Millennials: Avocados or homes?

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by V

Huh, I wouldn't go that old. I thought Millenial stopped at 35 and GenX went to 45. I'm 38 and I sure don't identify with Millenials.

These arguments are so silly. On average, everyone everywhere is bad with money. No matter the generation.

Well i mean, ignoring the fact that Millennial is just a marketing gimmick that got turned into the latest "kids today!" rant target, its people who had "coming of age" around the millennium within a couple years. 40 isn't a huge stretch tbh.

Honestly have you ever truly met someone willing to look at all these awful emotionally stunted articles about millennials and think "I identify with this!"?

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

Hah you have enough money to buy an LG-D852?? Wasteful spending! Why not just stay with 850 version?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

So is renting not considered an option anymore? I rented for more than 10 years before I bought a place. So did all my friends.

I think the difference, or so I've heard, is that there's no longer any money to be saved in renting anymore when your rent is approximately the equivalent to what your mortgage payment would be. How do you save up the money for a down payment at that point?

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by pylon

We have 3 free sources of coffee at work, one is borderline gourmet. We also have a Starbucks across the street. I blows my mind how many people in this building, rich and poor, will blow a minimum of $5 a day at the Starbucks, when they could save $13-1500 a year, by just using the robo-barista, for free. That pays your car insurance for the year.

yeah, that's it exactly...

someone else mentioned auto-subscription renewals just bleeding you to death as well... which isn't untrue - i just think people need to really step back and take an inventory of their discretionary spending habits.

I am certainly not great at saving either, but people would be surprised about how much they don't need things if they really want to pare down... Cable for example is another thing that can be cut down...

with shaw's you pick 10 channels for 20 bucks a month, i cut my cable bill by 30 dollars a month... and outside of a few hockey games, i haven't lost any channels i'd really feel like i am missing.

people will find that small changes actually can add up to a lot

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Hah you have enough money to buy an LG-D852?? Wasteful spending! Why not just stay with 850 version?

Think of the avocados and toast he could have bought!

[GreenLantern]

You need a budget changed my life. I always used spread sheets but the power to update it from my mobile as I purchased it was the TSN turning point.

I never liked budgeting apps that just take from your account, I like the ones where you have to enter it as it keeps you more aware of your spending.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Oh, I fully admit to being an idiot with my money, throughout my 20s, but I don't have any kids, my rent is $600/month, and I'll have a full pension by the time I'm 55, so it's all kind of working out.

That said, I grew up in a broken home where my dad was played the classic rob Peter to pay Paul game with his creditors, and my mom was bankrupted by legal fees during their divorce proceedings. Not exactly two great sources for financial literacy.

I'm just saying I doubt Zarley and Tacopuck were just naturally inclined to invest. They probably had at least a guiding hand from their parents if not some actual instruction.

I think you can probably look at some of the spending habits of millennials, such as eating out, and trace that back to upbringing, too. Both of my parents taught me how to cook from a young age and also made me go grocery shopping with them and would explain to me which foods were overpriced/underpriced and why.

Ususally good habits are a product of good upbringing and it's very hard to ingrain new ones past a certain age without some sort of foundation.

Born on third base. Think they hit a triple. We all think like that to a certain degree. (I'm not singling out Zarley with that BTW, but Tacopuck's comment that if he had been brought up in a single-parent family he'd basically be in the same advantageous situation he is now comes across as naive).

[V]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Well i mean, ignoring the fact that Millennial is just a marketing gimmick that got turned into the latest "kids today!" rant target, its people who had "coming of age" around the millennium within a couple years. 40 isn't a huge stretch tbh.

Honestly have you ever truly met someone willing to look at all these awful emotionally stunted articles about millennials and think "I identify with this!"?

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No, I like to read those articles and laugh. "Stupid Millennials!" I'd say. It's easier if I'm not one of them.

[V]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

You need a budget changed my life. I always used spread sheets but the power to update it from my mobile as I purchased it was the TSN turning point.

I never liked budgeting apps that just take from your account, I like the ones where you have to enter it as it keeps you more aware of your spending.

Yeah, except that requires a subscription service now too. Like I'm going to pay a subscription for a budgeting software.

[blankall]

I think Calgary is a bit of a different scene too. Obviously, there are a lot of people on this board lucky enough to still have jobs and the overall recession has kept property prices down somewhat. in the rest of Canada or in Alberta, if you don't have job security, things as a whole aren't as rosy.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by V

No, I like to read those articles and laugh. "Stupidity d Millenials!" I'd say. It's easier if I'm not one of them.

Well even if you are, you can do what everyone else does and think "But I'm one of the good/smart/frugal/resourceful ones! What a unique snowfl...individual I am!" and pat yourself on the back knowing that you don't fit some bull#### clickbait stereotype.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Are your posts in this thread satire?

I ask this because you typically are a well-informed poster, yet your contributions to this topic are unsubstantiated rubbish rooted moreso in the sociology of generations than in financial and statistical realities.

Sorry, yeah, I am trolling a bit, and I have had very little sleep in the last couple of days.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Ususally good habits are a product of good upbringing and it's very hard to ingrain new ones past a certain age without some sort of foundation.

It's not uncommon for people with parents who are horrible with money to do everything in their power to not end up like them. Some of the stingiest people I know do so because they are completely debt averse after seeing their parents struggle.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Born on third base. Think they hit a triple. We all think like that to a certain degree. (I'm not singling out Zarley with that BTW, but Tacopuck's comment that if he had been brought up in a single-parent family he'd basically be in the same advantageous situation he is now comes across as naive).

It's much easier to feel superior to others when you can attribute your success to your own hard work and intellect, and completely ignore the socioeconomic and blind luck elements.

EDIT: FYI, this wasn't directed at the two posters in question. Just commentary on general societal attitudes.

[GirlySports]

speaking of rent, what about people who say they can't afford rent but will die before they consider a roommate.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

It's not uncommon for people with parents who are horrible with money to do everything in their power to not end up like them. Some of the stingiest people I know do so because they are completely debt averse after seeing their parents struggle.

Well except that the various studies regarding the lack of class mobility kind of suggests that it is uncommon, anecdotal evidence notwithstanding.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by pylon

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.

$200k condo huh?

Here's the issue. The condo you're talking about costs $400k. Then when you afford that, how do you move up into the house. It takes another decade of savings. Even in Calgary, which is in the middle of a recession, that's far more difficult than it was a year ago.

Also do you really think it's a good idea to advise people to be putting down a 4% down payment? Let's be realistic, if you don't have 20%, it's probably a bad idea....

40% of $400k is $160k. Let's say you have a minimum wage job at $60k/year, which leaves you with roughly $45k after taxes....Do the math on that one? And that's to move your family into a cramped condo in Calgary, which is going through a recession.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

speaking of rent, what about people who say they can't afford rent but will die before they consider a roommate.

I think it depends on the situation. If you're comfortable living in a bachelor or studio apartment, there aren't really any savings to be had by splitting a two bedroom with a roommate.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Born on third base. Think they hit a triple. We all think like that to a certain degree. (I'm not singling out Zarley with that BTW, but Tacopuck's comment that if he had been brought up in a single-parent family he'd basically be in the same advantageous situation he is now comes across as naive).

I don't think it's naive. We are not simply a collection of what our parents taught us to be. We are our own choices.

I grew up pretty poor with parents that couldn't save, couldn't budget, declared bankruptcy, died penniless, and taught me nothing about finance. I run an investment company.

Saying Tacopuck is naive, is naive, IMO.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Originally Posted by blankall

Let's say you have a minimum wage job at $60k/year, which leaves you with roughly $45k after taxes....Do the math on that one?

Did you do the math on that one?