I already have more hobbies than anyone else I know and I don't spend much $ at all really. The most expensive thing I own besides my truck and tools is my gaming PC made with old parts for about $500 years ago. I'm not that young anyways. I'm buying a house soon, just a little shack but you can still find 2 bedrooms for $120k in Texas. Which is still fucked up because I literally remember the same homes being $25k in the 90s when I was young. I don't know if I'll ever make big income but if I do I'll actually be able to pack away cash and invest the rest for big returns since I'm already conditioned to not chase better and spend on stupid cars or big TVs I won't ever use anyways. I literally don't understand the people who post online about making $100k+ a year and living paycheck to paycheck.
What people forget is that while you're dad could support a family of 2 in the 60s with a single income, the house would be a tiny 2 bed with no extensions, no AC, and terrible insulation and wiring (and that's if you were lucky enough to not have used asbestos) and were generally less efficient and inferior designs. This also applied to the more affordable, and far more terrible cars. Seriously go actually drive a car from the 70s, not a well cared for luxury model but just a regular ass car, they are total shit boxes with awful designs and huge tolerances on the parts. Schools were clean and white but the education levels were lacking for many portions of society.
Which cars? Cars are different you know, they're not all the same.
There's always trade-offs too, for example Honda engines are made to be super tiny and super efficient and they last for a VERY long time... but if they break... even if its something tiny and stupid like a timing belt... yeah, it's gonna cost you thousands for what you could replace yourself in an older car for like $20 and an hour of effort.
There's other trade-offs, like with gas mileage. Older cars, like Ford Broncos get like ~12 miles to a gallon of gas!
The advantage is that you will literally never die because it's basically a tank!
I know that for a fact because my dad once hit a cow at 60 MPH... massive solid steel bumper killed the cow instantly and only slightly dented the body!
So you sacrifice safety for better gas mileage.
