re: Millennial baws, how you hanging on?

quote:

---

Millennial baws, how you hanging on?

---

Doing what they always do. Waiting on mom to get home from work and fix them lunch while playing video games.

I'm 48, work for myself (web dev)... don't make much $$$ but have total freedom.

My wife (no pics) on the other hand, makes crazy bank. She's not the easiest to live with, but I'm no walk in the park.

I got to about page 7 in this thread and regardless of what you think about Millenials, it's depressing.

One thing I got is self-awareness... If I had to live on my own w/ my shitty pay; I'd be screwed.

I pretty much can point to luck/good timing for our financial success. We bought houses at the right time, and sold at the right time.

We live in a $1M home and have a comfortable life... but I can honestly say it's not because I pulled up my bootstraps and man'd up.

A lot of this is being born on 3rd base (and many assume they hit a triple).

IDK if you're joking; but this was a big selling point for me fasting 1 to 2 times a week.

Cheap and easy.

You’re stupid. Most millennials don’t make as much and it’s not due to lack of hard work. Opportunities available plus the market plus the cost of everything makes it very challenging.

quote:

---

I don’t see a way out of this. I was struggling emotionally and professionally outside of the economic problems, and now it seems like no matter what, I can’t even get back the modest lifestyle I had before. I have only gone economically backwards since 2015. My spending habits have gotten tighter, my life style has massively declined, and yet I went from comfortably paying my bills and saving to only scraping by while my debts seem impossible to keep covering.

There’s barely anything keeping me going. I have no kids, nor will I ever be able to even if I could afford to, which also seems impossible. I feel utterly broken, without purpose or hope for a future that is anything except a continual slide into poverty while I uphold every rule that was given to me to be successful to the goddamn letter. If I can’t make it, I don’t see how anyone can.

---

I lost a great dream career most people would kill for over some corprate BS. Lived in the ghetto for a few years, was just miserable all around. I had to find a way out and remake myself. It taught me just about everything I know. Its cliche and you're going to hate me for saying it, but your health both physically and mentally is all that matters. Everything else on top is just dressing.

quote:

---

I did most everything right. I got a scholarship and graduated both law school and undergrad debt free...

---

Success is different for everyone. For me, it's just being alive and trying to enjoy every day. After years of being miserable and wanting to off myself, if I lost it all again, who fricking cares? I've already hit the bottom before. No big deal. The path you have been on and were brought up on will only lead you to misery if you don't have the quintessential American Dream lifetyle. Figure out what you actually want in life, not what your parent or society told you to want. I had the same trajectory as you, all by the books. One pot hole fricked me up for years.

I’m so concerned with keeping a roof over my head that I don’t spend much time wondering about what I want. Anything I want seems so completely out of reach as to be dreams I will never see.

Why spend time wondering about what I want when I need to figure out how to pay the mortgage?

If the last 5 rock bottoms, 3 heartbreaks, 2 near death experiences, the partidge and the pear tree didn’t learn me, I don’t know what else even can. I guess I could go back to eating just one meal and maybe a cup of noodles or a granola bar a day again. That diet seemed to help me lose weight when I killing myself with stress and working all the time.

quote:

---

And with this very mindset and victim mentality they will never get ahead. I’d tell people you need to get out your comfort zone to get ahead. Work jobs that might require you to get dirty or might make you stay longer in the day than you would usually want. Pick up an extra job on the weekend for a period of time to help boost you into a better financially position. Figure out what skills pay more and learn those skills through formal education or on the job training.

---

quote:

---

I’m so concerned with keeping a roof over my head that I don’t spend much time wondering about what I want. Anything I want seems so completely out of reach as to be dreams I will never see.

Why spend time wondering about what I want when I need to figure out how to pay the mortgage?

---

What about bringing in some random roomates? That seems like the easiest solution for you.

Also, can you sell the house and live with roomates? You can do what I did and live in Daytona Beach with some interesting characters for $500-700 a month. I truly miss it sometimes. There is nothing like just living day to day not giving a flying frick about anything. It was so freeing. I understand hippies.

I’m currently vetting roommates. The previous two roommates (one who never paid, the other had to downsize to a cheaper place after having to buy a car) moved out the last couple months. I love the privacy, which has been a huge boon for my mental health and helped me gain some ground on fixing the place up, but I can’t afford to leave that room empty any longer. I tried to offer it to local bands as a practice space so I wouldn’t have to bring in a full time roomie (especially someone home in the mornings when I first wake up, which always seems to get on my nerves), but I couldn’t get any takers.

As for career, mine isn’t mobile. I can’t just quit and find another job in another state (believe me, I’ve tried over and over again). I didn’t realize that going to law school would get me blackballed from my old industry which was mobile and paid better, but worked far more hours in worse conditions. I feel incredibly trapped. At least I have a better work environment right now than I can remember at any point in my career. I just don’t make enough money to keep up with inflation.