Support NeoGAF

[Haly]

Except that's not where a lot of professional jobs are.

Yep. Why are people not factoring this into their posts?

If you want your income to keep apace with inflation you're going to have to move towards the urban centers, where housing prices are soaring for this very reason, and because wages are utterly stagnant in the vast geographical majority of the country where these sub 200k "median price housing" are. If we were talking about home ownership for retirement then yeah, sure, it'd make sense to factor them in.

We're not, not even the millionaire is.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

If affordability is the concern, FHA and similar programs are the EXACT remedy. So all you would very well need to do is be prepared to let go of potential misconceptions.

There's give and take with every financing option, but the faulty logic (and again, I don't think it's your fault per se-- it's that nobody really taught this) is absolutely maddening.

Again, it's more complicated than you are making it sound when you pay a thousand dollars a month in student loans, a thousand in insurance premiums, daily living expenses, monthly car payments, etc. There is so much extraneous debt and high price necessities nowadays that our parent's generation did not deal with. In fact, many use the 5 dollar a day coffees as a coping mechanism for the crushing debt they set out into the very beginning stages of life with before investing in anything like a house. The system is literally stacked against gen y / millenials because of baby boomers drive to continue with their leeching tendecies. Literally, it's parents and gradparents driving their kids into the ground so they can live forever mentality. That is the real problem.

 

[Ron Mexico]

While rates are going up now, I don't think there has been any two year span where rates have increased by 2% in the past decade.

No, but they did fall that quickly (or nearly that quickly-- I'll have to look it up. I've been in banking since '02 and felt the huge drop but I'll get exact numbers) in the aftermath of '08.

My initial thought was a .50% increase in the first year after a couple of the Fed meetings in late '16. We've sailed past that and it's only May. I'm no fortune teller but the signs are all there for further increases. That's not counting any appreciation on the real estate itself.

That's why opportunity cost is such a thing.

 

[Team Alucard]

I don't know how you aren't getting this. Do you realize that you can buy house houses in North Carolina and parts of Michigan, and hundreds of cities all over this country for under $100,000? No shit it's expensive in Seattle, S.F, San Jose, Portland, New York, etc. and in the suburbs around it.

There is no job market in any of those areas. People aren't moving to expensive cities because it's trendy, they're moving because that's where all the jobs are.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Buying an avocado and putting it on bread doesn't really seem like a very expensive meal. Sure, you can get more calories per dollar with other foods (and much more protein per dollar), but unless you're really out of cash it should probably be a pretty affordable way to get some healthy fats

 

[see5harp]

Seattle is not New York.

Okay?

 

[The Technomancer]

Lots of handwringing about those damn welfare queens lobster eating food stampers expensive trendy millennials in this topic, but I'm fairly certain research indicates millennials are frugal ,comparatively speaking.

Famously Frugal: Nearly 40 Percent of Millennials Will Stash Their Tax Refund

Macy's is making one fatal mistake about its customers

http://fortune.com/2015/04/29/why-millennials-and-the-depression-era-generation-are-more-similar-than-you-think/

This puts it well

 

[CosmicQueso]

There is no job market on any of those areas. People aren't moving to expensive cities because it's trendy, they're moving because that's where all the jobs are.

The auto industry is hurting for educated employees, particularly engineers. All those folks want to live out west though.

 

[Linkura]

depends where you live. Everyone keeps talking about LA and NYC. SURPRISE, living in a prospering city is going to cost more year after year. There are forclosed homes in rural areas that can be had 20K or less in every state. They just need a little TLC.

And where are the jobs in the rural areas? There's a reason why people flock to urban areas.

 

[TheCochese]

It's still not the significant part of housing as the cost scale is exponentially more.

But berating people for not being frugal enough doesn't strike me as the right course of action if it it were. Let me propose the "problem" in a different way. Why shouldn't, after 30 years of technological advancement, people be able to have both daily coffee and housing?

Or alternatively. Why spend many years of your life sleeping on a crappy mattress when the value saved is never going to amount to a goal as large as housing? Why not just get a new mattress and enjoy what little you have rather than wait until you're 60 and have a bad back from sleeping on a crappy mattress?

My point is that people need to make better decisions with their money on a daily basis, regardless of what their goals are. Why spend $3k on a mattress when you can get a really, really good one for $400 and replace it a year earlier? A $2 coffee wouldn't sate the caffeine need? Or a $0.10 coffee from a drip machine and some grocery store bags?

You can enjoy what you have now, but don't fall into the trap of instant gratification. If there's something in your life you don't want to compromise on, you have to be prepared for the possibility you'll have to compromise elsewhere.

 

[The Technomancer]

Okay?

"Housing is way too expensive in New York for reasonable people" is a reasonable assertion. Same with SF. Housing should not be "too expensive for reasonable people" in Seattle, or other major cities that aren't the specific nexus of stupid problems that make SF and NY housing nightmares

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

I mean, is your point that houses are affordable in Kansas?

My point is, calling these places the average is silly. It is flat out going to be more expensive near a major population center.

I live in the GTA. My home's value has doubled since I moved here in 2009. It would flatout be completely unaffordable for me purchase here if I did it now, and I live near quite a few modest homes that are on the market for a million plus. That said, there are a number of options for people who don't want to live in the core of the city. Commute. Work from home. This thread is a major indicator that if a person can't get a first home in the core of their city (which isn't happening on say, a barista's salary) they have zero options, which is flatout untrue.

Is homeownership more difficult than it was 20-30 years ago? Undoubtedly. Is it as impossible as people are claiming in here? Not by a longshot.

 

[Tain]

these guys just keep on digging, huh

 

[Amory]

It's still not the significant part of housing as the cost scale is exponentially more.

But berating people for not being frugal enough doesn't strike me as the right course of action if it it were. Let me propose the "problem" in a different way. Why shouldn't, after 30 years of technological advancement, people be able to have both daily coffee and housing?

Or alternatively. Why spend many years of your life sleeping on a crappy mattress when the value saved is never going to amount to a goal as large as housing? Why not just get a new mattress and enjoy what little you have rather than wait until your're 60 and have a bad back from sleeping on a crappy mattress?

The point isn't that denying yourself a daily coffee or a Netflix subscription or a new mattress or an "avocado toast" will buy you a house.

The point is that all of this shit adds up fast, and young people nowadays tend to up their discretionary living expenses as their pay increases. Yes, it's true that if you make $30k a year and you just always make $30k a year and never move up or see a significant pay increase it's going to be very difficult to ever buy a house.

But that's probably not who he's talking to here.

 

[Battlezone]

I don't know how you aren't getting this. Do you realize that you can buy house houses in North Carolina and parts of Michigan, and hundreds of cities all over this country for under $100,000? No shit it's expensive in Seattle, S.F, San Jose, Portland, New York, etc. and in the suburbs around it.

Why is everyone being so dismissive of those who do live in those cities? If you can't afford a house in Seattle, it's not like moving to North Carolina is necessarily going to change that.

The median house price in Seattle is 700k. And it's doubled in the last five years. My wife and I both had six figure jobs, a significant amount of savings, and still needed help from our parents to make the purchase of our home viable here. We're turning into San Francisco North. And no, given our careers, moving to another part of the country was not an option.

I'm not a millennial, but I absolutely do not blame millennials for either being frustrated by bullshit articles like this, or for deciding home ownership isn't for them. They got dealt a shitty hand, and are constantly being told it's their fault for being forced to play cards.

 

[AtomskEater]

Rich, out of touch dumbfuck says stupid thing about how if the poors just stopped buying X, Y, or Z they would suddenly be able to afford everything their heart desires.

Stop talking, rich dumbfucks.

 

[SoRuffShoNuff]

I don't know how you aren't getting this. Do you realize that you can buy house houses in North Carolina and parts of Michigan, and hundreds of cities all over this country for under $100,000? No shit it's expensive in Seattle, S.F, San Jose, Portland, New York, etc. and in the suburbs around it.

Let's look at the cities people actually want to live near and not West Bumblefuck Kansas. I can tell you right now, sure you can buy a house in the Atlanta area for less than 100k but you wouldn't want your kids going to school in that district.

Atlanta area with decent schools is a 300k price tag.

Is your solution than millenials should either A) move to Arkansas or B) just buy homes in failing school districts?

 

[see5harp]

There is no job market in any of those areas. People aren't moving to expensive cities because it's trendy, they're moving because that's where all the jobs are.

I guess? People working in the bay area for a tech company like Oracle...you could move to Chicago and work for Accenture. Obviously the market is going to be smaller in places like North Carolina, but I'm sure there's some huge pharmaceutical company there or some fortune 500 company. Most people live in San Francisco because they enjoy living in the city not because of the salary. You think professional people enjoy sharing apartments with people?

 

[Unbounded]

I'll say on the whole mattress bit though, that's one of the few things you *should* spend a decent amount on. It should last you anywhere from 5-10 years, and it should leave you rested in the morning.

Granted, 3K is overkill, but I definitely wouldn't spend less than $600 on a mattress ever again.

 

[Karkador]

Millennial are currently the largest living generation. That is a fact.

So the gears of the economy, I would assume, turn mostly thanks to millennial economic activity.

This is a two-way street. Businesses are profiting off that millennial spending. I don't see these rich people criticizing Starbucks for selling coffee, Apple for selling expensive computers, Uber for selling expensive car rides , or the corner deli for making profits on avocado toast. They are more likely to invest in these companies instead of criticize them.

I'm no economist, but it seems to me that if every millennial took this guy's advice, the rich are gonna find themselves without an economy to reap.

I don't see spending as the wrong here, although bad budgeting is a fault.

The more pressing, objective issue is that we are looking at extreme income inequality that wasn't present in the baby boomer era. Hence, the world this advice is coming from just isn't making a lot of sense. The economy that millennials are contributing to isn't contributing back.

 

[AColdDay]

I completely agree with the millionaire. How you spend is the difference between making money and having money.

I see lots of people my age who make a lot of money, but don't actually have a lot of money because they spend it on frivolous things as quickly as they get it. I think it revolves around "big-city" fetish-ization where no one feels like they have "made it" unless they live in a big city, rent a tiny overpriced studio apartment in the nice area for thousands of dollars, eat organic superfoods in fancy restaurants, snapchat while they are trying on expensive designer clothes all the while being wholly unable to scrap together two dimes at the end of the month.

 

[benicillin]

I completely agree with the millionaire. How you spend is the difference between making money and having money.

I see lots of people my age who make a lot of money, but don't actually have a lot of money because they spend it on frivolous things as quickly as they get it. I think it revolves around "big-city" fetish-ization where no one feels like they have "made it" unless they live in a big city, rent a tiny overpriced studio apartment in the nice area for thousands of dollars, eat organic superfoods in fancy restaurants, snapchat while they are trying on expensive designer clothes all the while being wholly unable to scrap together two dimes at the end of the month.

Clearly you were born in le wrong generation.

 

[TheCochese]

The point isn't that denying yourself a daily coffee or a Netflix subscription or a new mattress or an "avocado toast" will buy you a house.

The point is that all of this shit adds up fast, and young people nowadays tend to up their discretionary living expenses as their pay increases. Yes, it's true that if you make $30k a year and you just always make $30k a year and never move up or see a significant pay increase it's going to be very difficult to ever buy a house.

But that's probably not who he's talking to here.

Indeed. We have to do a better job at instilling better budgetary decisions at an earlier age. There's too little of us actually considering the future. Retirement (and the massive amount more you can have by starting earlier), parental care (this is going to hit our economy like a ton of bricks), etc.

 

[Somnid]

My point is that people need to make better decisions with their money on a daily basis, regardless of what their goals are. Why spend $3k on a mattress when you can get a really, really good one for $400 and replace it a year earlier? A $2 coffee wouldn't sate the caffeine need? Or a $0.10 coffee from a drip machine and some grocery store bags?

You can enjoy what you have now, but don't fall into the trap of instant gratification. If there's something in your life you don't want to compromise on, you have to be prepared for the possibility you'll have to compromise elsewhere.

I do agree on the micro level at least.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Why is everyone being so dismissive of those who do live in those cities? If you can't afford a house in Seattle, it's not like moving to North Carolina is necessarily going to change that.

The median house price in Seattle is 700k. And it's doubled in the last five years. My wife and I both had six figure jobs, a significant amount of savings, and still needed help from our parents to make the purchase of our home viable here. We're turning into San Francisco North. And no, given our careers, moving to another part of the country was not an option.

I'm not a millennial, but I absolutely do not blame millennials for either being frustrated by bullshit articles like this, or for deciding home ownership isn't for them. They got dealt a shitty hand, and are constantly being told it's their fault for being forced to play cards.

Holy shit. If it's that hard for someone in your situation, most young people are fucked. Glad I moved out of the Seattle area last year. Live in Oregon now, but it is following in Washington's wake.

Also, I give you props for telling it like it is.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Again, it's more complicated than you are making it sound when you pay a thousand dollars a month in student loans, a thousand in insurance premiums, daily living expenses, monthly car payments, etc. There is so much extraneous debt and high price necessities nowadays that our parent's generation did not deal with. In fact, many use the 5 dollar a day coffees as a coping mechanism for the crushing debt they set out into the very beginning stages of life with before investing in anything like a house. The system is literally stacked against gen y / millenials because of baby boomers drive to continue with their leeching tendecies. Literally, it's parents and gradparents driving their kids into the ground so they can live forever mentality. That is the real problem.

So again this is where I say more than anything that it's the education piece that has failed and that's without touching the $5 coffee.

Student loans were sold as a bill of goods that didn't translate into the expected results. I'm slightly older (basically nearly the youngest of Gen X) so student loans were still a thing for me too. For me, there was a stigma of going to community college and being 18 and thinking I had the world figured out meant I had to go to school a huge distance from home. I paid for that. It's also why I didn't buy my first house until I was 32. And even then, it was a $135k townhouse in the Philly suburbs because that's what I could swing. I could have set myself up so much better had I known then what I know now. We all could. But I was also the child of 2 bankers who, while not making things easy for me as I paid my own way, did teach me a lot about being pragmatic. And that pragmatism is where I feel like we as a whole fail miserably.

The car payment-- I didn't buy a new car until I was 30 and even then it was a car that I wasn't over the moon excited about but it was 0% at a loan amount I could afford. Hell, even now, I drive a fucking Scion iA because I needed something to handle the mileage I was driving to work.

I could go on and on. Again, and apologies if I sound like a broken record, but this isn't a bootstraps argument. I believe the deck was stacked against the generation and boomers were largely responsible. But more so than a criminally stacked deck, I don't feel that the game was even explained properly to begin with. How can you even compete if you don't know what you're supposed to do?

That's where we've collectively failed.

 

[see5harp]

Why is everyone being so dismissive of those who do live in those cities? If you can't afford a house in Seattle, it's not like moving to North Carolina is necessarily going to change that.

The median house price in Seattle is 700k. And it's doubled in the last five years. My wife and I both had six figure jobs, a significant amount of savings, and still needed help from our parents to make the purchase of our home viable here. We're turning into San Francisco North. And no, given our careers, moving to another part of the country was not an option.

I'm not a millennial, but I absolutely do not blame millennials for either being frustrated by bullshit articles like this, or for deciding home ownership isn't for them. They got dealt a shitty hand, and are constantly being told it's their fault for being forced to play cards.

I wasn't being dismissive. My sister just sold her condo and bought her first house in Seattle. I'm just arguing against that point that people think it's 700k to live anywhere in this country. 10 years ago you could have bought a small one bedroom condo in Capitol Hill for 250k. Shit happens like that in cities that are desirable. Portland was the same way. Those are desiresble cities. If you wanna afford a house and you missed the window then you move out farther. I know plenty Of google employees now living in Walnut Creek.

 

[TheCochese]

Let's look at the cities people actually want to live near and not West Bumblefuck Kansas. I can tell you right now, sure you can buy a house in the Atlanta area for less than 100k but you wouldn't want your kids going to school in that district.

Atlanta area with decent schools is a 300k price tag.

Is your solution than millenials should either A) move to Arkansas or B) just buy homes in failing school districts?

We bought ours right before the crisis for $125k, and prices are now about where they were. In east Cobb.

For those not in the know, it's one of the better school districts in the entire Southeast (and no jokes).

 

[Vimes]

The mattress debate reminds me about how short sighted some people are when it comes to investing in a good product. What about the money you'll make if you're doing your job well-rested? What about not paying expensive medical bills down the road because of back or posture problems?

Reminds me of people giving me side eye for buying an expensive macbook that I made work for eight years, while they have to buy a new machine every two years because they keep buying HP laptops that break.

 

[LinkAndEpona]

That always made me scratch my head. Most of the people in my classes had Macbooks, but didn't really need em.

From my experience, the students buying the MacBooks was just part of the college experience, and by that I mean they have the funds through student loans so they might as well spend it. Problem is they eventually have to pay it back, with interest.

 

[Azerare]

Millennial are currently the largest living generation. That is a fact.

So the gears of the economy, I would assume, turn mostly thanks to millennial economic activity.

This is a two-way street. Businesses are profiting off that millennial spending. I don't see these rich people criticizing Starbucks for selling coffee, Apple for selling expensive computers, Uber for selling expensive car rides , or the corner deli for making profits on avocado toast. They are more likely to invest in these companies instead of criticize them.

I'm no economist, but it seems to me that if every millennial took this guy's advice, the rich are gonna find themselves without an economy to reap.

I don't see spending as the wrong here, although bad budgeting is a fault.

The more pressing, objective issue is that we are looking at extreme income inequality that wasn't present in the baby boomer era. Hence, the world this advice is coming from just isn't making a lot of sense. The economy that millennials are contributing to isn't contributing back.

Well put statement I can agree with!

 

[uglysinner]

It's not getting fucked if it allows you to buy the house before you're priced out of the market while rates are still at a historic low.

How confident are you that there will be a secular uptrend in interest rates? This implies that the American economy is going to experience robust growth, but from where? I think it's a bit delusional to think this country is going to be some hot-blooded capitalist dynamo in the 21st century.

 

[funkystudent]

I love to hate these people. I think its a generational thing.


Got a aunt that is not shy at asking why me or my brother haven't bought a house yet because she did before she before she was 30 back in the early 90's at almost every chance. Seriously. She even asked when she picked me up from hospital 2 days post surgery.


Worst part is she also works in the god damn housing department for the city council which has sky rocketing housing prices like most cities these days.


Like I said. Must just be a generational thing.

 

[Foffy]

Another day, another case of an out of touch know it all not knowing what the Great Decoupling is.

But let's keep blaming people, not policies. Isolated entities, not systems-level cultivations.

Fuck off with this shit.

 

[TheCochese]

The mattress debate reminds me about how short sighted some people are when it comes to investing in a good product. What about the money you'll make if you're doing your job well-rested? What about not paying expensive medical bills down the road because of back or posture problems?

Reminds me of people giving me side eye for buying an expensive macbook that I made work for eight years, while they have to buy a new machine every two years because they keep buying HP laptops that break.

If the $3000 mattress and the $400 mattress have the same reviews, is the label giving you that much better sleep?

It's more of an argument against buying into brands. Like Apple.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

The simple truth is shit is expensive and if you want a home don't put so much effort into phones, Internet, pcs and tons of other things you don't necessarily need. You don't need a toaster, mixer either while your at it.

I do not care about a name on a shirt at all anymore. I feel like an idiot to know I payed this company to have said name in the shirt actually.

 

[Fuzzery]

From a pure financial perspective, is there any advantage to owning a house instead of just renting forever, and investing the rest. It's just another form of investment imo

Unless you feel like real estate in the area you live in is the best investment

 

[The Technomancer]

The simple truth is shit is expensive and if you want a home don't put so much effort into phones, Internet, pcs and tons of other things you don't necessarily need. You don't need a toaster, mixer either while your at it.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm

I've spent $20 on a toaster

Once

 

[Stormhammer]

what are "all the jobs" and why are they only in the city

i live in the country and there a plenty of successful people here not working in a city

 

[arts&crafts]

Should have bought last year

Toronto - The average home price in the metropolitan area rose to $916,567 from $688,011 a year earlier.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

I can't tell if this is sarcasm

I've spent $20 on a toaster

Once

Definitely isn't, when you visit other countries and cultures where they likely never used a toaster, microwave or oven then you can feel it. Most western folks just don't realize how they spend money and burn power


If you only get my point as a toaster then you definitely don't get the overall idea or premise of random add shit peopoe buy and that goes far beyond a toaster


Also, the pricing of homee in larger cities is one hundred percent ridiculous... Amazingly ridiculous. What you pay for in a decent sized city would buy you a four story house in half of America. It isn't that bad living in a small town either.

You can still order whatwver you like on amazon, can still easily go out and play tennis, bowling, basketball as most places have recreational centers or with all your money left over could probably build your own inside gym

My point is, cities are sort of a rip off u less you at absolutely killing it to off set it.

Or your job requires the location or environment is understandable. But I suggest you buy with intent of selling and getting out later.

Cities are fine if you need it and want to pay for it, but you can easily be an hour out of you must visit baseball games and zoos occasionally. It just feels nicer to have yiur own land and home for me atleast

 

[Ron Mexico]

Doing the financials, is there any advantage to owning a house instead of just renting forever, and investing the rest. It's just another form of investment imo

Impossible to answer in a vacuum and be correct 100% of the time, but generally speaking, real estate is an appreciating asset and your mortgage has a fixed term which means at some point, you'll own that appreciating asset outright. That also doesn't factor tax advantages, length of time you'd own that property, market trends, etc etc.

 

[Vimes]

It's more of an argument against buying into brands. Like Apple.

If you think people only buy apple products because of the brand, I suggest you check out today's antivirus thread; but I can see you're really just interested in winning an argument.

 

[Hoo-doo]

The mattress debate reminds me about how short sighted some people are when it comes to investing in a good product. What about the money you'll make if you're doing your job well-rested? What about not paying expensive medical bills down the road because of back or posture problems?

Reminds me of people giving me side eye for buying an expensive macbook that I made work for eight years, while they have to buy a new machine every two years because they keep buying HP laptops that break.

Because it's not that black and white as you say it is. What you can afford as a 'good product' depends on what your budget is. Plain and simple.

A 999$ mattress is likely to get you just as well-rested as a 3000$ one. Spare me the spiel about actually incurring medical bills off a not-overly-expensive mattress please. This isn't comedy hour just yet.

 

[LinkAndEpona]

What?

First off, 700,000 is an extreme case saved for the most affluent parts of New York, California, and Florida. Median house price is 188K as of January 2014.

Second, cutting out that $15 expense daily $15 x 260 (the amount of weekdays in a year) = 3900 dollars. 10 percent of the 188K median = 19000 (Rounded up).

19000 / 3900 = 4.9. Less than 5 years.

Indeed but let's be honest here, some people are purposely being, let's say silly, and claiming that some avocado buying doesnt factor into higher costs of living these days.

The point is that careless spending is what is eating away your ability to save. You don't need to win the lottery or marry rich or inherit lots of gold. That's just foolish thinking and is making you hateful for no reason.

 

[TheCochese]

If you think people only buy apple products because of the brand, I suggest you check out today's antivirus thread; but I can see you're really just interested in winning an argument.

I'm more interested in making a point about spending more than you necessarily need to. I have two Apple products on my desk. I also recognize that I could have survived and thrived with other brands that cost a fraction of them.

 

[Kite]

Why is everyone being so dismissive of those who do live in those cities? If you can't afford a house in Seattle, it's not like moving to North Carolina is necessarily going to change that.

Except it will, the salary you need to buy a house in parts of the country that aren't stupidly expensive like Seattle, NYC, Cali are far lower. For example in my city of Houston you only need a yearly salary around $50k to afford the mortgage on a house in the $200k range. That is not an outrageous salary requirement by any means.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Nah can't be the grossly overpriced, stagnant housing market or shitty wage, must be the healthy fats.

 

[jfkgoblue]

People in this thread are focusing on the avocado part instead of the broader point. I have never had a large income(most was like $35k while still in the Navy) so I was never rich. But I could afford a down payment on a house right now if I wanted too because I didn't waste money on a new iPhone every year or buying a $4 cup coffee when you can get one at a convenience store for <$1.

I was able to save thousands in only 5 years because I had a budget. I didn't buy every brand new video game that came out even if I wanted too, didn't go out to the bar every single weekend. I paid my rent, my food, and my car payments every month while still putting a few hundred away in savings every month.

Now I'm back in school on the GI Bill and my income would qualify as poverty line, but I am still doing fine and not having to dip into savings, because I budget my money.

So many people in this thread are plugging their ears and saying "rich person doesn't understand my life" or "he's just super lucky that he is rich". How do you know how he made his money? I know a lot of of people who were poor as fuck in their 20's, but now live comfortably.

I realize people won't like this post and either ignore it, or try to downplay it with non-sequiters, but I felt that it needed to be said anyways.

Indeed but let's be honest here, some people are purposely being, let's say silly, and claiming that some avocado buying doesnt factor into higher costs of living these days.

The point is that careless spending is what is eating away your ability to save. You don't need to win the lottery or marry rich or inherit lots of gold. That's just foolish thinking and is making you hateful for no reason.

It's a deflection tactic so they can avoid taking responsibility for their own decisions.

 

[TheGrue]

I own a home and eat avocados. Living the dream!