re: People who graduated college around the Recession

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amen Noodles and Tostinos pizza twice a day was a reality. People talk about being that poor, but it really was true and it sucked.

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makes me feel lucky

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I would urge student that IF they go to college, find something like engineering. BS in Business, communications, sociology is pretty worthless IMO

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This! I have a degree in political science. My career has zero to do with my degree and I've gotten where I'm at by working extremely hard, connections and some good luck. Don't care what anyone says, we all need a little good luck for things to go our way.

Little brother is about to graduate high school and has no idea what he wants to do, but it probably is NOT engineering or nursing. So with that said, I've had a lot of serious talks with him about looking at trades i.e. Plumbing, electrician, etc. because a generic college degree is pretty worthless anymore.

i applied to about 100. heard back from maybe 10. started the interview process with 3 or 4. went all the way with one.

and i was basically just trolling job boards and lsu career services.

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Little brother is about to graduate high school and has no idea what he wants to do, but it probably is NOT engineering or nursing. So with that said, I've had a lot of serious talks with him about looking at trades i.e. Plumbing, electrician, etc. because a generic college degree is pretty worthless anymore.

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accounting is arguably a more "sure thing" than some engineering disciplines

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Grad in 09. Applied to 100+ jobs before finding one.

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I know how this feels (it is what I am known for on here).

I do appreciate people being honest about their situations because it helps me realize how many people are having these problems.

I think the problem is that ALOT of companies (small and large) just do not want to train people anymore. They push all that responsibility on college (which is supposed to educate, not train for Company A's one specific job). It makes matters worse in that internships are very limited, so finding relevant while in school is tough.

Graduated in '11 with a humanities degree and eventually got a shite job, not in my field, that I hated.

Quit much later and took on debt to get another degree in a more secure field and found a job I love and have no intention of leaving.

I watch what I spend, but not afraid to take risks so I invest where I can, but it wouldn't ruin me if I lost all of it.

I graduated in December of 2007, so right before the recession hit.

I got a high school teaching job at my alma mater in January of 2008, so pretty much immediately out of school. It's one of the only reasons why I was glad to be a teacher. While a friend of mine was desperately applying to marketing firms and graphic design firms that were experiencing huge layoffs, I was one step closer to job security for life. My salary was right around his starting salary as well.

Now, the real issue came from advice from my parents. My wife and I lived in a shitty apartment, but it only cost $499/month. We were putting away savings and having a nice honeymoon year. But our parents kept telling us to buy a house. "At worst you'll break even," they said.

Then they offered to match our down payment. We had some savings but not a whole bunch. We ended up putting 5% down on a $179k house. That was at the beginning of 2009. Many of the houses in the neighborhood were on sale for $205k+, so we thought we were getting a steal.

Fast forward three years later, and we didn't like the house or the area anymore. Because you learn a lot about yourself in your twenties. I grew tired of a teaching career and began to search other opportunities. Decided to sell the house.

Best offer we got? $149k and we pay all of the closing costs including the (at the time) 6% realtor fees.

We couldn't sell. We were absolutely stuck in a suburb we didn't like, in a neighborhood we didn't like, and in a house we were growing tired of.

My mindset is pretty grim, honestly. I don't know if I ever want to buy a house again, but I recognize that it's much, much better than renting. Especially now that the housing market has bounced back and rent prices are high.

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recognize that it's much, much better than renting

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debatable

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debatable

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I'd agree with you a few years ago.

We put our house on the rental market in 2013 for $1200/month. It's a pretty far drive (about 35 minutes) to Birmingham city proper. Comps are up to $1450 just four years later.

My wife and I are currently looking to rent closer to Birmingham (Homewood, Vestavia) areas. Same friend I mentioned in the other post rented in Homewood with his girlfriend from 2009 to 2012 for about $1200/month. Nice 3/2. Best we can find for a 3/2 is $1500+ per month.

I can afford $1500/month no problem right now, but if I purchased a home with a $1500/month house note, I'd be living much, much better than the rentals going for the same price. Much better.