Pretty much the same here, except the Kraft Mac and Cheese was 3/$1, so the price must have gone up. My story:
- Kicked out of the house 3 days after high school graduation, by my (single) mom, and I deserved every bit of it. Been paying for the roof over my head for almost 40 years now.
- After working at a tool company, framing houses, and installing cable TV, (the I want my MTV era), decided I should get a college degree. The brains were always there, the maturity took awhile to catch up.
- Obviously with no parental support, I needed to find a way to pay for college, so I reached out to an uncle; Sam was his name, and he offered a financial hand, as long as I toted an M16 first. Best decision I have ever made, and #2 isn't even close...
- Obtained 4 year degree in 4 years, (shocker!), supplementing Army educational benefits with part time work, full time in the summers. Kinda funny how paying 100% of the education costs and living expenses will make every class count. Graduated as one of the Top 25 Academics in the university that year; I was the only student who didn't have a parent attend the honorary dinner. I invited a friend, and thanked him afterwards for attending. His response? "I didn't come to support you, it's free prime rib!"...
- Started the corporate grind, and saving for retirement. Funny, how what gets preached about compound interest and paying yourself first, by setting aside for later, really works!
- After being told, "you're just an engineer" far too many times, decided to get an MBA. I knew of the concept of opportunity cost before it was covered in school, so knew that taking 2 years off work to get my degree would have an extremely long ROI. Fortunately, there was a program at my school that allowed me to take the same classes, stretched out over 3 years instead of 2, while I continued to work full time. All classes were graded on a curve, and I remember telling full time students that they should hang their heads in shame if I did better than them, after spotting them 40 hours a week. And that did happen. Toughest three years of my life.
- I did take out student loans while in grad school. After all, if I could borrow money at 0% and invest it, why not? Put the money in the market, paid it back in full when my first payment was due.
- Didn't get married until I was 45, after seeing a lot of my friends crash and burn in divorce court. There was a prenup before I got hitched, and the day I signed it is the last time I looked at it. Knock on wood that continues.
I've read this thread with a bit of amusement, as it has evolved into a bash the kids discussion. Times have definitely changed, but they always do. I personally think that kids are a lot softer these days, but I have a lot of friends that never left my hometown or made much of themselves, so generalizing kinda sucks. Harleys aren't selling, but neither are brand new, 3 year old F6Bs, at 50% off MSRP, as can be seen on CycleTrader. And none of that affects any of us, in our enjoyment of motorcycles.