r/millenials • u/bazookateeth • 13d ago
META š£ļø Does Everyone Here Feel Like It's Impossible To Get Ahead Financially In America?
As the title states:
We lived through the dot.com bubble, 2007 economic collapse, and covid. Now we are faced with another rolling recession. Has it always felt this difficult for other generations? I mean we can't even afford kids, let alone hobbies or anything of real world value. So many people are sleeping in there cars nowadays just to get by when it used to be a lot more rare. I grew up living out of the back of a car so I remember how uncommon it was amongst other kids in my age group. Now it's just the norm.
It feels like so many people don't discuss this topic so it's difficult to get a read on this situation. Millennials and older generations out there, how are you guys doing it?
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u/rainb0wunic0rnfarts 13d ago
We are barely surviving but both my wife and I work. She works full time and I am part time. Iāve been trying to get more hours but itās hard. My oldest now is working part time. He also helps out with food and utilities. Which pisses me off because we shouldnāt have to rely on our 20yr old college kid to pitch in on bills.
Only way I was able to buy a house is because I was a gestational surrogate and I used a VA 0% down Loan. Otherwise we would still living with my parents or a cramped ass apartment in a really shitty part of town
I am 42 and I expected to be cruising financially by now. Like how my parents were at my age. I donāt want to keep struggling forever but it seems unless I start selling ass, feet pics, drugs or all of the above I will never get my head above water
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u/This-Requirement6918 13d ago
Have you tried selling some of those magic rainbow unicorn farts in a jar?
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u/amso2012 12d ago
Itās called perfume!! And I hear people pay for it if you can make the packaging look pretty
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u/rainb0wunic0rnfarts 11d ago
The fact that I am legitimately thinking of selling my farts goes to show you how fucked Millennials are feeling
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u/TheLoneliestGhost 13d ago
Iād be homeless right now for the crime of getting cancer in my 30s if it wasnāt for a friendās parents allowing me to stay with them for a bit, allowing me to escape an abusive relationship.
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u/MeatOverRice 13d ago
Most of my peers and I (upper middle class) experienced prosperity as we were entering the job market in the eve of the tech boom. Majority of them are still making decent income (>$200k TC) but are staying at jobs they would have otherwise left if not for the current job market. Some of the luckier ones like myself have accrued enough capital to last out the coming recession or are planning to live abroad.
Hard truth is that if you were born into a lower earning family it's always been hard to get ahead. If you wanted to achieve that you would have needed to get lucky or take advantage of whatever sector institutions are dumping money into.
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u/marheena 13d ago edited 13d ago
People hate it when I say this, but I joined the military. It truly bridged the wealth gap for me. If you can get an officer spot, it can be quite lucrative after around 8+ years. They paid for majority of my undergrad degree and all of my masters. I ended up loving my job so I will stay at least 20 years to earn the pension and lifetime medical benefit. Maybe longer if they keep stationing me with my wife. Plus I still have my full GI bill and so does my wife. So our kids will get free college as well.
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u/Specific-Aide9475 13d ago
Every time I get a raise, everything goes up. My only goal is to have a roof over my head, and it's been a few years since that wasn't couch surfing. It's frustrating.
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u/nalgona-aly 13d ago
I finally saved an actual amount of money, after like 8 years of saving, and I'm about to spend it ALL on a very necessary but sudden dental surgery. š
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u/Kreatiive 13d ago
you have to live below your means at the bare minimum, or take on a 2nd or even 3rd job. which sucks because yea my parents (Boomers) each only had to work one job, and one parent was basically min wage yet raised 3 kids, and they were able to purchase a home in an upper middle class neighborhood on a modest salary while my dad got drunk & stoned every single night. dude is still cruising to this day yet Im expected to do lifelong learning and now have to start looking into learning AI and possibly even getting a certificate in it, on top of the all the other certs I have in my field just to stay on top of my game. on top of everything else. its a joke.
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u/Wondercat87 13d ago
I'm just doing my best. I'm certainly not perfect and have definitely stressed much of my life about finances.
This should be a happy time in my life. I just bought a home late last year. But expenses keep popping up. And now my car needs to be replaced. It's hard to stay afloat when there is an emergency at every turn. It's not like I don't save for things, I have an emergency savings. But once I get it built up, it gets depleted due to another unexpected expense popping up.
I just fixed my car at the beginning of this year, and now I need another repair. It is 10 years old, and I think it's time to find a new car. But it's a bad time for this to be happening. I was really hoping to hold off purchasing for a few months to build up a down payment for a car.
It also sucks because I have a small sedan and a lot of companies have moved away from sedans and want everyone in SUVs. I don't want a big vehicle. I'm happy with a small economical car.
I had some unexpected repairs in my home as well. We had to replace the appliances because a few of them stopped working. It didn't make sense to only replace one or two things, so we did them all. Which they did all need to be replaced. But we were hoping we would have had at least 6 months to a year to save and get ready to buy them. But no, it happened right away.
It's been an expensive year, and it's only March.
I'm extremely grateful to have a roof over my head though. I understand I am way more fortunate than many others. It's just the rate at which things pop up seems to be very frequent.
I'm a frugal person, and I don't like to buy huge, fancy things. I like simple, low key things. I have thrifted most of my things for the new home. Except for the appliances of course. But it just feels like everything is hitting me at once.
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u/Lost_soul_ryan 13d ago
Yes and no.. I have cut back on a lot off my unnecessary purchase, and have been working a little extra to get myself out of debt. Once I'm out of debt I think I will be able to maintain my spending better and be able to get back to saving.
Now I am 1 of those people who is building out and living in van, and I actually enjoy it. I realize I had way to much stuff I didn't need and it has been nice to on a more minimal basis. Now this lifestyle is easy for me as being out doors and camping us 1 of my major hobbies.
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u/WhitishRogue 13d ago edited 13d ago
Parents paid for college, middle class job afterwards, no spouse or children.Ā Fairly privileged life.
I run about a 25% savings rate.Ā At this point I think my annual asset growth is outpacing my savings rate.Ā At some point I'll buy a house because I'm waiting for a better time though I'm afraid I'll have to bite the bullet.
I live pretty frugally as that's just my personality.Ā That combined with a lack of debt is probably my greatest strength.Ā However paying rent is just paying someone else's mortgage and pissed away.
Edit:Ā Looking at our society, it seems it's becoming more optimized for squeezing money out of people for the same level of service.Ā This includes subscriptions, clever debt structures, and pay-as-you-go.Ā Half the battle is just recognizing a bad deal.
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u/Emotional_Moosey 13d ago
We are expected to work a full time job while also having a side business or delivery food or groceries to make up the difference. Only I don't have anything to sell or do for the side and I don't wanna spend all the time I'm not at work sleeping or doing doordash ššš
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u/Opinion_noautorizada 12d ago
No. I'm doing great. Worked menial $6.50-$15.34/hr jobs from 2003-2010...scraped and saved and scraped and saved. Then joined the military at 25, saved my money, made smart decisions, built my credit, bought a house in 2016 with a 0 interest VA loan, sold it after CovID for like twice what I paid, currently sitting on ~$345k in the bank, ~$125k in a military 401(k) and an 832 credit score living in Germany and eligible for military retirement in 5 years.
I don't even have a degree.
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u/Mick0331 13d ago
Iām tired of playing house. Itās time to dawn the Lord Humongous S&M thong and hockey mask. The chaos beckons to me, I must stretch my warlord legs, and shake my apocalypse booty.
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u/ndudeck 13d ago
No. I went to a local college. Pulled out during the āget your money backā period in sophomore year. Joined the military, and have been doing well ever since. Never been in any real debt. We let the car payments last for 6 months before paying them off so we could get the credit bump. Bought a house in ā17. Sadly it was in a shit school district so we had to say goodbye to our sweet Covid rate for better schools. We live 90min from the nearest family/friend so private school would have meant my wife would never be able to work again since we would have no help with babysitting and stuff. Even then we arenāt drowning while she is a SAHM. We also donāt live in an expensive area. Just a medium city over 150k population where i earn less than $100k. I felt the pain a little when we moved because of how expensive it is to get into the good public school districts, but besides that I have never been able to understand what most people complain about until recently. The way things like eggs has gone up does hurt but it doesnāt really affect the bills. Neither of us really drinks, likes coffee or does any form of nicotine, so not having those expenses helps. In about 2 years my wife will rejoin the workforce and we will be able to start padding the savings again.
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u/RunMysterious6380 13d ago
Recessions are completely normal. They used to happen about twice a decade leading up to 2000, and having more frequent corrections was healthy for the economy as a whole, until the corporations and financial interests gained control and created an environment where they had long periods of growth that led to MUCH more damaging economic corrections, which are inevitable, because they are triggered by and eliminate inefficiencies in the system.
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u/intheMIDDLEwityou 12d ago
We need a system that rewards labor not capital.
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u/bazookateeth 12d ago
Best comment so far. I'm sure the comment section will have some high-intellect debates regarding this subject.
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u/Patient_Ad1801 13d ago
Yes! Every year my wages go up 3% for cost of living increase, then my rent goes up the next month by 8%. And inflation on everything else ... Absolutely impossible. And every time I get some sort of windfall a disaster comes and takes it. Usually car related.
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u/Dubnasty71 13d ago
Itās not impossible just take discipline and deferred gratification. Yes weāve gone through some rough economic downturns but if you zoom out stocks are up as a whole. Dips just means a discount but no matter what Iām still saving. Hobbies donāt have to be expensive, you donāt need the most expensive gear to get started.
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u/davy_crockett_slayer 13d ago
It's not hard, but it requires sitting down, making a budget, and tracking your expenses. When I said down to make a budget and tracked where every dollar went, I was able to save $1000-$1500 a month.
The best thing I ever did was invest in my own education. I was in help desk roles for 4-5 years getting nowhere. When I started to study for difficult certs (Azure/AWS), my salary started to skyrocket.
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u/Creeperstar 13d ago
This has been the case for most Americans for decades. We just face the brunt of folks with shoe polish breath whenever we bring it up individually.
One of the primary inspirations for my as-of-yet-started conversation outreaches is getting people to chime in about what you're saying. Hello "why are so many millennials living with their parents?" circa 2009.
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u/This-Requirement6918 13d ago edited 13d ago
I gave up a couple years ago and just accepted living and taking care of my disabled parents. Gay so no kids thankfully. I'm starting to deal with dementia symptoms so that's fun but I guess I get to have a social life once or twice a month and get to work on hobbies when I want to. We're all pretty much sacrificing something in our lives and have to accept we'll never have the prosperity our parents had at our age. I'm one of three kids that lived in a decent neighborhood in a house and have zero idea how I'd be able to do that if I had kids so props to the parents that are making that happen.
I will say that maybe boomers won't live as long as older generations with them being subjected to "advances" in chemistry providing us forever chemicals, rampant glyphosate usage on GMOs, and microplastics.
My grandparents on both sides were much more spry and lively than either of my parents are at 72. In that same facet though we might not get to live that long either for the same reasons; why I really don't have any qualms to my vices of booze and cigarettes. Here for a fun time not a long time, make the best of what you have and what you can get and enjoy it.
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u/theshape1078 13d ago
Yep. My income has literally quadrupled from 2008 and still canāt get ahead. Iām not in ābadā shape, but itās just insane the income level it takes just to live comfortably. Itās almost as if the system is rigged against us.
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u/MicroBadger_ 12d ago
No, not impossible. I have family and friends who are all millennials and many of them own houses and have kids, myself included.
Basically boils down to a combination of hard work + risk appetite + luck.
I've changed jobs super frequently over my career to ensure good pay raises. That comes with risk as you are moving from something familiar to an unknown. For me it even went as far as moving across the country away from friends and family so no local safety net.
But that's all it is. Most people will work hard. But not everyone will take the chance when opportunity presents itself and for others opportunity just never shows up.
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u/redhtbassplyr0311 12d ago
Each downturn is an opportunity. The dot com bubble was too early for me to do anything. Every other one I took advantage. We're doing pretty good with a dual income household with 2 kids. We're both ahead on retirement and are funding our kids college account and have both worked since we were 15 pretty consistently with a little gap while we were both Full-Time students in college
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u/leftcoastpunk21 12d ago
I think that is how the system is designed. I'm easily earning triple to quadruple of what I was earning 5 years ago but it's like I'm making the same amount because prices are so expensive now. It's designed to keep us in our places.
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u/WaltKerman 12d ago
Why America? Wait until you see other countries. We have more wealth and more millionaires than anywhere. More millionaires means it's spread out over more people.
The rest of the world ain't doing too hot either.Ā
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u/uprssdthwrngbttn 12d ago
That's because it is until we're willing to do something, fucking anything at this point that says being treated like this is not OK, it will continue. Nation wide strikes, protest that start in one stay and end in another. And when they come to shoot, taser , pepper spray us; rather than stop protesting we just double down. Eventually the world will pay attention again. When the police and military were beating and shooting protestors in America over Vietnam and civil rights the world cared. We were protesting real issues that simply could not continue in the modern era. Now we're faced with protesting again ,organizing again, because this time if we don't, this country will become an oligarchy and their won't break any " maybe" this time. Look at Russia or China and see how easily they rolled back rights under the guise safety and security. The guise of tolerance and inclusion when it's being used as a cudgle to silence, in the end, free speech. They clowned us through 2007 on up and now all they need is some fringe group to help enact martial law. I believe most of us haven't been playing the game which is why now they went mask off and they were just like, " damn, the fuck does it take to make you guys upset. Trying to do a regime change here".
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u/bizmike88 12d ago
My husband and I are finally getting to a place where we can seriously save but we hate the idea of saving for four or five years just to throw it all at at a house so weāve actually decided we are going to focus on saving and investing and are giving up the idea of owning a home. Even if you make good money there seem to be trade offs.
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u/SideStreetCat 12d ago
To be honest... white collar crime. Financial crime pays out big in the U.S. most financial criminals are punished with 2-3 years in jail at club fed (federal prison.) You can steal millions through scams, send the money over seas, get convicted and be out in less than 3 years. If you steal 3 million you are making a million dollar salary.
My grandfather got scammed out of millions. Some guy in Juniper Florida... reported it to FBI and got a lawyer. No money was ever recovered. Scammer is still in his Florida mansion.
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u/Lomo_V1ntage 3d ago
Anytime I'm about to get ahead and start getting some things done whether it's a surprise bill or a repair of sorts I'm back to square one. This also includes some of the screwy shit going on with politics in the USA. At this point in my life I kind of feel like you can't get ahead unless your family's wealthy or you have a shitload of luck.
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u/pwolf1771 13d ago
Not really Iām not even a high earner but I have no debt and am building a nice nest egg while saving for a house. Whatās your definition of āaheadā?
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u/Drinks_From_Firehose 13d ago
No. I work hard, invest in my skills, act frugal with money, and developed my resume. It continues to pay off. Those are all things within my control that have continued to pay off. And I even have a kid, too. You can do it. Small effort daily leads to success.
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u/Creeperstar 13d ago
You're conditions are not broadly applicable.
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u/Drinks_From_Firehose 13d ago
Grit, perseverance, and decision making are broadly applicable.
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u/Creeperstar 11d ago
Only so far. The criteria of your success are still outside of your control. You just got lucky, for lack of a better word
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u/Drinks_From_Firehose 11d ago
Bullshit Iāve just been lucky. Iāve worked my ass off and have had to fight through plenty of my own battles. Itās such a reductive position for you to take. Yes, there are absolutely conditions that can make success more challenging. But if it all boils down to luck in the end weād all be up shit creek. Thatās not a mindset that leads to growth and flourishing. Itās not in line with philosophical understandings of flourishing, and anyone who thinks luck is all involved will sit idly by bemoaning their bad luck instead of taking control of their own fortune. What a ridiculous and hopeless proposition youāve laid out.
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u/Creeperstar 10d ago
That's a lot of words to dismiss the fact that despite any amount of hard work, luck may be that you don't catch that moment where it propels you out of your situation. You're just like anybody else who dismisses the idea, willfully ignorant in your success where it might've failed.
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u/Drinks_From_Firehose 10d ago
That you are of the idea that some great stroke of luck will propel you out of anything shows me you donāt understand what success is, or you have a warped definition of success.
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u/Creeperstar 9d ago
I really don't get why you're still engaging with me, yet down voting my comments. It seems you don't understand the use of downvotes.
I never suggested a single stroke of luck is the catalyst for success, your dismissiveness is the cause of your misunderstanding. Simply that there is some incidental incidence of luck for your hard work to have an effect in propelling you to success. You're so quick to dismiss it, almost insecure, so it seems you have yet to observe where so many have worked so hard to still end up with naught. Can you not think of any single instance of timing, or even the mood of a person turned in your favor that may have been instrumental to your trajectory?
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u/Drinks_From_Firehose 9d ago
Iām still unsure why you are defining all of these aspects of fostering relationships, participation, and commitment as luck. You continue to shift practical daily steps that are necessary for success as simple luck. Success isnāt some grandiose singular event that shifts one out of their circumstances. Itās small steps everyday that build up to shift your circumstances. And sure, there are always going to be times when life throws curveballs your way, where weāll need to dig deep in order to overcome that adversity. Iām telling you success is going to look different for every person and every person can be successful. But if you have a grandiose view of luck moving mountains to change your situation, then youāll never know success.
Fuck luck. We make our own luck. Yeah I guess I had some close calls where I could have died if I was a second slower. But I put myself on a path that I felt could lead to success in reference to my circumstances. I walked that path. Anyone can dip their toe in that current and reap positive rewards. And thatās not to say there havenāt been people on my path that have helped me and been part of the success Iāve had. (Most who could objectively view my life wouldnāt say I was by any means a success btw. Iāve failed as much as Iāve won, and kept fighting despite failure).
So yes Iām downvoting you because I fundamentally disagree with you that success is tantamount to how lucky Iāve gotten. Luck is an intangible, hard to define, subjective concept we canāt control. I say, when we embrace what is in our control and fight for attainable goals, we can all find success. That means we arenāt looking at society and bemoaning our circumstances, we are looking at our circumstances and asking ourselves āwhat can I do to improve?ā
You sound hopelessly unlucky.
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u/Creeperstar 8d ago
I'm so glad I got you so riled up. You find it hard to take, and probably even considered it for a split second, but it makes you so mad that I even suggested it.
You make projections upon me to dismiss the reality that I stated so simply, and you have to turn it to look past it to insist that no intangible outside force had any effect on your success.
It's okay buddy, you're just another loud one. I'm tremendously lucky, and mature enough to recognize it. Maybe one day you will be too. Take care.
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u/DC2Cali 13d ago
Nope. Set a realistic goal. Take the steps. Remain adaptable.
Everyone wants overnight results and also too focused on what others do or donāt have.
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u/ItWillBeRed 13d ago
Spoken like someone who either got lucky or was born privileged.
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u/DC2Cali 13d ago
Nope. Neither. Parents came from a different country. No wealth. They worked hard and did what they could and provided what they could for me. They still arenāt wealthy. Simple middle class people.
I just never had a victim mentality nor blamed other things/people for us not having a fancy home or 3-4 cars or millions of dollars in the bank. I just put in work and never took no for an answer. Iām not a millionaire either but I have managed to better myself. Sometimes itās taken 2-3 years sometimes itās been yearly.
Good try at assuming you know me and my situation though. Hope you find the means achieve your dreams
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u/ItWillBeRed 13d ago
There are millions of Americans who spend their entire life living in poverty. Including me.
Admitting you are from a middle class family makes you privileged. The middle class has shrunk to the exclusion of 10s of millions
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u/DC2Cali 12d ago edited 12d ago
Donāt know many people who are in true poverty who can afford a device to be on Reddit.
I am not privileged but believe whatever makes you feel better about your situation. You want to remain in poverty then do so. You can get yourself out of it or stay there. Your choice.
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u/ItWillBeRed 12d ago
Bruh everyone in the world has easy access to smartphones in 2025.
The fact is, if you are working a minimum wage job there is absolutely no way to "save" yourself out of it.
Poverty isn't a failure of personal responsibility, it's a systemic failure of capitalism.
But go off thinking your shit smells like roses and everyone else just needs to work as hard as you.
And yes, you are privileged, and if you spoke to me like this in real life I'd knock your teeth in like the little bitch you are. You don't know struggle.
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u/WillingPlayed 10d ago
After reading some of your comments and viewing your post history, it really seems like you continue to struggle because you refuse to make changes that would let you leave the struggle youāre currently bound to.
The cliche is real. You want someone to hand it to you instead of putting in the effort to make changes.
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u/gorpthehorrible 13d ago
Funny you should say that at the end of 3 back to back to back Democratic administrations.
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u/Silent-Cold-Wind 13d ago
Every time i manage to save a little up, something ridiculous will come along and eat it up. Never been able to build up a true emergency fund because life is just one emergency after another. Working as it was designed it seems. Keep us all wage slaves as much as possible.