Things that used to be luxuries are now (supposedly) needs.

and much of this makes no sense.

I hear people complaining about being unable to afford things yet many of those same people spend $8 daily on their way to work for their special latte whatever. That's $40/work week. 

I pay well under a buck a pot for coffee.

Then the average one person DoorDash order runs about $30 for one order for person and that's $210/week. Four days worth is $120. It adds up fast.

On top of that how much does your lunch at work cost? Ten or fifteen bucks a day sounds about right. That's another $50-75 weeekly.

This adds up and adds up fast. we're looking at some fairly serious cash outlays here if you bother to add it all up.

Then for many nothing will do but you get the latest and greatest iPhone runs about $1142 or more. a Walmart Samsung runs about $125 and it lasts years pretty much as long iPhones and does everything most people need to do. 

Impulse buys for a lot of people are another waste of money. A lot of the things people purchase is for a pipe dream of sorts. For example a guy might purchase a fly rod with the intention of going fishing but never gets around to it. Had he thought it out ahead of time or actually had a solid plan that fly rod might have made sense but now is sits in a closet somewhere gathering dust.

One thing I have noticed about younger homeowners is that they tend to take care of their vehicles and keep them longer and think purchases through. They appear to be more frugal and goal oriented and usually cook for themselves instead of eat out or DoorDash.

They also don't take lavish vacations. The travel industry has managed to create the 'need' of a lavish vacation for people. Staying at home and doing repairs or a simple road trip gets a person away from work and can provide a satisfying break.   

I will be the first to admit that houses are more expensive even after adjusting for inflation over time but if a couple is willing to work at it it's still fairly doable.

One thing that new homeowners usually forget to think about is that over time they will get pay raises and with a fixed mortgage the home will get easier to pay off as time goes on. as time passes and inflation increases money can be put to the principal and get the home paid off faster.

Once house payments are out of the way money will be available for other things. Take a vacation. You'll appreciate it more because you earned it.

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY