a large amount of the population that lives on credit - some of it is due to those very valid points that you listed. Some of it is due to a type of lifestyle that became a habit from childhood, kids given toys to make up for the guilt parents felt because of both parents workings or because of divorce - which skyrocketed when I was a kid. We, as a society, have a tendency to want the newest thing, as soon as possible. That’s understandable because we’re bombarded by ads all day and told that we deserve it because (insert reason here). We’ve become a throwaway society.
I do think that the restoration of the home as the most important place in society with a parent at home to tend to the family needs would be a good way to get people to focus back on relationships and not things.
And I do think kids should have age-appropriate chores as well as parents who do the chores around the house so that kids have an opportunity to learn how to grow up and take care of household “fixes” as an adult. I really think all of the above that you aptly pointed out were used as a direct assault on the home and family unit in order to bring the USA down to the point where we are right now.
My dad was a Korean War vet, he was born in 1932. He was not a boomer.
Mine too.
Kek !! 100% but..
TV was pissweak though. A modern Iphone can track your eye movements so as to adaptively learn what triggers certain behaviors, so as to better monopolize your attention. Handing a baby an Ipad and then letting the algorithm at Youtube or any social media work it's magic is like lobotomizing the child.
The 1950's in the US looked like a fucking paradise of cohesive shared culture and civic responsibility compared to this shithole. I was watching the early space program and the crowds at the launches looked so very different, they were homogeneous and had not been psi-oped into a coma yet. It was before I was born yet I was homesick for the culture I was seeing.
Back then it was so early in the ponzi scheme that all life had not been drained of colour......life was measurably better then, the Boomers just inherited it.
Edit:- Also, a Korean war vet is not a boomer.
Or ..or ...
Sorry, but that's classic narcissistic boomer cope.
The dollar has been devalued beyond decimation.
The job market is saturated by foreigners.
Houses are bought up by megacorps to keep people renting.
PS. Go ahead and downvote me without discussion. Prove my point.
I'm a boomer. My generation lived at home until the day we married. If our parents asked for rent, we contributed. But by living with the family, we all had money saved toward a down payment for our own home when we tied the knot.
Half the reason your generation has such problems is you rush out of your parent's home to get away from having to follow rules and spend so much money on rent while you're single you end up with no savings.
My daughter still lives at home because I told her not to be an idiot. Her friends are paying a fortune for holes in the wall and she's living comfortably at home investing all she saves.
Enough said. The one rule I always had with my own kids applies here. I'm not going to lecture you because overkill never helps. But if you're not married consider giving up the apartment life and going back to the family home.
I’m Gen X here, my parents told me from the moment I was born that once I was 18 I had to move out. I bet Dr. Spock told them to do that. Now I have a young kid, I tell her I hope she never moves out.
I'm sorry you had that experience. I don't know how your own parents were raised, so maybe they couldn't comprehend the importance of giving you what they might never have had. But I am glad you see the value in giving your own child an opportunity to get ahead by building up savings by living at home.
You're a good Dad.
There are few male debutantes, fren.
I wasn't told I had to move out, but 18 was definitely adulthood and supporting myself was expected. I have a younger brother and sister, both were still in school when I graduated. College was on me.
They sold it for a fortune, thanks to inflation and immigration.
That's unfortunate. Are they aware of your difficulties? If they are not in a retirement community -- have you sat down with them and proposed that you both purchase a dwelling as co-owners with an option on your part to gradually buy them out? You'd build equity. You'd have to take care of maintenance and repairs because it would be a bit beyond them at their age. And you'd have to be sensitive to their value system. And you might have some elder care thrown in if they happened to have some health issues. But you've already lived with a version of their younger selves -- you can adapt. It's doable.
The plus would be that the economic pressure would be less and paying your parent's off (to eventually own the entire property) is more economically sound than blowing rent off monthly into the wind.
You have nothing to lose by asking them if they would be open to entering such an arrangement. The worst that could happen is that they could say no. Give it a shot.
"The worse that could happen is that they could say no"....
I generation millennial.
I proposed this idea with my parents, told them we could use my VA Loan to not put any money down, on a decent sized property. They have five grown children, and although not everyone would have to live with us, those that did could contribute equally to bills etc. They could save all the money they make from selling their home. We learn to garden, etc to be more self sustainable and healthy and I would pull all the hard labor an they could focus on their health. Both my parents have health issues. But my dad says he doesn't want to live that close to family, and he likes where he lives with all his toys. (Mustangs, trailers, trucks, etc) Meanwhile his children struggle to survive, or have moved out of state to cheaper locations. 😑 My once, close family oriented lineage has fallen apart with my parents generation.
When I'm a grandparent, God willing, I will do better for my children and grand children.
Can you carry out this plan with your siblings without requiring your parent's help? If so, be sure you get a good attorney to put everything down in writing so that there is no confusion as years pass and family numbers add or dwindle. Perhaps as your dad slows down (we do exponentially as the years pass) his toys will become less important to him and the need for family connections will grow.
As silly as this may sound -- some geriatric people need additional time to come to the realization that they aren't young anymore. His preoccupation with the toys of his youth may simply be his way of denying that time is passing. Eventually -- well, health has a way of taking the blinders off a person's eyes. Approach him again periodically and see if the situation changes. Time has a way of changing things.
All true, but where I live an average family home is 1 million $.
An entire generation priced out of owning.
Do you have any skills to rehab a less expensive fixer-upper and then roll it over as an investment property?
I've seen people do this several times and then eventually have a stake built up to purchase a final property in an area they actually intend to live in.
Edited to add: If you don't have skills -- I believe Home Depot gives classes on how to do things. It would be worth the investment of your time even if you don't go through with a plan to rehab fixer-uppers. You'll save money throughout your life if you have knowledge of basic home repair/improvement.
Good suggestion if you were that way inclined.
I do own in the suburbs and I am GenX
Now I think buying postage-stamp sized parcels of land in the Burbs and then paying them off for the rest of your life is the epitome of the psi-oped wage slave. Interest that wholesale travels through time and attaches itself to the front of the principal is disgusting and the city/suburbs are a miasma, a carcinogenic malaise of zombified normies and too much proximity to oblivious life forms.
Now I would buy hectares up the country with a valley sporting a rain forest instead of anything society tells me I need.
A sailboat will do fine in the mean time while I rent this joint out and get the fuck out of dodge.
It would have happened already had not my girlfriend thrown a giant spanner into the works due to bad circumstances - her mother passing away, her being executor of the will, settlement on the estate, her grandkids becoming wards of the state and her ending up looking after them etc. I just have to plan for me now. Cogs are turning.
Rush out? Many of us were kicked out!
I'm sorry that happened to you. Different people have different parenting styles. I can only assume it may have something to do with the way your parents were raised. I hope God sends you opportunities in your life to make up for whatever lack of parental support you suffered.
God bless you and thank you for setting a good example!
Amen.
The new generation indeed are overconsuming: my colleague spent 20 Swiss Francs on food this morning alone, excluding her lunch. She’s a good cook but won’t bring something at work. I am already 35 CHF richer than her every day after lunch, that’s 700,- a typical month.
Some are, sure. Most are "slaves on a continent their ancestors conquered, and pay for the cost of their chains."
Correct. Boomers had life handed to them on a silver platter, and the swatted it away so they could “be cool” or something. Completely betrayed the country and the future generations.
Again
Houses were out of reach for me at $5.00 and hour income raising two children. I didn't have the newest inventions, toys, etc. I lived very meager. Eating out was a treat we did few and far between.
Back in the 50's and in the 70's when I raised children we didn't blame others for our situation. We dealt with it and moved on with our heads held high.
I didn't buy disposable diapers I used cloth diapers.
Quit the damn blaming and justifying while you have expensive vehicles and phones.
Blame the DEMONrats who let Illegal Aliens in and sold this country down the river.
Ask the Somalians for a loan on your tax dollars.
Very true. I came from a family with 6 children and my father worked while my mother stayed home to raise us. My grandmother lived with us, which was a wonderful experience. One car, which my father used to get to work. We walked to school, one phone, one TV, which we all gathered around to watch family-oriented shows. Those were the days when family was everything. We didn't know just how blessed we were.
Amen.
Wait. Isn't the whole point of leave in a better future for the next generation is you can have fancy coffee and nice items, good tech, and a home with a family?
I know it may seem spoiled to want both and yes reduce if you cant make it and then work to being able to afford it. But now if you make 100k in some places way more than our ancestors ever were and still have to live like them or worse depending on what area you live? Its more than just frivolous spending. I have cut my life down to ramen, sandwiches, cheap foods that arent good for me. And it lets me make it through a month and still be able to put some away from my future, if the food doesnt kill me first.
But yes keep telling people its the spending, your fault, you arent doing enough. Im not going to apologize anylonger for this, if you know someone like that blame them, dont say thats why everyone complains, and everyone is frivolous.
Also the "So yeah, Grandpa bought a house on one salary. But he also didn’t have a gym membership, three delivery apps, and emotional support crystals on his nightstand. His only support system was Grandma, who told him to quit whining and mow the yard." Is rich.
Grandpa also had a house that was built better for cheaper and lasted longer, on a salary that had more buying power that anything today and interest rate thay didnt steal a good portion of your payment. Food that was priced for those salaries. Also the tvs, gym membership all of that. Well you can argue it down farther. Why a gym when you can mow. Why mow when you can farm and grow your own food, why 3 tvs when you can get 1 actually none just read books forget that too you can save money by staring at nature and enjoying its beauty. Delivery apps, go to the drive through, skip eating out, cook at home, actually the food you are buying is too expensive, just eat cheap processed foods. He had his wife, well most men today struggle to find someonw who isnt another man, or will take him money after a few years with the kids. It was always done differently before, doesnt make it bad to have nice things, and im sure grandpa wanted nice things too. Im sure those tvs were expensive as is any new tech
Hard to pull up the bootstrap when they are frayed and unraveling. 250k+ for a small new home built sub par is unexceptable, especially when everything else raised in price around it. Reminder $5 dollars in the 60s is $55 in todays money. And the only thing that has gone down in price in comparison is the TV (maybe thats why people have three not one anymore, a $300 tv today would cost $28 in the 60s. $300 back then was $3.3k today)
The society is cracking while the older generations who benefited still think its just like when they grew up, looking down on the younger generation and saying ugh the financial mess is your fault. Not the fact that in less than 100 years the money has lost half or more of its value. This isnt to say budgeting is bad or dont try to save money where you can. But if there is struggle when cut to basics yeah there is a problem.
This is well said: "Hard to pull up the bootstraps when they are frayed and unraveling."
Again
Houses were out of reach for me at $5.00 and hour income raising two children. I didn't have the newest inventions, toys, etc. I lived very meager. Eating out was a treat we did few and far between.
Back in the 50's and in the 70's when I raised children we didn't blame others for our situation. We dealt with it and moved on with our heads held high.
I didn't buy disposable diapers I used cloth diapers.
Quit the damn blaming and justifying while you have expensive vehicles and phones.
Blame the DEMONrats who let Illegal Aliens in and sold this country down the river.
Ask the Somalians for a loan on your tax dollars.
Have you noticed that the children of this era are very gentle, timid, and conflict averse?
I promise that speaking this way to them is ineffective. There is blame in multiple generations and on multiple nations for this situation, but casting it internally and pointing it at them won’t fix the situation. The goal is to repair this nation, “nation” being “the people”.
We all helped make this, let’s all work on routing it out.
I helped make this problem. You helped make this problem. They helped make this problem. Let’s just fix it
I am tired of them blaming everyone for everything.
We never imagined doing this to our parents.
The problem is simple. When you were handed everything it means nothing.
They don’t have parents.
Huge difference.
(Not my downvote, I +1ed)
They also aren’t getting handed everything. Lots of toys, sure, but anything of consequence is very hard for them to get. Pay close attention to relative prices on different things.
I watched the door get slammed shut on them to enter a lot of courtyards we are in.
They aren’t upset for no reason.
Oh I lived a cushy life.
Ha ha.
You have no idea what I endured.
My current husband said when he had his first child it was either buy diapers or put gas in his car to get to work.
Go cry me a river.
Not saying you did. I’m saying that approach is 100% not effective with them, and should not be pursued as such. Do we want to save the country or do we want to be right?
I’ve also pointed out to a lot of them that things weren’t all sunshine and unicorn farts for prior generations.
What is effective with them? Hell if I know. It just ain’t that.
I agree we are all in a mess together we all have some sort of blame, lets make it better, I just hate to see gen z say all or most boomers made it all worse and i cant do anything about it, as much as I hate to see boomers saying all or most gen z is lazy and frivolous, as if everyone from those generations complaining is exactly like that, we need to listen to the grievances and move forward, Millennials/Genz lock in you need to be wise with money and get out from debt were you can as soon as you can.
Boomers understand that the younger generation isn't as bad or lazy as you think and that just because it was hard for you too doesn't mean it hasn't gotten worse, or that others younger than you are necessarily doing something wrong, there are plenty who work hard and still struggle while others spend lavishly when they don't have it.
So don't write someone off as complaining and lazy just because they are young, and that's how you see a whole generation not the individuals in it, just like how many gen z shouldn't write off the advice a boomer has on how to save and make it in hard times.
No doubt. Everyone needs to understand that this mess predates us all, and while it’s possible that some of us could have handled it better, it’s also true that none of us “started the fire, which has always been burnin since the world’s been turnin”, and we are all going to have to work together to recognize and work on fixing the problems.
I try to push both parties toward meeting in some presently unknown middle ground.
Im not blaming others, I apologize for it coming off that way, my point wasnt to say things were not hard back then, It was simply to say, while there is blame on younger generations to handle finances well, the previous generations while trying to keep their heads down and just make it through life arent able to see how much things have slipped today, where even being financially responsible still means a very low quality of life, even though we are making more money than those before, not that it wasnt hard ever before but it has gotten very difficult, and we are seeing it, and we are just now trying to get established, those who came before them are just putting all the blame on politicians they elected to get us into this place, this didnt happen over night, and genz couldnt vote till roughly 2015-16 era, that means the cracking we see so obviously today happened under the watch of the adults before us, its not to blame but just to hear that "hey maybe we didn't realize this would effect the future generations, we might have made some mistakes too," would be nice.
Apology accepted.
Here is where your thinking becomes skewed.
How much of a quality of life did I have with two children and making $5.00 and hour, which was a little higher than some, and stuff was out of reach? People were buying $100.00 tennis shoes. My daughter complained she had to wear cheap Pikway shoes.
This is where things went off the rails. People were cow towering to their children and putting themselves in debt. The children were running the parents.
To wear the Jordache jeans or Calvin Klein clothes.
The so called boomer generation gave so much to their children they didn't have to work or earn it so now they sit around and complain.
well isnt that kinda on the adult for letting it get that way? you blame the kids for how they were parented or not because the parent didnt stand up and teach the value to the kids and gave them everything they wanted instead of teaching them those lessons? and not everyone is sitting around and complaining, yes some express frustration because despite working hard, after bills and normal life expenses (water, electricity, groceries store brand and no eating out, a phone line to reach out for job opportunities, insurance for the car, gas, and then rent/home payment, no health insurance, doctors visits at a minimum for emergencies only ) you cant really put much back for savings because there is taxes coming too. that's just a single home if the person has good income, before marriage or kids.
"The so called boomer generation gave so much to their children they didn't have to work or earn it so now they sit around and complain." - how is this not the fault of the so called boomer generation, if they didnt pass down those lessons and just let their children get away with it? did you not raise those who are now adults? its almost like its not about the whole generation but that a good amount were there that got us to this point just like there are enough gen z to blame for having the latest gadgets, $14 coffee, designer clothes and spending crazy on stupid stuff. but not everyone is like that, some who aren't that kind of gen z are feeling the hurt too, and maybe would like it to be acknowledged and not scoffed at as I had it hard too and no one helped, so get over it and work harder lazy.
Just like how you dont like to hear that hey maybe some in your generation allowed it to get worse, not you but enough to make a impact today.
Scorching! It's not easy to get my grandchildren to appreciate how we used to live. I remember my dad fussing about lights that had been left on, and driving 40 miles on E just to find gas that was 27 cents a gallon instead of 30 cents (drove my mother nuts).
We kids didn't have it so bad. We went outside to find other kids when we were looking for something to do, and we roamed far and wide until the streetlights came on or we heard our mothers calling from the porch. If you ever watched "The Sandlot," it was just like that with more adventure and less baseball in our case.
OMG my dad said all of this.
And the home was a1200 sq ft ranch with plastic counters and avocado matching appliances. Maybe a diy brick grill or even propane. Hank hill would be proud.
I have noticed a lot of anti boomer comments on the internet. Even about being at fault for devaluation of the dollar. Another way to divide us.
No, not at fault. They just benefited from it and then act like their success was from hard work.
Edit; More downvotes without discussion. Truth hurt?
Who's they?
Boomers man!
If you want to get to the core of the issue you’re going to need to discuss the ethno-religion that created private central banking and fiat currencies.
The reason why is because for how long have "boomers" been in politics? "Millennials" are barely getting in to politics now, and gen z is sorely under represented. So we got to where we are at under those said boomers, maybe we should focus on the ones who have destroyed the economy, i.e. politicians, but boomers voted them in. Maybe the younger generation just wants the older to acknowledge maybe they made a mistake, or had some play in picking the politicians and not training up the younger generations better, parents didnt teach kids finances, or how to use a credit card like they should. Just like how boomers want the younger generation to admit they could work on budgeting better and work on finances.
Its only a divide if we let it be. Maybe if we listened to understand each other and not just make it a have to prove my point, we could work on it together. But when younger generations complain its considered that they are lazy or wasteful but never a thought of did anyone teach them and not just say you are not doing enough? No most older generations just are leaving the younger to figure out most on their own, and when they are failing they get kicked down harder.
Maybe they (younger generations) feel like they are trying but no one is helping, like a drowning person calling for a lifeguard just to hear the lifesaver is currently in use and you should have thought ahead, right as we are entering the adult world to try and start living (equivalent of just barely getting into the pool or ocean only to find out the bottom just drops out).
It’s not the boomer’s fault. It’s not the current generations’ fault. “Hate the game, not the player.” This problem started before any of us. It’s going to take all of us to get out of it. Be patient with the youth, but also help give them framing and guidance.
u/208-RZ isn’t wrong, neither is u/ggrockz , it’s going to take a lot of patience and understanding from all of us.
Show me where I can get a 1200sqft house for 15k like my grandparents did. Show me where I can get a 1200sqft house for 30k like my parents did. Show me where I can get a house that isn't 3x a year's wages like both that came before me did.
The coffee, electronics and other crap are strawmen. Basic needs are far more expensive today. The cost to income ratio is 5x what it was back then.
Plain and simple, a lack of accountability from both generations for their own screwups is the biggest issue on the table. Does this generation need that $12 coffee? Absolutely not. But did the last generation and the one before it pay 350k for a house and only make 50k a year? Absolutely not. They paid for a house what they made in a year.
I look at black/white pictures of my farmer great great grandparents generation in the late 1800's. Huge, beautiful houses with lots of farmland, animals, assets. Yes, they worked super hard. Skin to the bone. However, nowadays just working hard won't get you what would be like a 5 million dollar farm today.
I’m a millennial, but the two generations above me lived in horrendous debt, some still paying off things that should have been taken care of much quicker.
What I’ve seen taught to the “younger” generations is not to wait to pay for something but to just “charge” it and pay it back later.
My husband and I are in our early 30s and are so close to paying off our house (in 15-20 instead of 30 like those before us), haven’t had a car payment in over a decade (we still have our first car we were gifted almost 15 years ago!) and are not impulsively purchasing like those around us. Had financial stewardship actually been taught, I don’t believe society would be where it’s at today.
Just an observation, obviously there are situations where certain goals are more difficult to achieve, but the main thing that I see lacking is self control.
Someone here (you) understands the situation.
This is the most facebook boomer bullshit I've seen this week.
It's not all false, but it missed the point.
(It's been a while since I've been downdooted to the depths kek)
Because your comment is idiotic.
Mabbee. Rereading the thread and your new comments this is something you and I are obviously not going to come to an agreement on, and that's ok. We have lived very different lives and have different experiences in this world. I'm not one to typically categorize people, especially based on age because we are ALL residents of this world and share it, but like I said, we have had very different experiences here.
I made the comment because I'm feeling a little cheeky and outgoing today but in the end we are all here for the same purpose and arguing over these things really is a bit silly.
This isn't complicated. Gen X here. I bought a house in 2017 for 280k. This same house would sell for 700k today. My wages went up about 30% since 2017. I would not be able to buy my own house today, even though it's 8 years later. The property taxes alone would be insane.
Lets get this straight. Boomers just had to keep their nose clean and park some money in an interest yielding Bank Savings Account. Gen X'ers were hanging on but didn't get the huge generational wealth payoff at the end. Millennials are so screwed, we need an American life paradigm shift in expectations (regarding college and living alone, housing, etc..). (This isn't bad in some regards. Hopefully it strengthens family bonds since X'ers have stressed "independence" soo much).
So the original poster talking about expensive coffees when gramma worked the farm, etc.. is small potatoes in the scope of things.
Amen.
Rage bait
Clearly
And also shows boomers will maybe never get it so it's pointless arguing with them
I wonder, if they think youth's lives are equal or better if they would have been willing to trade lives with them (doubtful)
Also this could have been reframed as positive ways to improve one's life but instead is a condescending boomer attack on the poverty of youth with the accusation of their poverty being due to poor spending habits
Partly true, but some doesn’t jive. The income to housing cost disparity is THE major issue.
Grandpa also more than likely had a job rather than sitting around doing drugs and playing video games...
A job he got without 5 interviews and competition from the whole world. He had job security and a paycheck with buying power too.
He certainly wasn't competing with half-retarded scamming jeets.
Lmao. Exactly.
And a pension!
Yes! Dad worked a cush job and has been drawing a sweet pension for longer than he worked. Paid off uni by working summers.
Until the 1970's oil crisis and the massive inflation due to having to pay for the Viet Nam war, economic growth was more or less even across all income demographics.
Since then wages have never caught up and working class people have been losing economic ground.
I'd like to see you try to get a job in 1975. You and a thousand of your closest friends vying for the same job.
You think times were always good when in reality there was one economic shock after another every decade since then, with working class people losing ground each time.
You are freaking insane.
My parents lived during the depression.
No food stamps or Government assistance.
They held their heads high without complaining.
They HAD NO JOBS because of the depression.
Shut up and have a latte you can't afford.
Yeah and the country was 99% white, the old city neighborhoods weren’t destroyed by violent criminals, the tax burden was low, the buying power was high, and there were no laws favoring the hiring of minorities. Women hadn’t been brainwashed against having kids (they wanted a stable partner and family) and suburban sprawl hadn’t placed extended families at long distances, so you could trust to have your kids walk home from school or over to grandmas house, and families could get along with one car instead of three or four.
That world is mostly gone for the majority of Americans. You can pretend it’s not but it’s the truth.
And I’m not making an excuse I’m very successful and have a good life and family - but I recognize how messed up the next generation has it and to make matters worse, you get some boomer driving by in his mustang going “get a job loser!!”
Buddy - it’s the boomer generation that let all this happen. And the kids know it.
You articulated well a lot of things that changed
I think ultimately we want to list a set of problems and discuss solutions on them
"generational blame" discussions come up probably when these problems seem insurmountable
like, a lot of people might not really mind if boomers have destroyed a bunch of things as long as they can find some functional "lifestyle" for themselves, or to "rebuild" what was destroyed, even if it requires scaling back on things quite a bit or extra effort
(unfortunately in some areas this has not been possible, which then posts like this act as "bait" back in to feelings of anger towards problems possibly caused by others that people have not been able to simply "bootstrap" a solution to, even given reasonable or above average effort on solving such issues, and which they have not caused for themselves)
GG was an unhinged maniac with a penchant for buggery.
No I have common sense and lived a hard life.
I am not going around complaining.
I assumed your username was a reference to GG Allin. He was who I was insulting.
Nothing to do with that name. I don't even know who that is.
My grandson calls me GG.
My mistake.
We had a little extra because my Dad designed and built our house; plus my Mom worked when my brother and I were old enough. But my parents were born during the depression, so the only slightly extravagant things we had were snowmobiles. But when your house is buried in snow almost every winter, they were important for us and the neighborhood. Food, medicine and taking a pregnant lady to the hospital.
Just to throw it out there, from u/GizzardPuke ‘s note
$0.10 = 1 Silver Dime = $9.00 today (or still $3 just 2 years ago).
It’s true, we aren’t owed anything, but people are absolutely currently being priced out of some things.
A entry level position making $70,000 per year (I assume that’s a decent entry salary now, without looking) can’t afford a house that costs $350,000+ at any point soon.
The people of 1951 were frugal, but also had the benefit of a lot of early-stage debt cycles behind them as well. How did the housing market work in 1720? 1830? 1865? 1910? 1950? They also had more unified community and family structures than we do today.
The economic and social underpinnings and prices had changed each time.
Point being, having a budget is very good, but when international bankers and merchants are waging war trying to drive us into slavery, judgmental tones don’t help. We can show these things as ways of helping cut costs, while also hearing the very real troubles that the current generation does have, and help to guide them through those things.
Boy, this has sparked quite a discussion. This is a situation in which, I believe, both points of view are true to some extent.
The cost of housing in comparison to wages has gone WAY up. Other costs are artificially inflated by globalist fuckery, such as medical care.
HOWEVER, those who say that many people don't live within a budget are also right. I see it all the time around me, and in the economic statistics. People taking on massive debt for a new fancy car with high car payments. Massive credit card debt for no real reason. Restaurant dinners on a regular basis. And those iPhones... It is obvious that there are a whole lot of people who are REAL bad at math and are not managing their household finances at all.
To fix this, we, as a society, need to deal with the globalist fuckery that is causing grossly inflated living costs. We, as individuals, need to stop being spoiled brats and live within a budget.
The homesteading trend is pretty darn cool...
Don't worry you will get your turn in the barrel, when the boomers are dead and gone it will be "Next" and eventually you will be "Next". You punks have decided that nothing by any means could be your own fault, thats why you will never be worth a sheet. You will keep making the same stupid mistakes over and over expecting something different.
Amen.
The generation of blame others.
If you do the math and check what laws were passed you will not draw this conclusion
ALSO get off social media as a means of having a life! Facebook should have changed it's name to FAKEbook!
The author is right about a few things, but the majority of people in this country, and the rest of the world aren't buying Starbucks or other boutique coffees, ordering third person carry out, etc. The price of everything has tripled in most cases just since COVID broke out. Wages haven't increased in pace with inflation and goods prices, rents have skyrocketed in most areas, and the cost of services for things like vehicle repair, A/C repair, plumbing, etc have gone up, too. Almost everything is being priced out of affordability for people who make $20-25/hr or less, when, 15 yrs ago, a $20/hr wage was considered decent. We're to the point now where even a $30/hr wage isn't enough in almost every major city in this country.
To top it all off, even if you're a skilled worker, if you lose your job today and are over the age of 45, it will take you months to find a job with a comparable wage. And that's if you're lucky to find one. Age-ism is real, but it's a dirty little secret no one wants to admit, let alone contemplate or fix.
And now AI, AGI, or whatever you want to call it is about to take millions of more jobs permanently off the table. Couple that with Musk's plan to integrate AI into his robots like Optimus by 2030, and you'll see 3/4 or more of all jobs being eliminated by 2035, if not sooner. Once he figures out the affordability question for small-medium sized businesses, that is. By most qualified estimates, sometime between 2030 and 2040, we'll see about 3/4 of current working adults in this county without jobs. And when that happens, that's when all the economic bubbles pop all at once. I happen to believe that once the robotics issue is sorted by Musk, the number of jobless people will be more like 4/5. All that will be needed is a relative few to ensure the system doesn't just fully shit itself and collapse. And, once that happens, we won't need politicians either, or lawyers, doctors, etc because it'll all be handled by AI powered robots.
I hope it happens a helluva lot sooner than that. For me, it can't happen fast enough. I wanna see this shit storm we call humanity face it's comeuppance soon. People think they're so smart, but it seems to me that we're nothing more than hairless, bipedal lemmings because we keep sprinting toward the cliff without a care in the world.
I just hope I'm able to get the hell out any populated area with my family soon enough, and can prepare us everything fast enough so we can sit back and watch the world burn itself it down from a relatively safe distance. Because one thing is for certain: humanity is stoopid as a herd and deserves to be culled back to the minimum saf st number possible to still maintain long term viability.
The older I get, the smarter that Georgia Guidestone population goal of 500,000,000 humans seems to be. We're overpopulated, but not because the Earth can't handle the Billions we have now. We're overpopulated because HUMANITY itself can't handle such an extremely large number.
Wow what a trip down memory lane! We had such a beautiful wild childhood in the 60ty's and seventy's. Hundreds of acres with only 3 neighbors. We were poor , we lived on 5 acres my dad bought from his father. We never new it though, we were too busy catching giant colorful garden spiders in the overgrown grasses of late summer. Or catching crawdads, and eels in the 3 local creeks with our bare hands. we used to climb up pole trees of aspen and alder and play Timber! We would shimmy up 15 ft and chop each other ,when the tree cracked we yelled timber and rode it to the forest floor. Life is not easy anymore, it is to expensive, too stressful . I made top journeyman rate in 1982 or $12 an hour, i had money for everything. Our leaders have sold this nation out, to the globalists , One great man is trying to bring it back! Trump
Not how much you make but how much you spend. Ive always kept my families lifestyle such that if i lost my job I could work at 711 and basically cover our cost. Still live that way with the basic expenses. This boomer grew up poor and learned a lesson from it.
That’s true. You are 💯, I was talking with my sister about the same thing what a coincidence; in my case though, I don’t have a house or I can’t afford rent, i live with my sister which I am lucky but I would like to have my own house too, I am very sick with lack of breathing and congestions specially after covid (no jabs of any kind) and I have a Harrington Rod/Scoliosis, I don’t buy stuff like that. I try coupons all the time and I am debt free, definitely can’t afford a house, don’t have the money plus to afford a house nowadays you need a partner which I have never had. People need to realize that buying things that we don’t really need and eating in restaurants is making us slaves, more debts and more family problems. If you can’t afford something DO NOT buy, eat at home, specially if you don’t need it. Oh for entertainment go to parks and do barbecues That’s all I can say. God bless everyone here.
Well, I only buy used cars (just one) and make them last. My current one is well over ten years now. I have always made coffee at home and only bought coffee a few times a year when meeting up with people. I always packed lunch for work when others spent $10-20 a day for lunches. Never bought sodas from machines, and bought cases of drinks on sale and brought them with me. Never did Uber, and would use the bus, metro or walk. Never did food deliveries and ate out at a restaurant maybe four times a year as a treat, and even then it was usually an affordable place. I try to buy most groceries on sale and make them stretch with little waste. Don't smoke and rarely drink alcohol, but on occasion will get a 12 pack of beer a few times a year versus going to a bar. Never ever had an Apple product whatsoever. My cellphone is the cheapest Android one I could get, and even that cost me $400, but was necessity for my job with the RSA app. I am on the cheapest cellular and internet plans as well. I use one streaming service on their cheapest plan. I keep my heat down to around 62 all winter and AC at 78 all summer. I don't buy new clothes often and when I do, they're usually on sale, and/or from Walmart of Costco. Bought home stuffs used from thrifts stores, local sellers, or got used stuff free from sites online like "Buy Nothing". My credit is in 800's.
Even with doing all of that, I lived in a low-rent apartment (until the rent significantly increased when Biden was installed) in a semi-shady area most of my life, and was only able to afford a small $250K townhouse in my mid 50's, after saving hard for twenty years, after living paycheck to paycheck in my twenties/early thirties. That's saying something. Being thrifty certainly does help, obviously, but I know a lot of people my age who are still unable to afford a home, so I feel fortunate that all my penny pinching enabled me to get a stable roof over my head, but being thrifty is JUST BARELY ENOUGH NOW. There was absolutely no way I could have afforded a home in my younger years. None. That's the issue. Now with the insane rent increases that started under Obama and then vastly increased mostly during Traitor Biden's immigrant invasion, people are essentially trapped, and unable to save anything, because it's all going to rent. One of my friends is 65 and should be retired, but is still working, living paycheck to paycheck, just to pay the rent/utilities.
Haha!!!
3 sentences in and I already love it!!!
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
u/#catdance
This cracked me up, "It tasted like burnt rubber and regret"
I was telling my daughter this the other day, that coffee then wasn't as sweet and velvety as today. She was wondering why the antique coffee cups we saw at the thrift store were so small. I told her one small cup would do it and they didn't want more than that!
Yes!
I gotta say tho ...
I remember what my grandparents ate and how special it was to ever "go out" for dinner. Extremely rare.
EVERYTHING was "home made". Yeah, there were some canned goods here and there, but MOST things were either fresh or in a Mason jar because they were grown, harvested and "put up".
I try to emulate this as much as possible in my own life... and also eat out sparingly - if for nothing other than, it's a terrible value AND the effects on your health are IMMEDIATE unless you go to a $100/plate restaurant that's using REAL ingredients and not just "rebranding" Sysco bullshit.
The number of people with $100k kitchens they rarely use because they dine out nearly every meal is staggering... I can't tell you how many women don't cook, but they just GOTTA have a Subzero fridge and Viking range so they can brag to their equally shitty and frigid friends.
Common sense... ain't so common these days... nobody ACTUALLY produces anything, they're $100k+ in JUST CC debt (phucking morons) because they want everyone to think they're "making it"... but they're not making it either...up... time for another Disney vacation! GTFOOH!!!
u/#catdance
Happy Friday homegirl!
u/#catdance
You too Fren.
lol Interesting and ironic... I wonder what prompt the original author used.
My Guess: Write a humorous, sarcastic, and slightly angry rant comparing how people lived in the past to how people live today. Focus on grandparents vs. modern millennials/Gen Z. Include examples of modern habits like overpriced coffee, avocado toast, delivery apps, multiple gadgets, and social media. Contrast with past frugality, hard work, and simple living. Use vivid metaphors, exaggeration for comedic effect, and a moral or “wake-up call” at the end. Make it sound like a viral social media post with punchy short paragraphs and rhetorical flourishes.
ChatGPT: I’m exhausted hearing people cry, “Back in Grandma’s day, a house cost one paycheck! Now we need three just to rent a closet!”
Yeah, maybe because Grandma didn’t spend half her income on $15 oat-milk lattes and avocado toast shaped like modern art. She boiled coffee in a chipped pot that tasted like burnt ambition—and guess what? It got the job done.
And brunch? Forget it. Grandma didn’t “do brunch.” She did “open the fridge, make something edible, feed six humans before they cried.” That was her weekend vibe.
Uber Eats? Please. Grandpa never paid $40 to have a burger wheeled three blocks on a scooter. He grilled mystery meat on a rusted barbecue, and it was called dinner. No delivery fees, no hashtags, no drama.
Fast forward to now: two Teslas in the driveway, six streaming apps, three air fryers, and a TikTok-famous cat. People wonder why rent is eating them alive. Maybe it’s the lifestyle.
Kids need the newest iPhone like their lives depend on it. Spoiler: they don’t. They still forget to flush and eat crayons on occasion. Meanwhile, a single phone hung on the wall like a relic, and somehow we survived.
TV? One box, three channels, dial that clicked like a safe. Dad wanted bowling? You loved bowling. End of story. Now everyone has a screen in every room, the dog has a tablet, and somehow that still isn’t enough.
Grandpa drove a truck that coughed like it had lungs of steel wool. He didn’t sip $12 smoothies called “Green Zen Awakening.” He lived in reality, paid bills, mowed the lawn, and kept a roof over your head.
So yes, Grandma and Grandpa bought houses on a single salary. But they also didn’t have three gyms, four subscription boxes, or crystals that allegedly “manifest abundance.” Their support system was each other—and maybe a stern look if you whined too much.
Wake up. Brew your own coffee. Turn off the endless notifications. Stop trying to buy a life that doesn’t exist. Maybe then you’ll remember what living actually means.
People really need to work on their prompt engineering.
Boomer thought he did something.
I agree this sums up many NPC's. However, I cook, own my car(s), make coffee, eat out once in a while as a treat to myself. My issue is the divorce courts do NOT care about the fathers. My ex cheated on me, ripped my heart out. She got to stay home for 14 years. The court & judges do not care. She was awarded 33% of my salary b/c she made no $$, got my 3 sons. I had to pay her alimony where there would not be enough $ left over for me to live in a rented room. Now, she gets 25% of my salary. The cost of houses are also out of control ($600k-$800k) for garbage that need renovations. I live with my brother & we make a nice 6 figures combined even after paying the ex's. The system is beyond broken.
Ain't that the truth? Grandpa wasn't flooded with ads pushing cheap Chinese junk and THC gummies guaranteed to make everything in life right as rain. He stopped in at the local bar after work for a couple "depthcharges", a shot of Imperial into a glass of draft Iron City just to wash the dust and grit from his throat and allow him to deal with his 6 kids at home. Life wasn't pretty in the mill towns of the rust belt but the kids grew up knowing what sex they were and what real work felt like.
Thank you.
I have been screaming this for months.
I watch Gutfeld and Kat is constantly complaining about her generation not affording a home. She says she doesn't want ti hear it us because of buying lattes.
I want to grab her through the TV screen.
Nothing has changed there was always the haves and have nots. When I went to grade school I wore plastic sneakers and nylon pants and I was very aware of the kids who wore the converse and prokeds and Levi jeans. We who had less dealt with it, until we were old enough to change it.
"Back then, if they wanted coffee, they boiled it at home in a dented pot. It tasted like burnt rubber and regret"
In general, whoever wrote this is right on target. But I've gotta disagree with this line. Percolated coffee tastes just fine.
This is boomer nonsense. Most of my friends don't have the newest phone, their cars are old, and they work full time jobs trying to make ends meet. Rent shouldn't cost as much as a mortgage even when splitting it with roommates. My mortgage is 3k/month and I don't even live in a super fancy house. If it were 15 years ago, I'd be freakin rich doing what I do (automation and analysis for a national corporation). You're out of touch.
Brilliant and funny! But inflation still requires us to END THE FED.
https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/