As per Megg and Lily's discussion of the Lost/Intern/Rent Generation and how to-do lists for us, are signifigantly different than they have been in the past (ie- get married, buy a house, have kids...[editors note: not that there is anything wrong with that. It is just increasingly not the path for many people])
Let's update it for our generation. Feel free to add to it. Whether they are things you have done, want to do, think people should do, regardless if you are part of this generation or not.
A To-Do List of the "Lost/Rent/Internship/Forgotten Generation"
-Travel
-go to lots of concerts
-buy inappropriate and unnecessary shoes
-live with roommates
-live alone
-learn to live on a budget
-figure out what friends are worth the time or effort and which aren't
What the fuck ?? has the board turned into What not to wear or some other shit.
Name one male person who has too many shoes, I own 4 pairs... Runners (training shoes), Black Shoes (weddings, funerals, interviews), work boots (Steel toe-capped) and a pair of Dubes (deck shoes, which I probably don't need), that is pretty much all a man needs (or wants for that matter)
Imelda Marcos was about 20 years ago and she had loads of shoes. That's not about "generation" it's about "gender".
Men are simple creatures and usually only wnat two things from life, regardless of the generation, Peace and Quiet.
What the fuck ?? has the board turned into What not to wear or some other shit.
Name one male person who has too many shoes, I own 4 pairs... Runners (training shoes), Black Shoes (weddings, funerals, interviews), work boots (Steel toe-capped) and a pair of Dubes (deck shoes, which I probably don't need), that is pretty much all a man needs (or wants for that matter)
Imelda Marcos was about 20 years ago and she had loads of shoes. That's not about "generation" it's about "gender".
Men are simple creatures and usually only wnat two things from life, regardless of the generation, Peace and Quiet.
Dubz
and to think, you've been so nice lately. Bad day, Dubz?
While that particular item was meant to be lighthearted and taken with a degree of jest, it is based on many a person telling me "when you get to be my age you will only care about whether shoes are comfortable." I wasnt suggesting you go out and buy a pair of $700 jewel encrusted Jimmy Choo's.
While that particular item was meant to be lighthearted and taken with a degree of jest, it is based on many a person telling me "when you get to be my age you will only care about whether shoes are comfortable." I wasnt suggesting you go out and buy a pair of $700 jewel encrusted Jimmy Choo's.
Yes, that's because ladies tend to ruin their feet with bad, often too small shoes, so the only kind they can wear by the time they're approaching 50 is comfy shoes… ;^)
At least changing the bad shoes often is a good idea, the badness then affects different part of the feet.
Anyways, to the to do list I'd add
-keep fit
-sleep enough
-learn to cook, eat well (=good quality food, incl. veggies)
-look after your skin
As per Megg and Lily's discussion of the Lost/Intern/Rent Generation and how to-do lists for us, are signifigantly different than they have been in the past (ie- get married, buy a house, have kids...[editors note: not that there is anything wrong with that. It is just increasingly not the path for many people])
Let's update it for our generation. Feel free to add to it. Whether they are things you have done, want to do, think people should do, regardless if you are part of this generation or not.
A To-Do List of the "Lost/Rent/Internship/Forgotten Generation"
-Travel
-go to lots of concerts
-buy inappropriate and unnecessary shoes
-live with roommates
-live alone
-learn to live on a budget
-figure out what friends are worth the time or effort and which aren't
- learn a new language
- find yourself a hobby that makes you happy
- stop comparing yourself to others
- learn to do things on your own
- start to think about where the food you eat comes from and where the waste you produce goes to. if you don't do this in your 20's, you'll probably never change your eating/shopping habits...
I think Bavaria might be one of those (conservative/Catholic) places where lots and lots of young people still stick to that old to-do-list. Some of the people I studied with have had a "home ownership savings plan" with a bank since they were 18, they're signing all kinds of (in my opinion unnecessary) insurance contracts and are planning on having children within the next 3 years (some of them already have kids, which, I guess, used to be normal for almost-30-year-olds of past generations).
You know what's crazy about the whole "buying a house" thing? If you had a job, now is the best time to buy a house because you can buy a house cheaper than renting! (At least around here.) But if you don't have a job, you can't even buy a cheap house.
For my Gen X peeps, everybody took out gigantic loans at the peak of the housing bubble and bought houses for $200-250,000 and now they are worth $80,000. So many of my friends owe way more on their house than they could sell it for. If they lose their jobs, they can't move to another location because they have "underwater" mortgages. Some people just walk away and let the bank repossess the house.
Every generation is "lost" in some way. In addition to being the first generation who will not do better than their parents, I think I'm also going to be in the generation that will never get to retire.
Properties definitely are not cheap in Europe. Plus even if you have a job, you still need a bank loan to buy. And that's almost impossible even if you have a steady, decent income because banks know it's risky - due to the terrible economy people can lose their jobs at any time. Plus the gap between earnings and house prices is too big. Heck, in most cases you can't even dream of renting a small studio all for yourself until you're plus 30. Unless you are a couple. At least in Poland, Denmark and London.
Example. Poland:
- pay I could hope to get in Warsaw: 2000 PLN/month
- rent of a furnished studio (nothing fancy) in a decent location: 1400+bills/month
You know what's crazy about the whole "buying a house" thing? If you had a job, now is the best time to buy a house because you can buy a house cheaper than renting! (At least around here.)
Not the same here. Prices are sky-high right now, whether you're buying or renting a place, and there's no sign of them dropping to a reasonable level any time soon (I can only really speak for the Munich area, though). My cousin and her husband wanted to buy a 3-bedroom apartment in the city, (and they know people who know people etc), but in the end decided to rent a small house instead, because it was so much cheaper.
Every generation is "lost" in some way. In addition to being the first generation who will not do better than their parents, I think I'm also going to be in the generation that will never get to retire.
You're in Gen X ? you still sneak in as a baby boomer too ?
I've never tried redbull .....not sent from a iphone, sent from a tin can with a string
Heck, in most cases you can't even dream of renting a small studio all for yourself until you're plus 30. Unless you are a couple. At least in Poland, Denmark and London.
Example. Poland:
- pay I could hope to get in Warsaw: 2000 PLN/month
- rent of a furnished studio (nothing fancy) in a decent location: 1400+bills/month
wait a minute...
1 PLN = 0.24 EUR, right?
are they frickin' serious??? And they want 1400 rent p.m. FOR A STUDIO?!
That'd leave you with, what, 160 EUR/month? Oh maaan...
part of that...things like learning to change a tire, do small fix it's for yourself. Not that I can do any of those!
YES!! DIY!
I was thinking about stuff like travelling alone or going to a cinema alone or going to a bar alone etcetera, but this is so much more important: learn to fix things, literally.
House prices in Helsinki are sky high, as well as are the rents. Bank "owns" our flat, but even with the mortgage payments and utilities bills it's still cheaper to own than to rent in our area. House prices have gone up a lot in the time we've lived here, in fact, we would make a pretty good profit if we sold now (but where would we live then?), and definitely couldn't afford to buy it now. Everybody is scaremongering that the price bubble is about to burst (like it did in the 1990's).
My biggest fear is that work dries out and we have to sell the flat a lot cheaper in the future. Atmosphere is not brilliant, factories are closing down and the Euro panic seems to be spreading. I hope it's not going to be as bad as the 1990's recession.
My age group has been relatively lucky, most of us had a job when the recession last hit in a big way, and even if we lost our jobs, we still had had some work experience (I was unemployed for 3 months in 1993 and had to accept a lot lower salary in the next job). A lot of us also bought a house and had kids before turning 35. Bad news are ahead of us, though: the retirement age is going to be postponed, and when we finally retire, pensions are going to be a lot lower than they are now. The massive generation born after WW II has eaten up our pensions, too. Also, after 40 one is already getting too old and unemployable. Oh, joy!
