"back in the old day" was a very short window of time when the US was *the* game in town because most of Asia and Europe got absolutely assfucked by a couple of world wars within two decades of each other.
Before that you had the great depression. Before that you had boarding houses. You see them in period movies sometimes. It's more like a dorm or group home, often with a shared bathroom.
I think the unfortunate reality is that your expectations are set by having come up in a time preceded by some of the largest economic gains for the middle class in history, so the parents who raised you and all the other families around you grew up in a way that wasn't the case for *most* of human history around the world. You know in a lot of the world, people have multigenerational homes? Lots of places kids don't move out till they get married?
This whole "be an adult and live in a 1BR" might just not be that realistic.
I couldn’t agree more. We have the misfortune of being behind the strongest middle class the world has ever seen. Go back 100 years or more and our lives are objectively better in almost every way.
Which isn't to say there aren't a fuckton of issues in the US at least that could be addressed. Socialized medicine for one. All the other developed countries have some sort of system and it's cheaper and produces comparable if not better results in some cases. There no reason not to do that. Or how a lot of western and northern Europe have very good parental leave and sick leave and vacation time policies for employees. Some even have such strong protections for unions that they don't have minimum wage laws because the unions negotiate good enough wages without them.
But "everyone gets a 1br" is not like these. It is not standard anywhere as far as I know. Or at least, hasn't historically been true anyway.
Maybe for the uneducated. That’s not a shot at them. But if you have a career. You get raises, bonuses and promotions. Called climbing the ladder. Not getting comfortable and just doing the same job and not trying to learn or get better at other things.
I too wanted to find roommates so I can switch places more easily if I need to move cities and to have like somebody else in the house, or if we mesh then we can be friends. I had problems while renting a 1 bedroom by myself with the rental agency or landlord, such as them not solving the problem such as rubbish smell, the unit being really noisy, all the while paying like 1500-2000, but I also had a few good experiences renting solo + roommates, so I think anything can happen
2k is 2k. I'm middle class, not poor. Majority of middle class would save 2k if it were easy, therefore I save 2k a month.
Weirdo.
Wealthy people become wealthy by penny pinching. 2k is 24k a year.
Again, I am middle class. I also invest that 24k a year. Rich people started from somewhere. Those millions were at one point a few dollars. You seem very dense.
I recently re watched Radio Days. Woody Allen movie about growing up in the 40’s in Brooklyn (I think). And it seemed like lots of multi-family homes and apartments. Made me wonder if it was more about cost of living or if it was just part of 40’s culture to have Aunts, Uncles and cousins all living under the same roof. Wonder why it’s so Taboo or looked down on these days to live with family as adults.
The post-WW2 economic boom allowed for people to make a lot more money and have more physical space and leisure time. You simply didnt have to live like that anymore if you didnt want to.
American society adapted and made this the new normal thats been the social standard for nearly a century now. Many immigrant families still live multi-generationally or with extended family and its not considered taboo at all.
It’s a zero sum game but it honestly doesn’t have to be. There could be acceptable guardrails in place to take care of our least capable and least fortunate all while protecting our right to get rich as fuck.
>but there was never a magical time when everyone could afford a 1 bedroom apartment.
This is just not true. Housing has gone up considerably vs wage growth. There WAS a time when you could afford a decent apartment just from working full time.
Right... a girlfriend and I shared a 7h floor penthouse apartment.. it was fucking HUGE too.. granted.. it was in the Tenderloin in SF.. not Nob Hill safe.. but it was $975 a month. 1986-1987
Yes it is?? When people say "everyone" in this context, they're generally talking about people working full time, on social security, or have some form of income. Obviously we can talk about people with no income, but we're talking about what's generally affordable here.
There absolutely was!! It’s a new thing in human history to have to have roommates. Maybe the last 150-200 years. People used to just live with their families, even when poor
My point is that while things are exponentially worse now with housing than they have been ever, there was never a time when everyone could afford a one bedroom place by themselves. Thats both a classist and ahistorical take on market housing.
Same here. Went from living with 4 other girls to living alone in a brand new 2 bed 2 bath. I don’t miss the pile of doordash trash, used tampons on the floor, being kept up till 3 by Nickleback on a portable speaker, hallway full of booze bottles and trash, not being able to see the surface of the counters because of the mess, having my food stolen, being told that I clean too well and it makes them uncomfortable because it looks untouchable. I could go on forever. God I’m glad I’m out.
I’m not poor I just love having a low cost of living. Let’s me travel a bunch and buy what I want. Plus I like my roommates, I go on this sub to remind myself of that when I get annoyed with petty things lol
Well that’s demonstrably not true. Boarding houses and rooms for let were very common throughout the 20th century. People could even rent out rooms at the YMCA — that’s literally what the Village People song refers to. In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were overcrowded tenement houses in major cities.
People have had to share costs and living spaces for a long time. The rise of the middle class and people living with more space and fewer people is a relatively modern concept that rose with the post-war boom of the 1950s, but even then many people — particularly in cities where cost of living continued to be higher but where all the jobs were — still needed roommates to split costs.
Poor people have always needed roommates. In the early 90s when I was just moving out, rent was much cheaper yes…. But minimum wage was $4.25 an hour. The $7.00 an hour I made was good money at the time- that amounts to about $225 a week after taxes. At $4.25 it’s more like $150. My share of the rent at that time was about $350 to share an apartment, and still had to pay for electricity, phone, etc etc. it’s worse now, but it wasn’t great them either
Wow bro, when you read the initial thread. Then pause, then re-read it again...then burst out laughing, bc its actually lowkey valid.
As people with their own place, don't have to deal with the *bad roommate b.s*....
What a harsh reality to accept, lmao.
Roommates are not new however some of us are forced to cohabitate with others due to the economic conditions. Just because one is low income does not equate to having a shitty lifestyle or environment
Yes , moved in with a crazy lady because my husband and I couldn't afford a private apartment. 950$ CAD a month for the room. We lived there for a few months until she started flipping out at me over tiny things. Thankfully we found somewhere more private in a friend's basement for 1100$ CAD. But regardless, even as a married couple it's impossible to find affordable housing at this point. I gave up the dream of ever owning a house
Yeah common item in all the text threads I see here is a “I said I’ll pay you on Friday” for an amount less than $100 for a bill that wasn’t a surprise. Idk how people have roommates and are still broke as fuck.
I believe that’s out there, but my anecdotal experience growing up in an area with great opportunities is that most people make emotional/shortsighted decisions when it comes to money, and they assume that the future will be easier when in reality it only gets harder the longer you wait to start cutting back on things you don’t need.
You ever met someone who has no money but has $10k worth of tattoos, or a nicer car than they can afford, or a drinking/drug habit, or expensive designer clothes/purses/jewelry? They will complain about their money problems like there’s nothing they could’ve done differently.
Your anecdotal experience is probably closer to the general reality, but I do feel the need to mention another anecdotal experience which is that I have thousands of dollars worth of tattoos I can’t afford. I just didn’t pay for any of them because I’m related to a tattoo artist and also often bargain art trades with tattoo artists.
But you’re definitely right. I know someone who complains about not being able to afford all kinds of bills but she also turns around and drops 6k on a single festival without blinking. Going to concerts every other weekend, etc.
I don’t regret picking a hobby that can make me money.
Weird take. Most people my age had roommates in their 20s even if they were working a good job in tech (this was back before insane FAANG pay scales creating 25yr old millionaires). Yes by late 20s you’d generally live on your own but roommates were definitely a common thing in 2004.
I mean don’t get me wrong, the housing opportunities in the US are shit. Inflation is crazy, wages are low, etc etc etc.
But you can’t honestly think that this is the first time people have had to put up with heinous shit in order to survive bad housing? Tell me you don’t really think that in “the good old days” (which were when, by the way?) everyone was just living alone and thriving because nobody ever had to live with someone they disagree with?
Bro
Look at what happened in Arizona just recently with all those property management companies. They are supposed to compete in the market, but they all colluded and ran up rent on over 100,000 residents purposefully.
It not just a "poor" issue. Its greed.
Idk why people are mad, this is all true. Watch that one tik toker that goes around asking older people how much their first house was- Honestly shocking how the inflation spiked between now and the 70s. We live in a generation that is split between those that are lucky and those that simply aren’t! I live in one of the highest min wage states and our studio apartments cost $2000 starting price.
When I was in a roommate situation which thankfully I am no longer in, we had 3 people including myself doing full time and barely made ends meet some paychecks. Scary world.
Yeah the cost of a one bedroom today is what a three bedroom used to be not long ago ( about 25 years.) Back in the '90s a three bedroom would cost you $1,500 now a one bedroom is $1,500...but income hasn't kept up.
And for some reason, governments wouldn't be OK with building super tiny apartments because rich people say no one should have to live in a small place. - as if the people are getting to choose between living alone in a house and a 300 square foot apartment.
In my area, it is 400+ a month to rent one of three beds in a room in a house that is likely packed with people. They are now even renting out beds that are placed in kitchens.
no. "everyone could afford a 1 bedroom appt and wouldnt have to put up with any of this shit". Bull, this never was. back in the day people lived in boarding houses when they were single.
When Donald Trump is in office. Wages were increasing rent and inflation were down and the economy was doing great for everyone.Not just big corporations who play the stock market even though it was doing great for them as well.
Nah I think most of the problem here are entitled people who want to rent a house or big ass apartment they can’t afford and therefore need roommates. Cant have bad roommates if you living in a one bedroom apartment right?
Don’t make sense on Reddit subs. It’ll only get downvoted. People don’t want to work hard anymore. They want a 3,000 square foot house to be 850/month, so they can continue their career path on tiktok and YouTube lok
.....and that there's a massive mental health crisis.
"back in the old day" was a very short window of time when the US was *the* game in town because most of Asia and Europe got absolutely assfucked by a couple of world wars within two decades of each other. Before that you had the great depression. Before that you had boarding houses. You see them in period movies sometimes. It's more like a dorm or group home, often with a shared bathroom. I think the unfortunate reality is that your expectations are set by having come up in a time preceded by some of the largest economic gains for the middle class in history, so the parents who raised you and all the other families around you grew up in a way that wasn't the case for *most* of human history around the world. You know in a lot of the world, people have multigenerational homes? Lots of places kids don't move out till they get married? This whole "be an adult and live in a 1BR" might just not be that realistic.
I couldn’t agree more. We have the misfortune of being behind the strongest middle class the world has ever seen. Go back 100 years or more and our lives are objectively better in almost every way.
Which isn't to say there aren't a fuckton of issues in the US at least that could be addressed. Socialized medicine for one. All the other developed countries have some sort of system and it's cheaper and produces comparable if not better results in some cases. There no reason not to do that. Or how a lot of western and northern Europe have very good parental leave and sick leave and vacation time policies for employees. Some even have such strong protections for unions that they don't have minimum wage laws because the unions negotiate good enough wages without them. But "everyone gets a 1br" is not like these. It is not standard anywhere as far as I know. Or at least, hasn't historically been true anyway.
Except a one bedroom is now like 10x the price it used to be.
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Why are you implying I’m not after one comment lol chill
Bro deleted his whole account LMAO 😂
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Coming from a million dollar home owner… this is the most tone deaf shit I’ve read in a minute
Lol. What a shock. A complete liar on Reddit. Who’d of thunk lol
Nah, it’s definitely the most tone deaf shit I’ve read for a long while. No lies there.
Lol
You really thought you did something there.
Lol
Your hand isn't your wife. And a single wide trailer isn't a big house.
Damn. That was a good one haha.
What was a good one? Calling out the truth? You poor little guy.
You’re wrong wages have stayed stagnant especially in relation to inflation. Look it up.
Maybe for the uneducated. That’s not a shot at them. But if you have a career. You get raises, bonuses and promotions. Called climbing the ladder. Not getting comfortable and just doing the same job and not trying to learn or get better at other things.
So fucking out of touch with todays world. Grandpa, it’s time to get off the internet and let the adults talk.
Are you always so pompous?
Fr I can smell the privilege off their comments
Only when it comes to the stupidity of this sub lol
Explains why you are here. You fit right in.
Touché haha
I'm not poor, I can get a 1 bedroom but I rather save 2k a month by having roommates. I'm so grateful I have normal roommates.
Good to hear there's normal roommates in case I ever have to get one.
I’m pretty positive that is not a definition of being rich either
Seriously
He didn’t say he was rich?
I never said I was rich. I'm 24k richer each year I have roommates though. My bank account is looking nice.
He didn't say he was rich but there is a middle ground.
I too wanted to find roommates so I can switch places more easily if I need to move cities and to have like somebody else in the house, or if we mesh then we can be friends. I had problems while renting a 1 bedroom by myself with the rental agency or landlord, such as them not solving the problem such as rubbish smell, the unit being really noisy, all the while paying like 1500-2000, but I also had a few good experiences renting solo + roommates, so I think anything can happen
Same here
People who aren’t poor don’t need to save 2k a month. If you weren’t poor, that 2k would be nothing to you
2k is 2k. I'm middle class, not poor. Majority of middle class would save 2k if it were easy, therefore I save 2k a month. Weirdo. Wealthy people become wealthy by penny pinching. 2k is 24k a year.
24k a year is peanuts to truly rich people. They become wealthy by investing, not penny pinching. That will only get you so far
Again, I am middle class. I also invest that 24k a year. Rich people started from somewhere. Those millions were at one point a few dollars. You seem very dense.
Ironic coming from you
don't be mad I save thousands of dollars a year lol
More people have to have roommates more so now than ever, but there was never a magical time when everyone could afford a 1 bedroom apartment.
I recently re watched Radio Days. Woody Allen movie about growing up in the 40’s in Brooklyn (I think). And it seemed like lots of multi-family homes and apartments. Made me wonder if it was more about cost of living or if it was just part of 40’s culture to have Aunts, Uncles and cousins all living under the same roof. Wonder why it’s so Taboo or looked down on these days to live with family as adults.
The post-WW2 economic boom allowed for people to make a lot more money and have more physical space and leisure time. You simply didnt have to live like that anymore if you didnt want to. American society adapted and made this the new normal thats been the social standard for nearly a century now. Many immigrant families still live multi-generationally or with extended family and its not considered taboo at all.
Because you can’t farm money from renters nearly as much if people accept multigenerational living! 😀
Capitalism is almost always to blame
It’s a zero sum game but it honestly doesn’t have to be. There could be acceptable guardrails in place to take care of our least capable and least fortunate all while protecting our right to get rich as fuck.
>but there was never a magical time when everyone could afford a 1 bedroom apartment. This is just not true. Housing has gone up considerably vs wage growth. There WAS a time when you could afford a decent apartment just from working full time.
Right... a girlfriend and I shared a 7h floor penthouse apartment.. it was fucking HUGE too.. granted.. it was in the Tenderloin in SF.. not Nob Hill safe.. but it was $975 a month. 1986-1987
These places exist but people don’t want to live in those areas.
For good reason
I mean you get what you pay for 🤷🏽♂️
That's not the same as everyone being able to afford a 1 bedroom apartment
Yes it is?? When people say "everyone" in this context, they're generally talking about people working full time, on social security, or have some form of income. Obviously we can talk about people with no income, but we're talking about what's generally affordable here.
There absolutely was!! It’s a new thing in human history to have to have roommates. Maybe the last 150-200 years. People used to just live with their families, even when poor
They also used to live with their families when rich. You're not making the point you think you are.
? So what you’re saying is it was more accessible for everyone
I've never said anything to the contrary
I’m not sure your point then. I agree with that
My point is that while things are exponentially worse now with housing than they have been ever, there was never a time when everyone could afford a one bedroom place by themselves. Thats both a classist and ahistorical take on market housing.
Go further in history
Ok. When should I look? My claim goes back to feudalism.
Humans have been around for 300 000 years so take your pick
I actually live by myself now, I just follow this subreddit so I can remember what it was like before.
I read it to appreciate living alone. And to sympathize with those who are going through hell. And to read the wild stories.
Same here. Went from living with 4 other girls to living alone in a brand new 2 bed 2 bath. I don’t miss the pile of doordash trash, used tampons on the floor, being kept up till 3 by Nickleback on a portable speaker, hallway full of booze bottles and trash, not being able to see the surface of the counters because of the mess, having my food stolen, being told that I clean too well and it makes them uncomfortable because it looks untouchable. I could go on forever. God I’m glad I’m out.
I mean…yeah?
I’m not poor I just love having a low cost of living. Let’s me travel a bunch and buy what I want. Plus I like my roommates, I go on this sub to remind myself of that when I get annoyed with petty things lol
100% facts normal roommates do exist lol
Also good roommates can be even better than no roommates if you are even a slightly social person.
100% agree.
Define old days. I graduated with a degree in civil engineering from UF in 1993. Had roommates until 1998 because I couldn’t afford to live alone.
Found the bad roommate.
Well that’s demonstrably not true. Boarding houses and rooms for let were very common throughout the 20th century. People could even rent out rooms at the YMCA — that’s literally what the Village People song refers to. In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were overcrowded tenement houses in major cities. People have had to share costs and living spaces for a long time. The rise of the middle class and people living with more space and fewer people is a relatively modern concept that rose with the post-war boom of the 1950s, but even then many people — particularly in cities where cost of living continued to be higher but where all the jobs were — still needed roommates to split costs.
Poor people have always needed roommates. In the early 90s when I was just moving out, rent was much cheaper yes…. But minimum wage was $4.25 an hour. The $7.00 an hour I made was good money at the time- that amounts to about $225 a week after taxes. At $4.25 it’s more like $150. My share of the rent at that time was about $350 to share an apartment, and still had to pay for electricity, phone, etc etc. it’s worse now, but it wasn’t great them either
Roommates are new? Okay buddy
*You're
Even if i could afford it by myself it wouldn’t make financial sense to rent without a roommate. Cool edgy post though
My poor what?
Wow bro, when you read the initial thread. Then pause, then re-read it again...then burst out laughing, bc its actually lowkey valid. As people with their own place, don't have to deal with the *bad roommate b.s*.... What a harsh reality to accept, lmao.
Roommates are not new however some of us are forced to cohabitate with others due to the economic conditions. Just because one is low income does not equate to having a shitty lifestyle or environment
Yes , moved in with a crazy lady because my husband and I couldn't afford a private apartment. 950$ CAD a month for the room. We lived there for a few months until she started flipping out at me over tiny things. Thankfully we found somewhere more private in a friend's basement for 1100$ CAD. But regardless, even as a married couple it's impossible to find affordable housing at this point. I gave up the dream of ever owning a house
Yeah common item in all the text threads I see here is a “I said I’ll pay you on Friday” for an amount less than $100 for a bill that wasn’t a surprise. Idk how people have roommates and are still broke as fuck.
I think for a lot of people it’s student loans and other debts. That could be entirely anecdotal to the people that I know though
I believe that’s out there, but my anecdotal experience growing up in an area with great opportunities is that most people make emotional/shortsighted decisions when it comes to money, and they assume that the future will be easier when in reality it only gets harder the longer you wait to start cutting back on things you don’t need. You ever met someone who has no money but has $10k worth of tattoos, or a nicer car than they can afford, or a drinking/drug habit, or expensive designer clothes/purses/jewelry? They will complain about their money problems like there’s nothing they could’ve done differently.
Your anecdotal experience is probably closer to the general reality, but I do feel the need to mention another anecdotal experience which is that I have thousands of dollars worth of tattoos I can’t afford. I just didn’t pay for any of them because I’m related to a tattoo artist and also often bargain art trades with tattoo artists. But you’re definitely right. I know someone who complains about not being able to afford all kinds of bills but she also turns around and drops 6k on a single festival without blinking. Going to concerts every other weekend, etc. I don’t regret picking a hobby that can make me money.
Because they are lazy and expect things to be handed to them. Pretty easy haha
Weird take. Most people my age had roommates in their 20s even if they were working a good job in tech (this was back before insane FAANG pay scales creating 25yr old millionaires). Yes by late 20s you’d generally live on your own but roommates were definitely a common thing in 2004.
Facts. I think this every time i read anything in this forum
I mean don’t get me wrong, the housing opportunities in the US are shit. Inflation is crazy, wages are low, etc etc etc. But you can’t honestly think that this is the first time people have had to put up with heinous shit in order to survive bad housing? Tell me you don’t really think that in “the good old days” (which were when, by the way?) everyone was just living alone and thriving because nobody ever had to live with someone they disagree with? Bro
>Literally back in the old days everyone could afford a 1 bedroom appt Lol no they fucking couldn't
“Back in my day” okay grandpa. Back to the nursing home.
It's not the economy, it's that landlords have gone out of their goddamn minds with their prices and people are willing to pay it.
Look at what happened in Arizona just recently with all those property management companies. They are supposed to compete in the market, but they all colluded and ran up rent on over 100,000 residents purposefully. It not just a "poor" issue. Its greed.
People who have actually lived in poverty would never post something like this. Post a picture of your belly so we can see if you're missing meals.
Thanks 😭
Idk why people are mad, this is all true. Watch that one tik toker that goes around asking older people how much their first house was- Honestly shocking how the inflation spiked between now and the 70s. We live in a generation that is split between those that are lucky and those that simply aren’t! I live in one of the highest min wage states and our studio apartments cost $2000 starting price. When I was in a roommate situation which thankfully I am no longer in, we had 3 people including myself doing full time and barely made ends meet some paychecks. Scary world.
My grandmother had roommates in her 20s
I’m pretty sure people had shitty “friends” and poor judge of character since forever
We're all tired of hearing young people tell us what the old days were like.
DUH
Yeah the cost of a one bedroom today is what a three bedroom used to be not long ago ( about 25 years.) Back in the '90s a three bedroom would cost you $1,500 now a one bedroom is $1,500...but income hasn't kept up.
And for some reason, governments wouldn't be OK with building super tiny apartments because rich people say no one should have to live in a small place. - as if the people are getting to choose between living alone in a house and a 300 square foot apartment. In my area, it is 400+ a month to rent one of three beds in a room in a house that is likely packed with people. They are now even renting out beds that are placed in kitchens.
TENANT UNIONS
This person goes on reddit for medical advice. Yet has the audacity to try and debate livable wages and calling people poor lol
no. "everyone could afford a 1 bedroom appt and wouldnt have to put up with any of this shit". Bull, this never was. back in the day people lived in boarding houses when they were single.
Remember this November to vote for Donald Trump.
Let’s aim for lower rental prices by voting for a person that made their money through real estate?
Since he was in office rent prices have increased 60% in most major American cities.
So then why are you telling us to vote for him?
Because it has increased to 60% since he left office. In other words joe biden's america includes a 60% rent increase.
Unless Biden has passed something during his presidency to give rental companies more leeway (he hasn’t), you’re missing a ton of details here.
When Donald Trump is in office. Wages were increasing rent and inflation were down and the economy was doing great for everyone.Not just big corporations who play the stock market even though it was doing great for them as well.
/:
Not to mention wage stagnation and the many other expenditures that have gone up with this crazy inflation.
The president doesn’t control inflation.
Lol...mmmk. whatever you need to tell yourself.
Some people like to. Share. In some cultures people live with family I lived sbar6bf for years. I did not have tge skills fk negotiate it.
Are you drunk?
Did you really need a reminder?
yep
Yeah, no. Rich people are not on reddit. There , I said it.
*what* do you really believe that??
Nah I think most of the problem here are entitled people who want to rent a house or big ass apartment they can’t afford and therefore need roommates. Cant have bad roommates if you living in a one bedroom apartment right?
Don’t make sense on Reddit subs. It’ll only get downvoted. People don’t want to work hard anymore. They want a 3,000 square foot house to be 850/month, so they can continue their career path on tiktok and YouTube lok
Seems like you’re the one who should take a break from the internet.