As Gen X, my boomer parents lived frugally, to a level most people wouldn't want to do now. Family vacations were camping in an old canvas army tent from God knows what war. 0 dinners out until I was older, then birthdays only. My sister and I made several of my parents anniversary dinners. Furniture was hand-me-downs. Mom sewed a lot of our clothes. I was allowed to pick out a lunchbox when I started first grade and I used it every year until I aged out and switched to a brown paper bag. Cars were kept and repaired until they rusted out. Now on HGTV I see newlyweds wanting quartz countertops and stainless appliances.
That'd be most of us. You'd go visit the family that had an Atari or the family that had cable tv. We were one of the first to have a microwave.
I'm also GenX, bought my house in 2006. Within a year it was worth $100,000 less than I'd paid for it. It took 10 more years to recover.
For 5 years we didn't eat out and I commuted 100 miles round trip in a $400 car that I spent all weekend working on. That was my entertainment budget, keeping my old car going.
We're doing well now but there were some dammed lean years and I get pretty sore when somebody tells me how I had it easy.
But I didn't. It's just how we did things. My parents saved. My sister and I went to state colleges debt free, my parents saved. They retired at 64 and lived the good life for 10 years until health issues crept in. It's just what people did then, not all people, but more lived frugally than not.
That'd be most of us. You'd go visit the family that had an Atari or the family that had cable tv. We were one of the first to have a microwave.
I'm also GenX, bought my house in 2006. Within a year it was worth $100,000 less than I'd paid for it. It took 10 more years to recover.
For 5 years we didn't eat out and I commuted 100 miles round trip in a $400 car that I spent all weekend working on. That was my entertainment budget, keeping my old car going.
We're doing well now but there were some dammed lean years and I get pretty sore when somebody tells me how I had it easy.
To be totally fair it's not like the housing crisis helped much with your house price. But it's totally true that most people were living like kings back in the day.
Complaining about your house being worth $100,000 less than it was originally worth, in reply to a comment that refers to poverty, is absolutely wild to me. Despite the sacrifices you made YOU WERE ABLE TO KEEP IT. My parents lost their house in 2008 and they both worked, and worked good, well paying jobs. At one point my dad had 3 jobs he was working at the same time, in IT.
Sounds like you were way better off than you’re attempting to be seen as. Cosplaying as poor for sympathy points and to downplay the current economic state.
I make good money for my age. But I can’t afford a house right now because it’s just not possible. I’d need to make nearly 2x as much as I make right now in order to make it work.
6
u/TeacherLady3 10h ago
As Gen X, my boomer parents lived frugally, to a level most people wouldn't want to do now. Family vacations were camping in an old canvas army tent from God knows what war. 0 dinners out until I was older, then birthdays only. My sister and I made several of my parents anniversary dinners. Furniture was hand-me-downs. Mom sewed a lot of our clothes. I was allowed to pick out a lunchbox when I started first grade and I used it every year until I aged out and switched to a brown paper bag. Cars were kept and repaired until they rusted out. Now on HGTV I see newlyweds wanting quartz countertops and stainless appliances.