<prompt> Human: Whenever I ask my parents how they got started off, it seems like they had everything set from the get go: Married, house, and car in a short period of time. I know things were cheaper back in the 70s, but didnt people also make a salary relative to this things? I consider myself lucky to even have a job, let alone a stable well paying one. I had a few straight A friends in college who cant find or hold onto any well paying jobs. Im 24, but it feels like Im going to be stuck in my parents basement for years to come.  <response>: My two cents: its a lack of patience. My grandparents were a product of the Great Depression and World War II. They remembered the long unemployment lines, and they planted a Victory Garden vegetable garden that they maintained for the rest of their lives. They never bought anything unless their existing thing broke, except a new F-150 pickup truck every fifteen years or so. When they died a few years back, they were using a microwave from 1983, a console TV from the 1970s, woodgrain decorated washer and dryer, etc. I could probably count on one hand the things from the current decade in the house. Waste not, want not.My parents followed somewhat in their footsteps. They were born in the early 50s, and married in the late 70s. They bought our house, and paid it off before having their only kid - me. They waited fourteen years to have me, because they could not fathom having debt and bringing a person into this world at the same time. They keep their cars ten to twelve years on average, and we still live in that same house they bought in 1979.My generation doesnt seem to have the patience my grandparents and parents did. My friends want everything - new clothes, new phone every year, new laptop every other year, latest games, cable TV, broadband internet, etc., and they want it irrespective of their income. All things that my parents and grandparents never had. I dont know a single person of my generation that uses an antenna for TV, aside from myself, for example.Im 22, and I am feeling myself fall victim to the same thing. I bought a new car at 19, though I paid it off last year. I plan to buy a house by the Spring, but it makes sense based on the numbers, and the fact that real estate prices in my area are finally recovering from the crash of 2007, and are doing so at lightning pace. But aside from the house, I am left scratching my head at what I would want next. I go to the mall to hang out with friends or just to walk and clear my mind, and I find myself imitating my parents - shaking my head and wondering aloud what happiness these people loaded down with bags of purchases really think theyll get from them. 