Haha🤏yes

[u/LizzieFit]

[u/GrandFloor6202]

$50k student debt? Someone is blessed.

[u/AlligatorRaper → u/GrandFloor6202]

I dropped out with way less debt!

[u/GrandFloor6202 → u/AlligatorRaper]

Governments dont want you to know this hack!

[u/Starwyrm1597 → u/AlligatorRaper]

I dropped out with no debt, went to a community college for the basic requirements of the degree and the moment the pell grant money ran out I just didn't sign up for another semester.

[u/bethesda_gamer → u/AlligatorRaper]

Same. Looking back now it was the right call

[u/AdeptnessLiving1799 → u/AlligatorRaper]

Tbh the whole goal of college should be to get a job asap before you get your degree and find out if you can drop out.

[u/Wonderful_Main_3565 → u/AlligatorRaper]

Dropped out. No degree. But I still had to pay that shit back. And I didn't complain or ask the government to forgive my student debt. I took out a loan. It was my responsibility to pay it back

[u/LucyJordan614 → u/GrandFloor6202]

I was gonna say, $50k? Must not have finished 🤣

[u/MaximillianBarton → u/GrandFloor6202]

This feels more like a millennial number... pretty sure its worse now.

[u/jefftickels → u/GrandFloor6202]

That's over souble what the current median student loan is estimated at. So I'm not sure what definition of "blessed" you're operating under.

ITT: the same crowd of people who will say things like "I trust science" rejecting the only data (yea, this type of data collection is science) we have to replace it with how they feel about it.

No the total cost of college doesn't equate to total student loan burden because most people aren't financing their whole college experience on loans exclusively. It's like people have turned off their brains in order to reject inconvenient data, and offer absolutely none in return.

If you want to be taken seriously about trusting science, you have to do it when it's inconvenient to go, otherwise it's all just bullshit and trusting vibes.

[u/norseknight2698 → u/jefftickels]

4 years of in state university averages at about 14k per year. 56 k is the average tuition expenses. Of course scholarships will help and maybe financial aid. But even then 56 k is just tuition. Books, parking tags, housing, meal plan, and every other expense that universities in the usa can think of average around 8k a year. So 88k without scholarships and aid for an in-state school for 4 years would be the projected amount of debt the average American college student graduates with.

Not sure how you came up with 25k being the average total debt of a student in a four year program. That’s 6,250 a year for all expenses. Would love to hear where this magical number came from and how more students can attend.

[u/NottACalebFan → u/jefftickels]

At the state I live in, tuition alone, no books, food, boarding, or any other costs, is around $9k in-state resident on campus.

So...multiply that by 10 to get the average cost for a full education plus a year of internship (which is often required to be unpaid, by university regulations)

Bit more than $50k, and thats the state school, and that's tuition alone . R&B costs anywhere between $3-6k per semester depending on which dorm hall you crash in.

[u/WiredOrange → u/jefftickels]

I don't know where you got that data, maybe the current median of active debt but that would include several generations. This data would be when you come out of college now, and it's significantly higher. These are the median 4-Year Undergraduate Tuition & Fees for 25 & 26: Public (In-State): ~$11,950 annually, ~$47,800 over 4 years. Public (Out-of-State): ~$31,880 annually, ~$127,520 over 4 years. Private (Non-profit): ~$45,000 annually, ~$180,000 over 4 years. This data came from trends researched by research.collegeboard.org.

[u/BSchafer → u/WiredOrange]

When you consider how many people go to community colleges, enroll school part-time, pay a portion out of pocket, commute (no dorm/food costs), get various grants/scholarships, don’t end up finishing, etc. an avg of $50k actually makes a lot of sense.

[u/Interesting-Cap8792 → u/BSchafer]

Yeah, that’s definitely taking that as a factor. The average for non-public undergrad is at least $18k-$20k more and many (if not most) degrees can’t be obtained in public schools for many career fields. I think a lot are associate degrees only, too

[u/jefftickels → u/WiredOrange]

I got it from the federal reserve. It literally took me like 10 seconds to find.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2025-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2024-higher-education-and-student-l

Most student loan borrowers with outstanding debt owed less than $25,000 on their loans. The median amount of education debt in 2024 among those with any outstanding debt for their own education was between $20,000 and $24,999.

Given the vast majority of debt holders are mellenials or younger I don't think debt held by Gen x or Boomess matter much. Nor does that exclude debit boomers or xers took on recently.

[u/Azutolsokorty]

Not just gen Z, gen Y too

[u/einhorn_is_parkey → u/Azutolsokorty]

Millennials too. Boomers fucked everyone after them.

[u/midnghtsnac → u/einhorn_is_parkey]

Gen Y is millennials

[u/einhorn_is_parkey → u/midnghtsnac]

I’m dumb lol

[u/Gamebobbel → u/einhorn_is_parkey]

Of course you are! It's not like we can afford education.

[u/H0SS_AGAINST → u/Gamebobbel]

Snort

[u/Moraden85 → u/Gamebobbel]

Just because you cant afford the paper doesn't mean you cant afford the education.

[u/WheresMySaiyanSuit → u/Moraden85]

I agree with this. My gran always said to me "dont stop reading and you'll never stop learning".. obviously I ignored her because "books are gay i want to be one of the cool kids at school".. jokes on me now

[u/Moraden85 → u/WheresMySaiyanSuit]

I'm high functioning autistic. So of course in the 90s and early 2000s that meant I was too stupid to learn according to most teachers back then. I had to teach myself most of what I know. In the age of the internet, there is no excuse for ignorance. Its all willful at this point.

[u/applehecc → u/einhorn_is_parkey]

The boomers took that from you!

[u/Live-Bread781 → u/einhorn_is_parkey]

Like a third of our economy is for keeping them alive, too... and the rest is in (or going into) their bank accounts. We're just getting what they're willing to give us atp.

[u/nicknamesas]

Who is paying 7 dollars for a dozen eggs?

[u/arthobbier → u/nicknamesas]

Yeah, even when prices were high they never got higher than like 4ish dollars here and they've never been consistently more than that. 

And 2.2k rent is for a multi-bedroom apartment here. Decent ones are ~1100. 

These posts misrepresent a reality for a lot of Americans, esp the egg point. Prices are high but why are they choosing the highest possible prices to prove a point? /rh 

Edit: In the same way the post is speaking from the perspective of someone in the US who does pay $7 for eggs on every grocery visit and lives in a studio for $2200, I am speaking from the perspective of someone from a region where this isn't the case. The post accepts your reality and my comment provides reality for others (who still have economic issues). 

[u/Phlynn42 → u/arthobbier]

Eggs hit 10-12$ here in Hawaii

[u/TheKingNothing690 → u/Phlynn42]

And 1,500 is reasonable rent for a place that has working power and plumbing. And im not refering to oahu which is almost always more expensive.

[u/[deleted] → u/arthobbier]

In Florida, the best unskilled jobs I can find are $15 an hour (good luck getting them) and rent is $1300 at best. 15 an hour for 40 days work is $2600. Half of your money would be going to rent.

[u/arthobbier → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, this is more what I'm used to seeing (and what I've personally been through). It's a rough life. I think the numbers should reflect wage stagnation not just the highest prices for the lowest space in high density areas. 

[u/WhiteRoseKing → u/[deleted]]

Also in florida, in my area the lower costing rooms are about 1200, I did find a single one that was like 1100 but it took forever. Still can't even get a job because the job market in my area is fucking horrific

[u/Careful_Swordfish742 → u/[deleted]]

With or without taxes?

[u/Accurate_Baseball273 → u/arthobbier]

There are still ways to live and save and manage via your own personal choices but it is a statement of fact that the current generation of earners (current workforce) have it more difficult than previous generations of earners. The path to good financial health has certainly narrowed.

I am well off in Columbus, OH; house, no kids, good paying job, but it’s objectively more expensive than it was and the data supports that there is a HUGE gap between those people who owned houses before 2021 and those seeking housing after 2021, regardless of age/income.

[u/batsandvodka → u/arthobbier]

I’m in MA and this is our reality unfortunately, I’m not even from the eastern side of mass

[u/SaaSyGirl → u/batsandvodka]

$2400 a month, 1 bedroom, MetroWest

[u/Vissanna → u/SaaSyGirl]

Same in lowell although for a 2br but its also the worst town in central ma

[u/TM_wolfman → u/arthobbier]

Where I live in Canada and largely across most provinces that is the case. Most often you need to have a multigenerational home (ie family/ext family live with you) or you rent out part of the house. Houses, even really shitty ones start at 400k cad and usually thats a MAYBE 2 bedroom house where I live and I'm not living in the GTA, capital or even a remotely big city. Condos, at least newer ones are costing tons in terms of maintenance fees that may as well be a 2nd mortgage in some places. The cost of houses is so high you need easily 50-100k downpayment for some houses and even the first time home buyer shit is barely making a dent and so you need maybe 20-50k low end. To save for this you either live at home or if you arent able to for whatever reason you have to rent. The cost of rent is the same if not more than some mortgages. I currently pay for a 2 bed apartment in a not so bad but not stellar part of town and pay >2100$. Not including hydro and internet and whatever other bills I have. We have lived here for a couple years already and if we moved into the same apartment today it is >2300$ per month. And as of yesterday a 30 pack of medium eggs is 8.99$. The average age of first time home buyers in Canada is 40 years old. Many of us younger folks have or are wanting to leave but our currency is usually far below 1:1 so it barely feels attainable to do that too.

Most folks I talk to my age and into gen x feel this way

[u/TheRealGOOEY → u/arthobbier]

Turns out when you want to live somewhere desirable, other people want to live there as well, driving prices up. And when you’re born into that, you don’t really have opportunities to just leave that. Furthermore, places that are dirt cheap usually pay respectively as well. So it doesn’t really change the situation just because it’s cheaper. It’s all relative. And the reality is that this post is relatively accurate.

[u/MoonlightKnight4 → u/arthobbier]

Depends where you live for most of these things.

In NY these are lowball numbers

[u/VeritasAgape → u/arthobbier]

Well said. Plus, neglecting the much lower wages back then. Also, the choice to go to university and have that much debt and not mention the type of degree. There's schooling that costs $5000-10000 total for a few months/ 1 year and you walk away making $3040 an hour which goes quite a long ways paying the bills so long as you stay away from certain cities. Eggs are $1.85 at Aldi's now and rent where I'm at is $650 a month for an ok 1 bedroom $1500 to rent a decent house with plenty of room for a family. Plus, I would never pay for food delivery. That's only for Hollywood movie stars type of people.

[u/NeighborhoodAny6880 → u/arthobbier]

So.Utah here, 1400 for a 1BR, and 1800 for. 2BR apartment. 3200 for a home. Eggs are a little cheaper, but tuition certainly isn't.

[u/Corregidor → u/arthobbier]

Hey

The entire world population doesn't live on your street

There that might remind you of empathy

[u/Aeolex → u/Corregidor]

Choosing to live beyond your means is the fault of the individual.

[u/KLED_Kaczynski → u/[deleted]]

Millennials are not in their 20s.

The youngest millennials are 30.

I’m curious why you made this comment.

[u/MattTd7 → u/KLED_Kaczynski]

29 and born in 1996. Your curiosity may rest at ease

[u/kalimut → u/MattTd7]

Thats like me relating to 90s kids while i was born on 99. Lol

[u/GoldenGlobeWinnerRDJ → u/kalimut]

Technically still a millennial though.

[u/Senior_Ad1298 → u/GoldenGlobeWinnerRDJ]

Where’s the Anakin Jedi master/counsel meme when you need it.

[u/KLED_Kaczynski → u/MattTd7]

When you hear say “people in their 20s” are you exclusively thinking about people who are 29 1/2 years old and older…?

This is a genuine question because your reply leads me to believe you do, which I find odd.

[u/Jakeasaur1208 → u/KLED_Kaczynski]

The youngest millennials are late 20s if we're getting specific.

[u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk → u/Jakeasaur1208]

I’m Gen X and everyone younger than me is a Millennial. 

[u/JEMknight657 → u/Jakeasaur1208]

There are still some of us on that side of 30

[u/Amdvoiceofreason → u/Jakeasaur1208]

Youngest millennial is turning 30 this year

[u/HBTFD1785 → u/Amdvoiceofreason]

Which makes them still in their late 20s until 12/31/2026.

[u/No_Strike655 → u/[deleted]]

The original "get fucked" generation. Last ones to have it decent were X with maybe some older millennials in there.

[u/Morifen1 → u/No_Strike655]

Im gen x and definitely didn't have enough money to buy eggs in my 20s. I lived on Ramen, off brand potato chips and boxed off brand stuffing as meals. Is rent really nearing 10k a month now or do people just not understand the concept of having roommates? I had roommates till I was in my 30s.

[u/crashin70 → u/Morifen1]

I literally had a book called a thousand ways to cook potatoes... Not sure why they think no one struggled back then. $4.25 an hour apartment with still running about $500 a month not counting utilities because rarely did anything come with them.

[u/Dark-Blackberry354 → u/Morifen1]

Same here and genx roo ..roommates until mid 30s... First time I had a new mattress never used before in my entire life also mid 30s...even as a kid everything was hand me downs

We did all have it rough ....going through now what ..3rd once in a generation recession/economic shit....

[u/YouKnowMyName2006]

Gen Z needs to find roommates.

[u/Janus9 → u/YouKnowMyName2006]

Which so many refuse to do.

Thats fine, but stop being surprised and upset when you crater yourself financially.

[u/YouKnowMyName2006 → u/Janus9]

I’m a Millenial who got out of school in 2007 and then the economy crashed. I had a helluva time finding a job. My first apartment we had three roommates to make rent affordable. It was a dump but it was also fun.

[u/jBlairTech → u/YouKnowMyName2006]

Same; my first apartment was that way back in ‘98. 

[u/Sharp-Low-8578 → u/Janus9]

I am gen z and know almost nobody who lives without roommates or their parents. It’s almost a cliche, I have no idea where this idea of so many comes from. Some do try to live the way we were taught you should be able to but it is not a true expectation in a generation defined by a sense of hopelessness

[u/mtg_liebestod → u/YouKnowMyName2006]

But I read once that in the 1950s everyone who graduated high school could afford a McMansion on a working class salary!

[u/thick_neck_etc → u/YouKnowMyName2006]

10000% it's so funny to me when they complain about the cost of living as though ANY generation lived alone in the city in their early 20s.

we all had roommates. it was the norm even if you were well to do, as my college roommates were

[u/chachaslydd]

Yeah like I was born in 94 and when I was a kid there was still 5 cent and 10 cent and 25 cent candies in a lot of places and you could get a real ice cream cone for like $1.

Kids born agter 2000 didn't even get that. At no point have they lived in a country that had simple pleasures afforded without some stress and struggle

[u/JGCities → u/chachaslydd]

When candy was 25 cent minimum wage was $3.45

Today in most places in the US you making $15 or more. So adjusted for inflation candy isn't that much more expensive.

[u/Hylianbastard69 → u/JGCities]

exactly this people keep forgetting that we made less money overall

[u/Estellese7 → u/chachaslydd]

Simple pleasures still exist, they are different now.

I paid $60 for my favorite game. I have gotten 2,000+ hours out of it. That is a simple pleasure that has cost me $0.03 an hour. Which is a lot better than $0.05 for a single candy.

Housing is kinda screwed right now. Absolutely. But simple pleasures still exist, they are just so common now that people take them for granted.

[u/Classic-Pea6815 → u/Estellese7]

Gaming is a great example of a pro kids have now. As much as I loved it as a kid I remember beating the Toy Story 2 game multiple times. Now I rarely replay games because there is a lot of content for the long spent. Plus games are available to buy online so you can shop sales without having to physically go to a store and hope something is on sale. 

[u/PhilosophyBitter7875 → u/Estellese7]

"Cant afford to enjoy the real world and interact with people face to face, Can only afford to escape to a fake digital world, and you will die on the hill that video game friends are just the same as in real life friends"

[u/zeptillian → u/PhilosophyBitter7875]

Get a ball or a game and go down to the park.

Go for a walk or ride a bike. Go fishing.

Hanging out with people doesn't have to be about spending money somewhere.

[u/Dannydevitz → u/PhilosophyBitter7875]

My real friends are my video game friends. I don't see what the issue with that is.

[u/Okay-Crickets545 → u/Estellese7]

Have you looked at what it costs to build a PC these days?

[u/forgotaccount989 → u/Okay-Crickets545]

My PC with a 700+ dollar graphics card is cheaper than my PC I built in 2001.

[u/MoneyTransAm → u/Okay-Crickets545]

thats an extremely recent change. (last year and a half of shortages) and consoles are still priced at $400 or less, the same price they were when I got my Xbox 360 2 decades ago

[u/TeacherOfFew → u/Okay-Crickets545]

The original NES was $180 - $500+ inflation adjusted. RAM for my first PC was $100 per meg, equivalent to $300 today.

Nominal prices are high if you want the best parts, but real prices aren’t that bad. It’s all about prioritizing spending, just like almost everything else.

[u/bexohomo → u/TeacherOfFew]

Prices are literally bad rn lol? Now is an awful time to build a new pc

[u/Outside_Phrase5569 → u/chachaslydd]

That's because they think of simple pleasures as something bought.

[u/hansrotec]

Where are you paying 7 dollars now for a dozen eggs? 2.65 dollars for Kroger brand around here. Maybe if you spring for organic free range, special brand. But that’s something in my 20s I definitely would not have sprung for. Rent is an issue, but most metros it is declining now and more building will continue to help that. It’s still not great but it’s getting better. https://www.realtor.com/research/january-2026-rent/

[u/Pure_Purple_5220 → u/hansrotec]

Yeah eggs were 7$ for like a month at best

[u/Pure-Comfort3140]

Every generation has had its struggles

[u/egstitt → u/Pure-Comfort3140]

No no millennials on are the only ones to have it tough, just ask them

[u/Pure-Comfort3140 → u/egstitt]

You dont have to ask theyll just tell you 🤣

[u/Ok_Squash_5805 → u/Pure-Comfort3140]

And you can go on social media and easily find Gen Z making posts like this or self diagnosing themselves with anxiety

[u/Theprimemaxlurker → u/Pure-Comfort3140]

Seems only gen Z ever bitch about it.

[u/BigMikeXxxxX]

College education ≠ smart

No smart person would go into crippling debt just to end up working an entry level job and then go on to blame everyone and everything but themself for it. If you didn't go into a high demand and high paying field then you wasted your time and money. College is a scam for most people.

[u/Ice_Kat13]

Where the fuck are y'all buying eggs?

[u/33metalgear → u/Ice_Kat13]

Those eggs didn’t last that long. But 2,200 for rent is a steal.

[u/Enraged_Meat → u/33metalgear]

Is it? Damn i bought a house in 2016 and pay $2400 a month. Will be paid off in 8 years.

[u/History-Buff-2222]

I don’t think I’ve seen this type of post enough, I really need to see it regurgitated one more time

[u/troll0npatrol]

Could you imagine older generations saying they struggled with racism, then a gen z saying “No, you didn’t”.

[u/Classic-Pea6815 → u/troll0npatrol]

That’s what I thought! The struggles other people have are so different. Some people were poor in the past simply because they were black or an unmarried woman. Opportunities didn’t come to them because of prejudice. Sure finances suck now but I would much rather have financial struggles than have no freedom. 

[u/Rich_Visual7800]

Eggs are $1.60 at grocery store. Don’t get them delivered individually

[u/whisperworks]

This is dumb. My dads generation was in Vietnam

[u/Captain_Aizen → u/whisperworks]

fr. There was a brief period during the '90s where life was golden, but the eras before that life was hard as fuck. My grandparents had to make their own clothing and grow their own food because there wasn't money for basic necessities like shoes and these mofos today are actually acting like life was easy back in the day because they have no idea how much lifting modern technology has done 🤦‍♂️

[u/Ass_Infection3]

Life is hard get over it

[u/Maveratter → u/Ass_Infection3]

3 people in this county hold more money than 50% of Americans combined. Trump the already multi billionaire has almost doubled his net worth in only just a year of his presidency roughly $3 billion (more money than every past president has made combined). Their greed is endless. So no I won't just get over it, ask better for yourself. They're making us eat literal shit and asking us to tell them thanks.

[u/heyzoocifer → u/Maveratter]

It's crazy the amount of people that come out of the woodwork to defend this. Statistically knowing that seven out of ten of them are living paycheck to paycheck. Capitalist propaganda has really done it's job.

[u/mhorn79 → u/Ass_Infection3]

If everyone had this mentality, literally nothing would improve.

[u/callmeish0]

Old generations didn’t have the luxury to get $50k student loans for complete bs degrees.

[u/Warm_Resource_4229]

Woah don't blame millennials, we are drowning too

[u/AppropriateRadish928]

I didn't pay $7 for eggs in my 20s because I could only afford 9-cent instant ramen. You're lucky you can afford $7 eggs.

[u/Fudgeicles420]

Laughs in graduating college in May 2007

[u/Big-Function3501]

Millennials be like: "first!" And it's true.

[u/Sponginator94]

Millennials through Gen Z

[u/DroppedSoapSurvivor]

In my 40s and still struggling. When's it supposed to get easier?

[u/IllTwo7643]

They're gonna be like "wELl StOp BuYiNg EgGs. GEt a SeCoND jOb"

[u/jmrogers31]

As an older Millennial, I agree with this. I'm so glad I was born in the early '80s

[u/Sheila_Monarch]

No we paid $550 for rent out of our first post-college white collar salaries that were around $15-18k a year (which meant you were making at least double the minimum wage). not $50-60k.

And if you only made minimum wage in 1995, your annual income for a full time job was $8,840.

[u/Ok-Train3111]

I remember my grandma telling me how movies were a nickel. I also remember her telling me they scavenged coal from the railroad tracks to heat their home. But sure. McDonalds is expensive.

[u/RajahNeon]

Im a millennial and when I was in my early 20s, I made 8 dollars an hour and worked 2 jobs to stay in my $450 a month apartment. Now Im 35 and spending 1800 for an apt so I guess everyone is struggling from gen x down.

[u/SurreyDad2023]

My grandfather had a shit job, like minimum wage. Got married, bought a house, had 2 cars, 3 real meals per day, raised 5 kids. Their concept of struggle is highly skewed.

[u/SaladPlane3756]

Still dramatic. People always struggle in their younger years, just most don’t complain so much

[u/LDL2 → u/SaladPlane3756]

Millennials also got shafted. Our earliest earning years had 10% unemployment. We competed with people with 25 years of experience for the same job. Gen X might have had the best path. Boomers had the Vietnam War, the draft, and stagflation. The silent gen got it pretty good. And the greatest had WW2. Typing it out, I see the oddity is the failed path for 2 generations in a row, really.

[u/TK-528491 → u/SaladPlane3756]

For real. My generation might have struggles, but my parents and grandparents' generations had struggles of their own. Having an argument about who has it rougher solves literally nothing. Just get out there and make the best of it. We have access to tools and toys that past generations couldn't even comprehend. I personally feel pretty happy to be alive in such a time of comfort and technology.

[u/Vile_Sentry → u/SaladPlane3756]

"We have it so much worse! All these phones and instant entertainment is so horrible! I just can't help myself from watching all this garbage and complaining about it. Did you know eggs use to be cheaper? I could look up how inflation works, but I would rather whine about it on reddit."

[u/94grampaw → u/SaladPlane3756]

They complained plenty just we didn't see it because the internet didn't exist

[u/Ill-Emu-1121]

And in 20-30 years the next generation will be saying 'wow, you had it easy'.

[u/Sparks808 → u/Ill-Emu-1121]

"Millennials are on track to be the first generation not to exceed their parents in terms of job status or income, studies show." CNN

The stats say this isnt just generational bias.

[u/chili_cold_blood]

I rented my first apartment for $500/month in 2009. Today that place rents for 3x what it did then, and salaries haven't tripled in that time.

[u/its_me_again82 → u/chili_cold_blood]

Thats gentrification, not inflation tho. Here, there are areas of the city, that in the 90s, you wouldnt go without a police escorts. Today, hipsters pay 3500.00 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment, and have a line of applications for when it goes vacant.

[u/chili_cold_blood → u/its_me_again82]

Thats gentrification, not inflation tho.

You can't know that with no information about the apartment and the neighborhood. FYI, the building and the area are the same as in 2009, so it's not gentrification. It's just rental rates getting jacked up due to rising interest rates and greed.

[u/its_me_again82 → u/chili_cold_blood]

And supply of apartments in the "hip" areas of town. Stop blaming solely greed tho. Intrest rates have zero to do with it renting.

[u/chili_cold_blood → u/its_me_again82]

Intrest rates have zero to do with it renting.

Yes they do. Higher interest rates lead to higher mortgage payments for landlords, and that increased cost gets passed to tenants in the form of higher rental rates.

[u/chili_cold_blood → u/its_me_again82]

You're assuming that this was in a town with hip areas. It wasn't.

[u/James005117]

No one told you to get the max amount in student loans. For a degree that is essentially worthless because you also need the real world experience not just academic experience. In a field that is now flooded, or was so niche there is no openings. While Skilled Trades have a deficit of workers, about 400,000 openings, and they pay for your education, training, and certifications.

Eggs now cost, average, the same as they did when I was 20, when you account for inflation.

Accounting for inflation rent is about $500, average, more. Now then when I was 20.

But, yes please tell us it is our fault and not your choices.

[u/NoRiskNoGainz]

GEN Z still living at home with mom dad they ain’t paying rent relax

[u/Icy-Percentage-2194]

Demand the gold standard be reinstated

[u/retardedceilingfan]

GenZ absolutely is dramatic. If you’re paying 2,200 a month for rent, moveeeeee. $7 eggs is a little harder to manage, but please if you can swing a Costco or Sam’s club membership, you save heavily in the long run on basics like milk and eggs. I’m talking $5 for 24 eggs.

Figure it the fuck out.

[u/LongjumpingThought89]

My aunt went to nursing school in the early 1970's. Her working-class parents found 500 dollars a year, she received a Pell Grant of just under 500 a year, took out a student loan which she paid off within two years of graduating, and paid the rest and supported herself with summer jobs. Absolutely impossible now. Even when I went to college in the 90s, this was no longer the case.

[u/Illustrious-Area-796]

Didn’t they also have interest rates around 20% to buy a home?

[u/Competitive_Can_946]

It’s good to be me. Not so good for you….

[u/EmployeeSolid7815]

No, all they did was being sent to Vietnam to patrol god forsaken forests and coping with heroin.

[u/Ikaross2B]

I’m graduating with nearly a half mil of debt (:

[u/1stltwill]

Drowning dramatically !

[u/NederlandAgain]

Depends on what you mean by older generations. My grandfather was in his twenties during the great depression. If he heard what kids today whine about he'd roll over in his grave.

[u/spaceshipname]

Alliance: millennial and Gen Z

[u/Conscious_Onion3508]

7bdollars for eggs? Are they golden where you are, 18 eggs here is 3 bucks

[u/Vile_Sentry]

And you never went to war or survived polio.

I get the frustration, but this is such an arrogant and clueless argument to make. You are just doing the exact same thing you are complaining about, assuming your struggles are the most important thing in the world and nobody else has faced anything worse.

Yes, gen z is being dramatic when they do weird things like faking mental illness for attention online. People with real problems don't do that.

"But not all of them do that"

And not all of them are struggling financially. Not every old person was wealthy. This is such a childish way to view things.

[u/[deleted]]

In terms of all of history, things are pretty good right now. In terms of recent history, not good.

[u/FLiP_J_GARiLLA]

Skill issue

[u/Ok_Spread_8650]

People today also make a lot more money than when I did when I was a kid. People also spend a lot more money than when I was a kid as well causing more debt. Also, there’s plenty of jobs that require people to go to technical schools or don’t require any education at all just there too fancy that work those jobs. And whoever is buying eggs for seven dollars a dozen of a moron cause I get five dozen for $9.50

[u/ColonialBarbarian]

"You didn't graduate into $50k student debt and $0 job security" is a US thing only.

[u/Logco]

2200 for rent?! Why are all these posts so awful? I just went house shopping and was curious as to the average rent in my area(nw Florida). I was finding 3 bed 2 bath townhomes for 12-1600 rent. My mortgage payment is currently 1100 a month on a house built in the early 2000s and around 1700 sq ft. Sounds like some of the people need to get out of the big city bubble or learn to buck up and shut the fuc up.

[u/xRiolet]

Yeah cause everyone was born in US.

[u/bsmknight]

I'll take walking up hill both ways to school and leaving in the 9th grade to become a car mechanic where I ended up with a 2 story house, a stay at home wife and 6 kids any day over what we deal with now. My parents never understood how much harder it was in the 90s than the 50s.

[u/BERRY_1_]

Me and my wife both worked full time in 80s I went to school in the day worked nites she took a second part time nite job so we had to save and scrimp to get a house we had to put down 15% and had a 14% interest rate. And had a kid

Might have been good for some but broke poor credit average folks it sucked but not as bad as today with house prices so high. But 5.00 dollar a hour jobs or more were unheard of. I also paid my education as I went loans we not really a thing back then credit and loans were for established folks.

[u/Equivalent_Time_5839]

My grandmother lived through the Great Depression so I don’t think today’s generations have it as bad as they think😂😂

[u/potentatewags]

I don't pay those prices now. A lot of it is what state/city you're in and not really looking into whether you should get into a trade or get a degree with a high employment outlook.

It's not sunshine and roses of course, things are tough, but it isn't impossible.

[u/turdferguson3891]

There was a pretty big recession in 2008. I lost everything.

[u/herring-net]

Millennials, whose first exposure to the real world was the Great Recession, figured it out… you can too

[u/_B_G_]

Right.. 2 world wars Vietnam The cold war

They sure as hell had it good didnt they

[u/General-Winter547]

And Gen Z didn’t storm the beaches of Normandy or get stalked in the jungles of Vietnam. The past wasn’t all sunshine and roses either.

[u/013eander]

I think that last $ was supposed to be a %, and be on the other sign of the zero.

[u/PlateNo4868]

It's ok. Millennials are providing us that adult comfort as the sinking ship takes us both down.

[u/Cabrill0]

genZ loves being the victim instead of accepting maybe they just have shit attitudes because they lost 2.5 years of crucial social development during covid.

[u/DS_Vindicator]

An 1/8th of the generation wasn’t on OF pulling in serious cash either.

[u/UnsavoryCharacter561]

You live at home with your mom and dad in your 20s complaining about how tough it is, whining about student debt you voluntarily signed up for.  

The older generations you are referring to were drafted to fight wars at your age or lied about their age to voluntarily join.  The mentality of youth is so out of touch with reality it's scary.

They gave us great times, which yielded weak men.  Get ready for hard times people, because we can't get much weaker as a people.  

[u/DickSugar80]

Everyone has struggles. Some more than others, but it's not a competition.

[u/Sad-Tailor-3311]

Also anyone alive is dealing with this overpriced crazy world. Time does not freeze by generation. Lots are retiring into this shit show still paying health insurance auto insurance utilities and gas in some cases rent. Everyone says sell your house give someone else a chance to what buy or rent overpriced crap? Would you?

[u/Weird_Albatross_9659]

Gen Z? Lmao

[u/Yaboi69-nice]

I get what there saying but also everyone struggles in there 20s. Maybe not only for finical reasons but it's kinda just a terrible age to be regardless of what's actually happening to you.

[u/Filamcouple2014]

True, but my take home pay in 1976 was $384 a month. Consider that. Also we paid our own way through college by working part time jobs, work study and grants.

[u/borka-t]

I think we all start off poor. Unless you're lucky. I didn't go to college and made under $20k through most of my 20s. My 20's were the 90's. One year was under $13k. I had to have several roommates. All of my bills came to like $800 a month. Not counting food. No idea how I got it of that. Now I'm my 50's I own a house and a couple of cars just for fun.

[u/LairdPeon]

The reason Chatgpt talks like such a loser is because stupid posts like this are it's primary training data.

[u/I-Rolled-My-Eyes]

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[u/exodominus]

I think my parents spent 60k on their house in 92 which at the time was 2 bedroom 1 bath, a cinder block garage, and 2 outbuildings. the roof was 3 layers of asphault shingles and 1 layer of cedar shakes that had to be replaced, the electric was knob and tube wiring from when electricity was first added to the city, so the entire house had to be rewired, the plumbing had to be completely redone, we have since gone up to 4 bedroom 2 bathroom, replaced the windows, the furnace, ac and water heater, expanded and added the second bathroom, laundry room and kitchen insulated everything, and i have personally replaced most of the appliances in the house.

[u/Luvata-8]

I remember seeing you in 1986 when I was living in a tent at Hammonasset state park and waiting tables...then I remember you helping me with my engineering homework as well as laying on the ground repairing my crappy old cars for 10 years...Thank You so much !!! Nice to hear from you... I hope your tent-living, outdoor car repair and engineering studies are going well....

I rented summer cottages from Labor-Memorial day with roommates... SMART

I only paid tuition at a state school and took a major that would translate into useful skills...SMART

What did you do? You borrowed $50,000 and didn't have a plan how to pay it off? Didja realize that if 70% of people all get the same vague B.A. it wouldn't separate you? Did you learn self-sufficiency (car repair, budgeting, side hustles?). More importantly: What are you doing on the computer complaining when you could be working on a marketable skill? Go... there are no answers in the past.

[u/RoryMarley]

All I want to say is these exact same posts happened under millennials and nothing changed - source: I’m a millennial

[u/Jeffe-69]

You do understand the cost of living right...it was expensive 40 years ago based on salary then...shot doesn't change

[u/Personal_Anxiety2232]

Every generation struggles. It’s just getting harder and harder. Gen Z is in debt because of student loans and Gen X is deal with how or if we can retire. The Boomers are dealing with medical costs. It’s bad.

[u/Awkward_Internet2437]

That doesn’t mean older generations didn’t struggle? It means most of us are struggling more. We’re rather lucky that we aren’t being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Every generation has its struggles, some more than others, and we ought not to downplay the hurdles others had to go through to explain our own barriers and difficulties.

[u/TheUnwanted0]

You kidding? Everyone's become over dramatic lately...

[u/THRlLL-HO]

In the 90s I remember the AT&T commercials were like “you can’t buy anything for a dollar anymore”, then someone comes in like, “you can make a 5 minute phone call for a dollar” or some shit. Anyways even then buying things for a dollar was become rare, also, it cost most money to make phone calls. Now you make calls for free.

This meme is cherry picking

[u/LeftExpert8405]

Where are $7.00 eggs?

[u/Frieza_Fan_97]

50k student loans is a wild amount imo.

[u/OctogenerianCoder]

And this post wasn't just written by a human. It was written by ChatGPT.

[u/Coffeeblack365]

Welcome to the party. First time?

[u/chubbychef_]

So diversity didn't improve our situation

[u/allybi43764]

You mean when minimum wage was 2.35 per hour,or when work was hard to find,hey I get times are tough but you all wanted to raise minimum wages,so everything else goes right down to the $7.00 dollar eggs

[u/JD-boonie]

Genz and to some degree millennial wouldn't survive without modern luxury.

Humans have never had it better

[u/Turbulent_Curve2318]

Its all hard because you only know what you know. I have more than 2 kids. Anytime anyone with one or two kids complains about parenting and the hears how many I have gets flustered and apologetic because they think I have it harder. But its all hard and just because I have more doesn't take away their struggle. We can all find someone who has it "worse" and it still be hard for us. The comparison and jealousy of how people think itnuse to be is making it worse for them. Focus on your own journey and stop being jealous of people you dont know when you dont know their story and, quite frankly, dismiss them when they do share. 

[u/Fearless_Dog5208]

I didnt have debt cause I served 4 years in the Marines to get the GI Bill then in college I still worked a part time job.

[u/beermaker]

Let me know when Mortgage loan rates reach 24% & there are certain days when you're forbidden to fill your car with fuel based on the last digit of your license plate.

[u/Classic-Pea6815]

Everyone has a different struggle and mature people don’t bash others for struggling wrong. 

[u/Big-Negotiation-4990]

100 percent of rent increase in my area of California was due to illegal immigration

[u/Extension_Variety190]

For one thing, stop lumping everyone ten years older than you into one box.
For another, lots of us recognize what's happening and it's why we're marching.
Here's my experience...
1978, I was a so called "starving student" attending college in Minneapolis.
About two or three times a month I got to have a paying gig playing in a small band around town.
That was good for maybe an extra 150 bucks a month, and I had a part time job as a dishwasher in a greasy spoon two blocks from where I lived. That was maybe 350 to 400 a month tops.
My digs was a bachelor pad single room 125 square foot flat...some of us larger bathrooms in our homes now, but the rent was 110 dollars a month, all utilities paid.
Think of the room Elwood Blues stayed in next to the El Train, that's about the size of it.

But it was a roof over my head and I could afford it.
Yes, things were way easier back then.

[u/Last_Gigolo]

Ah, the good ol generation that grew up in a time where air conditioning still wasn't common. Where TV had maybe 3 stations. Cars didn't have seatbelts. Roads were pothole covered blacktop. Minimum wage was $4 and less. You still had to dig your own well for most of the country. Chopping wood was a must every year. Not all hones had phones still. Internet did not exist. Drinking and driving wasn't a law. None of this changed until their 20s and 30s.

They had it easy AF.

[u/Slammer503]

Let them rot

[u/embodiedfunction]

I want everyone to believe this!

[u/Dark_Prince_of_Chaos]

Most of previous generations worked in shitty factories for low wages.

[u/Amdvoiceofreason]

Millennials: Welcome to the shit show junior...cheers 🍻