Gainful employment, mostly. And because of rising CoL, tightening the belt as well… Since most people cannot promote/move-jobs fast enough to outpace the rising CoL.
Working and not doing much else. All I can do is chip away at the debt one paycheck at a time. If your life isn’t purgatory right now I’m in awe of you.
Honestly I inherited a paid off house, lake property, and around 450k a year and a half ago so I’ve been cruising. Should get half of my other house in the divorce too. Not bragging because it was all luck, just being honest. Safe to say I’d be screwed otherwise.
Lucked out. Had a middle class family who let me live at home bill free until I was about 26. By that time me and my girlfriend were able to save up a nice nest egg and buy a house well before COVID and the house market got fucked. We have decent jobs and are able to afford everything and a few vacations a year. I wouldn’t say we’re well off or anything. We just budget everything and spend responsibly
Financial responsibility. Good (enough) paying jobs have been a dime a dozen since we came back from the ‘rona, but a lot of people apparently believe that if they have money, they need to spend it. Better get in on it now, because the way we’re going it’ll be a different story in six months.
Roommates, mostly. We also don’t have kids yet. We’re saving as much as we can, and hopefully we’ll have built up enough of a nest egg that we can start to invest soon so that we have some kind of financially stable plan. Orange Turd Man is making that difficult at the moment, though.
Working and playing games I already own I’ve been saving money for this market crash and I’m investing through this bear market gotta find a way to make your money start working for you or you or you’ll live paycheck to paycheck for life.
For the people saying “work hard” “spend smart”
I don’t spend frivolously, I work 60+ hours a week at a job I’ve been at for 10 years
I don’t get hair, nails done none of that girl stuff
I’ve been wearing the same clothes for 10+ years
I don’t drink, go out, no vacations. Nothing.
I work, pay bills and repeat. I live in FL (born here, not moved) rent is AWFUL. I am married and my husband makes more than me.
After all is said and done at the end of the day, we are living to pay bills. I was just curious if other people were too.
I wasn’t getting political with it, world sucks either way.
Just was a genuine question! Thanks to those who were actually honest and efficient with your answers!
Well, college was pretty tight, but after that I was doing pretty well as an bachelor electrical engineer. Then when I found myself married with kids it was tight again for a while. But my wife has since moved into upper management so we’re starting to feel the pressure ease.
But the fact that it takes 2 of us, one of us in a position which most folks couldn’t bank on having at our age, to just barely feel comfortable owning a house which is just barely big enough for our 3 kids, makes me feel like something isn’t right.
Working and applying for second jobs. Not much luck with that. Everybody wants open availability at restaurants. I can work evenings and weekends. I have another interview this week. I need more income.
Looking for deals on the grocery budget, shopping at costco, cutting way back on how many eggs we use.
Minimizing any additional expenditures like eating out. I haven’t taken an actual trip vacation in like a decade (we drove out to hang with my SIL in like 20..16?).
It helps that I bought my house clear back in 2005, before things got crazy around here. I’m 10 years away from paying it off and my monthly mortgage payment is less than half of what most people are paying for rent on a 2bdrm apt around here.
Yes, we don’t live beyond our means. We haven’t dined out in years. Healthier to cook or meals. We don’t buy new vehicles, phones, etc every couple years. Bought a modest house. Have zero credit card debit. Same with both kids we raised. One will be 31 in May (paid his student loans off in 2 years) the other 30 in November. (She has less than 2k left on her loans) Stop trying to keep up with the Jones…
I have a decent paying job (52k/year), own a 1000 sq ft townhouse in a reasonable cost of living area. I don’t spend insanely, manage my bills/fun spending and watch it like a hawk. I am single and have no kids, just a cat.
Started a business and I work 7 days a week 16 hours a day to make the most money I’ve ever made so I can now have all my debt paid off in just 3 months instead of what would have been 5+ years
Most of the 8+ billion people in the world are living the same today that they have for years, these macroeconomic issues have long term impacts to them but for the most part it’s the already well off people who are affected the most.
Personally I had a decently well paying job for the past couple of decades, bought a house well within or means and paid it off quickly rather than trying to play the stock market games like so many others. I was terminated at the end of the summer from a job I had for 10 years and haven’t found another yet, but not having a mortgage payment, good savings and employment laws that made the company compensate me for the job loss means that I and the 3 others in my household are holding up just fine.
Got lucky I guess. Graduated as an engineer and lived with my parents while I did a complete renovation on a house I bought and sold it during the housing boom during COVID. Got with my wife and bought a house from her dad and did it again. Complete renovation. Sold it for a massive profit and now we live cush with a really low mortgage payment on a nice place. I work from home as an engineer so I fill my truck with gas like 1 time a month. I don’t really spend that much money so it just builds.
Inherited two rental properties and my own place. Allowed me to invest quite a bit and buy additional rental property. I’m still working 40 hour week, same as my wife. We have two kids but beacuse of everything we have quite relaxed finances and live comfortably despite CoL problems. Basically lucked out.
We have no debt outside of my car payment which is $270 a month for the next 2 years so working to make that 1 year and wife student loans which are about $600 a month. I was just laid off so for now, we have 50K in a HYSA so if we have to dip into it…we will but with UE benefits and my wife’s work, we should be able to get by until I can find something with just rent, utilities and groceries. We just aren’t’ buying anything new or eating out ect.
I just got laid off and have 3 young children with special needs. Single income dad. Good question, the answer I have is I don’t think I’ll be able to. Good luck all, we are gonna need it.
Crazy indeed, just need to cut on some expenses and look for a part-time or remote job, I personally still struggling as software dev and the market is taught, I started reaching to people dms offering my services or if i can help them with something for a base fee.
Slowly dwindling our savings. We are at about a -200 deficit per month with 15K saved up. This buys us about 6 years to make more money per month but in reality much less time due to externalities like a washer breaking or car being fixed etc.
I am hoping to progress my career in about 1.5 years time in a substantial way to get back into a budget surplus where we can start saving again. Hopefully I get some sort of raise too within that time but that is not a sure thing, shifting and progressing my career would give me much more leverage in the job market though which is what I am working on.
I say this as someone who lives in a LCoL area and makes more than the national household median…..I am not going to be homeless but it feels like a dangerous situation at the moment. I have NO IDEA how others are making it even around here when I hear their take home salaries. The math does not add up and people HAVE to be going into debt.
Luck, good timing, a lower COL area, and living below our means.
My husband is an engineer and I work in accounting. No kids, no student loans. Unfortunately, I only have my associates, so my pay is a lot lower than people think when they hear accounting.
We bought our house in 2018. We spent way less than we qualified for so our mortgage is reasonable. Most of the time we cook at home and take leftovers for lunch. We only have two streaming services. Our vehicles are paid off and we don’t carry credit card debt.
I hate to say “spend more money so you can save some” but Dollar General isn’t a good place to shop for anything if you can afford to make it to a real store.
I’m considering moving back to my home country after 8 years in Toronto. I’m tired of working a job that’s unimpressive on paper, has me do 3 different roles, and pays just enough that my rent is 50% of my income. I took a leave of absence and am currently in my home country mulling over my options.
I wonder this same thing constantly. I have what’s considered a good job and I’m living paycheck to paycheck. Had to move in with my in laws just to not feel completely suffocated and for a few months after that even without rent we were struggling.
There has to be something that’s gonna burst right? This shit can’t be sustainable.
It’s actually pretty simple to afford life. Budget. Regardless of what the media tries to tell you, the economy is still fine. Unemployment is low. Gas prices have dropped significantly, something that actually affects ppl on a daily basis, not what your 401k is doing.
I love how everyone is attacking me in the comments
I just asked a question, I didn’t think everyone would flip out about it
My first and last post on here I am afraid cause lordy, curiosity murdered me here lol
But just for the ones freaking out on me…..No kids, one 2002 ford, born and live in FL, 2 credit cards, rent not own a 1/1 apartment at 2k a month, no going out to eat every night, no new games or whatever they said lol
AGAIN, I was just asking….didn’t mean for everyone to tell me how stupid and dumb I am. Just asked a question…
I got noticed in being laid off in July. I have stopped buying anything other than basic food stuff and fuel. Sold my house fortunately and moving back in with my parents at the age of 33.
Imho, this question is why trump has so much support.
Reddit gets all up in arms about “omg the stock market”, but many of us aren’t in a position to pay our bills– we don’t care that rich people are looking money. What happened to occupy wall street? Identity politics took over because the electorate needs to be fighting each other, not the elite.
I heard someone explain it like this who supports Trump but isn’t what reddit would call “maga”.
Someone is breaking into your house with a gun. You have a spoon and a bazooka to defend yourself. You use the bazooka. People come around after and are like “omg what the hell man, you blew off half of the house. You ruined everything!”. Well yeah, but the alternative was using the spoon.
That’s how many people see the state of our nation. The empty promises of politicians for decades culminated in the voting base pulling out the bazooka because they feel their other option is a spoon. Can’t afford housing. Can’t afford groceries. Stagnant wages. We went from “learn to code” to “better learn something other than coding” in a matter of weeks it seems.
It depends on your pay. My wife and I have high paying jobs making six figure salaries (which is high but not abnormal for DC). We saved up and bought a townhouse and generally try to save as much income as we can by living below our means.
We both work hard and don’t overspend. Even when I was riddled with debt in law school (and my wife wasn’t working at the time) we made sure to try and save what we could. I aggressively focused paying down my loans as fast as I could post school, and my wife and I lived well beneath our means first to pay off our loan debt and then to save for a house
Single. No dependents. High paying job. Living well within my means so no debt.
I did spend a good 10+ years living well within my means. This meant not eating out too often, buying decent but affordable clothes, owning a simple car instead of leasing the latest and greatest for 500/month, and sticking with a single phone for many years at a time to name a few things.
Eventually living within my means caught up to me in a good way. I found myself having everything I needed yet my money started to pile up in my bank account with nothing to spend it on. Maxed my 401k, put money into a Roth IRA, auto-transfer part of my paycheck every month to a long-term savings account, and still my spending account kept going up faster than I could spend it as long as I was being reasonable.
And now I’m at the stage in my life where I’m affording luxuries responsibly because everything I need has been taken care of. Granted, I probably wouldn’t be as financially comfortable if I had kids.
Live within my means. Drive old cars, don’t waste money on Amazon and temu trash, stop after one crotch goblin, not go into debt, use 6 year old phone, moved to a low cost of living region.
Get off the hedonic treadmill and find what matters to you
I have a college degree and a six figure job and I budget my money. I have a lot of free time and still have left over for social activities
The older I get (millennial in my 30s) the more I realize the “avocado toast” trope is real with alot of other millennials and Gen Z
It’s funny on Reddit when you see people whine about money but then click their profile and they got tons of photos of elaborate gaming setups or other expensive hobbies.
Idk even know where my debt came from. Just one daybI woke up and owed $3k like wtf. Those splurges add up forsure.
I’m blessed to have family that helps with rent and food (we help each other, some more than other, thank God for everyone in my life). Also, I’m blessed with a steady income that is just enough to pay a little debt each month, pay for all my necessities, and usually a few splurges. I isually mess it up come christmas time but trying to do better
Short answer is with help. It’s a crazy world we live in right now and I’ve been very lucky. I work a tech job making just shy of 6 figures and even with that income I need two roommates to afford my house. Finding people you can rely on and enjoy being around is huge these days. No one I know right now lives on their own
I blame a big chunk of it on getting into the housing market before prices shot up significantly back in 2016. If we were still renting that would be double or triple our mortgage and getting nothing back.
Comments
Gainful employment, mostly. And because of rising CoL, tightening the belt as well… Since most people cannot promote/move-jobs fast enough to outpace the rising CoL.
By working and budgeting and not blowing money on stupid things or stupid people
adding debt
Life is great if you’re far away from the cities.
Gas is like $2.30 a gallon, and I can get a dozen local eggs for $4.
Working hard
Working and not doing much else. All I can do is chip away at the debt one paycheck at a time. If your life isn’t purgatory right now I’m in awe of you.
By living with their parents and selling their old toys on eBay
Married smart.
Spending smart
Honestly I inherited a paid off house, lake property, and around 450k a year and a half ago so I’ve been cruising. Should get half of my other house in the divorce too. Not bragging because it was all luck, just being honest. Safe to say I’d be screwed otherwise.
easily tbh
Lucked out. Had a middle class family who let me live at home bill free until I was about 26. By that time me and my girlfriend were able to save up a nice nest egg and buy a house well before COVID and the house market got fucked. We have decent jobs and are able to afford everything and a few vacations a year. I wouldn’t say we’re well off or anything. We just budget everything and spend responsibly
Financial responsibility. Good (enough) paying jobs have been a dime a dozen since we came back from the ‘rona, but a lot of people apparently believe that if they have money, they need to spend it. Better get in on it now, because the way we’re going it’ll be a different story in six months.
a couple days of starvation a week seems to make my finances a little more manageable 🙃
The same as always. By working.
Roommates, mostly. We also don’t have kids yet. We’re saving as much as we can, and hopefully we’ll have built up enough of a nest egg that we can start to invest soon so that we have some kind of financially stable plan. Orange Turd Man is making that difficult at the moment, though.
Chickens, Garden, BB gun and Squirrels.
My wife has a high-paying job, and we don’t live beyond our means.
60 hours a week give or take
I make a lot of money, own a house with < 3% interest rate, and saved and invested a lot of money in the last 15 years.
Working and playing games I already own I’ve been saving money for this market crash and I’m investing through this bear market gotta find a way to make your money start working for you or you or you’ll live paycheck to paycheck for life.
Loans
For the people saying “work hard” “spend smart”
I don’t spend frivolously, I work 60+ hours a week at a job I’ve been at for 10 years
I don’t get hair, nails done none of that girl stuff
I’ve been wearing the same clothes for 10+ years
I don’t drink, go out, no vacations. Nothing.
I work, pay bills and repeat. I live in FL (born here, not moved) rent is AWFUL. I am married and my husband makes more than me.
After all is said and done at the end of the day, we are living to pay bills. I was just curious if other people were too.
I wasn’t getting political with it, world sucks either way.
Just was a genuine question! Thanks to those who were actually honest and efficient with your answers!
Honestly, I think we’re all just pretending to have it together while secretly Googling how to survive on ramen and air.
Debt free. Seems to make life easier and more enjoyable.
Watching Medieval documentaries and telling myself life isn’t so bad. Learning most of my financial tips from peasants.
Well, college was pretty tight, but after that I was doing pretty well as an bachelor electrical engineer. Then when I found myself married with kids it was tight again for a while. But my wife has since moved into upper management so we’re starting to feel the pressure ease.
But the fact that it takes 2 of us, one of us in a position which most folks couldn’t bank on having at our age, to just barely feel comfortable owning a house which is just barely big enough for our 3 kids, makes me feel like something isn’t right.
Working and applying for second jobs. Not much luck with that. Everybody wants open availability at restaurants. I can work evenings and weekends. I have another interview this week. I need more income.
I am in R33k debt from taking care of my family. I am not affording shit
Very carefully.
Looking for deals on the grocery budget, shopping at costco, cutting way back on how many eggs we use.
Minimizing any additional expenditures like eating out. I haven’t taken an actual trip vacation in like a decade (we drove out to hang with my SIL in like 20..16?).
It helps that I bought my house clear back in 2005, before things got crazy around here. I’m 10 years away from paying it off and my monthly mortgage payment is less than half of what most people are paying for rent on a 2bdrm apt around here.
STEM degree + high paying jobs
Yes, we don’t live beyond our means. We haven’t dined out in years. Healthier to cook or meals. We don’t buy new vehicles, phones, etc every couple years. Bought a modest house. Have zero credit card debit. Same with both kids we raised. One will be 31 in May (paid his student loans off in 2 years) the other 30 in November. (She has less than 2k left on her loans) Stop trying to keep up with the Jones…
I’m generally comfortable right now, but long hours and don’t buy much
I just charge my customers more
Just keep getting new credit cards…they can’t send them fast enough.
people make more money than you
people also have lucky situations. a generous landlord, an inheritance, a job that doesn’t require them to own a car, etc.
I have a decent paying job (52k/year), own a 1000 sq ft townhouse in a reasonable cost of living area. I don’t spend insanely, manage my bills/fun spending and watch it like a hawk. I am single and have no kids, just a cat.
Started a business and I work 7 days a week 16 hours a day to make the most money I’ve ever made so I can now have all my debt paid off in just 3 months instead of what would have been 5+ years
People say this, but then they buy Uber Eats, unnecessary phone plans, watch Netflix, yada yada yada.
Because people make sacrifices to get ahead in life instead of whining and complaining about how everything is for “privileged” people.
Most of the 8+ billion people in the world are living the same today that they have for years, these macroeconomic issues have long term impacts to them but for the most part it’s the already well off people who are affected the most.
Personally I had a decently well paying job for the past couple of decades, bought a house well within or means and paid it off quickly rather than trying to play the stock market games like so many others. I was terminated at the end of the summer from a job I had for 10 years and haven’t found another yet, but not having a mortgage payment, good savings and employment laws that made the company compensate me for the job loss means that I and the 3 others in my household are holding up just fine.
Not living in the US helps.
Also obviously important is a relatively high paying job and a partner who is also making a decent salary.
But groceries, rent/mortgage, etc. are not that big of a burden here compared to the US it seems.
Dw, it’ll get worse
Got lucky I guess. Graduated as an engineer and lived with my parents while I did a complete renovation on a house I bought and sold it during the housing boom during COVID. Got with my wife and bought a house from her dad and did it again. Complete renovation. Sold it for a massive profit and now we live cush with a really low mortgage payment on a nice place. I work from home as an engineer so I fill my truck with gas like 1 time a month. I don’t really spend that much money so it just builds.
Zero interest credit cards.
Great question. Have you seen the revenant. I just survived the mauling and now Im stuck crawling my way on.
I work two jobs with two double shifts on the weekend. Then on Monday I’m really tired after work and my wife always asks me to do things.
Having no kids makes it much easier.
I do what I want, when I want, and my money is mine.
The answer is usually rich parents or grandparents, they won’t admit it. Unfortunately I had neither so I successfully sold drug to afford a degree
Inherited two rental properties and my own place. Allowed me to invest quite a bit and buy additional rental property. I’m still working 40 hour week, same as my wife. We have two kids but beacuse of everything we have quite relaxed finances and live comfortably despite CoL problems. Basically lucked out.
Three jobs. Selling stuff i find cheap at yard sales for more money. Always a hustle
Not wasting money. It’s pretty easy
If it’s hard now, idk how you’ll survive after this month.
I live in a cheap place by myself
Some people are well off.
I would say about the top 20-30% are doing fine.
We have no debt outside of my car payment which is $270 a month for the next 2 years so working to make that 1 year and wife student loans which are about $600 a month. I was just laid off so for now, we have 50K in a HYSA so if we have to dip into it…we will but with UE benefits and my wife’s work, we should be able to get by until I can find something with just rent, utilities and groceries. We just aren’t’ buying anything new or eating out ect.
Don’t live in the US. Don’t spend more than I need to. Not a lavish life but my savings go up and I’m well fed.
I’m not.. lol
Putting money away in savings every month, even if it’s only a bit. And no excessive spending. Focusing on what I need vs what I want
I’m not.
I just got laid off and have 3 young children with special needs. Single income dad. Good question, the answer I have is I don’t think I’ll be able to. Good luck all, we are gonna need it.
Crazy indeed, just need to cut on some expenses and look for a part-time or remote job, I personally still struggling as software dev and the market is taught, I started reaching to people dms offering my services or if i can help them with something for a base fee.
Slowly dwindling our savings. We are at about a -200 deficit per month with 15K saved up. This buys us about 6 years to make more money per month but in reality much less time due to externalities like a washer breaking or car being fixed etc.
I am hoping to progress my career in about 1.5 years time in a substantial way to get back into a budget surplus where we can start saving again. Hopefully I get some sort of raise too within that time but that is not a sure thing, shifting and progressing my career would give me much more leverage in the job market though which is what I am working on.
I say this as someone who lives in a LCoL area and makes more than the national household median…..I am not going to be homeless but it feels like a dangerous situation at the moment. I have NO IDEA how others are making it even around here when I hear their take home salaries. The math does not add up and people HAVE to be going into debt.
I own my own company, work hard and live well under my means.
I have a good job and I make more than I spend.
This has pretty much always been the formula.
Luck, good timing, a lower COL area, and living below our means.
My husband is an engineer and I work in accounting. No kids, no student loans. Unfortunately, I only have my associates, so my pay is a lot lower than people think when they hear accounting.
We bought our house in 2018. We spent way less than we qualified for so our mortgage is reasonable. Most of the time we cook at home and take leftovers for lunch. We only have two streaming services. Our vehicles are paid off and we don’t carry credit card debt.
no kids and living a simple life.
I hate to say “spend more money so you can save some” but Dollar General isn’t a good place to shop for anything if you can afford to make it to a real store.
Avoiding debt like the plague and not buying “stuff”.
I’m considering moving back to my home country after 8 years in Toronto. I’m tired of working a job that’s unimpressive on paper, has me do 3 different roles, and pays just enough that my rent is 50% of my income. I took a leave of absence and am currently in my home country mulling over my options.
I’m not. I’m paycheck to paycheck and in debt after being unemployed for a couple months. Hoping it gets better soon.
Since I’m older, I was contributing a lot more to my 401k last year vs this year. I guess I’m robbing Peter to pay Paul, as the saying goes.
trade school. no kids. two incomes. apartment not a house. used vehicles
we are really lucky to be doing ok
I wonder this same thing constantly. I have what’s considered a good job and I’m living paycheck to paycheck. Had to move in with my in laws just to not feel completely suffocated and for a few months after that even without rent we were struggling.
There has to be something that’s gonna burst right? This shit can’t be sustainable.
Making more money than you and managing it better as well.
Credit card debt.
I was debt free. Then I got cancer and live in the US.
It’s actually pretty simple to afford life. Budget. Regardless of what the media tries to tell you, the economy is still fine. Unemployment is low. Gas prices have dropped significantly, something that actually affects ppl on a daily basis, not what your 401k is doing.
I love how everyone is attacking me in the comments
I just asked a question, I didn’t think everyone would flip out about it
My first and last post on here I am afraid cause lordy, curiosity murdered me here lol
But just for the ones freaking out on me…..No kids, one 2002 ford, born and live in FL, 2 credit cards, rent not own a 1/1 apartment at 2k a month, no going out to eat every night, no new games or whatever they said lol
AGAIN, I was just asking….didn’t mean for everyone to tell me how stupid and dumb I am. Just asked a question…
By living in a country that has an actual working social security system.
I have a high paying job and am single with 2 cats lol
I got noticed in being laid off in July. I have stopped buying anything other than basic food stuff and fuel. Sold my house fortunately and moving back in with my parents at the age of 33.
Imho, this question is why trump has so much support.
Reddit gets all up in arms about “omg the stock market”, but many of us aren’t in a position to pay our bills– we don’t care that rich people are looking money. What happened to occupy wall street? Identity politics took over because the electorate needs to be fighting each other, not the elite.
I heard someone explain it like this who supports Trump but isn’t what reddit would call “maga”.
Someone is breaking into your house with a gun. You have a spoon and a bazooka to defend yourself. You use the bazooka. People come around after and are like “omg what the hell man, you blew off half of the house. You ruined everything!”. Well yeah, but the alternative was using the spoon.
That’s how many people see the state of our nation. The empty promises of politicians for decades culminated in the voting base pulling out the bazooka because they feel their other option is a spoon. Can’t afford housing. Can’t afford groceries. Stagnant wages. We went from “learn to code” to “better learn something other than coding” in a matter of weeks it seems.
it’s all just living in a LCOL area and working remotely and getting paid from a VHCOL area. i imagine it’s tough otherwise out there.
By living aggressively below my means for the last 40+ years, saving a ton of money, and not having any debt.
Easy, i don’t have a wife or kids.
Got no kids, and two roommates, and we’re collectively paying rent and utilities. It’s not great, but it’s an island of stability amidst everything.
It depends on your pay. My wife and I have high paying jobs making six figure salaries (which is high but not abnormal for DC). We saved up and bought a townhouse and generally try to save as much income as we can by living below our means.
We both work hard and don’t overspend. Even when I was riddled with debt in law school (and my wife wasn’t working at the time) we made sure to try and save what we could. I aggressively focused paying down my loans as fast as I could post school, and my wife and I lived well beneath our means first to pay off our loan debt and then to save for a house
Single. No dependents. High paying job. Living well within my means so no debt.
I did spend a good 10+ years living well within my means. This meant not eating out too often, buying decent but affordable clothes, owning a simple car instead of leasing the latest and greatest for 500/month, and sticking with a single phone for many years at a time to name a few things.
Eventually living within my means caught up to me in a good way. I found myself having everything I needed yet my money started to pile up in my bank account with nothing to spend it on. Maxed my 401k, put money into a Roth IRA, auto-transfer part of my paycheck every month to a long-term savings account, and still my spending account kept going up faster than I could spend it as long as I was being reasonable.
And now I’m at the stage in my life where I’m affording luxuries responsibly because everything I need has been taken care of. Granted, I probably wouldn’t be as financially comfortable if I had kids.
Working and sticking to poverty diet.
Live within my means. Drive old cars, don’t waste money on Amazon and temu trash, stop after one crotch goblin, not go into debt, use 6 year old phone, moved to a low cost of living region.
Get off the hedonic treadmill and find what matters to you
Spending on necessities first and if I have some cash on the side, maybe a luxury item.
I have a college degree and a six figure job and I budget my money. I have a lot of free time and still have left over for social activities
The older I get (millennial in my 30s) the more I realize the “avocado toast” trope is real with alot of other millennials and Gen Z
It’s funny on Reddit when you see people whine about money but then click their profile and they got tons of photos of elaborate gaming setups or other expensive hobbies.
They just launched a buy now pay later service for food delivery.
We’re not affording it.
Good choices and financial competence
Idk even know where my debt came from. Just one daybI woke up and owed $3k like wtf. Those splurges add up forsure.
I’m blessed to have family that helps with rent and food (we help each other, some more than other, thank God for everyone in my life). Also, I’m blessed with a steady income that is just enough to pay a little debt each month, pay for all my necessities, and usually a few splurges. I isually mess it up come christmas time but trying to do better
Tl;dr: FAMILY (Vin Diesel appears, cross-armed)
Moved back in with the folks
Hard work, discipline, luck, and privilege.
I honestly don’t know how anyone can survive without those four these days.
Short answer is with help. It’s a crazy world we live in right now and I’ve been very lucky. I work a tech job making just shy of 6 figures and even with that income I need two roommates to afford my house. Finding people you can rely on and enjoy being around is huge these days. No one I know right now lives on their own
on a wing and a prayer
No children helps a lot.
We have jobs. We don’t spend more than we make.
It’s not rocket science.
Extremely strict budget, pirate content and take advantage of public spaces.
High paying job… that I’m giving up voluntarily in 2 months time because the stress is killing me. Now the financial stress can kill me instead!
Ooo I’m not
Papa Murphy’s $5 Tuesdays
High paying jobs and avoiding lifestyle creep with some exceptions and indulgences.
I blame a big chunk of it on getting into the housing market before prices shot up significantly back in 2016. If we were still renting that would be double or triple our mortgage and getting nothing back.
I earn good money
Marriage, education, and stable career paths.
Pretty much working and not doing anything extra.
Married smart with no debt. SO and I both make $200k+. Times still suck ass right now though and we just had a baby but we’re making it work.
At a macro level, nobody is. Credit card debt is exploding.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/debt-balance-credit-cards
I worked my way up to a decent job that pays 6 figures
Luck.
I’ve been living well below my means for more than 2 decades. The cost of living hasn’t increased enough to negate that.
SE Asia. I’m not kidding. Been here 7+ months now
A job?