General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Typical Millennial bank statement [View all]Sympthsical
(9,238 posts)I don't know where the OP lives, but every location is very different. $2,000 might get you a nice studio away from the city here - certainly not in it. Definitely not in South Bay.
I think the satire became obvious when he inserted brunch in there. (But was the satire that brunch was included, or that it was an unrealistic $17. Where is he getting that deal?!)
I mean, I get your point. I grew up poor. I was working poor well into adulthood. Even though I'm successful and comfortable now, a lot of that doesn't leave you. Coffee for me is a can of Folger's grounds from Costco and a drip pot. I don't do brunch, because this is the Bay Area, and I'm not paying $40 for eggs. I shop with app discounts and cook most days. We never turn the AC on unless it's triple digits. My car's been paid off for ages, and it never crosses my mind to buy a new one. My partner shares this frugality. His family are Filipino immigrants. So even though we have a really nice house, our expenses are dirt low.
We penny count in that way poor people do. It just sticks in your soul if you've been there.
But, in reading that Tweet, I felt I sensed the author's eye roll. A kind of, "Do I really have to explain to you why so many Millennials have financial problems?" I mean, conservatives love to gloss over poverty by citing things like, "Stop buying coffee!" Which, if you're that poor, probably shouldn't be buying that coffee. Certainly not $12 a day worth. But the people I know who actually do spend $12 a day at Starbucks are . . . special. They're both well off, and it's almost become some weird cultural hobby or something. It baffles me. But it's some little piece of their identity. Every time I'm out with them, it's, "Have to go to Starbucks!" I mean, do we?
But they're exceptions. And I think the coffee thing on the list is meant to needle the preconceptions. Same with the brunch bit.