re: How will young people ever get ahead?

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My first job out of college was $30k back in 1996. A kid bagging groceries at Publix makes $15/hr now. Do the math.

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Gas was under $1 a gallon back then, dipshit.

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The question was how young people will ever “get ahead.” That means saving money. I agree that everything is more expensive right now, which means choices have to be made. If you want to save money for a house while groceries are expensive, you might have to drive a piece of shite car for several years.

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Yes. Every decision requires a tradeoff. Nothing is free or painless.

Economic applies to time, material or money. Everything you choose requires a tradeoff or has an opportunity cost.

Absolutely. I went conservative on purpose though to really prove the point.

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That 3,600 bucks can disappear with one car repair.

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not if you you tube it baw

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So what happens when you drive that POS car that’s likely out of warranty and it needs a new transmission or another expensive repair. You flush all those savings right back down the drain and start again at zero.

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Yes, a car that you should pay cash for may require maintenance. It could eat up some of your savings. That would suck. But are you really saying that the better option is to sign up to pay $400/month for 6-7 years instead? What happens when something happens to that car?

The idea that you have to live in or next to big cities seems to be the biggest limiting factor in this discussion. If you are a slave to cities, then you will forever struggle to get ahead.

If you are willing to work the jobs that are looked down on, like trucking or the trades, then you can live on a lot less in the country. I raised 6 kids on a truck drivers salary. It can be done. It's not flashy or exciting but it beats the hell out of the neverending stress of city life.

I'm about to turn 50 this year and my youngest graduates in a week. I currently live in a travel trailer sitting on 43 acres of raw land. Land that I only acquired at age 48. I will build my cabin the old way with logs and timbers the way it was done for centuries. It will cost less than 20000$ by the time it is done.

I learned to build this way by dropping 750$ on Noah Bradley's handmade house academy. If my dumbass can do this anybody can. There is another path to take in life, it just takes a little courage to go down it.(Btw, if you can't get away from the city, then you have my sympathy. You guy are in for some rough times).

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Simply put, it's Biden's America.

They want the poor and elite to continue to flourish while completely wiping out the middle class. Expensive houses, cars, groceries, gasoline, etc. all to make our lives miserable and theirs better.

Good fricking job to the geniuses in this country who voted for this dog shite administration btw. Thanks for everything.

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Inflation and stagnant wages have been a thing since the fricking 70's, but it's all the current administrations fault?

Man, stop being a fricking moron please.

I've got 3 generations in my house for over 10 years now living together because we are trying absolutely everything we can to stay somewhat ahead for the family as a whole, and it pisses me the frick off when in these threads someone says some shite like this, as if this is some recent 2 year phenomenon.

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Americans don’t know how to live within their means. Travel ball, car payments, fast food, soft drinks, manicures, alcohol, cigarettes , new handbags, truck nuts and Air Jordan’s aren’t necessities in this country

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I agree with some of this, especially regarding the younger generation.

I hire three to four college interns every year. Most everyone of them I have ever hired in the last 10 years has a newer (more expensive) phone than I own, they have door dash food delivered to work almost every day, two of the three current interns own a vehicle that is newer than my 2017 Tacoma. I would guess that their shoes and clothes cost more than mine as well.

I agree that it is harder to get ahead these days, but the things younger people think "they need" is holding them back just as much as the current economy.

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had some big projects where there was no chance someone like Roger could come in by himself and do with some basic youtube viewing and his toolbox

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