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I’m “self-made”, never had a W-2 job, paid my own way through university & grad, no inheritance. I have three daughters in this age group, all degreed & employed. I’ve done it and seen it with their generation.

My monthly nut when I was their age was about $1,500.mo. all-in [mort, tax, ins, mainten, etc. for a 3+2 on 7k sqft in a regular, clean neighborhood in an LA suburb]. I was able to cover on my earnings alone, wife was abel to stay-at-home for the 10 years while the kids were little. There was no such thing as a “vacation”, but we did go camping alot.

The sentiment is spot on. There’s no reasonable possibility any of my 3 could buy their first house at 27 in LA, like I did [that same house is now valued at $1million, a 30-yr mort payment would be about $5k assuming a $200k down payment & excluding taxes, ins., maint, etc.]. I could get a 4-door sedan [never had a new one] for more or less a month’s salary. Insurance was an annoyance, but was always available and never broke the bank. Food budget, since we rarely ate out, was easy to control and stretchable [a good, 4-can pasta sauce can last for 3-4 meals, costed about $3-5 per family meal, all in]. Can’t leave a grocery store today under $100. Restaurants? Fuggetaboutit. It’s $200 minimum to take the fam out.

I wouldn’t say it was “easy” when I was starting out, but it definitely was “doable” with consistent work and delayed gratification.

Mine are fortunate. I can afford to subsidize them now & they’ll get something when I’m gone. But I think I’m very rare.