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A millennial and their husband are both college-educated, employed and don’t have children. Yet their budget has become so tight that beans and rice are regular fixtures on the dinner table.
“We know inflation is being underreported… and job loss and unemployment is underreported,” the millennial wrote in a recent Reddit post, arguing that official numbers don’t reflect what they see happening to household budgets. “Everything is just insanely expensive.”
They wanted to know how other millennials were coping, especially those dealing with job losses, childcare or medical bills.
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Cutting Costs Anywhere They Can
The couple isn’t just skipping restaurants or canceling streaming services. They’ve changed how they live.
“We are literally making renditions of beans and rice,” the poster wrote, adding that food is “one of the only ways we can save money.” They’re growing a garden and making some toiletries and beauty products at home. They also cut both partners’ hair.
Neither grew up particularly handy, but they’ve learned to tackle repairs themselves. They’ve fixed their water heater and shower piping and replaced part of their deck. Vacations now mean camping.
“We are doing all this but we are both still employed AND we don’t have kids,” they wrote. “I just don’t understand what people are doing that lose a job and have to pay for childcare.”
Their story also has another layer, as the poster added they had cancer in 2019 and the couple had to sell their house to cover medical debt.
“Cancer took away capital we had,” they wrote. They lived in a trailer afterward to save money, became debt-free and have been “clawing” their way back to normalcy.
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That kind of setback can make rebuilding especially complicated when housing, health care and everyday expenses are all competing for the same paycheck.
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A Cheap Mortgage Can Change Everything
One theme overwhelmed the replies. Millennials who bought homes years ago often feel like they’re living in a completely different economy.
“Honestly, having bought a house 12 years ago is saving us right now,” one person wrote.
Another bought a home in 2016 for $149,900 and said similar starter homes in the neighborhood now sell from the high $300,000s to nearly $500,000. “I would never have been able to do a house now,” they wrote. “My pay hasn’t gone up enough for that.”
“Weird to not be able to afford the house you live in if you had to buy it again,” another highlighted what a weird position many found themselves in.
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But cheap mortgages weren’t the only answer. People described multigenerational households splitting housing costs, living in RVs, relying on parents, eating meals at work, driving old paid-off cars and taking side jobs.
Others gave a much shorter answer: debt.
Several mentioned credit cards, medical debt, personal loans and bankruptcy. One household said health insurance alone costs $1,400 a month, despite having a $1,700 mortgage and no car or student loan payments.
For the original poster, the discussion eventually came back to what survived the financial upheaval.
“Comparison is the thief of joy but despite our hardships, I feel rich with my partner,” they wrote.
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This article ‘We Know Inflation Is Being Underreported,’ Millennial Couple Says. They’re Both College Educated and Living on Beans and Rice originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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