The new car.
The nice house.
The premium cable.
The boat.
The financed appliances.
The 0% down furniture.
The clothes on a credit card.
The golden handcuffs.
Every time I see a picture of a new car scrolling down my Facebook feed, I shake my head and sigh. It's usually accompanied by a young person standing with two thumbs up and a smile. The like button has been abused repeatedly, and the comments start flowing with things like “congrats!“, or “that's awesome, I'm so happy for you!”
Somehow, buying new stuff with other people's money has reached the same social status as getting married, having a kid, or landing an incredible job.
I usually have to hold myself back from commenting, because it would look something like “I hope that car feels better than freedom“, or “you just set yourself back for 72 months“. Even though it would seem like I'm upset with them, I'm really just upset for them.
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If I've learned anything from my short time in writing about personal finance, it's that people can convince themselves that any purchase is a great idea. Sometimes, no matter how much I jump up and down and wave my hands while screaming for young people to stop financing their lives away, a lot of them still buy the golden handcuffs anyways.
Young people are generally not very skilled when it comes to thinking about their future. Millennials have this ridiculous need to “live now while they are young”.
They don't realize that they will still be the same person 30 years from now, wishing that they would have saved more, or invested earlier. There is so much financial opportunity squandered for the few minutes of “life” that young people feel when they are buying something they don't need.
It's sad.
The things that we finance in life are nice and shiny like gold, but will keep you restrained the same way that handcuffs do. If you are thinking about making a financed purchase in the near future, hold off.
If you feel like you need cable, try something cheaper first and see if you can stand the difference. If you have to buy a house, be modest. Get the MTV cribs house later when you have a positive net worth.
Every time you make a purchase that you can't pay cash for, you are giving away a small part of your ability to experience change in your life. You have to keep that job that you hate to make debt payments. Someone else's pockets are lined while you struggle to find cash on your own.
Our future children become doomed to life with student loans. We use social media to celebrate young people blindly trading happiness for someone else's money and a depreciating asset.
It has to stop.
Don't wear the golden handcuffs. They'll keep you trapped forever.
Mark says
Jul 28, 2015 at 10:19 amLove your stuff. Keep the faith. You WILL change lives.
Millennial Money Man says
Jul 28, 2015 at 11:28 amThanks, glad you like it!
Anonymous says
Jul 31, 2015 at 3:52 pmFREEDOM over hand cuffs any day… The freedom one has without debt is like no other. you are free to do what ever you can afford.
Millennial Money Man says
Aug 1, 2015 at 12:24 pmAbsolutely!!
Alexandra @ Real Simple Finances says
Aug 7, 2015 at 9:17 amYour potential Facebook comments had me cracking up. We’re living in a generation of YOLO believers, but my friend more accurately sums it up as YOYO: you’re only young once. I don’t understand this need to get all your living out before you hit some imagined magical number where suddenly life isn’t worth having fun anymore.
Millennial Money Man says
Aug 7, 2015 at 9:59 amHa, it’s a good thing I usually censor myself on FB! I really believe that the “need to live now” can be attributed to lack of life experience and really effective advertising that young people have been susceptible to since they could look at a TV. Who knows.
Amanda says
May 9, 2017 at 3:50 pmWhere is the balance ? I am 36 with no kids and 4x my annual salary in savings. With an “I should enjoy it while I’m young” attitude, I just bought a second home on the lake. In your opinion was this a bad idea ?
Millennial Money Man says
May 9, 2017 at 4:25 pmGreat question – I think the balance is where you aren’t drowning in consumer debt and enjoy where you are in life.
George says
May 10, 2017 at 12:13 pmThat would depend. Is that savings in retirement accounts? Do you have a 3-6 mth of expenses emergency fund? Are you married and have kids? Is there a kids college fund started? Are both homes paid for? Do you have any debt? If you answer no to all or most of these questions then you’re probably fine. If you answered yes to all or most of these questions then you probably should have waited on the lake house.
Frugal Millennial says
Aug 22, 2015 at 2:50 pmMy mom has told me numerous times that she wants me to have a “normal” quality of life for someone my age. When I look around at how other people spend their money, I don’t want to be “normal.” I could put myself in an endless cycle of debt, or I could pay off my student loans as fast as possible and enjoy the rest of my life.
Millennial Money Man says
Aug 23, 2015 at 8:33 pmNormal sucks. Once you stop caring about what all the people around you think, it’s so much easier to get out of debt.
Kelly says
Nov 9, 2017 at 5:34 amThat’s the biggest lesson! It doesn’t matter what other people think! There is a difference in thinking you don’t care what other people think and really living your life like you don’t care what other people think!! When I was 18 I felt all smug that I had a nicer car than some people twice my age. What an idiot!! I would like to go back and apologize to those people now!! 😂
Millennial Money Man says
Nov 9, 2017 at 7:04 amSo true!
Debt Free Cracker says
Mar 3, 2017 at 3:38 pmI’m gonna be rich! 2006 Honda Accord for life.
Mike says
Apr 7, 2017 at 4:55 pmAs much as someone tries, you cannot make everyone think like you do. Maybe some of the blame is in these people’s parents, who were the ones that escalated what credit does and means! You really only live once, you should enjoy it to a certain extent. The socialist type world we are living in lets people not worry about the future, someone will take care of them when they are 65 and have no money left!!
Tyler says
Apr 24, 2017 at 10:15 pm0% financing is not a bad thing. Using it wisely you can instead of paying all at once and being out 500 for a new couch you spend $50 a month and but the rest in to savings or investing. As long as you pay it off before intrest kicks in you are not lining someone else’s pocket. In fact they are lining yours.
Milineals do value the experience over the stuff. Part of the difference in generations. They would rather travel now and got to this event or that concert today. Part of that may be our parents we’re the opposite. I’d much rather enjoy my money now. My parents live a middle class life style while they could be living nicer but refuse to spend what they want to save. They are getting older now and can enjoy things as much as when they were younger. They spend more on a hotel and gas to travel (because they don’t want to be trapped without a car and can’t drive for more than 6-7 hours without being exhausted) then they do on where they go or what would be plane tickets. I’d much rather spend money and fly and stay in a tent or aurbnb or a hostel or somewhere cheep and experience a place then take a week and spend 2 days where I’m going and 4 on the road.
Mark says
May 9, 2017 at 3:46 pmWrong! Go to the furniture store with $425 cash in hand and I bet you can walk out with the $500 couch that if you had financed would’ve cost you $500 plus tax. Cash is king!
Michael Sparks says
May 9, 2017 at 7:46 pmYou finance everything you buy, you either pay interest to some else or you give up the ability to earn interest. There can be no other way.
Holly says
Jul 8, 2017 at 10:30 amWhat’s wrong with “living now”? There are a lot experiences that you can only have when you’re young. Otherwise you have to wait until you have an empty nest, and even then you may not be able to do what you wanted to do while you were young. As long as you have a decent savings and can make your monthly payments without a problem, I don’t see anything wrong with having fun every so often. Paying debt of ASAP is great, but let’s be honest, it sucks. Working as much as I do is draining the life from me, and I don’t even have any debt! I’m working just to pay my husband’s student loans.
Millennial Money Man says
Jul 8, 2017 at 11:07 amI really really really hate to break this to you, but if your husband has loans you do too. Good ol’ marriage. 🙂
“Living now” when you can’t afford to just screws you over later down the road. I’m not advocating to never do anything fun, but most of the time it would only take a few years of living below your means and hustling rather to get ahead for the rest of your life.
S. R. Bobo says
Jul 8, 2017 at 2:21 pmI agree to some extent of what you are saying. However, there is another perspective to look at this subject from. Our Life is TODAY…while we are alive to enjoy it. Tomorrow doesn’t come for many people! They work HARD….save, save, save for their future….then drop dead!!! They didn’t travel….they bought the cheapest things they could live with….they didn’t enjoy the nicer experiences in their life while they had life! They didn’t travel while they had good health and energy! Believe me…..I know lots of people that saving money becomes their number one priority in life! I do not agree with that at all! I believe in saving some….but not to the extent that you can’t enjoy your life while you are younger and have your life and your good health! Take the trip your heart aches for….even if you have to borrow the money. Then work to pay it off. You had the WONDERFUL experience!!! If you save for years to take that trip….you may not live to take it!!! My husband dropped dead at 49 years old….and didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of his labors!!! I know many others who the same happened to them!!! Just my experience and my opinion!
josh says
Sep 21, 2017 at 8:08 amLove this post!