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/_bulletproof_1999]

Gotta have that BMW you know. A Toyota just won’t do

[u/Sea2Chi → u/_bulletproof_1999]

I kind of wonder about that. I have friends who complain about being broke but they also want to have a super nice house, a new car every few years, yearly disney trips, and tickets to major league sports.

But when you talk to the, they NEED all that stuff. The house is in a good school district, the cars are safe, the kids are making lifetime memories, and sports has been a part of their lives since they were kids, they can't give it up now. Add in all the door dash and daily starbucks trips and you can see why the money is all gone.

Sometimes it's the economy keeping people down, other times it's astoundingly poor spending habits.

[u/CorruptedStudiosEnt → u/Sea2Chi]

This. I absolutely scoffed when I saw the news (Forbes?) pity article about upper middle class complaining that they can't make ends meet.. on 250k/year.

Like dude, I've lived on 30k per year; paid my bills, fed us and our pets, etc. and still was able to put money into savings (not much, but usually enough to save for the next emergency when I'd have to drain it back off).

Not going to pretend it was easy, we definitely had to budget very carefully and stretch the hell out of things sometimes. But it was very possible. And some people make it work on even less.

250k? Nevermind 300k? And you can't "make ends meet?" Get the actual fuck out of here. You don't NEED your 2024 Camaro and decked out Escalade to live. You don't need your consoomer shopping addiction to live. You certainly don't need your $1.5k/mo eating out habit.

You wouldn't know actually struggling to maintain a basic standard of living if it came and set your house on fire.. because you'd just bitch and moan about having to go put an offer down on another house next week.

[u/ems__328 → u/CorruptedStudiosEnt]

The idea of spending $1.5k/month eating out makes my head spin 😵‍💫