USA Today series on Generation Debt

[abby]

USA TODAY begins a six-week series today exploring the issues of being young and in debt. They'll also have strategies for managing debt, cutting expenses and saving money.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/...bt-cover_x.htm

Feel free to discuss the article and your experiences managing debt here.

thanks,
abby

[pisces2473]

Mark, there's tons of genX & Y stuff.

[wordsmith]

"When I came out of college, I knew I had to live within my means," says Williamson, who had $7,000 in college debt that took 10 years to pay off. "I used a public washeteria. I even saved for a TV. It took me two years to get a TV."

Add Madison Avenue's version of smart-talking, flip-flop-clad young adults springing for $5 lattes and downloading on their iPods, and you've got an image gap, too.

" 'Quit whining' — I've heard that a lot," says Draut, who is director of the economic opportunity program at Demos, a public-policy research group. "Someone sees a 25-year-old buy a plasma-screen TV at Best Buy, and they think every 25-year-old is buying a plasma-screen TV at Best Buy."

There's a blame-the-victim attitude at work, too, says William Strauss, co-author of Millennials Rising, a 2000 book that identified the generation born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

"There's the common misconception that they have these debts because they're buying iPods or cable TV," Strauss says. "It's not that. It's student loans and housing

I like that this distinction is made. The popular conception, particularly by older people (but also from within us) is that if you're in debt, you're living extravagantly, which is def. not necessarily true. You may be living beyond your means, but it may be a matter of living beyond your means just to afford the basics of food, clothing and shelter, not living beyond your means to finance luxuries. Granted, it's still living beyond your means, which is a problem, but that speaks more to the "means" that are available to many people than anything else. You're going to be living beyond your means while scraping by at the bare minimum if wages in certain fields don't become a little more realistically liveable.

I for one am really tired of my PROFESSIONAL CAREER (not a McJob, not seasonal labor, but a professional career track) dictating that there is a fairly LARGE percentage of the country that is quite simply completely and totally off limits to me (even to rent in, let alone buy a home if that's what I wanted). Now, it's true that many of the places that are simply not a consideration for me based on average salaries for my profession are not places I would choose to live. But I WOULD like to be able to have that choice, whether I opt for it or not.

[cache]

I for one am really tired of my PROFESSIONAL CAREER (not a McJob, not seasonal labor, but a professional career track) dictating that there is a fairly LARGE percentage of the country that is quite simply completely and totally off limits to me (even to rent in, let alone buy a home if that's what I wanted). Now, it's true that many of the places that are simply not a consideration for me based on average salaries for my profession are not places I would choose to live. But I WOULD like to be able to have that choice, whether I opt for it or not.

Exactly. I have to make some sacrifices to live where I live. And to afford to buy the average house, with 100K down, you have to have an average salary of 120K. I left Ohio like many people because of the limited number of professional opportunities. It is difficult to imagine what will happen in the next 10...20 years when all of the talented people leave(or never come to) California and other expensive markets because they can't afford real estate. Probably the same thing that has happened to the rust belt...

[wordsmith]

Exactly. I have to make some sacrifices to live where I live. And to afford to buy the average house, with 100K down, you have to have an average salary of 120K. I left Ohio like many people because of the limited number of professional opportunities. It is difficult to imagine what will happen in the next 10...20 years when all of the talented people leave(or never come to) California and other expensive markets because they can't afford real estate. Probably the same thing that has happened to the rust belt...

I don't even have the choise of making the sacrifices to live in X area. I'm already making all the sacrifices I can. I've looked at jobs where you live. No matter what I sacrifice, they are just plain not doable. And I'm a talented person who could no way afford your state, working in my field and having that as the primary household income. As a second income perhaps, but I'm not sure what it would make a dent in.

[AshleyJordan]

I understand. What I predict is that a lot of people in our lines of work (artsy or social services,) are going to start jumping ship for more lucrative careers that they are less passionate about. As I've posted before, I can't live on rice and beans forever just because I'm down with the cause.

It's going to be a lot harder to retain talented people in lower-paying fields because of rising debt burdens and costs of living, unless they're trust fund kids who don't really have to work.

[wordsmith]

It's not just the being down with the cause that keeps me in "my" type of work, though. It's the environment. I can't foresee ever being happy in an environment other than those the type of which I've sought. If you have no interest in the "lucrative" careers, that makes it tough. I wouldn't last three seconds at something I'm less than passionate about. Besides, journalism isn't expecially artsy or social servicey, outside of allowing some flexibility for creativity of craft and also providing a public service.

[AshleyJordan]

Well, if you aren't as interested in "lucrative" careers, maybe your overall quality of life is higher in a field that you're passionate about.

[wordsmith]

Depends on what your expectations are.

I don't expect to be wealthy. Therefore, not unhappy in a field where that's not possible. I do, however, expect to be able to afford to live in a wider variety of places than I'm currently able to, with a degree and nearly a decade of outstanding work experience complete with professional accolades.

[pisces2473]

Well, if you aren't as interested in "lucrative" careers, maybe your overall quality of life is higher in a field that you're passionate about.

Ohhhh boy.

[pisces2473]

Now, all of this attention to the problem is great, but what are possible solutions? All of this debt stuff is based on the economy (interest rates, inflation, student loans). We can only change how we live, but the trouble is, many of us are already living fairly simply.

I think we all want to be pretty sensible with our money and our future, it's just the lack of funds TO save that's kicking us when we're already down.

[Kitty]

Mark, there's tons of genX & Y stuff.

LOL!!!

[wordsmith]

Now, all of this attention to the problem is great, but what are possible solutions? All of this debt stuff is based on the economy (interest rates, inflation, student loans). We can only change how we live, but the trouble is, many of us are already living fairly simply.

I think we all want to be pretty sensible with our money and our future, it's just the lack of funds TO save that's kicking us when we're already down.

That is the question.

Because you can make changes, adjust your lifestyle and pare down to the bare minimum...and if you still aren't making a dent, you're not saving anything.

[pisces2473]

That is the question.

Because you can make changes, adjust your lifestyle and pare down to the bare minimum...and if you still aren't making a dent, you're not saving anything.

Yeah. Which is why I'd like to see some possible solutions mentioned in this series. Maybe by the end of the week, we'll see it? haha

I know there are more ways I can pare down my living...but I don't think it would allow me to save much. Not when bills and things just keep on rolling in.

[CTGirl]

Yeah. Which is why I'd like to see some possible solutions mentioned in this series. Maybe by the end of the week, we'll see it? haha

I know there are more ways I can pare down my living...but I don't think it would allow me to save much. Not when bills and things just keep on rolling in.

The thing is too, if you've got a reasonable amount of debt (I just have loans from grad school and my car) is it really going to make you happier to be skimping on your daily life and never spending any money just so that you can pay off slightly more of that debt and save more?

Personally, it seems to me that my quality of life will be better served by living to be happy, not living to save money. I could sit at home every night and save up more money, and then die next year, having never had any fun in my life. I'd rather spend money and have some debt (remaining practical about it of course, and not going nuts)