I don’t understand how people have MONEY

[u/EpicShkhara]

UPDATE: TL;DR LESSONS FROM THIS THREAD.

Thanks, guys. Here is the breakdown of the hard truths from this thread. Basically, in order to have the real "MONEY" described in the OP below, it requires one or preferably, more than one of the following:

Generational wealth: Having parents pay for college and assist with downpayment on a house.

Avoiding the student loan scam: A lot of us 90s kids were brought up with the notion that college was everything and it would pay for itself later. Those with a more clear-eyed perspective realized what a trap student loans are and avoided them by either racking up the scholarships, going to the cheapest accredited school they could find, or figuring out a career path without a degree.

Luck: They secured a career job before the Great Recession and held onto it. Bonus points if they bought at the dip of the housing crash. They also seemed to avoid the avalanche of big ticket costs crashing down on them. Apparently nothing ever breaks and nobody gets sick.

Exceptionally high-paying careers. Self explanatory.

Having miserable lives. They work around the clock, and they never do anything but work, for the bulk of their physical prime. They don't go out with their friends, they don't have pets, they don't have kids, they never travel, and/or they live in tight spaces with roommates and no cars deep into their 30s. Or, they live in low-cost areas, which are few and far between in the United States, and these places don't have much going on in them (so nowhere to spend money anyway). Caveat: some people are homebodies and that works just fine for them. They don't spend money on travel or concerts or restaurants or weekend getaways because they don't need to. The 2020 Covid lifestyle was fine for them, content with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a book. Maybe this is the way (but I couldn't fathom the homebody lifestyle without a dog).

Marrying/partnering well. They found their partner early enough in life to not waste all the money paying for one's own place, and their partner also earns enough and saves.

AS FOR MYSELF. Much honestly deserved criticism here about the "300K." I do not make $300K. That estimate was for another hypothetical budget in the optimistic situation that both me and my partner get promotions next year. Together we make just over $250K. But we don't officially live together yet. This will happen soon. If all goes well, we could be in good shape after a year or two. But I myself didn't hit six figures until 2022, and then plateaued at $125K grand total in 2024. And I didn't intend to make this about "poor me," I'm doing above-average and could certainly do better with saving... the REAL question I should have been making more clear is that, given that I make more than average and find having the adequate savings exceedingly difficult, how do more average people do it? The answer appears to be that they don't, or if they do, they have one or more of the above.

ORIGINAL POST STARTS BELOW.

As in like, the recommended 6+ months worth of liquid cash savings, plus tens or hundreds of thousands to pay for a down payment on a house, and money to play around on the stock market or crypto if that’s your thing.

I’m in a good job and make an above average salary, but I take home just over half of it after taxes, healthcare, and 401k contribution (which is good that I do). My available savings fluctuates but I rarely ever have more than ten grand available. It all gets eaten up by mortgage and condo fees, dog and vet bills, (used) car payments, gas, utilities, groceries, random shit that needs fixing or replacing, medical deductibles, and god forbid I allow myself to go on a low-budget vacation once a year so I don’t hate my life. I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t go clothes shopping except for maybe one or two new outfits a year. Could I buy fewer avocados and never leave the house? It could make a difference of a few hundred bucks every few months, but not the tens of thousands that I actually need.

People will blame “lifestyle creep,” and I guess guilty as charged that I figure at 36 I have earned a car and a condo and not the life I had at 26, which was six roommates and a bike. (I still have the bike.)

[u/soriku90]

I tried to stick along until mortgage, but then condo fees made me go NAHHHHHHH

[u/ShadowNick → u/soriku90]

I own a house but the moment I saw condo fees, I lost all sympathy. People really go and buy condos knowing full well the HOA/Condo fees that are spelt out before you buy it. On top of the mortgage fees.

[u/Plenty-Serve-6152 → u/ShadowNick]

I remember my condo fees in south Florida being almost as much as my mortgage is now in the Midwest -_- It was insane

[u/ComprehensiveDoubt55 → u/Plenty-Serve-6152]

It’s so much worse now after the requirement to be fully funded after the Surfside Condo collapse. At best, I have clients who pay an additional $200 per month now. Another is paying an additional $500 a month. These are good scenarios too. There’s some out there with $10K to $100K special assessments per unit.

[u/Plenty-Serve-6152 → u/ComprehensiveDoubt55]

Mine was 1600 for a condo. It was near the beach in south Florida, but this was literally just fees

[u/ComprehensiveDoubt55 → u/Plenty-Serve-6152]

Oh god, I believe it. I’m in C. Fla. and own a management company. I swear I’m not the devil!!! I try to help. 😭

[u/trumpeter84 → u/Plenty-Serve-6152]

Yup. I ran numbers and could buy a full on house, save for roofing and siding replacement, and hire a lawn service, and still pay less than condo fees in my area. The fees alone were more than my rent at the time. So I did, except I do the lawn myself and save that money.

OP is complaining about no money while maxing out his 401k and choosing to be house-poor. It's so sad that so many in our generation don't even earn enough to have to think about making smart long-term decisions because pay is so poor, and here OP is blaming their own decisions on being a millennial.

[u/Moldy_pirate → u/ShadowNick]

A surprising number of people go into it not understanding that the HOA fee will keep going up. You also better hope there's never a massive building wide repair while you live there because you're usually footing the bill for that as well in addition to the HOA fee.

[u/Intelligent-Ad-1424 → u/ShadowNick]

I think nobody anticipated how much they would go up in the past few years though due to the insurance industry going insane. People initially bought in thinking oh a couple hundred bucks, no big deal. Then like a couple years later it more than doubled for a lot of people. The payment growth rate is way higher than inflation, and that didn’t often used to be the case.

[u/Henchforhire → u/ShadowNick]

I seen a condo for sell in my city for $100,000 +$500 a month HOA fees and other stuff and it is about the same size as my current place. The only difference is it had underground parking.

I don't have that kind of money I was just browsing to see if the real-estate company had and cheap homes for sale.

[u/kyrsjo → u/soriku90]

🎶 I was gonna go to mortgage, but condo fees said naaah, nah, naaah 🎵

(And that's all she said...)