Quote:
Originally Posted by GirlySports
VACATIONS!
Millennials taking vacations are just crazy. My co-worker and her boyfriend whom she has been with for 3 months are spending Victoria Day weekend in VICTORIA!
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I actually kinda agree with this, even though I'm unsure if it is being sarcastic.
My folks didn't go to Europe until their mid-sixties. I have never been either in my early 40's. Our family vacations were always in campgrounds or on road trips in our trusty old RV, which were far more economical.
I notice the young people I work with think it is an absolute necessity to save 5-10k, then blow the wad 6-12 months later on an exotic vacation, rinse, then repeat. My late teens and early twenties I squirreled away every nickel I have to buy my first townhouse. And it wasn't exactly cheap either, it was still $134k in 1994 and I saved 25% down over 3 years making 30-35k/yr at the time. That's pretty much minimum wage now.
I was on rabbit ear television at the time. No cell phone, and just a $25 land line. Drove $500 beaters and made very single nickel count. Generic everything at the grocery store, no bought lunches or dinners. I budgeted $200per month for entertainment, that was it. The irony was, suffering from 19-22 was the best payoff ever, because I leveraged that crappy little town house, and still do to this day, even though I sold it in 1998. It started the ball rolling. I can trace back everything I have to making a 3 years sacrifice, as I always timed the booms and busts well. Sold high, bought fixer-uppers low, rented in-between. But you have to decide you are gonna slum it for future prosperity.
Priorities have certainly shifted. Young peoples lives are more about the experience, than the acquisition of things/property. And I'm not necessarily saying it's the right or wrong way. But you can't really complain when you are 32 and don't have two nickels to scratch together when you buy every new iPhone, every year at $1000/hit, and have a $150 cell bill, and $100 internet bill every month. You haven't even entertained yourself yet or taken a vacation. In 2 years alone though, just those 3 things, that's $8000, damn near the minimum down payment for a $200k condo. I see people spend $12 every day
minimum on lunch. That's $12,500 a year on a 5 day work week. You could half that by cooking at home. But that takes effort.
It is a 'now' generation, and I have somewhat succumbed to it myself. But I can afford it now because of the initial sacrifice. I see immigrants doing it when they come here, but born and raised typical suburban kids don't seem to have the same patience. Too much entitlement and impatience.