Yup. I'm a tail end boomer and my parents grew up during the great depression. They were quite frugal. I still remember Dad doing things like taking a toaster apart to see if he could figure out why the toast wasn't popping up (he did fix it, and they used that toaster for years and years after that - I still have it and it still works). And when you did have to spend money you looked for the best value you could get for that money. Mom and Dad had no use for cheap junk :)
Hahaha. Boomers have a philosophy of caution with their money? Your average boomer definitely doesn't. 28% of boomers are retiring with zero in retirement savings and the average member of that generation only has 148k saved for retirement. Overall? They make lots of poor discretionary purchases. They don't prepare for the future until retirement is staring them in the face and they're bad with money I'm blue collar and 33, nothing handed to me, and I'm already way better off than people 30 years my senior because I budget and scrimp to have a 30% savings rate. That's while having a wife and kiddo. I'm so tired of people saying how irresponsible all younger people are. They should be more worried throwing stones in a glass house
@xlerb2286 They are making things less and less repairable. Me and my bf are millennials and we reluctantly replaced an older washer after gone the home repair route several times. Something malfunctioned on the new washer within the month, it was so hard to find the propriety part, and then it still didn't fully work without some custom fitting by my bf. This is just one of the many ways we're losing frugal alternatives that we even counted on being there as kids. So many conversations start with "you used to be able to just [do cheaper option here]" as more companies insist on being the middle man in every aspect of the product or service.
I’m 53 and this really hits home. Growing up money was scarce. I have repaired my refrigerator 3x and dryer x1. I could have easily purchased a new one but that mindset doesn’t leave you!! My Dad would be proud 🙏
“Buy a high quality item that will last” Most things aren’t made to last anymore. Jeans, one of the staples of quality American clothing, barely last a year now when they used to be nearly bulletproof in the 80s. The price of these items went way higher and the quality fell through the floor.
There are no quality items available any more, especially for things that matter. Furniture, cupboards, clothes, vehicles, and appliances are all made to break after a couple years.
I buy second hand for so many things, the best quality but used. I have expensive clothes that I’d never have paid the full price for, I keep them forever
You can still find quality items, but it takes a lot of work, and ignoring trendy brand names. For example, I could buy a high end t-shirt with a well-known designer name and it would not last - or I could spend the same amount on a lesser known brand that would last for years. You might not want to tell your friends you bought your shirt at Eileen Fisher ... but you'll still have that $78 shirt in 10 years.
All American Jeans(100% American made from the cotton plant to the sewing) ARE still excellent quality and will last you just as well (if not slightly better than 1980's jeans)
I am a tail=end boomer. My parents were children of the Depression and WW2 took place during their high school years. They taught me and my siblings the importance of living below our means, paying our bills on time, and to save. Thanks Mom and Dad!
I too am tail-end boomer. My dad immigrated from England & had fought in WWII. Their rationing was severe. He pounded that into me how to be fugal, have a garden, don't waste.
Not going to work this time, when the Feds print print print and the inflation is 18% on average but your savings account gets you 3-4% in a high interest savings account, then that is BS.
What our parents used to say: "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without." Living below your means is a must if you want to become financially independent. Erin is the kind of woman every man should want to marry.
When BlackRock and landlords use algorithms to make sure to keep rental prices high there is no affording much of anything other than living with your parents for a decade after you graduate from any level of education. The boomers didn’t live their entire lives like the rest of us in never trickles down Reaganomics, added intentional unenforcement of anti monopoly laws (see “the Borking of America” video) and therefore there is hardly any competition which is why “Greedflation” exists Reaganomics The boomers grew up during the largest wealthiest middle class in history called “the Golden Age of Economic expansion of the American middle class.” Wages stagnated in 1981 when Reagan slashed taxes and in 82 he made stockbuybacks legal(Boeing quarterly stockbuybacks for decades before airplanes coming apart in midair). We are now in the ROBBER Baron’s 2nd Gilded, IN JUST A BOOMERS LIFESPAN. 50 TRILLION DOLLARS STOLEN from regular Americans over 50 years. That’s $1,100 PER PERSON PER MONTH FOR LIFE stolen from almost every American due to neoliberal Reaganomics.
My Mother was a boomer, born on a farm, she got up at 5am to milk cows. Got up at 5am her whole life. Ya, she didn’t have much patience for complaints. Thanks mom!
As a boomer, when I was young we did not have much money. Most meals were cooked at home, we had one TV, paid cash for everything, and lived on a budget. There are many things today that are considered "essential" such as internet, streaming, cable, cell phones, nail salons, etc. that did not exist 50 years ago. There are just so many more ways to spend money now and it's so easy to do that with a couple of clicks!
Internet access and cell phones are not in the same category as "nail salons". To work, most people need internet access. Bosses now email you, your tax, paycheck, and benefit info is online, you use an app to clock-in, etc. Even for minimum wage jobs, your boss will text you your schedule or ask you to cover. Not to mention you need the internet for school. Technology isn't optional even if all you do is work, go to school, look at the wall, then sleep.
I think one thing that was missing was the old adage of “keeping up with the Joneses”. When Boomers were younger, the Joneses were typically their neighbors or coworkers. This meant that for the most part, the comparison was with people in generally the same socioeconomic class. Today, with social media, the comparison is against people from all different socioeconomic classes, or at least people showing you in a few minutes how they’re living their best lives. This sets up unrealistic expectations and drives poor consumer behavior.
I agree completely. I am a boomer. Not only were credit cards not accepted in stores back in the day, they were hard to obtain. I did not have one until my 30s. I believe media literacy training both for news and advertising could help people spend less. If you realize that you are being pressured to buy things because not having them makes you less worthy as a human being, then you have a super-power: immunity to sales pitches.
I got a nice futon with a high quality innerspring mattress and wood frame 9.5 years ago. I see no issues with it. My bed frame and dresser is from my great grandmother. She gave it to me 20 years ago. My desk is a hand me down from my mom that's been around for decades. Not the best quality wood but it's still holding up. I covered it with 3M stainable veneer and it looks good.
I have only ever owned one sofa in my life. It is the only sofa I will ever have. It’s from the 1960s and made of Naugahyde! Get your grandma’s furniture! Because nothing made today (that the average person can afford) will last
Very cool! It is harder but definitely possible to inherit or find good quality furniture, but I do think that now many paying jobs demand you relocate to accept them, and layoffs necessitating moves are common (unsure if they were ever uncommon? Weren't there always a mobile class, often exceptionally poor and unseen I think). I invest in good quality clothes, vehicle, and a few essential tools, etc. But overall I don't have the option to own anything that large, and long-lasting wood furniture is very heavy.
Erin, Another great video but you left out the single biggest wealth driver of boomers…Those yellow appliances they bought in the 1970s still work today 😂😂😂
My Old Yeller GE Fridge lasted 39 1/2 years before it died. The same part kept going out on it. I got a new Maytag, put OY on the curb. A fellow came by 2 hours later, curb shopped and was able to repair it successfully. As far as I know, it's still running. It was resurrected and got a second life.
i have the maytag washing machine that my mom bought in 1973 when we built a new home. it has has one repair and has been doing 1-2 loads a day for over 50 years!! if everything lasted this long we could all retire at 30:)
Erin, one big way to save money is to take your lunch to work. You have more time to eat and relax rather than driving to a restaurant, grabbing fast food, scarfing it down, and hurrying back to the job. Probably better for your digestion as well.
Yes! I ate in the break room every day. It also saves time, gas and hassle. Saved a lot of money over the years. Now I can live off that money (investments) and eat out at leisure (retired).
Hello Erin I'm basically a senior citizen and of African-American descent but I have to admit that you are very easy to listen to, you share very good info, and you come across as very likable. Stay humble young lady. I have no doubt that you will acquire success with what you are trying to do here
For 65yrs of my life, I've been an Electronics Junkie. So when my $100 microwave oven failed, I watched a dozen videos about what could be the cause. I saved it by replacing a $2 door switch! Snap out the old switch, snap in the new one. It's that simple...@@ErinTalksMoney
Yes! You're literally the first and only millenial person I've seen give any credit to boomers for anything. Things were cheaper, yes, but we made WAY less money. My biggest realization came when I was starting my own business in 1997 with a family and mortgage. I asked myself with absolutely everything I thought to buy: "do I REALLY need this?" 9 out of 10 times, the answer was NO. Now, I'm successful and make great money, and I'm trying to retire. Most younger generation folks just like to blame my generation for their difficulties.
@kathyschreiber9947 there’s really only one thing that the boomers did wrong collectively, and it’s literally in the name: baby boomers. They had too many children and the population exploded as a result. Overall, it may be a bit more difficult to pay for things today, but that’s a direct result of supply and demand It wasn’t policies that caused people’s financial problems. It wasn’t the boomers (except the part of collectively having too many kids). It’s because of supply and demand. It’s also because of poor impulse control and instant gratification. People can absolutely have more control over their finances but choose not to out of convenience I’ve listened to my parents (one boomer, one gen x) and others within their age range throughout my childhood. I’ve listened intently to narrow down the good advice and weed out the bad advice. It worked for me at 19 years old making $11.50 per hour. And almost a decade later, my rate of pay has somewhat outpaced inflation, but it still works and I am able to save more than half of my income. Ultimately, what needs to stop are the excuses
We cook mostly at home for dinner, I take leftovers for lunch the next day, we meal plan, I make coffee at home and take it to work, and we live well below our means. I'm retiring next year at age 50.
I'm so curious how your story affects younger people today. Do they get inspired and say I'm going to do that too? Do they gloss over it as soon as the theme of delayed gratification becomes obvious? Do they scoff and say, "Yeah but it was possible back then, not anymore". I'm guessing only the minority ever read the whole quote and get inspired....
@@dstevens518 - My experience is that most young people will ridicule him for even suggesting it. I had a conversation with a 25-year old who became absolutely livid at the mere suggestion that she get a roommate and save up money to buy her own place. I mean totally unglued! She was deeply offended that anyone would even suggest that she did not have a right to a home in her parents neighborhood at a price she could afford on her wages as a part-time dog walker and Uber driver.
@chiplangowski3298 I had the same experience. Person unglued at the suggestion one does not have to buy new cars and go on 2 week vacations every year. I kid you not, I got "I deserve it". 😂😂😂
I'm a millenial, I make 6 figures, and I do all this (plus everything in the video). My car was paid off 10 years ago, I own a house and was paying double mortgage payments (now I'm selling it for the equity), and I cook at home 99% of the time. I have 3 kids and I'm struggling a lot financially atm, but I habe cut almost all spending (Amazon etc.), and I stick to my budget app YNAB daily to get me through. Groceries and other costs have skyrocketed. It doesn't hurt to keep those things in mind when talking to millenials who are doing these things already and are still having a really hard time
1966 to 1970 we baby boomers were taught typing,sewing and cooking classes, the guys had shop class for cars and metal and wood. We women did sew our clothes and cooked breakfast lunch and dinner and got jobs with typing skills right out of high school. Lost skills for many millennials.
Indeed. I had woodworking AND Auto Shop! Still fix my own car today. Most younger people can't even change a tire or even CHECK their oil, much less change it!
I'm a young millennial and we had classes for learning those things in my school too in the 2000s/early 2010s. Better yet, it wasn't segregated by gender either. Both boys and girls could take shop classes, and were REQUIRED to take basic computer classes and a health class which included segments about cooking and sewing.
Typists are going to be replaced by AI, what good is cooking your meals when you are being priced out of Walmart. The only thing I am with her on is by higher quality long term assets. For example, buy a metal roof to prevent costly repairs. Get an older car that doesn’t need to update over the air and is made in china. Cash is trash you will need to save in safer assets such as airable land and Precious Metals. The future is junk.
I do this and save hundreds of dollars a week. My Sundays are spent meal prepping for work/school and evening meals. Planning saves time, money and helps your waistline ;)
I definitely agree with the eating out. When my wife & I finally got serious about money & did a budget, we looked back at the past few months' bank statements. The amount we spent on fast food alone made me sick to my stomach, not even including nicer restaurants. After we cut eating out, it was like we gave ourselves a couple hundred dollars raise, & turns out we're damn good cooks!
I also cut (and color) my own hair, my husbands hair, the dogs hair and I cut my kids hair when they were home (they are now adults and get professional cuts). My husband was a very well paid partner in an investment firm (we retired in our 50s). His home hair cut never impacted his career 😂. Or maybe it did, because I could cut his hair in 10 minutes instead of him traveling to barber and wasting 30 minutes. I could also cut his hair as frequently as he wanted and whenever he wanted (like before a big client meeting).
I hate when I hear someone say they can’t save and I can see that their hair is freshly blown out, their nails and toes are done, they have an expensive new car every few years and walk in with store bought coffee every morning. Vacations! Very expensive. The newest cell phone every couple years! None of these things are necessities. Young people, in their 20’s want it all, right now, before they establish themselves, without working for it and waiting for those things later in life.
I bought a submarine advertised for $5 in the back of a comic book in the late 60s. Needless to say, I never got my submarine. But 10 years later I did join the Navy.😊
I saved my money and sent my $6.95 in to the ad. They promised me that if I followed the directions, I would have an 8 inch dick in 3 weeks. Yeah, it came. It was made of hard plastic.
Another factor today is all the extra stuff we "have to" have that is quite expensive. Smart phones, laptops, internet and phone bills, subscriptions, etc. Back in the day boomers likely had a land line that set them back a small amount every month. Now you need way more bills to participate in modern society.
I make my cafe latte at home everyday. It comes down to 36 cents per cup when I did the math. I bought a nice espresso machine and don’t regret a single dollar it cost me. Saving is our superpower 💪🏼😁💕 love your videos
Some of my clients have espresso machines and wow they really do a good job. I have definitely been tempted, because the normal coffee pot or coffee press is so easy to screw up! (For me!)
Buying quality is the only way to go in the long run. All of my family laughed at me when I bought a $1,000 dinning room table. We all were looking for tables and they all bought $200-400 dollar tables. But, they have all had to replace their tables multiple times and 25 years later I still have mine.
Erin, as a boomer, we grew up very frugal. As a family we rarely ate out. Our vacation time was basically once a year over a long weekend. I owned many cheap used cars. I didnt fly on an airplane until I was 25 and that was from LGA to BOS. Didn't have a color TV in our house until I was 15. Was not given an allowance, and had to shovel snow, mow lawns or deliver newspapers to make money. Paid for my own car, insurance, gasoline and other expenses like all adults should. Went to college in the evenings after working a full-time job and paid as I went to get my degree. Struggled to buy first home at an early age but did without of many things in order to pay my bills. From what I can discern, these trade-offs would be considered unacceptable by younger generations today. Further, the younger generations don't want to listen to anyone much older than them about most if not all matters of importance. Just my own experience.
Vacations? Sounds cool, can't relate. A TV? What would I do with a TV? Side jobs? Illegal. A full time job that pays enough for college? Where do I apply! Buying a home? You mean "invest in an equity asset property"? I'm not on Wall Street 😂 None of these opportunities exist anymore. It's lovely that you had them, but for us, if we work hard and get lucky, maybe one day we'll be living in a van by the river 😊
@@valeriaswanne I obviously don't know your situation but feel for you if you are in challenging circumstances. I have two sons, they are both in their 20s. They both went to state college and studied STEM disciplines. They are both employed making near 6 figures. Most of their colleagues from high school did not study STEM (or medicine or law) or attend a trade school. I have observed over and over that these same people find themselves in a less than optimal financial situation today. Life is certainly not fair, but if you focus on what society needs, you can make a decent living. The question I have, is did you go to college? If so, what was your major? If not, did you go to trade school? If so, what did you focus on? Lastly, what do you do for income? You can change your trajectory in life, but it requires one to do things differently than they have in the past. I do hope things improve for you and wish you success in your future.
@@valeriaswannewhere do you live that side jobs are illegal? What were you doing in high school? I worked after school and weekends. I went to Europe for 3 weeks with a friend when I graduated, then attended a community college that September. Have you thought of attending a community college and state university? How about a mobile home as your first home? What exactly are you doing to improve your situation? Complaining will not get you anywhere.
Oh my gosh the job of delivering newspapers. I still remember my high school age brothers getting up and delivering papers long before dawn, before then going to school for the day.
@@justjoanish Yep, when I ultimately gave up my newspaper route, I had 117 daily customers and over 60 on Sundays. It was a lot of work, but taught me so many lessons in life. I also got an opportunity to make my own money which I think every young person should have.
Good job Erin. As a boomer. I do all of the things you listed and more. One way we built wealth was "sweat equity" in building our own house. We hired a lot of help, but we also worked ourselves crazy to save money. A decade later we had enough equity to borrow against to buy some rental properties. That has also been a great wealth builder, although we also once again worked like crazy for a while. But probably the wisest thing to do is live below your means and not buy on impulse. I remember a story from a book called "Farmer Boy" where the boy asked his father if he should spend his money at the fair to buy some lemonade. His father's advice was to think of how many potatoes the boy had to dig to earn that money. If he thinks the lemonade was worth digging all those potatoes, then go ahead and buy. The boy decided not to. I've often decided against blowing money on something because I decided the work to get that money was more valuable than the thing I was thinking of buying.
I'm gen X and entered the work world right at the height of the early 1980's economic disaster. I married young (22), stayed married and had the benefit of two working adults, have only owned 5 vehicles over 40 years (all purchased used), do all my own vehicle repairs, we "eat out" less than 10x a year, we've only taken 4 international vaccations over 40 years, I built 2 of the 3 houses we've owned (I am not in any type of building trade), and we do all our own house maintenance.My wife is not materialist and has very little jewelry and not too many clothes. We retired at age 53. Life is expensive when you have to pay for everything that you could do yourself.
There were some tough lessons in that late 80's/90's recession. I lived in abject poverty for several years. I didn't really complain, at the time. So many of many of my peers were in the same boat. But I look back now and wonder how I got through it. I couldn't do it again. No way. It's one thing when you can't afford new boots. It's another thing when you can't afford the contact adhesive to fix the ones that you've got and have to "borrow" it from someone. Years after that debacle I felt cheated. I felt like society had somehow robbed me of a right. Years later I came to realise that it was almost a blessing in disguise. It taught me to be resourceful. It taught me to be appreciative of what I had and not to be envious of what I didn't have. Why do I say, "almost a blessing in disguise"? My problem now is that I hold onto cash for dear mercy, far more than I have to or should.
OMG, your story is so similar to mine! We're so used to being ignored our whole lives by marketers and society in general we just quietly go through life doing our thing and learned to be extremely independent and self sufficient along the way.
@@RareGenXer That's true, isn't it. We were sought of forgotten by marketers. They sold to our parents, they sold to our kids, but never us. I'd never thought of that before. The advertisements were always for someone else. They still are to a point. How interesting. You've enlightened someone, today.
Exactly! Same here. I'm 63 and just bought my 3rd car. Drove my Pontiac for 23 years, my Ford for 20 years, now bought a GM. It doesn't matter what brand car you buy as long as you take care of it. (Yes, I know the Pontiac was a GM too). Always fix everything before you buy new - and with the internet it is easier than ever. Boomers show you how to fix everything with youtube videos.
That is part of the problem; people want a "starter" home in trendy, popular, expensive areas. Or they might just want a house in the neighborhood that they grew up in. Those are more often aspirational homes, not starter homes. People need to target those homes when they sell their starter home and move up to their second or even third home.
@@chiplangowski3298a lot of the trendy and popular areas also tend to be where the majority of decent paying jobs are located at. Sure you could drive 1 hour into the city but we already have people doing that in even those suburban areas are very expensive.
You buy a home that's a reasonable distance from where you work... if you work there, you buy a home there. It makes no sense to drive over 2 hours each way. The average home in america is out of reach for someone making the average income. I refuse to hate the next generation the way the boomers hate us. Being blamed for politics and the economy while you're still in high school is rediculous.
My parents bought a home on the east side of Los Gatos in 1965 for $21,500. I grew up there as a kid until age 11 when we moved away. That house was nothing special and was essentially a tract home with all of the other homes in the neighborhood having the same basic floor plan. Today that house is valued at $2.4M. Of course the house has been renovated and upgraded to today's luxury expectations, but even unrenovated it would probably fetch at least $2M.
I do all these things, although I go out for coffee once a week as a treat. Eating at home is a no brainer. Most restaurants suck and they are beyond ridiculously expensive.
I'm a retired boomer and I use my credit card for everything I can. The key is to pay it off every month. I get cash back and over the years have gotten $1000. This year I'm so far at $120 from my cash back card.
Back when Dad was farming he put all the farm expenses on his then-new Discover card, got the cash back, and paid off the card in full every month. After a couple years he got a letter saying if he didn't start carrying a balance they were going to close the account. So he left a few dollars on the card on the winter months when there wasn't much going on. That bought him about another year, then Discover closed the account. Fast forward a year, he gets a Discover application in the mail, fills it out, and the game starts over again. Farming is an expensive business so he put many thousands on those cards and got some hefty cash back payments. And I doubt they ever got more than a dollar or two out of interest from him in total. :)
I’m a millennial and I’m so glad I found out about this hack. Since using my credit card like a debit card, paying it off every month, and collecting the cash back I’ve been able to save that money over the course of the year, and come Christmas time, I have on average about $600 free money to use on gifts!
@@JBoy340aif you think you're getting that banks money you're naive. They're giving you 2% from the person who is buried at 28% interest, wow what a deal! Just hoping you slip up and all the money they gave you comes back plus more
And now the apartment is probably $450k. Are your wages 10x what they were in 1997? Doubt it. That's the problem, wages have been flat for 50 years in real terms, but prices have exploded in that time.
@@bite-sizedshorts9635They probably meant a condo but it was apartment-style. Many condos are essentially an apartment that you purchase instead of rent.
Also, if you bought a house in 1975, it would have a 9% interest rate... In '79, it would be 13%. They always leave that out when talking about home prices being low back then, the payment wouldn't be low lol.
@@meonlydanielle My first one in the 1970s was 8%, and the monthly payment was about $150, varying because of the escrow for insurance and taxes. So if the price of the house was low, then the payments had to be low.
My grandparents owned several small stores and my mother worked in the store. My friends would go off on vacation and we always worked. Helping out in the store. We celebrated Christmas and New Year’s and Thanksgiving after the store was closed. The store was open seven days a week from 6:00 am to 11:pm. The store is long gone. And I am 67 years old and retired in 2022. Well, sort of retired. I am very busy running my own business with plans to expand it into another state soon. My grandfather said if you’re looking to start a business make sure it fills a need. He had a grocery store because people need to eat. I have rental homes because people need a place to sleep. Make a budget and follow it. If you use a cc pay the card off each month. Buy a used car and hold on to it for years Don’t borrow money to go college! Consider learning a trade. Plumbers, bakers, electricians will always be needed.
Boomer here. When I worked in the corporate world, I brought my coffee and my lunch to work. We all did. There was no latte/coffee culture for the mornings. Many people don't realize how much that saves you. Apart from that, though, we got *real* interest from our savings. I'd bring my money and passbook to the bank, and it was always exciting to see how much my savings had grown in the past two weeks. Now, banks want to charge more interest on loans and mortgages, but not give anything back to the savers whose money the banks are using to invest and profit from.
No matter how many packed lunches and skipped coffees you bring that won't change the fact that the house price to income ratio has trippled since you got yours. People like you are so out of touch with reality it is insane.
Millennial here. I don't buy or bring lunch to work because I don't eat lunch. I don't drink coffee. I don't take vacations. I work 10 hours of overtime every week. I fix my own house and my own cars. I don't buy anyone except my kids gifts. I haven't bought any clothes except socks and underwear in twelve years. My sandals are ziptied together, my boots are repaired. This is the bare minimum it takes to have a home with kids in it and still put away money for investment in 2024.
@@Sadreath Not so. It's up to you to choose to live where housing is cheaper. My previous house sold for 5 times what it cost, but when I sold it, I was making almost 8 times as much per hour. It's the whole mindset of not wasting money. You shouldn't expect to buy a nice house when you first get out of school. I didn't back 50 years ago. I rented a cheap shack of a one-bedroom house for a few years. Then I rented and finally bought a used mobile home and lived in that for three years. Today I'm retired and living in a four-bedroom house with a dining room. It's the first home I ever lived in that has a dining room. BTW, packing lunch and skipping coffee can save hundreds per month for many people. That would be almost half my last mortgage payment.
@@bite-sizedshorts9635I have to agree. Many people want to live where they can’t afford it. I bought a house at 24 (2017) for 131k that house is 250k now and that’s insane but still affordable. It’s hard for me to feel bad for someone making 90k in California and can’t buy a house when they could go elsewhere in this massive country make a little less and cut expenses in half.
Long years ago, I bought an exercise bike at a garage sale for $5 or $10. I rode it till the bearings wore out. Later, after Hubby and I got married, we found an Airdyne for $85 at the pawn shop . It had 4800 miles on the odo. It just turned over 8000 miles and is still going strong. Quality counts for a lot.
I NEVER bought a new piece of furniture.I always looked for used,clean,non smoking house and bought from someone who got bored and needed the latest and most fashionable.We always shop around and price hard.And society wants all the bells and whistles with everything today.Nobody wants to wait,its all now.
Yeah, I'm a mechanic, and this is a depressingly common sentiment. It's also wildly incorrect. You know what IS correct, though? That people used to BOTHER to take care of their things better. Notably, because technology used to be much more expensive. And yes, older folks who grew up then are ABSOLUTELY as guilty of this as anyone else.
This is called the Walmart effect. Globalisation made sure you can make anything anywhere with minimal attention to quality. That's what you are going to get when you take things to far. And I am from one of those countries where all the shitty jobs are outsourced just because the labour costs are lower.
My tip as a European Gen X: don't run after trends. Not in clothes, furniture, holiday's, cars etc. In my country credit cards aren't widely used or accepted. Worked for a company once that handled business credit cards and learned that I'm NEVER going to get one. My biggest regret has been clothes. In the store I already doubted if the piece was right for me but still bought it. Went home, put it in my closet and..... never wore it. Happened to me several times and cost me a lot of money. Another thing that I had in my younger years was going shopping and convincing myself I 'deserved' to buy a completely useless item.
retired boomer here. I took coffee to work every day and my lunch 4 days a week. I worked on my own vehicles and drove them 20 years or more. Always pay off the credit card in full by the due date. My parents were depression children. I was told to start earning money at age 10 as my parents could not afford to pay for college. i worked thru college and every school break period including holidays. My dad told me young to save and invest 20% of my take home, which I did. retirement is now easy
I bet you that if you account for inflation, boomers spent ASTRONOMICALLY more on the actual television than we do now. Technology has absolutely dive bombed in price over the years, which is certainly a double edge sword, making it much easier to underestimate your technology/ internet spending. (Which isn't me excusing those that do.)
@@moxiebbwncYup, I remember boomers with cable and paying for specialty channels too, like ESPN for sports or HBO for movies... Streaming is dirt cheap in comparison, but looks like they're going to keep raising prices and merging until we've basically got cable prices and more limited choices again..
Not sure who you're talking about, but there's many different ways to cheap out on streaming. My credit card cuts me deals all the time. $8 off Disney+. I've gotten Paramount+ for free for 3 months the last two years. A buddy gets ad-free CZcams because he's an ATT customer. Free trial offers. Special promotions. Roku and Pluto TV (free with ads).
Yeah I drive an 02 civic. Southern car, bought it with 95k miles 3 years ago and it was $4000 at the too of the crazy car market. It's the ugliest maroon red, small dents everywhere and peeling clear coat but it's super reliable and gets me where I need to go every time
hello Erin, I thank you for this video, it's really genius, I recently read the book Astro Money Alchemy, which goes really deep into the world of financial secrets and how to attract money, it's really good, and once again Erin, well done for the video
If you have dry, jarred, canned, or any non-perishable items that you use on a regular basis, buy in bulk!! You may spend more upfront, but you will be purchasing less often, and can save a TON on a per-unit basis.
Totally do this! Laundry detergent, toilet paper, sponges, 2for 1 shampoo/conditioner. You can save a small fortune if you buy in bulk and look for special deals.
Easy way to cook at home. Get some boneless chicken breasts and some BBQ sauce and put it in a pan and cook it in an oven. Then get some frozen vegetables and you have a healthy meal. Prep time is approximately 5 minutes, cook time is about 60-90 minutes. And some grocery stores sell big packs of chicken breasts as a loss leader.
Window shopping used to be a thing. You could walk by stores and admire what was on offer. To actually buy it, you would need to go inside, stand in line, etc. That provided some separation that helped avoid impulse buying. Being able to scroll and click has removed that barrier. You are exactly right about letting the cart sit a day or two. I have been using that technique and it really helps. Another thing you can do is write down what you are thinking of buying and wait until the end of the month to see if you still want and can afford it.
Young boomer, here. Can we agree that our education system has generally failed to provide financial education to students over the last 35+ years? When you combine the lack of financial education with the increasing divisiveness promoted by many in our media, it’s pretty easy to become ‘weaponized’ against other generations. Financial literacy is difficult regardless of your generation, but it CAN be achieved. This channel is an excellent start.
I don't disagree...but I'm not sure it was the educational system that failed...I think it was the parents who failed to teach their children to live below your means, pay your bills on time, delay gratification, etc...
@@DocJS , I've seen many calls for financial literacy classes in high schools. I'm a Boomer, and we didn't have them either, as far as I know. It would have been helpful to know more about these things when I was young. In fact, my first career job started with an internship, and when they switched me to a regular employee, I didn't go through the regular onboarding process and didn't find out about the 401K for years. I might have thought to ask about it if I had taken a financial literacy class.
Parents need to quit blaming the education system for all our kids failures. Spend time with your kids, teach them right from wrong, model proper etiquette, show them how to be a good spouse, and teach them about finances. It is called parenting and it is an awesome experience when you take the time to do it.
@@DocJS - Kids learn more by watching and experience. Too many Boomer and Gen-X parents gave their kids everything they ever wanted growing up. Those kids reached adulthood with the expectation that they deserved everything they wanted. Lessons of financial literacy fell on deaf ears.
As a Boomer savings were just as hard to come by years ago as today since salaries were lower. I am driving my Honda CR-V for 17 years, live in the same home for 30+ years and cook most meals at home. Thanks for the video.
Ordering out is also a symptom of having both parents work. Between kids activities, work, and housekeeping, sometimes there just isn’t enough time. It would be interesting for you to consider how many hours a week the boomer household worked vs millennial. I bet millennials have boomers beat by ~50%.
But you would have to factor in other changes as well: Average housing size has increased tremendously, requiring more time to clean and maintain. Kids' activities are no longer "Go outside and play" but highly organized and time-consuming, which reduce the time families have to prepare meals/delay hungry kids from eating. No one I knew had housekeepers or landscapers - boomers always did that themselves. .So maybe closer to a tradeoff than you might think?
There is more overall wealth now than in the past - the issue is how it is distributed. I’m in my 60’s. The best advice I can give younger people is to not care about what others think about the car you drive or the furniture you own or the clothes you have - those things are not what is important. Develop a long term plan to build your wealth without being derailed by any need to impress others.
Living below your means is the best financial concept ever. You don't have to live like a pauper but taking some of the dollars you could spend on wants today and investing them for tomorrow is a simple way for us normal wage slaves to be in a better spot tomorrow. I'm 63 and retiring in a couple months. We won't be flying to the Riviera every other week but we're looking at a comfortable retirement. And that's only because we balanced enjoying life in the present and saving for the future.
Such a simple and elegant solution. No wonder it gets lost in the noise of generations chirping each other today. Watch how many comments this topic will elicit, all because it has the words Boomer and Millennial in the title. Still, I feel for the younger gen today, there's way more temptation, way more crap to buy, and way more costs to overcome to get to FI.
@@dstevens518 Ain't that the truth. Chatting with some of the younger people at work there are times I want to give them a stern lecture about not spending money on every shiny thing that comes along, and the next minute I'm in awe that they're doing so well in navigating a world that is more complex and expensive than when I was just out of college and full of beans ;)
@@xlerb2286 Yup, crazy complex financial world today compared to when we were young. Problem is, despite the higher hurdles the younger gen face, it's still the same path to FI. Save/invest/time. If I had to do it all over again, I'd move somewhere cheap and live the same frugal life I already do. But I'd be a hundred times smarter about investing in index funds, especially after the market eventually tanks again.
I sewed some of my clothes for school and shopped locally first before going out of town to the mall or say a Boston Store in a bigger city. Also, your old school clothes became your play clothes or clothes for yard work etc... Also, we had a garden and canned our tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon rind. Our family trips might be a week of camping at state park. We walked or rode our bikes to the library, park or swimming pool in the summer.
The house my Parents bought in the 70s that I was raised in cost 15,000. That exact same house is worth at least 565,000 today! Housing is so much here.
Focus on finding the best place to provide you the optimum balance of career opportunity vs. cost of living (ie. housing, transit costs, food, etc). I always thought the best place was the one with the cheapest cost of living, cause then you can more easily save/invest. But my wife countered that if you have a career with a high ceiling, then you probably are better off in a city that gives that career the best opportunity, cause hopefully someday your earnings will dwarf your expenses. So find the right place for you and your career, then chip away until you start building momentum.
@@CarrieV9 Ah yes, I forgot about the $489.6k median income we all enjoy, in order to afford that $565k house. Just like our parents did, right? Everything must have gone up in equal proportion since then, and wages definitely haven't been stagnant since the 80s!
That's the main thing boomers did to save money if you ask me. Houses have doubled every 10-12 years for the last 50-60 years so they bought a house as soon as they could whereas millennials just recently crossed the 50% home ownership rate and millennials are in their late 20s to early 40s.
One thing that really saved was taking my own lunch to work. It was leftovers, or in a pinch a TV dinner, can of soup or whatever. It saved time, gas, over-eating and hassle. Now I'm retired I can go out to eat at my leisure.
K cups is my luxury. About $.75 at home. We eat out only once per week. We live in the north. Lower our thermostat in the winter to 62 at night, and raise to 68 in the daytime. In the summer we set the air conditioner to 76. We have a mobile internet connection for $ 55 per month versus cable at $120. My wife cuts my hair for free versus $22 at the hair stylist. We are conscious about excess lights on in the evening. Do all of our grocery shopping at Aldis or Walmart. We have an extra freezer and take advantage of sales. We have a modest sized garden and grow about 25% of our food. Vary seldom use a credit card, and if we di, then pay off the balances every 2 weeks. We are boomers and are also baby step multi millionaires.
75 cents each for a watered down K cup? Damn bro that’s crazy I make gourmet coffee cheaper than that with my Walmart 5 cup coffee maker that cost me $9. You gotta get with the program!
My father shared these two pearls of wisdom often since my siblings and I were very young. “The world doesn’t owe you a living, so get up and get going.” “If you didn’t earn it, it’s not yours.” My father was careful with money and my mom went shopping. So, words of wisdom from my dad and he lived by them. My mom could never have enough money, ugly to watch. I am a boomer, we budgeted, saved, bought small fixer upper homes, and invested. We still budget and invest, and live a happy life in retirement. I credit my dad for getting me on the right path! Thank you dad!❣️. It takes at least 30+- years for the investments to grow into a substantial sum. All the best with your journeys everyone
Among the many ways things are cheaper now: stock trading fees! When I reached adulthood in the early 90s and wanted to start investing, I was facing training fees of around $40-$45 per trade. There was no way I could give up that kind of money! Then ETrade came along and shook up the industry with $15 trades, and that blew everybody’s mind! Of course, now you can trade for free. So if someone can have the frugal habits of the baby boomers and also enjoy the cheap electronics, cheaper groceries, and cheap stock trades today, life is good! Very good.
It's not how long the engine last but how long all the peripherals last like water pump, starter motor, fuel pump (twice) alternator, transmission, all these thing have been replaced on my GMC 2002 truck now at 215,000 miles
There's strong considerations there. Plenty of models with known defects that you've got to watch out for. Ford dual clutch transmissions. Kia Theta engines. Nissan CVTs.
yes, i balked a bit when it was said that cars these days are built to last better. They definitely are not, for the exact reasons you say. They are meant to be income generators. Many of the items which used to be simple inexpensive fixes or replacements, now require you to be 4ft tall and double jointed to replace. LOL
Tempations today may seem more daunting, but the option to resist are still the same. I still brew my coffee every morning here at home and can't remember the last time I visited a coffee shop (or a bar for that matter)!
My Mom lived through the Great Depression, she saved the left over tiny soap and reconstituted it into a bigger useful soap bar. I pretty well do the same. Im driving 2 trucks I purchased new in 1992 and 1996. I got all my debt paid in 2005 and now self finance, self insure. No Credit Cards, no Debts. No mortgage. No insurance except mandatory auto insurance. I could care less about a credit score. I usually take 1 or 2 vacations every year. I budget approx $3500 per vacation. I stay in luxury resorts or properties at amazing destinations. Debt slavery and impulse purchasing is your Slavery.
I remember back in the 90’s I would never use a credit card for buying groceries, clothes, every day items because I thought it would look like I couldn’t pay for it. I remember being embarrassed when I used my debit card. Now I use my amazon card for almost everything and I pay my bill in full so I never pay interest.
Another frugal Boomer here. One thing to watch out for is subscriptions. Do you really *need* subscriptions to 6 different video services, plus cable TV? Do you *need* free 2 day shipping on things you don't need to buy? I tend to look at subscriptions or other regular expenses on a cost per year basis. $30 a month sounds reasonable, but it's the same as $360 a year. $5.00 every work day for coffee sounds like nothing ... but it's $1,000 a year (200 work days). Another big way to save money, but most people can't do this - can you get rid of your car? When I moved into a flat in a large Midwest city, I found that I no longer needed to drive anywhere. A monthly transit pass plus all the Lyft/Uber rides I need costs about 1/4 of what my car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance was ... plus I don't pay for parking, deal with rush hour traffic or need to shovel my driveway. Again, most people do need a car, but if you don't keeping one is a huge money pit.
Regarding furniture, the only truly "timeless" furniture is what you like. If you make decisions on furniture, clothes, etc. based on what you like, as opposed to what others like (or tell you to like), you'll keep them much longer. As far as cash vs credit goes, I've found that a detailed budget works wonders. When I stated categorizing every purchase, I saw exactly where my money went every month, and it was shocking in the beginning. Credit cards make that much easier. It also catches those subscriptions people seem to forget they have. It also helps if you don't carry a balance on your day-to-day card, so it's harder to let things carry over between months. If you need to carry something across months, put it on a different card or account. Something else that has caught on between the generations is financing everything. Interest can be a killer. Cars? In 2021, I bought a dealer demo with 2000 miles on it for $22K. That price included useful options like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, and auto headlights & wipers. How? I bought sedan, as opposed to an SUV or truck. Again, trendy will cost you.
Growing up in dire poverty in Dublin set me up for life. I always bought second hand everything, wouldn’t dream of having my nails or hair done at the salon, repaired what I could, never ever thought of paying money on participating in sport, never ate out. Even now I don’t buy a coffee out. I buy everything with cash (save for everything I needed). It means I owe my own house on the water, can go on big holidays regularly in my retirement, and have savings. Things aren’t fixable anymore, which isn’t overly environmentally friendly. People now have four TV’s in their houses, pets, an iPhone, gadgets galore and are struggling to eat. Somethings got to give.
At work I was called 'cheap' by the younger kids. I went home to eat and never bought coffee. The kids came in with $5 lattes every day. The money I saved was enough to pay for my plane rental on the weekend (I am a pilot). That' s $75-100/hr.
@scarling9367 5 dollar coffee every day for 10 years is 18,250 dollars. The coffee issue is that many do this mindlessly, thinking it's only 5 dollars. Others have realized gas station coffee is cheaper than Starbucks coffee and go that route. While others realize making it at home is even cheaper.
@@scarling9367You must be a child. In the 1950s you could get a cup of coffee for 5 or 10 cents and nurse it at a diner counter with refills. The same is true with soda and water. I see a lot of people saving at least $2 per meal by only asking for water as their drink. I made as much as my college room mate who became a lawyer in a big firm but I had money to rent and fly a plane and he was penniless. He asked what I did differently. I said I food shop and make all my own meals. I could eat for a few dollars a day and he was eating out 3 times a day spending all his earnings. When you really want something in life and you have exhausted ways to make more money, all you have left is to be a cranky bitch and complain life is unfair or examine your expenses and decide what you can do without so you can accumulate money for what you really want.
@@anncromarty2590 What coffee issue? I swear, older folks will find anything to complain about. Show up to work on time and do your job properly? Complain about their choice in caffeine. SMH. 🙄
We bought a Volvo in 1990. It cost more than our first house purchased in 71. That was an awakening. I really liked your video. Yeah, we make spending mistakes. We do, however, drive our cars 10-15 years before changing.
I spent $2.500 in 2021~2022 during the pandemic on microtransactions of a videogame I played on my phone. It was addictive and it took me a bit too long to stop doing it. While it seemed like just 7 dollars a day became a nightmare. At least I can say I overcame that addiction and I’ve been able to save and invest a healthy amount every month. I love watching your videos, they help straighten people’s paths 🙌🏻🤝🏻 true story
Boomer here. Am mortgage and debt free. I live modestly- no fancy clothes, no big houses, or expensive cars. I rarely eat out. I make my own meals and coffee. When I go out , I make a small lunch and drinks to take with me. I was willing to move across the country to a low cost state, when I retired.
As a boomer, one thing that made it easier to save is that you needed less discipline to save. Lots of the luxury items were so unaffordable, you did without until you saved up but had already had enough time to realize you didn't need it and could just keep on saving. There were fewer options to take the thing now and pay later while still other things (like TVs) were so expensive (my first 19in color TV was almost 40 hours of this software engineers weekly take home while a 19in color TV costs just a few hours of time for most newly minted software engineers).
Living far from home in the 80’s to early 90’s, I remember racking up huge long distance bills, there were no cell phones back then except for the rich with Rolls Royce’s!
Good video. When I started my last job I would buy a tall coffee down the hall in the office building. After two months I realized I could save money making my own. When I retired, I calculated that I saved at least $2,200. So I bought a motorcycle and still have it years later. We live within easy walking distance from Starbuck but have never visited. Way too expensive.
I also highly agree with vehicle maintenance. When it comes to vehicle lifespan, surprisingly little has to do with car make. It's all about how you maintain & drive it. A friend of mine is a mechanic & says it's all in the maintenance. He's seen Fords, Jeeps, Kias, Dodges, etc. come in for regular service with 200k-300k+ miles with no to little cheap repairs over the years & he's seen Hondas & Toyotas not make it 60k because people don't do maintenance or drive them like crap.
As a boomer, (one of the younger ones) it was far easier to save money than what my kids had. As you said, we had far fewer choices. For example, for tennis shoes, it was basicall high top or low top Converse! We didn't have smart phones, cable tv, Starbucks, etc, so we didn't see our parents wasting money. Also, my parents grew up during the depression, so they instilled in us the importance of saving, because you never know what will happen. However, I think the biggest issue are savings rates. While recently there are some good high yield savings rates, gor the most part, kids have seen savings rates of 1% or less. When I was a caddy at the local country club when I was 11, I could put that money in a savings account that earned 4.5 - 5%, or buy a savings bond at that rate. Now, on the other hand, it is so much easier for kids today to invest in the market, with on line brokerages. We had to actually call someone to place a trade, and pay a fee of around $15 for a small purchase.
I am going to tell my wife that my 4 PJ sets that I have rotated for the past 10 years are timeless... down to the worn holes which have developed over time. I see no reason to change them. Also shout out to my 2008 VW jetta as it gets close to 200K mileage. 😃
As a boomer, one thing I would take exception to is the price of new cars, compared to those of 1975. The calculator you are using is wrong, since inflation from 1975 to 2023 is much more than indicated in the video. If you plug $5000 into the CPI inflation calculator, you would arrive at around $28,000 today. You can get a new car for that kind of money, although most are much more than that. But the differences are astounding. A typical 1975 auto had no power windows, door locks, etc. It maybe had power brakes and power steering (maybe). Probably had an AM radio for its entertainment system. Bigger cars had automatic transmissions, and maybe cruise control on the higher models. There were very few safety features, other than seat belts (which most people didn't use anyway). There were no airbags, back-up detectors, or anything else. The only electronic thing in the car was the radio. The engines used carburetors, and basic ignition. There were absolutely no computers, or even advanced diagnostics or indicators. There were no tire pressure monitors, or combustion sensors, etc. As you point out, the cars rarely lasted more than 100K miles, and got comparatively worse gas mileage, and considerable more maintenance, since they required plugs, points, tune ups and adjustments on a regular basis. Tires didn't last as long, either. Gas was around 57 cents a gallon, which inflates to $3.20 today (which is pretty close to what gasoline is today). Other than that, and maybe some small things, good video and pretty much on point.
The average car price in 1976 was $4,900 dollars The average 2021 price was $40,000. The median weekly salary in 1976 was $206. The median weekly salary in 2021 was $981. In 1976 it took 24 weeks pay to buy a car versus 41 weeks in 2021. But a 3 year new car loan in 1976 was 13.3% compared to 4.5% in 2021. foe a 3 year loan.
@@bkestler1This may all be true. However, a car you bought in 2021 is in no way comparable to cars being sold in 1976. IF you could even sell a car with the same design parameters today, as in 1976, it likely would be less expensive, in inflation adjusted dollars, simply because of all the safety, pollution, convenience, and durability that is built in to new cars, that was not available in 1976. I actually did buy a new car in 1976. It was a VW Rabbit, very basic. Cost was $4,200 in 1976. Inflation calculator says that money inflates to $22,000 in 2023. You can buy a brand new VW Jetta for $22,000 today, and it has tons more standard features, and will probably last two to three times as long. If your $981 is correct, then it would take 23 weeks to buy that brand new Jetta today.
@@bkestler1 I agree, cars were cheaper, then. But they also guzzled gas and they were generally speaking rubbish in every single respect, including longevity. When was the last time you drove past an engine reconditioner's shop? When was the last time one of your friends took their car to the body shop to have rust cut out and repaired? And the constant tuning. Mixture and timing just aren't in our automotive vocabulary, anymore. And those "cheap" cars guzzled gas, and gas was expensive!. And if you crashed them, you were in real trouble. Boomers won on houses, they won on jobs but they didn't win on cars.
Good luck finding quality items. Yes quality furniture can be found but good luck finding quality appliances. I had my 1999 KitchenAid fridge fixed rather than buy a crappy new fridge.
My parent's Fridgidaire refrigerator from the 50's is still going strong (had to replace the door seals though), their fridge from the 70's just died a couple years ago. I doubt the fridge I replaced it with will last 10 years.
This was exactly my thought. Even expensive stuff is crap quality now. Nothing is designed to last anymore, because companies just want you to "encourage" you to make new purchases.
I just had to buy a new fridge because the seals went bad and they didn’t make them anymore. I looked everywhere, nothing. They said they quit making them around 10 years ago. I know the new one will probably go out in 5 years if I’m lucky. Oh well. It’s an improvement right???
@@user-yb5bg8im5g I tried that with Sears/Kenmore and they kept sending people out for about four weeks and said they wouldn't honor the extended warranty. They would order a part and when It came in they tried it and it didn't fix the issue. They later determined it was the board and they said it was no longer being made (planned obsolescence). So I got a "credit" for a new appliance. You're better off self insuring and scheduling a replacement of major appliances.
I plan meals around what’s on sale that week. We have a freezer and whatever meat is on sale, I buy it and freeze it All the meat in the freezer was bought on sale.
I'm a Boomer. We were working class and both my parents worked to make ends meet on a shoestring budget. As a young mother I did side jobs like babysitting and house cleaning to bring in money. The idea that all jobs in the 50s 60 70s paid enough to support a family is a fallacy.
I think you're referring to 100 years ago. And that's only because the normal was a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 car, no vacations and almost never eating out. Included home gardens and canning food for winter. Their expectations were far far lower than today. All their clothes could easily fit into 9ne small closet.
Jobs back then paid enough because people lived below their means. They said "no" to luxury items -- and almost everything beyond the basics was considered a luxury. They made less money back then, so be sure you aren't comparing apples to oranges
@@justjoanish My mother didn't have to work. My father drove a milk truck for a while and then worked for the state highway commission repairing and painting bridges and ferry docks. The main thing is to keep expenses within your income. My father always did that. Other than the one house, he never used credit. He paid double payments on the house to pay if off early. He never had credit cards. He bought his cars with cash. When he was ready to buy his last car, the dealer was bringing cars to the house for him to test drive. We went on vacation perhaps three times ever. We never ate out. We had a garden, so we bought very few vegetables. I never had more than three suits of clothes for school at any one time, and each year they would be passed down to my brother.
Forget the 1970’s price difference to now!!!! I bought a house in 2013 and it cost 💲 200 000 I just sold the house for $447 000, no renovations no repairs no painting!
Home cooked meals are not only cheaper, but also healthier than going out to eat. As for the impulse buying point, I don't think it's inherently bad to buy on an impulse, but it does need to be limited. I think it's a smart idea to make a budget for splurge spending money and just make sure you don't spend more than that amount each month.
@@paleomagicksr.9880 As a millennial in my 30's, many of us do not go out for a coffee every day, yet we are generically labeled that way. I'm very thankful for the decline in smoking rates, I still worry about my dad who smoked for 30+ year and was able to finally quit about 10 years ago.
@@paleomagicksr.9880 Right! that's sorta the point. I'm a millennial in my 30's & many of us make our coffee at home but are generalized into a cohort. Sure we will go out & buy a fancy coffee but we are making our coffee at home on a daily basis.
Technology is a category of expense that simply didn’t exist 30+ years ago. Having a home computer and printer/copier/scanner, monthly internet access, subscriptions to apps, cell phone plus service, etc add up, yet I consider them essential in my life.
I find the quality of food available at restraunts is poor quality. Even high end places deliver poor value by using cheap and unhealthy substitutes. Many places are selling the same products right off the SYSCO trucks.
Not sure what happened with the car cost comparison but $4,950 in 1975 is the equivalent to about $28,000 today. Also, cars are a way better value today given improvements in safety, reliability, maintenance, economy and longevity. I say this as someone who still owns a car built in 1974 (along with more modern vehicles).
My toyota coupé was my first car from 6 cars in my all life. I bought it for 4400 bucks used. With 70'000km. The car now is again a toyota (CRV). The quality is cheaper, but it has a lot of electronic things in it what i nearly dont understand how to use. I must load it up every month 1 time because I dont drive enough. The things suck the battery empty I guess.
Erin, you lived in Michigan. A starter home is not that hard to find in Michigan. It can even be bought directly from the seller without paying a commission on either side.
@@ErinTalksMoney Fair enough, but a surprising number of people do. I also believe in many of the other "flyover states" that modest homes still are obtainable.
When the cost of transportation and housing both outpace inflation and those are typically the two largest budget line items, it sounds like the metric for inflation might be off.
I'm a middle boomer. My wife and I raised 5 kids. Made a good living. But...I lived below my means. Almost always drove used cars. Did my own home and most auto repairs. Always have paid cash.
I can’t believe people bought the underarm rock. That was nuts. I remember that coming out and I didn’t think anybody would buy it. It reminded me of the copper bracelets that would align your body or whatever it said it did.
I used the rock crystal and it works!! It takes about a month for your body to get use to it. I’m a boomer and not into alternative living but I’m happy I did that. It’s lasted for years
I used it for a short while years ago. While it was effective, I had to stop using it because it made me break out and made some of my skin peel. Yikes! @@backroadsoap2889
As a boomer, there were fewer things that we "needed". Like cell phones, which are a necessity today if you want to function in this society. And computers...air-conditioning, all the extra features on our cars that we now depend on, etc. Not to mention the cost of a college education.
So I am a boomer. And I have commented frequently on your channel, so why not now. First perhaps we do cook at home more. But candidly in many cases home cooked is better than restaurant. (And I was in my 20s a cook in one). And yes this will greatly impact your budget, IF you shop wisely. As you stated. "living below your means" is critical to wealth. I dont think this is a generational trait though, I think many of the current gen do this to. And will have financial success because of it. Homes: I agree with those that say there is a housing shortage, especially of starter homes. BUT I think this that makes it more difficult, not impossible, to keep housing costs reasonable. The problem with people who use credit cards, is they dont understand they should be "charge" cards, not "credit" cards. They are only a problem, IF you dont pay them off on time. And to be honest there a far more "incentives" now to use them, and I do. (But always pay off that month. Cars are more expensive. But they last MUCH longer. So perhaps this is just a trade off. Not sure what more to say, but dont use your age as an excuse not to become wealthy. Compounding works for everyone. Doesnt matter how old you are. That first 100K was difficulty in my 20s just as it is for yours. But if you dont start saving in your 20s, you are going to make it MUCH harder for yourself as you get older. You simply wont have the time that compounding needs.
Yup, it's harder to save now than before, but you can either suck it up and get it done, or use it as an excuse and look back with regret when you're old and broke. The trouble with today's generation is they only see it one way, they have it the roughest. Well, sorry, that's a lie. Generations before saw The Great Depression, and World Wars 1 and 2. This gen has plenty of pitfalls in terms of crap to buy, ease of purchase, and high living costs, BUT they also have CZcams university teaching them the road to FI comes with living beneath your means and saving/investing your way to financial freedom! Wish I had that info when I was young, it would have saved me 15-20 years of wasting my time.
Agree so much on that first 100K being difficult and getting an early start at it. I worked on the family farm until I was 35. Great times that I wouldn't trade for anything. But not much money. So at 35 I had zero saved for retirement - but I also had a shiny new Master's in Comp Sci, so I was able to make up for lost time. You can do it, but it's neither fun nor easy. Way better to start earlier.
Two easy ways to save a TON of money. 1) EAT ALL THE GROCERIES YOU BUY! Every dollar you spend on groceries that you throw away after they go bad is worth $40-90 if you had put that dollar in a retirement fund. 2) Cook at home and then eat the leftovers for lunch at work. I was spending $100/week eating lunch at fast food/quick service places. If you do this, number one will almost always take care of itself.
Boomers were raised by children of the depression. There was a philosophy of caution in the household with regard to money. That sticks with you.
Yup. I'm a tail end boomer and my parents grew up during the great depression. They were quite frugal. I still remember Dad doing things like taking a toaster apart to see if he could figure out why the toast wasn't popping up (he did fix it, and they used that toaster for years and years after that - I still have it and it still works). And when you did have to spend money you looked for the best value you could get for that money. Mom and Dad had no use for cheap junk :)
Hahaha. Boomers have a philosophy of caution with their money? Your average boomer definitely doesn't. 28% of boomers are retiring with zero in retirement savings and the average member of that generation only has 148k saved for retirement. Overall? They make lots of poor discretionary purchases. They don't prepare for the future until retirement is staring them in the face and they're bad with money
I'm blue collar and 33, nothing handed to me, and I'm already way better off than people 30 years my senior because I budget and scrimp to have a 30% savings rate. That's while having a wife and kiddo. I'm so tired of people saying how irresponsible all younger people are. They should be more worried throwing stones in a glass house
Amen!!!
@xlerb2286 They are making things less and less repairable. Me and my bf are millennials and we reluctantly replaced an older washer after gone the home repair route several times. Something malfunctioned on the new washer within the month, it was so hard to find the propriety part, and then it still didn't fully work without some custom fitting by my bf.
This is just one of the many ways we're losing frugal alternatives that we even counted on being there as kids. So many conversations start with "you used to be able to just [do cheaper option here]" as more companies insist on being the middle man in every aspect of the product or service.
I’m 53 and this really hits home. Growing up money was scarce. I have repaired my refrigerator 3x and dryer x1. I could have easily purchased a new one but that mindset doesn’t leave you!! My Dad would be proud 🙏
“Buy a high quality item that will last”
Most things aren’t made to last anymore. Jeans, one of the staples of quality American clothing, barely last a year now when they used to be nearly bulletproof in the 80s. The price of these items went way higher and the quality fell through the floor.
There are no quality items available any more, especially for things that matter. Furniture, cupboards, clothes, vehicles, and appliances are all made to break after a couple years.
I buy second hand for so many things, the best quality but used. I have expensive clothes that I’d never have paid the full price for, I keep them forever
You can still find quality items, but it takes a lot of work, and ignoring trendy brand names.
For example, I could buy a high end t-shirt with a well-known designer name and it would not last - or I could spend the same amount on a lesser known brand that would last for years. You might not want to tell your friends you bought your shirt at Eileen Fisher ... but you'll still have that $78 shirt in 10 years.
The clothes I have on right now are at least three years old. You have to go to quality stores to buy quality clothes. You can't get them at Walmart.
All American Jeans(100% American made from the cotton plant to the sewing) ARE still excellent quality and will last you just as well (if not slightly better than 1980's jeans)
I am a tail=end boomer. My parents were children of the Depression and WW2 took place during their high school years. They taught me and my siblings the importance of living below our means, paying our bills on time, and to save. Thanks Mom and Dad!
I too am tail-end boomer. My dad immigrated from England & had fought in WWII. Their rationing was severe. He pounded that into me how to be fugal, have a garden, don't waste.
Generation jones are tail end boomers
Not going to work this time, when the Feds print print print and the inflation is 18% on average but your savings account gets you 3-4% in a high interest savings account, then that is BS.
1963. Tail end boomers that had depression/WWII parents don’t know who “Jones” is. Those lessons made all the difference.
What our parents used to say: "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without." Living below your means is a must if you want to become financially independent. Erin is the kind of woman every man should want to marry.
One thing that you didn't hear much when I was a kid was how you deserve or you're entitled to things. You're entitled to what you can afford.
When BlackRock and landlords use algorithms to make sure to keep rental prices high there is no affording much of anything other than living with your parents for a decade after you graduate from any level of education.
The boomers didn’t live their entire lives like the rest of us in never trickles down Reaganomics, added intentional unenforcement of anti monopoly laws (see “the Borking of America” video) and therefore there is hardly any competition which is why “Greedflation” exists Reaganomics
The boomers grew up during the largest wealthiest middle class in history called “the Golden Age of Economic expansion of the American middle class.”
Wages stagnated in 1981 when Reagan slashed taxes and in 82 he made stockbuybacks legal(Boeing quarterly stockbuybacks for decades before airplanes coming apart in midair).
We are now in the ROBBER Baron’s 2nd Gilded, IN JUST A BOOMERS LIFESPAN.
50 TRILLION DOLLARS STOLEN from regular Americans over 50 years.
That’s $1,100 PER PERSON PER MONTH FOR LIFE stolen from almost every American due to neoliberal Reaganomics.
That is very well said especially since everyone thinks they are entitled to anything on a credit card 💳
Agreed! The world doesn't owe anyone anything.
My Mother was a boomer, born on a farm, she got up at 5am to milk cows. Got up at 5am her whole life. Ya, she didn’t have much patience for complaints. Thanks mom!
mom was from rural fla
still remember hog slaughter in the side yard.
pork chops for sunday meal...
Really cool 😎. Thank you so much for sharing
As a boomer, when I was young we did not have much money. Most meals were cooked at home, we had one TV, paid cash for everything, and lived on a budget. There are many things today that are considered "essential" such as internet, streaming, cable, cell phones, nail salons, etc. that did not exist 50 years ago. There are just so many more ways to spend money now and it's so easy to do that with a couple of clicks!
Internet access and cell phones are not in the same category as "nail salons". To work, most people need internet access. Bosses now email you, your tax, paycheck, and benefit info is online, you use an app to clock-in, etc. Even for minimum wage jobs, your boss will text you your schedule or ask you to cover.
Not to mention you need the internet for school.
Technology isn't optional even if all you do is work, go to school, look at the wall, then sleep.
@@vulpixelful Yes I agree internet access has become a necessity.
@@vulpixelfulagree, but there are ways to have lower cell phone and internet bills, and not upgrade phones so often
@@steveguillory7568 that doesn't happen as often as you would think
My cell bill is less than $7 a month and I am using an old phone from my nephew.
I think one thing that was missing was the old adage of “keeping up with the Joneses”. When Boomers were younger, the Joneses were typically their neighbors or coworkers. This meant that for the most part, the comparison was with people in generally the same socioeconomic class. Today, with social media, the comparison is against people from all different socioeconomic classes, or at least people showing you in a few minutes how they’re living their best lives. This sets up unrealistic expectations and drives poor consumer behavior.
Great comment Steve , I wish that I could say that to my Daughter in law, but I do like seeing the grandchildren.
I agree completely. I am a boomer. Not only were credit cards not accepted in stores back in the day, they were hard to obtain. I did not have one until my 30s. I believe media literacy training both for news and advertising could help people spend less. If you realize that you are being pressured to buy things because not having them makes you less worthy as a human being, then you have a super-power: immunity to sales pitches.
Well spotted!!!!!
I had to laugh when she said to buy furniture that would last 5 to 10 years. Our "new" couch is 13 years old. The "old" one is more than 25 years old.
I have some of my grandmother's furniture that's over 100 years old.
I got a nice futon with a high quality innerspring mattress and wood frame 9.5 years ago. I see no issues with it. My bed frame and dresser is from my great grandmother. She gave it to me 20 years ago. My desk is a hand me down from my mom that's been around for decades. Not the best quality wood but it's still holding up. I covered it with 3M stainable veneer and it looks good.
Yes, half the furniture in my home is second hand and at least 30 years old.
I have only ever owned one sofa in my life. It is the only sofa I will ever have. It’s from the 1960s and made of Naugahyde! Get your grandma’s furniture! Because nothing made today (that the average person can afford) will last
Very cool!
It is harder but definitely possible to inherit or find good quality furniture, but I do think that now many paying jobs demand you relocate to accept them, and layoffs necessitating moves are common (unsure if they were ever uncommon? Weren't there always a mobile class, often exceptionally poor and unseen I think).
I invest in good quality clothes, vehicle, and a few essential tools, etc. But overall I don't have the option to own anything that large, and long-lasting wood furniture is very heavy.
Erin, Another great video but you left out the single biggest wealth driver of boomers…Those yellow appliances they bought in the 1970s still work today 😂😂😂
My Old Yeller GE Fridge lasted 39 1/2 years before it died. The same part kept going out on it. I got a new Maytag, put OY on the curb. A fellow came by 2 hours later, curb shopped and was able to repair it successfully. As far as I know, it's still running. It was resurrected and got a second life.
i have the maytag washing machine that my mom bought in 1973 when we built a new home. it has has one repair and has been doing 1-2 loads a day for over 50 years!! if everything lasted this long we could all retire at 30:)
I didn't mention my Maytag washer/dryer, purchased New on or about 23 March, 1985. It's still going strong.
@@danf4447
This! Buying quality items is great, and most items now are not built to last, so much less accessible nowadays.
My mom's turquoise fridge lasted 30-40 years ❤
Erin, one big way to save money is to take your lunch to work. You have more time to eat and relax rather than driving to a restaurant, grabbing fast food, scarfing it down, and hurrying back to the job. Probably better for your digestion as well.
So true. I always regret running out for lunch during my working years, not from the money aspect, but the time.
You get a lunch break to relax on?😂
I never in my life ever had a lunchtime long enough to go anywhere else to eat. If we ate lunch, it had to come with us.
🤣🤣🤣
Yes! I ate in the break room every day. It also saves time, gas and hassle. Saved a lot of money over the years. Now I can live off that money (investments) and eat out at leisure (retired).
Hello Erin
I'm basically a senior citizen and of African-American descent but I have to admit that you are very easy to listen to, you share very good info, and you come across as very likable. Stay humble young lady. I have no doubt that you will acquire success with what you are trying to do here
Thanks Edward 🙏
For 65yrs of my life, I've been an Electronics Junkie. So when my $100 microwave oven failed, I watched a dozen videos about what could be the cause. I saved it by replacing a $2 door switch! Snap out the old switch, snap in the new one. It's that simple...@@ErinTalksMoney
Yes! You're literally the first and only millenial person I've seen give any credit to boomers for anything. Things were cheaper, yes, but we made WAY less money. My biggest realization came when I was starting my own business in 1997 with a family and mortgage. I asked myself with absolutely everything I thought to buy: "do I REALLY need this?" 9 out of 10 times, the answer was NO. Now, I'm successful and make great money, and I'm trying to retire. Most younger generation folks just like to blame my generation for their difficulties.
I posted a nice comment to you earlier. But, some dirty dog suppressed it.@@ErinTalksMoney
@kathyschreiber9947 there’s really only one thing that the boomers did wrong collectively, and it’s literally in the name: baby boomers. They had too many children and the population exploded as a result. Overall, it may be a bit more difficult to pay for things today, but that’s a direct result of supply and demand
It wasn’t policies that caused people’s financial problems. It wasn’t the boomers (except the part of collectively having too many kids). It’s because of supply and demand. It’s also because of poor impulse control and instant gratification. People can absolutely have more control over their finances but choose not to out of convenience
I’ve listened to my parents (one boomer, one gen x) and others within their age range throughout my childhood. I’ve listened intently to narrow down the good advice and weed out the bad advice. It worked for me at 19 years old making $11.50 per hour. And almost a decade later, my rate of pay has somewhat outpaced inflation, but it still works and I am able to save more than half of my income. Ultimately, what needs to stop are the excuses
My Mother was raised during the depression. It has definitely stuck with her, as she’s 97 today, and remains very frugal.
We cook mostly at home for dinner, I take leftovers for lunch the next day, we meal plan, I make coffee at home and take it to work, and we live well below our means. I'm retiring next year at age 50.
I'm so curious how your story affects younger people today. Do they get inspired and say I'm going to do that too? Do they gloss over it as soon as the theme of delayed gratification becomes obvious? Do they scoff and say, "Yeah but it was possible back then, not anymore". I'm guessing only the minority ever read the whole quote and get inspired....
And you’re a GenX like me. I think we are left out in this video. 😢
@@dstevens518 - My experience is that most young people will ridicule him for even suggesting it. I had a conversation with a 25-year old who became absolutely livid at the mere suggestion that she get a roommate and save up money to buy her own place. I mean totally unglued! She was deeply offended that anyone would even suggest that she did not have a right to a home in her parents neighborhood at a price she could afford on her wages as a part-time dog walker and Uber driver.
@chiplangowski3298 I had the same experience. Person unglued at the suggestion one does not have to buy new cars and go on 2 week vacations every year. I kid you not, I got "I deserve it". 😂😂😂
I'm a millenial, I make 6 figures, and I do all this (plus everything in the video). My car was paid off 10 years ago, I own a house and was paying double mortgage payments (now I'm selling it for the equity), and I cook at home 99% of the time. I have 3 kids and I'm struggling a lot financially atm, but I habe cut almost all spending (Amazon etc.), and I stick to my budget app YNAB daily to get me through. Groceries and other costs have skyrocketed. It doesn't hurt to keep those things in mind when talking to millenials who are doing these things already and are still having a really hard time
1966 to 1970 we baby boomers were taught typing,sewing and cooking classes, the guys had shop class for cars and metal and wood. We women did sew our clothes and cooked breakfast lunch and dinner and got jobs with typing skills right out of high school. Lost skills for many millennials.
Good point!
I’m gen x and had all those classes too and I was on the college track.
Indeed. I had woodworking AND Auto Shop! Still fix my own car today. Most younger people can't even change a tire or even CHECK their oil, much less change it!
I'm a young millennial and we had classes for learning those things in my school too in the 2000s/early 2010s. Better yet, it wasn't segregated by gender either. Both boys and girls could take shop classes, and were REQUIRED to take basic computer classes and a health class which included segments about cooking and sewing.
Typists are going to be replaced by AI, what good is cooking your meals when you are being priced out of Walmart. The only thing I am with her on is by higher quality long term assets. For example, buy a metal roof to prevent costly repairs. Get an older car that doesn’t need to update over the air and is made in china. Cash is trash you will need to save in safer assets such as airable land and Precious Metals. The future is junk.
Take a bagged lunch to work,rather than vendor. You will save money and reduce food ,🍱 waste.
Sharen
And save time!
Whenever I did that, I would eat the food within an hour!!!
well don’t use a single use bag, thats wasteful. Make sure to take a lunchbox that you reuse again and again
I packed lunches for myself and my husband. They were much healthier and saved us a lot of money.
I do this and save hundreds of dollars a week. My Sundays are spent meal prepping for work/school and evening meals. Planning saves time, money and helps your waistline ;)
I definitely agree with the eating out. When my wife & I finally got serious about money & did a budget, we looked back at the past few months' bank statements. The amount we spent on fast food alone made me sick to my stomach, not even including nicer restaurants. After we cut eating out, it was like we gave ourselves a couple hundred dollars raise, & turns out we're damn good cooks!
I cut my own hair. I will admit, people are more impressed with my home than they are with my haircut. Lol😅
Well, I am our family’s barber as well. I cut my hair, my husband’s hair, our sons hair, even our dogs hair. Saves a lot of money. 😂
I cut my hair during covid. Probably a little raggedy but I’m not fussy
Good luck keeping a service job like that these days. "Fired for unprofessionalism" is what that attitude would get you.
@@Dorian803
I run my own business. I can have whatever attitude I want, which, at this stage, is shifting more toward stoicism. Vanity is for slaves.
I also cut (and color) my own hair, my husbands hair, the dogs hair and I cut my kids hair when they were home (they are now adults and get professional cuts). My husband was a very well paid partner in an investment firm (we retired in our 50s). His home hair cut never impacted his career 😂. Or maybe it did, because I could cut his hair in 10 minutes instead of him traveling to barber and wasting 30 minutes. I could also cut his hair as frequently as he wanted and whenever he wanted (like before a big client meeting).
I hate when I hear someone say they can’t save and I can see that their hair is freshly blown out, their nails and toes are done, they have an expensive new car every few years and walk in with store bought coffee every morning. Vacations! Very expensive. The newest cell phone every couple years! None of these things are necessities. Young people, in their 20’s want it all, right now, before they establish themselves, without working for it and waiting for those things later in life.
I bought a submarine advertised for $5 in the back of a comic book in the late 60s. Needless to say, I never got my submarine. But 10 years later I did join the Navy.😊
I remember those. Also the 7’ Frankenstein. I always wanted that sub😅😅
Hopefully you became a bubble head, got your fish, and went to the Philippines on Westpac.
I saved my money and sent my $6.95 in to the ad. They promised me that if I followed the directions, I would have an 8 inch dick in 3 weeks. Yeah, it came. It was made of hard plastic.
I always wanted sea monkey's! But my parents wouldn't let me get them. They said they were a rip off. I did get an ant farm once however.
I read those adds again and again. Never understood how it should work. Did they even exist? 🤔
Parents were boomers and I grew up listening to my grandma tell us stories of her childhood during the depression. Those stories do stick with you.
Same here
Another factor today is all the extra stuff we "have to" have that is quite expensive. Smart phones, laptops, internet and phone bills, subscriptions, etc. Back in the day boomers likely had a land line that set them back a small amount every month. Now you need way more bills to participate in modern society.
I make my cafe latte at home everyday. It comes down to 36 cents per cup when I did the math. I bought a nice espresso machine and don’t regret a single dollar it cost me. Saving is our superpower 💪🏼😁💕 love your videos
I became a nurse 27 years ago. Made my own coffee 4x week. Imagine the savings!!!
Some of my clients have espresso machines and wow they really do a good job. I have definitely been tempted, because the normal coffee pot or coffee press is so easy to screw up! (For me!)
Buying quality is the only way to go in the long run. All of my family laughed at me when I bought a $1,000 dinning room table. We all were looking for tables and they all bought $200-400 dollar tables. But, they have all had to replace their tables multiple times and 25 years later I still have mine.
Smart
Erin, as a boomer, we grew up very frugal. As a family we rarely ate out. Our vacation time was basically once a year over a long weekend. I owned many cheap used cars. I didnt fly on an airplane until I was 25 and that was from LGA to BOS. Didn't have a color TV in our house until I was 15. Was not given an allowance, and had to shovel snow, mow lawns or deliver newspapers to make money. Paid for my own car, insurance, gasoline and other expenses like all adults should. Went to college in the evenings after working a full-time job and paid as I went to get my degree. Struggled to buy first home at an early age but did without of many things in order to pay my bills. From what I can discern, these trade-offs would be considered unacceptable by younger generations today. Further, the younger generations don't want to listen to anyone much older than them about most if not all matters of importance. Just my own experience.
Vacations? Sounds cool, can't relate.
A TV? What would I do with a TV?
Side jobs? Illegal.
A full time job that pays enough for college? Where do I apply!
Buying a home? You mean "invest in an equity asset property"? I'm not on Wall Street
😂
None of these opportunities exist anymore. It's lovely that you had them, but for us, if we work hard and get lucky, maybe one day we'll be living in a van by the river 😊
@@valeriaswanne I obviously don't know your situation but feel for you if you are in challenging circumstances. I have two sons, they are both in their 20s. They both went to state college and studied STEM disciplines. They are both employed making near 6 figures. Most of their colleagues from high school did not study STEM (or medicine or law) or attend a trade school. I have observed over and over that these same people find themselves in a less than optimal financial situation today. Life is certainly not fair, but if you focus on what society needs, you can make a decent living. The question I have, is did you go to college? If so, what was your major? If not, did you go to trade school? If so, what did you focus on? Lastly, what do you do for income? You can change your trajectory in life, but it requires one to do things differently than they have in the past. I do hope things improve for you and wish you success in your future.
@@valeriaswannewhere do you live that side jobs are illegal? What were you doing in high school? I worked after school and weekends. I went to Europe for 3 weeks with a friend when I graduated, then attended a community college that September. Have you thought of attending a community college and state university? How about a mobile home as your first home? What exactly are you doing to improve your situation? Complaining will not get you anywhere.
Oh my gosh the job of delivering newspapers. I still remember my high school age brothers getting up and delivering papers long before dawn, before then going to school for the day.
@@justjoanish Yep, when I ultimately gave up my newspaper route, I had 117 daily customers and over 60 on Sundays. It was a lot of work, but taught me so many lessons in life. I also got an opportunity to make my own money which I think every young person should have.
Good job Erin. As a boomer. I do all of the things you listed and more. One way we built wealth was "sweat equity" in building our own house. We hired a lot of help, but we also worked ourselves crazy to save money. A decade later we had enough equity to borrow against to buy some rental properties. That has also been a great wealth builder, although we also once again worked like crazy for a while. But probably the wisest thing to do is live below your means and not buy on impulse. I remember a story from a book called "Farmer Boy" where the boy asked his father if he should spend his money at the fair to buy some lemonade. His father's advice was to think of how many potatoes the boy had to dig to earn that money. If he thinks the lemonade was worth digging all those potatoes, then go ahead and buy. The boy decided not to. I've often decided against blowing money on something because I decided the work to get that money was more valuable than the thing I was thinking of buying.
I'm gen X and entered the work world right at the height of the early 1980's economic disaster. I married young (22), stayed married and had the benefit of two working adults, have only owned 5 vehicles over 40 years (all purchased used), do all my own vehicle repairs, we "eat out" less than 10x a year, we've only taken 4 international vaccations over 40 years, I built 2 of the 3 houses we've owned (I am not in any type of building trade), and we do all our own house maintenance.My wife is not materialist and has very little jewelry and not too many clothes. We retired at age 53. Life is expensive when you have to pay for everything that you could do yourself.
Yes! Another Gen-Xer here, very similar story. I make myself rich by making my want few.
There were some tough lessons in that late 80's/90's recession. I lived in abject poverty for several years. I didn't really complain, at the time. So many of many of my peers were in the same boat. But I look back now and wonder how I got through it. I couldn't do it again. No way. It's one thing when you can't afford new boots. It's another thing when you can't afford the contact adhesive to fix the ones that you've got and have to "borrow" it from someone.
Years after that debacle I felt cheated. I felt like society had somehow robbed me of a right. Years later I came to realise that it was almost a blessing in disguise. It taught me to be resourceful. It taught me to be appreciative of what I had and not to be envious of what I didn't have. Why do I say, "almost a blessing in disguise"? My problem now is that I hold
onto cash for dear mercy, far more than I have to or should.
OMG, your story is so similar to mine! We're so used to being ignored our whole lives by marketers and society in general we just quietly go through life doing our thing and learned to be extremely independent and self sufficient along the way.
@@RareGenXer That's true, isn't it. We were sought of forgotten by marketers. They sold to our parents, they sold to our kids, but never us. I'd never thought of that before. The advertisements were always for someone else. They still are to a point.
How interesting. You've enlightened someone, today.
Exactly! Same here. I'm 63 and just bought my 3rd car. Drove my Pontiac for 23 years, my Ford for 20 years, now bought a GM. It doesn't matter what brand car you buy as long as you take care of it. (Yes, I know the Pontiac was a GM too). Always fix everything before you buy new - and with the internet it is easier than ever. Boomers show you how to fix everything with youtube videos.
“Starter homes” in my area are over $1,000,000+ Silicon Valley, CA. These same houses were $24,000 in the mid 1970s. Insane.
That is part of the problem; people want a "starter" home in trendy, popular, expensive areas. Or they might just want a house in the neighborhood that they grew up in. Those are more often aspirational homes, not starter homes. People need to target those homes when they sell their starter home and move up to their second or even third home.
@@chiplangowski3298a lot of the trendy and popular areas also tend to be where the majority of decent paying jobs are located at. Sure you could drive 1 hour into the city but we already have people doing that in even those suburban areas are very expensive.
You buy a home that's a reasonable distance from where you work... if you work there, you buy a home there. It makes no sense to drive over 2 hours each way. The average home in america is out of reach for someone making the average income.
I refuse to hate the next generation the way the boomers hate us. Being blamed for politics and the economy while you're still in high school is rediculous.
@shaunpearce6846 I live about an hour from my work. Saved 50k on a house just a little further away. Just depends on what you're willing to do
My parents bought a home on the east side of Los Gatos in 1965 for $21,500. I grew up there as a kid until age 11 when we moved away. That house was nothing special and was essentially a tract home with all of the other homes in the neighborhood having the same basic floor plan. Today that house is valued at $2.4M. Of course the house has been renovated and upgraded to today's luxury expectations, but even unrenovated it would probably fetch at least $2M.
Just rolled over to 304,500 miles on my 2013 mazda3 😅 paid cash for it right around April 2020 just before the prices on used cars went parabolic 🎉
I do all these things, although I go out for coffee once a week as a treat. Eating at home is a no brainer. Most restaurants suck and they are beyond ridiculously expensive.
I'm a retired boomer and I use my credit card for everything I can. The key is to pay it off every month. I get cash back and over the years have gotten $1000. This year I'm so far at $120 from my cash back card.
Agree. I like spending the bank's money with a free 30-day loan. Just pay it off every month.
Agree, since 2020 I transferred and invested $13,000 worth of points from AmEx to my Schwab brokerage account.
Back when Dad was farming he put all the farm expenses on his then-new Discover card, got the cash back, and paid off the card in full every month. After a couple years he got a letter saying if he didn't start carrying a balance they were going to close the account. So he left a few dollars on the card on the winter months when there wasn't much going on. That bought him about another year, then Discover closed the account. Fast forward a year, he gets a Discover application in the mail, fills it out, and the game starts over again. Farming is an expensive business so he put many thousands on those cards and got some hefty cash back payments. And I doubt they ever got more than a dollar or two out of interest from him in total. :)
I’m a millennial and I’m so glad I found out about this hack. Since using my credit card like a debit card, paying it off every month, and collecting the cash back I’ve been able to save that money over the course of the year, and come Christmas time, I have on average about $600 free money to use on gifts!
@@JBoy340aif you think you're getting that banks money you're naive. They're giving you 2% from the person who is buried at 28% interest, wow what a deal! Just hoping you slip up and all the money they gave you comes back plus more
My father bought his townhouse for $45k in 1974. I bought my 1-bedroom apartment for the same price $45k in 1997. 1 of the BEST decision of my life.
And now the apartment is probably $450k. Are your wages 10x what they were in 1997? Doubt it. That's the problem, wages have been flat for 50 years in real terms, but prices have exploded in that time.
You "bought" an apartment? Apartments are for renting. My family lived in one back in the 1950s, and I decided I'd never live in one.
@@bite-sizedshorts9635They probably meant a condo but it was apartment-style. Many condos are essentially an apartment that you purchase instead of rent.
Also, if you bought a house in 1975, it would have a 9% interest rate... In '79, it would be 13%. They always leave that out when talking about home prices being low back then, the payment wouldn't be low lol.
@@meonlydanielle My first one in the 1970s was 8%, and the monthly payment was about $150, varying because of the escrow for insurance and taxes. So if the price of the house was low, then the payments had to be low.
My grandparents owned several small stores and my mother worked in the store.
My friends would go off on vacation and we always worked. Helping out in the store.
We celebrated Christmas and New Year’s and Thanksgiving after the store was closed.
The store was open seven days a week from 6:00 am to 11:pm.
The store is long gone. And I am 67 years old and retired in 2022. Well, sort of retired. I am very busy running my own business with plans to expand it into another state soon.
My grandfather said if you’re looking to start a business make sure it fills a need.
He had a grocery store because people need to eat.
I have rental homes because people need a place to sleep.
Make a budget and follow it.
If you use a cc pay the card off each month.
Buy a used car and hold on to it for years
Don’t borrow money to go college!
Consider learning a trade. Plumbers, bakers, electricians will always be needed.
Boomer here. When I worked in the corporate world, I brought my coffee and my lunch to work. We all did. There was no latte/coffee culture for the mornings. Many people don't realize how much that saves you. Apart from that, though, we got *real* interest from our savings. I'd bring my money and passbook to the bank, and it was always exciting to see how much my savings had grown in the past two weeks. Now, banks want to charge more interest on loans and mortgages, but not give anything back to the savers whose money the banks are using to invest and profit from.
No matter how many packed lunches and skipped coffees you bring that won't change the fact that the house price to income ratio has trippled since you got yours.
People like you are so out of touch with reality it is insane.
Millennial here. I don't buy or bring lunch to work because I don't eat lunch. I don't drink coffee. I don't take vacations. I work 10 hours of overtime every week. I fix my own house and my own cars. I don't buy anyone except my kids gifts. I haven't bought any clothes except socks and underwear in twelve years. My sandals are ziptied together, my boots are repaired.
This is the bare minimum it takes to have a home with kids in it and still put away money for investment in 2024.
@@SadreathGenX here, I hear you it’s not don’t buy lattes and you can automagically can buy a home. It is one of many frugal habits
@@Sadreath Not so. It's up to you to choose to live where housing is cheaper. My previous house sold for 5 times what it cost, but when I sold it, I was making almost 8 times as much per hour. It's the whole mindset of not wasting money. You shouldn't expect to buy a nice house when you first get out of school. I didn't back 50 years ago. I rented a cheap shack of a one-bedroom house for a few years. Then I rented and finally bought a used mobile home and lived in that for three years. Today I'm retired and living in a four-bedroom house with a dining room. It's the first home I ever lived in that has a dining room.
BTW, packing lunch and skipping coffee can save hundreds per month for many people. That would be almost half my last mortgage payment.
@@bite-sizedshorts9635I have to agree. Many people want to live where they can’t afford it. I bought a house at 24 (2017) for 131k that house is 250k now and that’s insane but still affordable. It’s hard for me to feel bad for someone making 90k in California and can’t buy a house when they could go elsewhere in this massive country make a little less and cut expenses in half.
Discipline is always the theme
Boom!
Long years ago, I bought an exercise bike at a garage sale for $5 or $10. I rode it till the bearings wore out. Later, after Hubby and I got married, we found an Airdyne for $85 at the pawn shop . It had 4800 miles on the odo. It just turned over 8000 miles and is still going strong. Quality counts for a lot.
I NEVER bought a new piece of furniture.I always looked for used,clean,non smoking house and bought from someone who got bored and needed the latest and most fashionable.We always shop around and price hard.And society wants all the bells and whistles with everything today.Nobody wants to wait,its all now.
It’s hard to find quality items, most things are designed to be low cost and disposable these days vs back in the day.
Quality items are all over the place. However, you have to be willing to spend money for quality, and you’re not going to find them at Walmart.
@@scoobydoo5447 And more expensive doesn't necessarily mean higher quality. The lowest rated car I ever saw on Consumer Reports was a Mercedes.
Yeah, I'm a mechanic, and this is a depressingly common sentiment. It's also wildly incorrect. You know what IS correct, though? That people used to BOTHER to take care of their things better. Notably, because technology used to be much more expensive. And yes, older folks who grew up then are ABSOLUTELY as guilty of this as anyone else.
This is called the Walmart effect. Globalisation made sure you can make anything anywhere with minimal attention to quality. That's what you are going to get when you take things to far. And I am from one of those countries where all the shitty jobs are outsourced just because the labour costs are lower.
Buy used furniture. Solid wood. Refurbish as necessary.
My tip as a European Gen X: don't run after trends. Not in clothes, furniture, holiday's, cars etc.
In my country credit cards aren't widely used or accepted. Worked for a company once that handled business credit cards and learned that I'm NEVER going to get one.
My biggest regret has been clothes. In the store I already doubted if the piece was right for me but still bought it. Went home, put it in my closet and..... never wore it. Happened to me several times and cost me a lot of money.
Another thing that I had in my younger years was going shopping and convincing myself I 'deserved' to buy a completely useless item.
retired boomer here. I took coffee to work every day and my lunch 4 days a week. I worked on my own vehicles and drove them 20 years or more. Always pay off the credit card in full by the due date. My parents were depression children. I was told to start earning money at age 10 as my parents could not afford to pay for college. i worked thru college and every school break period including holidays.
My dad told me young to save and invest 20% of my take home, which I did. retirement is now easy
Boomers spent less on TV. (Free) the amount Millennials spend on streaming is crazy.
There are more channels over the air than the three there used to be in the 60's. That's just not good enough!
I bet you that if you account for inflation, boomers spent ASTRONOMICALLY more on the actual television than we do now. Technology has absolutely dive bombed in price over the years, which is certainly a double edge sword, making it much easier to underestimate your technology/ internet spending. (Which isn't me excusing those that do.)
Boomer, here, dad got cable in the 60s as soon as it was available.
@@moxiebbwncYup, I remember boomers with cable and paying for specialty channels too, like ESPN for sports or HBO for movies... Streaming is dirt cheap in comparison, but looks like they're going to keep raising prices and merging until we've basically got cable prices and more limited choices again..
Not sure who you're talking about, but there's many different ways to cheap out on streaming. My credit card cuts me deals all the time. $8 off Disney+. I've gotten Paramount+ for free for 3 months the last two years. A buddy gets ad-free CZcams because he's an ATT customer. Free trial offers. Special promotions. Roku and Pluto TV (free with ads).
I grew up with my boomer mom and depression era grandmother. “I like it, but I don’t need it” was drilled in my brain when it came to shopping.
Cars built to last longer? Maybe, but back in the old days a headlight was $5 to change, now my headlight assy is $750.
Yes, the parts needed to do the job yourself are way more expensive now
These days a composite headlight assembly or even a taillight assembly costs a lot more than a new battery or alternator. Didn’t used to be like this.
You can buy an old car and still pay the same repair costs as back then, and do it all yourself. It's not "new and shiny" but that's that's trade-off
@@benmoisio232 My "plan" is to find a 70s to early 80s pickup and get it road worthy.
Yeah I drive an 02 civic. Southern car, bought it with 95k miles 3 years ago and it was $4000 at the too of the crazy car market. It's the ugliest maroon red, small dents everywhere and peeling clear coat but it's super reliable and gets me where I need to go every time
hello Erin, I thank you for this video, it's really genius, I recently read the book Astro Money Alchemy, which goes really deep into the world of financial secrets and how to attract money, it's really good, and once again Erin, well done for the video
The biggest "trick" for financial success is EARNING interest by saving instead of PAYING interest by spending debt.
If you have dry, jarred, canned, or any non-perishable items that you use on a regular basis, buy in bulk!! You may spend more upfront, but you will be purchasing less often, and can save a TON on a per-unit basis.
Totally do this! Laundry detergent, toilet paper, sponges, 2for 1 shampoo/conditioner. You can save a small fortune if you buy in bulk and look for special deals.
It's also better than money in the bank because of inflation.
Easy way to cook at home. Get some boneless chicken breasts and some BBQ sauce and put it in a pan and cook it in an oven. Then get some frozen vegetables and you have a healthy meal. Prep time is approximately 5 minutes, cook time is about 60-90 minutes. And some grocery stores sell big packs of chicken breasts as a loss leader.
I do this recipe too except I use teriyaki sauce. It's so easy and good!
You can do this in a crockpot and come home to a hot meal. No need to stay at home, while it cooks.
@@churchofpos2279 croc pots are the bees knees
Yes, I lived within my means but I was working so much I didn't have time to spend., Retired at 63, never regretted it.
Window shopping used to be a thing. You could walk by stores and admire what was on offer. To actually buy it, you would need to go inside, stand in line, etc. That provided some separation that helped avoid impulse buying. Being able to scroll and click has removed that barrier. You are exactly right about letting the cart sit a day or two. I have been using that technique and it really helps. Another thing you can do is write down what you are thinking of buying and wait until the end of the month to see if you still want and can afford it.
Young boomer, here. Can we agree that our education system has generally failed to provide financial education to students over the last 35+ years?
When you combine the lack of financial education with the increasing divisiveness promoted by many in our media, it’s pretty easy to become ‘weaponized’ against other generations.
Financial literacy is difficult regardless of your generation, but it CAN be achieved. This channel is an excellent start.
I don't disagree...but I'm not sure it was the educational system that failed...I think it was the parents who failed to teach their children to live below your means, pay your bills on time, delay gratification, etc...
@@DocJS , I've seen many calls for financial literacy classes in high schools. I'm a Boomer, and we didn't have them either, as far as I know. It would have been helpful to know more about these things when I was young. In fact, my first career job started with an internship, and when they switched me to a regular employee, I didn't go through the regular onboarding process and didn't find out about the 401K for years. I might have thought to ask about it if I had taken a financial literacy class.
Parents need to quit blaming the education system for all our kids failures. Spend time with your kids, teach them right from wrong, model proper etiquette, show them how to be a good spouse, and teach them about finances. It is called parenting and it is an awesome experience when you take the time to do it.
@@DocJS - Kids learn more by watching and experience. Too many Boomer and Gen-X parents gave their kids everything they ever wanted growing up. Those kids reached adulthood with the expectation that they deserved everything they wanted. Lessons of financial literacy fell on deaf ears.
@@chiplangowski3298 i can't speak for other Boomers but that is not the way we raised our son.
As a Boomer savings were just as hard to come by years ago as today since salaries were lower. I am driving my Honda CR-V for 17 years, live in the same home for 30+ years and cook most meals at home. Thanks for the video.
Ordering out is also a symptom of having both parents work. Between kids activities, work, and housekeeping, sometimes there just isn’t enough time. It would be interesting for you to consider how many hours a week the boomer household worked vs millennial. I bet millennials have boomers beat by ~50%.
But you would have to factor in other changes as well: Average housing size has increased tremendously, requiring more time to clean and maintain. Kids' activities are no longer "Go outside and play" but highly organized and time-consuming, which reduce the time families have to prepare meals/delay hungry kids from eating. No one I knew had housekeepers or landscapers - boomers always did that themselves. .So maybe closer to a tradeoff than you might think?
There is more overall wealth now than in the past - the issue is how it is distributed. I’m in my 60’s. The best advice I can give younger people is to not care about what others think about the car you drive or the furniture you own or the clothes you have - those things are not what is important. Develop a long term plan to build your wealth without being derailed by any need to impress others.
Living below your means is the best financial concept ever. You don't have to live like a pauper but taking some of the dollars you could spend on wants today and investing them for tomorrow is a simple way for us normal wage slaves to be in a better spot tomorrow. I'm 63 and retiring in a couple months. We won't be flying to the Riviera every other week but we're looking at a comfortable retirement. And that's only because we balanced enjoying life in the present and saving for the future.
Such a simple and elegant solution. No wonder it gets lost in the noise of generations chirping each other today. Watch how many comments this topic will elicit, all because it has the words Boomer and Millennial in the title. Still, I feel for the younger gen today, there's way more temptation, way more crap to buy, and way more costs to overcome to get to FI.
@@dstevens518 Ain't that the truth. Chatting with some of the younger people at work there are times I want to give them a stern lecture about not spending money on every shiny thing that comes along, and the next minute I'm in awe that they're doing so well in navigating a world that is more complex and expensive than when I was just out of college and full of beans ;)
@@xlerb2286 Yup, crazy complex financial world today compared to when we were young. Problem is, despite the higher hurdles the younger gen face, it's still the same path to FI. Save/invest/time. If I had to do it all over again, I'd move somewhere cheap and live the same frugal life I already do. But I'd be a hundred times smarter about investing in index funds, especially after the market eventually tanks again.
I sewed some of my clothes for school and shopped locally first before going out of town to the mall or say a Boston Store in a bigger city. Also, your old school clothes became your play clothes or clothes for yard work etc... Also, we had a garden and canned our tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon rind. Our family trips might be a week of camping at state park. We walked or rode our bikes to the library, park or swimming pool in the summer.
The house my Parents bought in the 70s that I was raised in cost 15,000. That exact same house is worth at least 565,000 today! Housing is so much here.
Focus on finding the best place to provide you the optimum balance of career opportunity vs. cost of living (ie. housing, transit costs, food, etc). I always thought the best place was the one with the cheapest cost of living, cause then you can more easily save/invest. But my wife countered that if you have a career with a high ceiling, then you probably are better off in a city that gives that career the best opportunity, cause hopefully someday your earnings will dwarf your expenses. So find the right place for you and your career, then chip away until you start building momentum.
The median family income in ‘75 was around $13,000
@@CarrieV9 Ah yes, I forgot about the $489.6k median income we all enjoy, in order to afford that $565k house. Just like our parents did, right? Everything must have gone up in equal proportion since then, and wages definitely haven't been stagnant since the 80s!
That's the main thing boomers did to save money if you ask me. Houses have doubled every 10-12 years for the last 50-60 years so they bought a house as soon as they could whereas millennials just recently crossed the 50% home ownership rate and millennials are in their late 20s to early 40s.
Then move. Plenty of very nice houses for $150k all across the US.
I haven't gotten coffee out in 4-5 years.
I learned my lesson with sofas. Pay for the performance fabric, especially if you have pets!
One thing that really saved was taking my own lunch to work. It was leftovers, or in a pinch a TV dinner, can of soup or whatever. It saved time, gas, over-eating and hassle. Now I'm retired I can go out to eat at my leisure.
K cups is my luxury. About $.75 at home. We eat out only once per week. We live in the north. Lower our thermostat in the winter to 62 at night, and raise to 68 in the daytime. In the summer we set the air conditioner to 76. We have a mobile internet connection for $ 55 per month versus cable at $120.
My wife cuts my hair for free versus $22 at the hair stylist.
We are conscious about excess lights on in the evening. Do all of our grocery shopping at Aldis or Walmart. We have an extra freezer and take advantage of sales. We have a modest sized garden and grow about 25% of our food. Vary seldom use a credit card, and if we di, then pay off the balances every 2 weeks.
We are boomers and are also baby step multi millionaires.
75 cents each for a watered down K cup? Damn bro that’s crazy I make gourmet coffee cheaper than that with my Walmart 5 cup coffee maker that cost me $9. You gotta get with the program!
Oh and I shave my head do I also save on haircuts 😂
My father shared these two pearls of wisdom often since my siblings and I were very young. “The world doesn’t owe you a living, so get up and get going.” “If you didn’t earn it, it’s not yours.” My father was careful with money and my mom went shopping. So, words of wisdom from my dad and he lived by them. My mom could never have enough money, ugly to watch.
I am a boomer, we budgeted, saved, bought small fixer upper homes, and invested. We still budget and invest, and live a happy life in retirement. I credit my dad for getting me on the right path! Thank you dad!❣️. It takes at least 30+- years for the investments to grow into a substantial sum. All the best with your journeys everyone
Among the many ways things are cheaper now: stock trading fees! When I reached adulthood in the early 90s and wanted to start investing, I was facing training fees of around $40-$45 per trade. There was no way I could give up that kind of money! Then ETrade came along and shook up the industry with $15 trades, and that blew everybody’s mind! Of course, now you can trade for free. So if someone can have the frugal habits of the baby boomers and also enjoy the cheap electronics, cheaper groceries, and cheap stock trades today, life is good! Very good.
It's not how long the engine last but how long all the peripherals last like water pump, starter motor, fuel pump (twice) alternator, transmission,
all these thing have been replaced on my GMC 2002 truck now at 215,000 miles
There's strong considerations there. Plenty of models with known defects that you've got to watch out for. Ford dual clutch transmissions. Kia Theta engines. Nissan CVTs.
yes, i balked a bit when it was said that cars these days are built to last better. They definitely are not, for the exact reasons you say. They are meant to be income generators. Many of the items which used to be simple inexpensive fixes or replacements, now require you to be 4ft tall and double jointed to replace. LOL
Tempations today may seem more daunting, but the option to resist are still the same. I still brew my coffee every morning here at home and can't remember the last time I visited a coffee shop (or a bar for that matter)!
My Mom lived through the Great Depression, she saved the left over tiny soap and reconstituted it into a bigger useful soap bar. I pretty well do the same.
Im driving 2 trucks I purchased new in 1992 and 1996.
I got all my debt paid in 2005 and now self finance, self insure. No Credit Cards, no Debts. No mortgage. No insurance except mandatory auto insurance.
I could care less about a credit score.
I usually take 1 or 2 vacations every year.
I budget approx $3500 per vacation.
I stay in luxury resorts or properties at amazing destinations.
Debt slavery and impulse purchasing is your Slavery.
I remember back in the 90’s I would never use a credit card for buying groceries, clothes, every day items because I thought it would look like I couldn’t pay for it. I remember being embarrassed when I used my debit card. Now I use my amazon card for almost everything and I pay my bill in full so I never pay interest.
But you pay the 3% merchant fee on ever purchase. That's why I buy from places that give a 3% cash discount.
Another frugal Boomer here.
One thing to watch out for is subscriptions. Do you really *need* subscriptions to 6 different video services, plus cable TV? Do you *need* free 2 day shipping on things you don't need to buy?
I tend to look at subscriptions or other regular expenses on a cost per year basis. $30 a month sounds reasonable, but it's the same as $360 a year. $5.00 every work day for coffee sounds like nothing ... but it's $1,000 a year (200 work days).
Another big way to save money, but most people can't do this - can you get rid of your car? When I moved into a flat in a large Midwest city, I found that I no longer needed to drive anywhere. A monthly transit pass plus all the Lyft/Uber rides I need costs about 1/4 of what my car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance was ... plus I don't pay for parking, deal with rush hour traffic or need to shovel my driveway. Again, most people do need a car, but if you don't keeping one is a huge money pit.
Regarding furniture, the only truly "timeless" furniture is what you like. If you make decisions on furniture, clothes, etc. based on what you like, as opposed to what others like (or tell you to like), you'll keep them much longer.
As far as cash vs credit goes, I've found that a detailed budget works wonders. When I stated categorizing every purchase, I saw exactly where my money went every month, and it was shocking in the beginning. Credit cards make that much easier. It also catches those subscriptions people seem to forget they have. It also helps if you don't carry a balance on your day-to-day card, so it's harder to let things carry over between months. If you need to carry something across months, put it on a different card or account. Something else that has caught on between the generations is financing everything. Interest can be a killer.
Cars? In 2021, I bought a dealer demo with 2000 miles on it for $22K. That price included useful options like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, and auto headlights & wipers. How? I bought sedan, as opposed to an SUV or truck. Again, trendy will cost you.
I, too, own a sedan for the same reason: much cheaper than an SUV/truck.
Growing up in dire poverty in Dublin set me up for life. I always bought second hand everything, wouldn’t dream of having my nails or hair done at the salon, repaired what I could, never ever thought of paying money on participating in sport, never ate out. Even now I don’t buy a coffee out. I buy everything with cash (save for everything I needed). It means I owe my own house on the water, can go on big holidays regularly in my retirement, and have savings.
Things aren’t fixable anymore, which isn’t overly environmentally friendly.
People now have four TV’s in their houses, pets, an iPhone, gadgets galore and are struggling to eat. Somethings got to give.
At work I was called 'cheap' by the younger kids. I went home to eat and never bought coffee. The kids came in with $5 lattes every day. The money I saved was enough to pay for my plane rental on the weekend (I am a pilot). That' s $75-100/hr.
At least you are smart and rent the plane. I bought one, twice. Money pit.
Not sure what coffee has to do with anything. Stuff is cheap as sin.
@scarling9367 5 dollar coffee every day for 10 years is 18,250 dollars. The coffee issue is that many do this mindlessly, thinking it's only 5 dollars. Others have realized gas station coffee is cheaper than Starbucks coffee and go that route. While others realize making it at home is even cheaper.
@@scarling9367You must be a child. In the 1950s you could get a cup of coffee for 5 or 10 cents and nurse it at a diner counter with refills. The same is true with soda and water. I see a lot of people saving at least $2 per meal by only asking for water as their drink. I made as much as my college room mate who became a lawyer in a big firm but I had money to rent and fly a plane and he was penniless. He asked what I did differently. I said I food shop and make all my own meals. I could eat for a few dollars a day and he was eating out 3 times a day spending all his earnings. When you really want something in life and you have exhausted ways to make more money, all you have left is to be a cranky bitch and complain life is unfair or examine your expenses and decide what you can do without so you can accumulate money for what you really want.
@@anncromarty2590 What coffee issue? I swear, older folks will find anything to complain about. Show up to work on time and do your job properly? Complain about their choice in caffeine. SMH. 🙄
I remember the first time I paid $2.00 for a cup of coffee, no refill. Manhattan, circa 1980-82.
I remember thinking bottled water was insane because who in their right mind would pay a dollar for a bottle of water?😅
It's much easier listening to finance advice coming from you Erin I really like your communication style. Other channels are too loud and dramatic.
We bought a Volvo in 1990. It cost more than our first house purchased in 71. That was an awakening. I really liked your video. Yeah, we make spending mistakes. We do, however, drive our cars 10-15 years before changing.
I spent $2.500 in 2021~2022 during the pandemic on microtransactions of a videogame I played on my phone. It was addictive and it took me a bit too long to stop doing it. While it seemed like just 7 dollars a day became a nightmare. At least I can say I overcame that addiction and I’ve been able to save and invest a healthy amount every month. I love watching your videos, they help straighten people’s paths 🙌🏻🤝🏻 true story
Consider that tuition spent at the school of learning financial prudence. We've all blown money on something, the trick is to learn from it ;)
Boomer here. Am mortgage and debt free. I live modestly- no fancy clothes, no big houses, or expensive cars. I rarely eat out. I make my own meals and coffee. When I go out , I make a small lunch and drinks to take with me.
I was willing to move across the country to a low cost state, when I retired.
As a boomer, one thing that made it easier to save is that you needed less discipline to save. Lots of the luxury items were so unaffordable, you did without until you saved up but had already had enough time to realize you didn't need it and could just keep on saving. There were fewer options to take the thing now and pay later while still other things (like TVs) were so expensive (my first 19in color TV was almost 40 hours of this software engineers weekly take home while a 19in color TV costs just a few hours of time for most newly minted software engineers).
Living far from home in the 80’s to early 90’s, I remember racking up huge long distance bills, there were no cell phones back then except for the rich with Rolls Royce’s!
Definitely. I was just overseas and could text and message my friends just like I was at home. Pretty amazing.
Good video. When I started my last job I would buy a tall coffee down the hall in the office building. After two months I realized I could save money making my own. When I retired, I calculated that I saved at least $2,200. So I bought a motorcycle and still have it years later. We live within easy walking distance from Starbuck but have never visited. Way too expensive.
I also highly agree with vehicle maintenance. When it comes to vehicle lifespan, surprisingly little has to do with car make. It's all about how you maintain & drive it. A friend of mine is a mechanic & says it's all in the maintenance. He's seen Fords, Jeeps, Kias, Dodges, etc. come in for regular service with 200k-300k+ miles with no to little cheap repairs over the years & he's seen Hondas & Toyotas not make it 60k because people don't do maintenance or drive them like crap.
As a boomer, (one of the younger ones) it was far easier to save money than what my kids had. As you said, we had far fewer choices. For example, for tennis shoes, it was basicall high top or low top Converse! We didn't have smart phones, cable tv, Starbucks, etc, so we didn't see our parents wasting money. Also, my parents grew up during the depression, so they instilled in us the importance of saving, because you never know what will happen. However, I think the biggest issue are savings rates. While recently there are some good high yield savings rates, gor the most part, kids have seen savings rates of 1% or less. When I was a caddy at the local country club when I was 11, I could put that money in a savings account that earned 4.5 - 5%, or buy a savings bond at that rate. Now, on the other hand, it is so much easier for kids today to invest in the market, with on line brokerages. We had to actually call someone to place a trade, and pay a fee of around $15 for a small purchase.
I'm an older "X". It is way, way harder now.
According to the BLS's CPI inflation calculator, $5000 in January 1975 has the same buying power as $29,781.77 today, not $13000.
Wow - 6 times inflation! Scary!😮
I’m a baby boomer and I approve of this message.
The only time I go out to dinner is on my wedding anniversary.
I am going to tell my wife that my 4 PJ sets that I have rotated for the past 10 years are timeless... down to the worn holes which have developed over time. I see no reason to change them. Also shout out to my 2008 VW jetta as it gets close to 200K mileage. 😃
As a boomer, one thing I would take exception to is the price of new cars, compared to those of 1975. The calculator you are using is wrong, since inflation from 1975 to 2023 is much more than indicated in the video. If you plug $5000 into the CPI inflation calculator, you would arrive at around $28,000 today. You can get a new car for that kind of money, although most are much more than that. But the differences are astounding. A typical 1975 auto had no power windows, door locks, etc. It maybe had power brakes and power steering (maybe). Probably had an AM radio for its entertainment system. Bigger cars had automatic transmissions, and maybe cruise control on the higher models. There were very few safety features, other than seat belts (which most people didn't use anyway). There were no airbags, back-up detectors, or anything else. The only electronic thing in the car was the radio. The engines used carburetors, and basic ignition. There were absolutely no computers, or even advanced diagnostics or indicators. There were no tire pressure monitors, or combustion sensors, etc. As you point out, the cars rarely lasted more than 100K miles, and got comparatively worse gas mileage, and considerable more maintenance, since they required plugs, points, tune ups and adjustments on a regular basis. Tires didn't last as long, either. Gas was around 57 cents a gallon, which inflates to $3.20 today (which is pretty close to what gasoline is today).
Other than that, and maybe some small things, good video and pretty much on point.
Good points. Also, a new car has better performance and safety
Lifestyle creep.
The average car price in 1976 was $4,900 dollars The average 2021 price was $40,000. The median weekly salary in 1976 was $206. The median weekly salary in 2021 was $981. In 1976 it took 24 weeks pay to buy a car versus 41 weeks in 2021. But a 3 year new car loan in 1976 was 13.3% compared to 4.5% in 2021. foe a 3 year loan.
@@bkestler1This may all be true. However, a car you bought in 2021 is in no way comparable to cars being sold in 1976. IF you could even sell a car with the same design parameters today, as in 1976, it likely would be less expensive, in inflation adjusted dollars, simply because of all the safety, pollution, convenience, and durability that is built in to new cars, that was not available in 1976.
I actually did buy a new car in 1976. It was a VW Rabbit, very basic. Cost was $4,200 in 1976. Inflation calculator says that money inflates to $22,000 in 2023. You can buy a brand new VW Jetta for $22,000 today, and it has tons more standard features, and will probably last two to three times as long. If your $981 is correct, then it would take 23 weeks to buy that brand new Jetta today.
@@bkestler1 I agree, cars were cheaper, then. But they also guzzled gas and they were generally speaking rubbish in every single respect, including longevity.
When was the last time you drove past an engine reconditioner's shop? When was the last time one of your friends took their car to the body shop to have rust cut out and repaired? And the constant tuning. Mixture and timing just aren't in our automotive vocabulary, anymore. And those "cheap" cars guzzled gas, and gas was expensive!. And if you crashed them, you were in real trouble.
Boomers won on houses, they won on jobs but they didn't win on cars.
Good luck finding quality items. Yes quality furniture can be found but good luck finding quality appliances. I had my 1999 KitchenAid fridge fixed rather than buy a crappy new fridge.
My parent's Fridgidaire refrigerator from the 50's is still going strong (had to replace the door seals though), their fridge from the 70's just died a couple years ago. I doubt the fridge I replaced it with will last 10 years.
This was exactly my thought. Even expensive stuff is crap quality now. Nothing is designed to last anymore, because companies just want you to "encourage" you to make new purchases.
I just had to buy a new fridge because the seals went bad and they didn’t make them anymore. I looked everywhere, nothing. They said they quit making them around 10 years ago. I know the new one will probably go out in 5 years if I’m lucky. Oh well. It’s an improvement right???
best advice i got from appliance guy was to buy the cheapest with the features you wanted, then get the extended warranty...
@@user-yb5bg8im5g I tried that with Sears/Kenmore and they kept sending people out for about four weeks and said they wouldn't honor the extended warranty. They would order a part and when It came in they tried it and it didn't fix the issue. They later determined it was the board and they said it was no longer being made (planned obsolescence). So I got a "credit" for a new appliance. You're better off self insuring and scheduling a replacement of major appliances.
I plan meals around what’s on sale that week. We have a freezer and whatever meat is on sale, I buy it and freeze it All the meat in the freezer was bought on sale.
You can afford meat lmao😂
Having a job that pays enough to support a wife that stays home to raise the kids helps
Good point, this gives you even more of a reason to find ways to save. But adopting victim mentality is not going to help you
I'm a Boomer. We were working class and both my parents worked to make ends meet on a shoestring budget. As a young mother I did side jobs like babysitting and house cleaning to bring in money. The idea that all jobs in the 50s 60 70s paid enough to support a family is a fallacy.
I think you're referring to 100 years ago. And that's only because the normal was a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 car, no vacations and almost never eating out. Included home gardens and canning food for winter. Their expectations were far far lower than today. All their clothes could easily fit into 9ne small closet.
Jobs back then paid enough because people lived below their means. They said "no" to luxury items -- and almost everything beyond the basics was considered a luxury.
They made less money back then, so be sure you aren't comparing apples to oranges
@@justjoanish My mother didn't have to work. My father drove a milk truck for a while and then worked for the state highway commission repairing and painting bridges and ferry docks. The main thing is to keep expenses within your income. My father always did that. Other than the one house, he never used credit. He paid double payments on the house to pay if off early. He never had credit cards. He bought his cars with cash. When he was ready to buy his last car, the dealer was bringing cars to the house for him to test drive. We went on vacation perhaps three times ever. We never ate out. We had a garden, so we bought very few vegetables. I never had more than three suits of clothes for school at any one time, and each year they would be passed down to my brother.
Forget the 1970’s price difference to now!!!! I bought a house in 2013 and it cost 💲 200 000 I just sold the house for $447 000, no renovations no repairs no painting!
Home cooked meals are not only cheaper, but also healthier than going out to eat.
As for the impulse buying point, I don't think it's inherently bad to buy on an impulse, but it does need to be limited. I think it's a smart idea to make a budget for splurge spending money and just make sure you don't spend more than that amount each month.
Boomers might not have been grabbing a $5 coffee, but they were buying a pack of cigarettes daily.
As a boomer in my 60s, many of us did not smoke cigarettes. Instead, we watched smoking relatives die.
@@paleomagicksr.9880 As a millennial in my 30's, many of us do not go out for a coffee every day, yet we are generically labeled that way. I'm very thankful for the decline in smoking rates, I still worry about my dad who smoked for 30+ year and was able to finally quit about 10 years ago.
@@paleomagicksr.9880 Right! that's sorta the point. I'm a millennial in my 30's & many of us make our coffee at home but are generalized into a cohort. Sure we will go out & buy a fancy coffee but we are making our coffee at home on a daily basis.
@JaredHoutsma I agree that generalizing any group into a cohort is a lousy idea.
At ten cents a pack verses 10 bucks here where I'm at now. Lol
Technology is a category of expense that simply didn’t exist 30+ years ago. Having a home computer and printer/copier/scanner, monthly internet access, subscriptions to apps, cell phone plus service, etc add up, yet I consider them essential in my life.
I find the quality of food available at restraunts is poor quality. Even high end places deliver poor value by using cheap and unhealthy substitutes. Many places are selling the same products right off the SYSCO trucks.
Not sure what happened with the car cost comparison but $4,950 in 1975 is the equivalent to about $28,000 today. Also, cars are a way better value today given improvements in safety, reliability, maintenance, economy and longevity. I say this as someone who still owns a car built in 1974 (along with more modern vehicles).
My toyota coupé was my first car from 6 cars in my all life. I bought it for 4400 bucks used. With 70'000km. The car now is again a toyota (CRV). The quality is cheaper, but it has a lot of electronic things in it what i nearly dont understand how to use. I must load it up every month 1 time because I dont drive enough. The things suck the battery empty I guess.
Erin, you lived in Michigan. A starter home is not that hard to find in Michigan. It can even be bought directly from the seller without paying a commission on either side.
But I no longer live in Michigan ;-)
@@ErinTalksMoney Fair enough, but a surprising number of people do. I also believe in many of the other "flyover states" that modest homes still are obtainable.
@@fredfinger7092 people live in michigan?
When the cost of transportation and housing both outpace inflation and those are typically the two largest budget line items, it sounds like the metric for inflation might be off.
They starting monkeying around with the calculations back in the 1970s. Housing and energy are two things that were dropped.
I’m not a Boomer or a Millennial (I’m that forgotten generation in between). Today we have more “needs” that used to be “wants”.
I am in the oldest Boomer cohort and I admire Gen Xers. You are another tough generation, not at all entitled.
I'm a middle boomer. My wife and I raised 5 kids. Made a good living. But...I lived below my means. Almost always drove used cars. Did my own home and most auto repairs. Always have paid cash.
I can’t believe people bought the underarm rock. That was nuts. I remember that coming out and I didn’t think anybody would buy it.
It reminded me of the copper bracelets that would align your body or whatever it said it did.
As a career earth science teacher, I bought the underarm deodorant rock just for the in-class story value😂
I had a college roommate that gave that rock deodorant a try. Was glad when that experiment was over, he'd get pretty wiffy by the end of the day.
I used the rock crystal and it works!! It takes about a month for your body to get use to it. I’m a boomer and not into alternative living but I’m happy I did that. It’s lasted for years
I used it for a short while years ago. While it was effective, I had to stop using it because it made me break out and made some of my skin peel. Yikes! @@backroadsoap2889
As a boomer, there were fewer things that we "needed". Like cell phones, which are a necessity today if you want to function in this society. And computers...air-conditioning, all the extra features on our cars that we now depend on, etc. Not to mention the cost of a college education.
So I am a boomer. And I have commented frequently on your channel, so why not now. First perhaps we do cook at home more. But candidly in many cases home cooked is better than restaurant. (And I was in my 20s a cook in one). And yes this will greatly impact your budget, IF you shop wisely. As you stated. "living below your means" is critical to wealth. I dont think this is a generational trait though, I think many of the current gen do this to. And will have financial success because of it. Homes: I agree with those that say there is a housing shortage, especially of starter homes. BUT I think this that makes it more difficult, not impossible, to keep housing costs reasonable. The problem with people who use credit cards, is they dont understand they should be "charge" cards, not "credit" cards. They are only a problem, IF you dont pay them off on time. And to be honest there a far more "incentives" now to use them, and I do. (But always pay off that month. Cars are more expensive. But they last MUCH longer. So perhaps this is just a trade off. Not sure what more to say, but dont use your age as an excuse not to become wealthy. Compounding works for everyone. Doesnt matter how old you are. That first 100K was difficulty in my 20s just as it is for yours. But if you dont start saving in your 20s, you are going to make it MUCH harder for yourself as you get older. You simply wont have the time that compounding needs.
Yup, it's harder to save now than before, but you can either suck it up and get it done, or use it as an excuse and look back with regret when you're old and broke.
The trouble with today's generation is they only see it one way, they have it the roughest. Well, sorry, that's a lie. Generations before saw The Great Depression, and World Wars 1 and 2. This gen has plenty of pitfalls in terms of crap to buy, ease of purchase, and high living costs, BUT they also have CZcams university teaching them the road to FI comes with living beneath your means and saving/investing your way to financial freedom! Wish I had that info when I was young, it would have saved me 15-20 years of wasting my time.
Agree so much on that first 100K being difficult and getting an early start at it. I worked on the family farm until I was 35. Great times that I wouldn't trade for anything. But not much money. So at 35 I had zero saved for retirement - but I also had a shiny new Master's in Comp Sci, so I was able to make up for lost time. You can do it, but it's neither fun nor easy. Way better to start earlier.
Two easy ways to save a TON of money.
1) EAT ALL THE GROCERIES YOU BUY! Every dollar you spend on groceries that you throw away after they go bad is worth $40-90 if you had put that dollar in a retirement fund.
2) Cook at home and then eat the leftovers for lunch at work. I was spending $100/week eating lunch at fast food/quick service places. If you do this, number one will almost always take care of itself.