I have a bad habit of talking out of my arse in stuff I don’t really know about and I’m trying to fix that.
Unfortunately, I find myself sucked into threads like these and have a hard time resisting participation, especially when it’s relevant to something else I’ve been hearing /learning about 
You really need to switch majors to an engineering field then.
I like small houses. Less maintenance, less money to heat and cool, less tax and insurance, not to mention a lower mortgage.
In my area, the new construction is just insane. Single family houses are 3000 sqft, with unfinished basements (about 4000 sqft if that gets finished). They are listing them from the mid 400s. The existing houses one could buy are for the most part too big and expensive already.
It is my opinion, that the new fancy big house happiness wears off pretty quickly. Why put so many resources into something that only makes you happy for a short while, then become an anchor on your financial life? Fancy cars are an even more extreme version of this.
This is how it is in my area. You can’t get even a reasonably sized 4 bedroom (~2500 sq ft, no basement) for less than 500k right now. A lot of high paying jobs are coming into the area too though. My house I bought 4 years ago and I am already up 36% over my purchase price in value.
This however, is probably an unsustainable growth rate.
Agreed. I love luxury and “shopping”, but I don’t like owning stuff, or living a lifestyle that makes owning luxuries worth it. I’m lazy and introverted. I prefer wearing the same discount shirts/pants everyday and being able to change for the gym in 30sec or only having to wash 3 (unbreakable) plates because that’s all I own.
This hit home last spring when we were moving out of the dorms. My friends and classmates who had more stuff had to throw away so much and spent 5-6x the amount of time packing.
What I do like and want is the confidence that I CAN buy anything I want. I also like watching ppl spend money for some reason and like giving gifts much more than spending money on myself or receiving gifts
My cheapest house in the neighborhood, has almost doubled in value since I bought it in 2013. I am expecting it to plateau. I am lucky that I graduated at a pretty good time, and bought soon after (not the best, but far better than new grads have it now).
Me too. Although I make friends easily. Some of the introvert tendencies have come about more with age. One of the best things about Covid is not going to night clubs with friends. I hope that lasts as Covid goes away.
I wear pants until they are dirty, which can be months. Usually the cause of needing to wash my pants is mustard.
The movie Fight Club really influenced me in my college years. Kinda the message about consumerism, and the trap that it is, really stuck with me.
I love this movie and am trying to break free from the consumerism trap too. If I don’t need it, should I really buy it? That being said, I am all for buying the best quality one can afford for any given item. At some point that gets ridiculous though. For example, I love the engineering in high end watches (think Omega, Rolex, Piaget) but could never consider spending the money for the “sports” models made of stainless steal (>$5k).
Despite swearing off politics, I’m coming in just to say I agree with @mnben87 on spending. My wife and I spend significantly more than you do and likely make similar money (engineering FTW), but still play things safe enough to contribute heavily to retirement, have a safety net, and travel. Some of the advantage we have is living in a cheap area - built a 2200 square foot house with a basement for $220k counting property and drive cars we bought new in 2016 (but are paid off). We have very frugal friends and god-awful frugal family that will be able to/have retire(d) early, so we have good examples around us.
But we also see people building the same $220k houses with zero downpayment on a 5/1 or general high interest loan, who I know likely have a household income of <$60k and several kids. That sorta stuff makes me anxious for them.
Long way to say it, but a lot of our struggle is that so many people expect to live a 5-star lifestyle before, or without attaining a career and/or income that supports it. Before working (and meeting my wife), I lived on $1100 per month through college doing many of the things talked about above. Cheap ass phone and plan, $4k car, and the most I ever paid for rent was $450 with utilities.
Media makes it feel like everyone has all the awesome stuff people could want, but it’s definitely not the case. My generation, especially, and the one after haven’t really taken to saving for the future or living beneath their means. A cheap, reliable car isn’t sexy but will get the job done. A smaller house can still be a home, and a cheap phone (especially now) is at least 95% as good as the flagship phones. I repeatedly have to coach my wife on this, but she’s catching on.
So yes, random divergence into real vs artificial standard of living, but worthwhile discussion. Success and happiness can be achieved on a pretty modest salary if you live frugal, plan a little, and don’t get sucked into extreme consumerism.
The issue here is that it wouldn’t be a 5-star lifestyle for me and I don’t think it pans out for many pursuing it either. Financial stress is the #1 cause of divorce in the US. We have some of the biggest houses and cars, but we aren’t the happiest (we generally rank below many poor countries in the surveys).
In that boat with you. She still buys so much crap on Amazon. I am trying to get her to stop with that, but it is hard. Most of it, I would pay not to have as it just become clutter and makes me less happy. She bought this stupid selfie stick with halo light on it. I try to be delicate around these matters, but was thinking, WTF, I already think your first selfie stick is stupid, why do you now have one with a stand and a light. Was the flash on your camera not enough? Now this thing sits around in my small house making me angry when I see it.
@cyclonengineer and garagerocker I think you may enjoy this guys writing. It is kinda a take on the message of Fight Club (except it is more about maximizing happiness, vs nihilism).
ooh I LOVE Mr. Money Mustache’s articles!!!
I have read close to all of them. I think he has a good philosophy on life and money.
Agreed. I actually think someone here introduced it to me after I was down on myself for a math grade or something
You’re thinking of like 1950’s suburbia right? Just about everyone was guaranteed a stable job/paycheck, a house, a partner and whatnot. Unfortunate these guarantees are now a byproduct of the past.
With our current economic crash more people are out of work than ever before, businesses are suffering if not closing down for good and the government has now suspended job keeper payments despite not providing adequate stimuli to get things up and running again.
At the same time, property prices continue to rise… as a matter of fact everything is more expensive. Filling up my car the other week cost me 110$.
Young Australians need to cut down on avocado toast, remember.
My guilty pleasure is passionfruit! Very expensive though, difficult to acquire in the USA.
Long Island, NY.
… and when you do find it, it’s sour and dry 
Passionfruit is pretty cheap in China, had a TON of it in Hainan- don’t think I can go back to packaged, store- ripened now… 
mmmmmmmmmmm
I’ve actually grown my own passionfruit before. It’s not as good as the store brought, fresh passionfruit but it gets the job done at a fraction of the cost.
Really? I used to go to Long Island 1-2x/month like clockwork when I lived in the USA. I was there for Hurricane Irene. Was also in the USA for Hurricane Sandy and the remnants of tropical storm Nicole. I still routinely track the weather patterns and events in the USA as what happens over there is more exciting comparative to what happens here.
I’m not too fussed regarding the need for superficial, materialistic possessions. Give me an affordable house with adequate ammenities (bed, kitchen, bathroom) and I’m happy. Unfortunately this isn’t possible within Australia unless one wishes to live rurally.
If I go that rural I’ll never see my family, that’s a problem. Not to mention a potential lack of economic opportunity.
Clearly I need to get rich investing in dogecoin!
