AIBU to think that talking of Millennials includes a lot of stereotyping?

[Snafu1988]

I am a millenial by generation, but whenever I read about how technological gadgets and latte machiatto and so on are believed to be the most important things in their life it just makes me scratch my head.

Actually my husband and children come first in my life and I do like latte machiatto and I like it a lot. I drink it everyday. I like it a lot but could totally do without it. As everybody I know could.

To me it always seemed like this came from the older generation seeing us drink a drink unusual in their generation and assuming our life must revolve around it.

Yes. We were living here just outside of NYC. Low commute costs and rent. Absolutely no extras. No DC.

It's always worth having a savings account! We don't use our savings account for the interest but to pay for things we have saved up for.

If you weren't living in the UK, then I'd say that your example isn't particularly relevant - there will be all sorts of other factors that aren't the same - even though I agree with your basic point. If you scrimp and save on an average (for your nationalilty) salary in Dubai, you'll probably save that amount in less that two years, and I know from experience that shitloads can be saved there, but it isn't going to mean much to anyone who lives in the UK.

Things are only more expensive here for basics. Food is $$$$. Rent is $$$$. We were making £50k a year in USD, about $75k a year. I fail to see how my example isn't relevant. I lived off less when I lived in London.

To save 60k in 2 years you have to have at least 60k coming in through the 2 years. Not small amounts.

It's stereotypical bollocks because stereotypical bollocks is how people talk and how the media operates.

There are always the same judgements made of young people, decade after decade.. the specifics change but the underlying outlines are identical.

60k in two years, so 15k each per person... that’s more than I earn. I guess if I didn’t eat or pay rent or anything I could almost be as clever as you.
That said I’m a 1980 birthday and I don’t consider myself a millennial.

We had £100k come in over two years. We saved £60k. We paid taxes of about £15k. We lived off about £25k. In dollars just x 1.5.

I meet a lot of millennials. Sober, intelligent, upstanding members of society. Not the spaced out work-shy druggies that we were. Or the drunk idiots my parents were when they were young, going to the Troggs and acting like plonkers.

I am a millenium born in the 90s. While things like the internet existed in my childhood, growing up in Brazil meant things took longer to be sold and when they did, they were insanely expensive.
So I had a computer, but barely used it because it was SO slow. I am still amazed I can watch videos without them freezing.
I think sensible people exist in all generations, but I do agree milleniums tend to consume more. It doesn't surprise me: as children, we were bombarded with many more ads than previous generations and research makes them more and more effective.

When I lived in London I lived in some teeny tiny rooms in some dodgy parts close to zone 2 London but they cost £50/week (it was 2002-2004). Monthly costs were: Housing £250, transport about £60, food about £100 and then I had £50 a month for spends. I was working 3 jobs (one which gave me food for free which helped keep my food bill down) so I was able to save enough for a deposit to buy a flat. Wages were higher for my 2nd and 3rd jobs back then and I was able to make £80k a year (working 7 days a week).

For someone starting out today it's harder because rents are so much higher. Those £50/week rooms probably cost about £400-500 a month now in rent. Also second jobs like I had pay min wage whereas they used to pay x2 if not more because there was such a shortage of labor. However there is still an opportunity to save money today if you are earning £25k a year with no DC. You won't be saving enough to buy a home on your own in 2 years but a couple could do it in 3-5 years.

Things are only more expensive here for basics. Food is $$$$. Rent is $$$$. We were making £50k a year in USD, about $75k a year. I fail to see how my example isn't relevant. I lived off less when I lived in London

The amount you saved compared to the amount you earned while living in London is more relevant. The principle of scrimping so that you can save is very relevant. It's the figures that you have given that are not very relevant - as you're not only comparing a few years ago with now, but you're also comparing life in the US with life here, and therefore so many factors will naturally be different. You're not just comparing apples with oranges, you're comparing apples with Terry's chocolate oranges. I applaud your success in saving, and I agree with your point, but saying "I saved shitloads by cutting back years ago with living in the US" isn't going to go down well with millenials who live in the UK.

My point is that I have always saved lots no matter where I live and I would have figured out a way to have saved that in England too if that's where we were living.

We have an insane income these days yet I continue to work and live with the same budgeting principles in a relative sense. We spend about 10% of our gross income these days and the rest is saved. Everything is thought out in terms of how to get the most out of work trips, no we don't have a cleaner and we rent out half of out home to keep our housing costs down. Yes we are millionaires a few times over now but the floors are vinyl and the kitchen cupboards are 30 years old, falling apart and will be replaced by something like IKEA at some point in the future and will be installed by DH and I on a bank holiday weekend. I see our peers both here and in the UK living in full amenity buildings with a gym, doorman and other extras. They hire handymen to do things like put up baby gates and install kitchen cupboards. We last went on holiday in Jan 2016 and before that it was a 5 day cruise in Feb 2009.

I was born in 1980 and DH is 4 years older than me. He is more of a millennial than me!

Christ,so you've an 'insane income' and you're millionaires 'a few times over'. Go wild, have a weekend away, ditch the vinyl and treat yourself to some hardwood floors...

Why the enforced frugality??

We have 2DC now who have been diagnosed with ASD. DD has been diagnosed with ASD/ADHD and anxiety. Yes they are high functioning but we don't know if they will be able to hold down FT jobs that pay enough for them to live in safe areas. The goal is to have them set up so money is available to support them in full as adults.

Ah okay, I understand. You're future proofing your kids' lives rather than being frugal just for the fun of it

Yes. We should have enough cash to pay off the mortgages on both places here in the next 3-4 years. Then we can start looking at flooring and kitchens.

Friends were horrified with our countertops because they were laminate, asking when we were replacing them. DH and I didn't have it in us to tell them we had just replaced it! The cost was $200 for the whole kitchen compared to $1500 for granite. We needed to replace the painted plywood as it was unhygienic but the laminate was absolutely fine. I actually prefer it to granite.

I just want to know when it went from being Generation Y to "Millennials".

Every generation has preconceived ideas about other generations. That's not exceptional to Gen Y/Millennials. Baby Boomers probably get the most consistent bashing of all groups, IMO.

Either 1976-1982 was the transition according to the training program I attended on managing millennials.

To me it always seemed like this came from the older generation seeing us drink a drink unusual in their generation and assuming our life must revolve around it

Boomer alcohol consumption is alarming. So many health problems.

My Mum (born in 1940), was bemoaning the cost of living. She goes out for coffee three times a week, and worked out she was spending about £7 per week on coffee, which is about £30 per month. It's not just the millennials who like their posh coffee!!!

I agree OP

It's not necessarily Milleniaks it's how times have changed

I see a lot of potential in this generation actuallly (and I am probably stereotyping too !)

Drink less
Exercise more
More vegan curious
More environmentally aware
Less tolerant of bullying and cruelty
More aware of boundaries and inappropriate behaviour
More money savvy

That's just what I am observing

I'm a millennial and never even knew I was haha learn summit new everyday !

I am a millenial, and the coffee thing is a red herring. In my village it used to be the norm for a lot of men to go to the pub a few times a week, the women would perhaps join them on a Sunday afternoon with a sherry. It was all very civilised, nobody getting hammered but it was definitely a weekly thing. Also things like the cinema were much cheaper. There was one in the village - now it's 20 miles away and costs a fortune. When I meet up with my friends, we go for coffee - it's warm, pleasant, we can chat, there's WiFi - or we go to each other's houses, cook for each other and play board games. To an older person, they probably just see yet another group of young women purchasing massive frothy wasteful coffees, but whereas the older generation in my village went to the pub at least once a week, we are lucky to get a meet up at the coffee shop once a month.

Past university, nobody does much drinking or partying. One small drink is going to be £3 at an absolute bare minimum. Then there's taxis. It's all too expensive, and what do you get at the end of it? A hangover.

I can only speak for the people I know, but yes we are careful with our health, there's a feeling that all the social safety nets that were once there are going to disappear by the time we need them.

Most of us have degrees, but have retrained quite a few times to move into different industries /follow the money. Most of us have just bought our first houses or are going to. Sometimes that means travelling to the other side of the country to luce live. Everything is in a state of flux at the minute, the sands are shifting and we are trying to make things secure for ourselves. We know we're going to be the ones cleaning up Brexit in years to come, even though few of us voted for it.

The other trend I've noticed is people getting married and engaged quite young, early to mid twenties. Our parents all got married in their thirties so they actually quite shocked. However these couples aren't talking about children, it's very much about personal development and being part of a team.

I'm the first to have children in my friendship group, I had DD very young, and I think I'll be the only one for quite some time. I think there'll be a massive fall in birth rates thanks to the millenials, partly through choice and partly through necessity

My goodness supermum if your a millionaire a few times over I think your taking frugal to the extreme . If your that rich then your kids futures will be just fine . Me thinks your not really a millionaire

Oh and it pisses me off when people say we are lazy and obsessed with our phones. We all have two or three jobs. I have two, and I also volunteer. I work six days a week.

My friend makes money on top of her job. She walks to work through a city, and she notes down empty spaces in car parks on this app. The app then notifies people looking for a space. She's made a decent bit of money doing it. She work from 7am-5pm and adds an hour each way so she can do as many car parks as possible before and after work. To an older person,no doubt she just looks like another gormless twenty something staring at her phone, but actually that money has just paid her solicitor fees on her new house

"I meet a lot of millennials. Sober, intelligent, upstanding members of society. Not the spaced out work-shy druggies that we were. Or the drunk idiots my parents were when they were young, going to the Troggs and acting like plonkers."

This has been my experience too, @MrsTerryPratchett . The ones I know have to work so bloody hard to get anywhere! When I left uni 20 years ago, a basic degree (in pretty much any subject - mine was in drama!) was enough to get you a decent-ish graduate job. Now you need a first class degree in a "proper" subject - as a minimum - to get on to an unpaid internship to even have a hope that it might eventually lead to a paid role! And God help you if you don't have parents willing and/or able to support you while you do that. I know an exceptional young women with a first and a Masters who worked as an unpaid intern for two years before finally getting a paid job, and she wasn't even trying to break into a very well-paid sector - she wanted to work in the charitable sector.

University is no longer a fun life experience for them, it's a slog and a grind. They have to be completely focused on their studies, because it's costing them so much and the costs are so high. Then when they leave they have mountains of debt, limited prospects of paid employment, years of sky-high renting in insecure housing ahead of them - and the older generation constantly telling them they're lazy and entitled!

It's bloody awful for them, and we should thank ourselves lucky they haven't revolted yet.