Yes every generation requires sacrifices to get ahead. But you...

  1. 241 Posts.
    Yes every generation requires sacrifices to get ahead. But you are still trying to paint today's youth as frivolous spenders.

    I don't know a single person under the age of 50 who has foxtel. Likewise no-one i know has mobile data on a tablet, no-one, you use Wi-Fi where possible and download movies for when you don't have Wi-Fi. Counting internet and air conditioning costs as "consumerist spending", as though your generation didn't spend money on them as a choice. No, you just didn't have the option. That's like saying people in the 80's were consumerist for having a fridge.

    Even if these costs were valid you're talking about $600 a month. That's $7,200 a year savings to live like a hermit with no phone, internet or air-con. Big whoop. Do you not realize how much house prices in Sydney and Melbourne have been increasing every year? That $7K per annum wouldn't even keep up with the annual increases in the required minimum deposit.
    Meanwhile your 5% deposit was equivalent of 5 months wages. Apples and oranges.
    Also interest rates were at 17% for all of one year, if you bought your house at the record high interest rates of course it was tough for the first few years.

    I don't want this to come across as "woe is me". I have a good income and I'm in Perth where the housing market is as accessible as it has been for over a decade. Personally I'm not struggling, and I agree that in Perth at least, someone on an average wage can still set themselves up if they make some sacrifices. Like the good old days.

    But I just don't see how anyone can look at the situation in Sydney or Melbourne and not see that it's a completely f*cked different situation to 30-40 years ago.
 
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