OK, I'll just keep saying it: People don't have to live like this. My total monthly expenses are less than half of this woman's rent. I have a tiny mortgage I'll pay off in a fifth of the loan's term. Anyone could do what I have done. But if you say this, people freak out. They call it "low status" to live in genuinely affordable areas, call it "giving up" to reduce your expenses and live simply, or falsely claim there are "no jobs" in cheap-real-estate areas. It seems like many, many people subscribe to an ideology which aims to send young people into the level of misery this young woman is in. They want the prime years of peoples lives to be stress-filled, choked with ambition for worthless luxury and status, and those who believe in these ideas have no problem extolling family values while insisting that all young people take a course of action that is the least compatible with starting families. If young people are struggling to get a good start wherever they are, they should buy a cheap house spend a few years fixing it up and building some savings. When you're living on $900/mo or less, any job allows you to rapidly save. This is not "giving up," nor is it "low status" -- this type of risk, effort, flexibility, and determination quite literally built America. Maybe it's not for everyone, but to act as if it isn't a potentially great option for most young people is delusional.
@shagbark_hick This is tone deaf and wrong. A fixer upper always costs more than you think in repairs."when you're living on 900/mo or less, any job allows you to rapidly save" lol no. And it costs money to move into a different area if it's expensive where u live.
@missingplutotoo My fixer upper was $43k move in ready 2 years ago and I have spent maybe $500 on fixing it.
@shagbark_hick @missingplutotoo dawg maybe don’t try to bolster your very out of touch point with a house that visibly needs a new roof, new paint, and new windows. yes you can make a low down payment and have a small mortgage on a $36k house but you can’t do that with a roof
@shagbark_hick @missingplutotoo Have you lived in WV? I have. It is *moist*. That fixer upper is going to be severely rotted out
@shagbark_hick @missingplutotoo Two years ago is doing a lot of work here. In my Midwestern, low wage city $43k this year literally won't buy the house that mostly burned down on my street.
@shagbark_hick @missingplutotoo Spending $500 is not fixer upper territory. Even in an extremely afforable area. That's I moved into my new house and I want to buy or change some minor stuff.
@shagbark_hick wow its almost like not everybody is going to have your exact same experience!