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Originally Posted by daswig
Hey, I'm in my late 30's, so if my references are too archaic for you, sue me.  It's all about education and hard work. Actually, more than hard work....working smart.... |
I didn't want to quote your whole response because it was somewhat lengthy, but I will say that I agree with you on some issues.
Yes, it's true that if I chose other areas of town, I probably could afford to buy a home, but that doesn't mean that people making even $10 an hour could. In fact, they couldn't.
Let me give an anecdote to give an idea of what it's like for many people.
When my father was 24, he worked for PGandE, a utility company in California. He worked construction, putting in gas and electric lines into new housing developments. At 24 he was married with 2 children. At 24 he had no college education whatsoever and a blue collar job that paid nowhere near what white collar jobs pay. My mother didn't work, leaving his income to provide for our family of 4. Yet, he was able to afford to build his own home. Using his friends and coworkers as help, he built a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home. This home had a game room with a wet bar and billiards table. We had an in ground pool with a very large yard. All this he afforded by saving his money up for 4 years, all while providing for our family on his income alone.
Fast forward 24 years. When I was 24, I was married with one child. My father got me a job at PGandE since he had worked his way up and was able to pull some strings. I was doing the exact same job he was doing when he was 24. My wife was also working so we had 2 incomes. We lived in the same town in which my father built his home 24 years previous. We could barely afford the rent on a 2 bedroom garage apartment. At the time, we even qualified for WIC (which wasn't blown on crack, despite some popular myths about people on public assistance).
To break it down:
in 1969, a man with a family of 4 and only one household income was able to build his own home as he dreamt it.
In 1994, a man (working for the exact same company at the exact same pay scale) with a family of 3 and 2 household incomes could barely afford rent.
It's not always about living within your means. At the time I describe in this post, I owned 2 pairs of jeans, one pair of shoes, and 4 shirts. We had no car, no television, no nintendo controllers, and the furniture we owned had been left in the apartment when we moved in. Ramen noodles were some of the more common meals in our home. I don't think anyone would have accused us of living beyond our means.
While it's anecdotal, I'm sure it's a shared experience for many. And while I got out of that situation, the only reason I was able is because I had help. Not just from grants and student loans, but from family who allowed me a place to stay while I got the money together. Everyone who's made it had help, whether they admit it or not; no one succeeds without someone's help.