Daddy will pay for it!

LOL. I saw that. I am already telling my 4 year old that she will be responsible for her rent & food costs after college.

>>%u201CThey say, %u2018You want me to work eight hours?%u2019<<

Eight?? Ha! Try twelve. And a lunch hour? Fuggaddaboudit.

Only 12, squid? I did 11 on Sunday, 5 on Saturday (I had a class, as well, that lasted 4 hours) and 13 most every day last week.

But I made a shitload of money!

Ah, this younger generation!

I've been telling my 5 & 7 year-olds that they are not allowed to go to college!

I could be (and have been) glib about the trustafarians, but I do believe in ongoing familial support in more general terms. I like the fact that my family is deeply, inter-generationally linked, with my parents spending big chunks of the summer here in NYC with our kids, and a sense that whatever happens we're in this together. But it's not just a handout, it's a real commitment to each other. Which - I have to admit - occasionally involves handouts. It was never as creepy as depicted in this article, but seriously - has no one on this board ever borrowed/accepted money from their parents?

Tina
(Brooklyn broker)

Yes. I have borrowed money - a couple of hundred dollars here and there, paid back in full, with feelings of shame on both sides: for me that I had to ask, and for my parents that they were not able to help more. The commitment I got was a good work ethic on which to go out and make my way.

You can't borrow / accept something from people who don't have it.

All of my friends who own used family money for a downpayment and these are all middle class folks who bought in areas that are sub-par by most SE-poster standards. I admit it, I'm jealous. But then again, when we finally buy our own place, our parents will only be occasional visitors instead of "time-share" owners with a splash of added guilt.

Our parents were unable to pay for/assist during graduate schools. They were happy to provide far smaller amounts, in the form of loans, to help us purchase our first home (the down payment was $6500, closing costs were about $2500, my parents loaned us a third of those amounts). I was happy to accept their generosity. There is nothing wrong with generosity, there is everything wrong with dependence and ingratitude.

My daughter knows that we will assist her, if possible, and she knows not to rely upon the notion. As part of our estate planning we intend, if possible, to purchase a modest two bedroom for her, in trust. If that enables her to follow her dreams and become something like a teacher or interior designer rather than an attorney or investment banker, great. I wouldn't be happy to see her emerging from her apartment at noon, but i seriously doubt that would make her happy as an adult either.

She has expressed hope, however, that i'll be a doting grandmother. She knows me well.

AR, as fellow member of the OTHC, I think you put the commas in the wrong spot. interior designer has much more in common with attorney, dirtbag or investment banker than a teacher!

Looking-

EVERY area is sub-par by SE-poster standards!

P09, except it pays less. how about product design? she's interested in that as well.

I don't understand how adults can ask their parents for money and still sleep at night. You should be buying stuff for your parents so they don't have to worry about anything.

what if ur parents have money and you don't ? given that the child is a working productive person that just hasn't been able to save the down payment

JM, i fully expect my daughter not to abuse that power of attorney when i lose my facilities at 85 (or next week). and it was no hardship for my parents as they were doing well by that point, and it will be no hardship for us, most likely. i'd not commit myself to a diet of rice and beans just so she could have a decent place to live. but many of us who have had to struggle might want to provide some assistance. not a free ride, mind you, but some help.

Juice, I think that for a certain segment the definition of "adult" has drifted upward to 30+.

evnyc, that certainly wouldn't be me. as the mother of a daughter, particularly, i'd like to see more flexible options in terms of education, housing, and motherhood/employment issues. but maybe that's just because the graduate school boat passed me by, at least partially due to lack of available money.

My parents bough each of their children an apt so they had a security in life, and they earned the money working hard as doctors, in a time when doctors didn't make half a million dollars a year...This has not been detrimental whatsoever for us. I am forever grateful, and I am planning to do the same for my kids. If you are taught the value of money and how to deal with it, I don't see the problem.

"There is nothing wrong with generosity, there is everything wrong with dependence and ingratitude."

Totally agree with this. When I have kids, I won't hesitate to help them, but you've got to make it clear when they start to get an inkling about abusing that advantage. Under most normal circumstances, kids get the inheritance anyway, so why not spread some of it out if it can help them get through some earlier rough patches?

I am telling my future kids, they will have to make it to the best public schools and they will need to get scholarships and grants to pay for college. Any post-grad studies, try to get their employer to pay for it. We paid our own way and we did this same thing and we did not get buried in student loans. And oh, they need to know what exactly they want to be before they get to HS. There's just too many kids right now who go to college not knowing exactly what they're getting out of it. They switch majors several times, and mostly choose impractical ones. I'm seeing more and more of these kids honestly who don't seem to have any career directions.

@ cleanslate "And oh, they need to know what exactly they want to be before they get to HS. "

I can't tell if you're kidding or not, but that is ridiculous. That's how you get your kids to be unhappy in college and in their careers. The real problems are that most students don't learn enough in HS, and college is so ridiculously expensive, that unless you end up with a definite professional career path you are setting yourself up for failure. Unless of course your parents can pay for you place in Williamsburg...

"Juice, I think that for a certain segment the definition of "adult" has drifted upward to 30+."

Good point evnyc. I can understand paying for your kids college education, but when you are paying the 30 yr olds rent and car insurance, something is tragically wrong. I blame the kid more than the parent but both are wrong.

"future" kids. cleanslate, you'd better hope that genetics and environment run in their favor.

and, except for at the top, scholarships and grants have been seriously inadequate to pay for college. good luck on that.

my husband is both a historian and a lawyer. and he's a more interesting person for it. how he could have obtained a law degree as an undergraduate is beyond me. i guess if he'd been your child he'd be an engineer right now. no wait, he wouldn't have, because he'd suck at it.

"what if ur parents have money and you don't ? given that the child is a working productive person that just hasn't been able to save the down payment"

Then I would work to build the down payment myself. What difference does it make that the parents have money? It's thier money, when do you stop asking for it?

"Then I would work to build the down payment myself. What difference does it make that the parents have money? It's thier money, when do you stop asking for it?"

some people make the argument that thats what family is for. I think it really depends on the relationship.

in this family it is the family's money. having said that, all requests for disbursements must be made to me.

it always seemed to me that the kids who had the worst relationships, familial and with money, were those who were overindulged and those underindulged. children aren't stupid, they have a sense what money is available, and what does it say to a child when mother never neglects to get her facials and her mani-pedis but says no to the child "for the child's own good." we discuss reasonable expenditures, budgeting, priorities, sharing in gains and downturns. and financial planning. as a family we have spoken, but flexible, financial goals. our daughter is saving half of her allowance so that she will be able to furnish her first apartment (cheaply, at Ikea). we asked to her save, and to find a purpose for saving, and i think that's a pretty decent goal. generosity need not imply lax parenting standards.

JuiceMan: "I can understand paying for your kids college education, but when you are paying the 30 yr olds rent and car insurance, something is tragically wrong."

Weren't you the one who argued that rich mommies and daddies would keep rents high?

In fact, I THINK YOU WERE!

"I can understand paying for your kids college education, but when you are paying the 30 yr olds rent and car insurance, something is tragically wrong."

JuiceMan's right here as well - I don't usually like to think of it purely in terms of age, but I think early 30s is fair to call adulthood for the vast majority of people, and if the parents are still paying your rent (or even most of it), there had better be a damn good explanation. Or a winning lottery ticket involved.

Unfortunately, I've seen too many of them who are so undecided going to college, they end up too many years in college switching majors and end up choosing impractical ones. They graduate and then either could not find a good job, or end up switching careers again. And the worst part about it is that their parents are usually well-off who work too hard and too many hours to get to where they are right now, there is no excuse why they should expect less of their children in terms of career, etc. You hope your kids will end up better than you, and more successful. There are too many people who want to go to this country and make a life here, do their best and fulfill the American dream. Why is it that people who are here take this for granted? It's all a matter of values and perspective, the rest follows. I've grown up knowing that if I waste food, that my parents would remind me how many other kids in other parts of the world have nothing to eat. That I should be thankful for what we have and how I should take my studies seriously. You spoil them rotten and they will have this innate sense of entitlement. How can you expect them to stand in their own two feet? This is not about making them unhappy, it's about letting them recognize the opportunities and seizing them, and not giving in to excuses and more excuses...long enough that you end up bailing them out all the way till they're in their 30s and still lost.

Cleanslate, college students often wind up changing majors a lot because of parents who shove down their throats the notion that college is a substitute for trade school, rather than a higher education. Ditto for parental career guidance -- not everyone wants to be a dentist or the like.

This is especially common when first-generation Americans are guiding their second-generation children.

AR, it sounds like you have a very good and open communication system with your daughter. I shouldn't be so cranky - I'm going to man up and admit I'm a little jealous of people who have such resources. It's more about managing available resources, and some of the hipsters in Williamsburg have simply had too much rein.

Here's another twist: Mummy and Daddy are facing financial troubles of their own.

In my co-op building, just this year we've turned down more than a half-dozen applicants who'd listed their parents as guarantors because the the PARENTS' financials fell short.

Most of the time, the kids have no idea how stretched Mom and Dad are -- all they've seen are the big houses in Montclair or Oyster Bay they grew up in -- the boats -- the Lexuses (Lexi?) and Mercedes always at their disposal -- and the other material trappings of wealth. But guess what? Mummy and Daddy are often mortgaged to their eyeballs!

It must be an exquisite indignation to these parents when they get turned down by a building they're not even applying to live in themselves.

evnyc, I am jealous of my daughter. when i was touring her school I looked at my husband and said, "tell me why she deserves this?" my parents didn't have a ton, but back then our lovely apartment cost only $65,000 and they could help. maybe if affordability returns you'll not only be able to buy your own apartment but to help out any future offspring (within reason, of course).

cleanslate, i don't think your end goals are in the wrong place. but i think that there are different ways to instill values of self-reliance, thrift and appreciation. most careers do not begin with an undergraduate degree, they require on-the-job training and/or future education. if you do not have the means to provide for private school or college education, that is not going to hurt your children. if you provide transparency, honesty, your children will know what you expect and will understand that it isn't derived from simply withholding money gratuitously. but if you have the means, and withhold them merely to teach your kids a lesson, you may not like the results.

Not always the case, alanhart. At least, not usually with the ones I am acquainted with. In fact, the parents actually let them be. Frankly, all they needed would have been some guidance and motivation and they would have been fine. Although I do admire some of my peers who in their late 20s finally figured out what they want to be and how to better themselves.

College-students need to understand the ramifications of choosing a major that doesn't have a well-defined career path. So, they love art history, but don't want to work at a museum or be an art teacher? Well they should have put a little more thought into the consequences.

There is absolutely no excuse for paying your 30 year old's rent while they live in Williamsburg and have no job or barely make money at a job. That's not called helping your children follow their dreams, it called living off of someone else's dime.

It's an interesting cultural phenomenon, these "helicopter parents". I remember back in the olden days when parents were financially responsible for their children until they reached adulthood. About 20 years ago that notion expanded to include responsibility for financing their children's college educations. Now it's expanded to financing their 20s -- and even 30s! Dear God! At what point are the parents off the hook??

Even more obscene is the expectation at private schools here in NYC that there will be a financial contribution -- from the child's GRANDPARENTS!!!

helicopter parents chose to be helicopter parents. there is absolutely no need to do your children's homework, call them daily at college to see that they're doing their homework, or run interference with your college-aged child's dean to complain about their grades. and yet this is prevelant, and has been for years. such parents put themselves on the hook.

Oh, Aboutready, it gets much better! I have friends on Wall Street who tell me that heli-parents are showing up with their kids for JOB INTERVIEWS! One friend of mine in HR told the mother of an applicant she had to "wait outside" during the interview, and the parent protested, even resorting to saying "I'm representing my daughter!" My HR exec friend told her "Honey, this isn't Hollywood -- we don't deal with agents."

well, living with parents is the ultimate help for a youngster. no rent, food paid for, no utilities. i'm very happy that this housing help is over as it was inflating prices on the starting home for those that are really self-made (ie: without mom & dad able to help out).

does the smugness and holier-than-thouness of you people ever end? really, it seems you spend all day posting about how much better than other people you think you are - how disapproving you are of their finances, how they spend money, their career choices, etc

Well, admin, you're assuming that kids living at home are paying "no rent, food paid for, no utilities", etc.

I know plenty of parents (including my own -- with my siblings) who started running the meter the day after college graduation.

"does the smugness and holier-than-thouness of you people ever end?"

Yes. When people start pulling their own weight.

LOL, printer! Is this particular post hitting close to home?

no need for you to read if it bothers you printer.

admin, yes, the new help does seem to involve a return to the old bedroom, or maybe a pull-out sofabed if the parents have downsized. that is much more beneficial for those who would like to see their hard-earned dollars go somewhere. but parents assisting their children is nothing new, just the extent to which it has been practiced. it hasn't, often, been assistance but a way of life.

Matt, that is both hilarious and sad.

very true Matt. my parents never charged for anything with us (and there's a 30 year old still living with them!) but guess that's not the norm.

"Weren't you the one who argued that rich mommies and daddies would keep rents high?

In fact, I THINK YOU WERE!"

No, I have never argued that.

Well, admin -- truth to tell -- what my parents DID do with my brother (who lived at home the longest) was -- unbeknownst to him -- they put every penny he paid in "rent" into a special savings account, then presented the money to him as a gift when he was trying to scrape together a down payment on his first house.

OP, I think NYC RE has always been heavily supported by parents paying for their kids' apartments--rentals or sales.

Also, NYCMatt, this trend of helicopter parenting, though ridiculous, isn't really new. I don't deal w/ HR directly, but as at most firms, non-HR people do speak to candidates routinely. I have always seen parents and spouses showing up at interviews (some are upset that we won't let them into the interview room), received follow up calls/e-mails from them, etc. since always...

Parents these days, though, appear to feel as though their kids getting a job is a right rather than a privilege and act accordingly; as such, they frequently ask us to justify out decisions thoroughly. e.g., I often get calls/e-mails saying, "I heard my neighbor's friend's son got a position at your firm, but my son is much smarter than he. Can you tell us why a less qualified person got hired over my son?"

nyc212 -- and I hope you put those heli-parents in their place by responding that you don't answer to them.

wow Matt, that's an awesome thing to do!

"I heard my neighbor's friend's son got a position at your firm, but my son is much smarter than he. Can you tell us why a less qualified person got hired over my son?"

but the kid should feel embarrassed of that! don't they tell parents not to get involved when they are 12? or 13?

Admin, those were children of a MUCH different generation.

Today's kids can barely take a crap without asking for help from Mom and Dad.

Some of these kids are actually in their early 30s.

I just respond by saying: "Thanks for your inquiry, but we can only speak to candidates themselves about their candidacy. Have your 30-year-old son (or husband) contact HR, should he wish to find out further about his recent application. Thank you."

Alright, the view from the other side:

I am the beneficiary of well-off parents. My (private) college was paid for in full, and I didn't have to take out loans. I worked throughout college, at mostly odd jobs for my own spending money, which came from a combination of savings from working throughout high school at minimum wage grease-monkey jobs and gifts from my relatives, for whom giving money on special occasions was considered the norm. I paid my own way during the summers, where I never took a paid "Wall-Street" style internship, but I took strange jobs in cities I wanted to live in (worked in a lab for a professor, went on his research cruise for a semester for free as a result) I found a full-time job just before I left college, and I had a small pile of savings when I joined the workforce, but nothing to write home about.

My parents haven't paid a cent for me since the day I joined the full-time workforce. I have invested my piddling pennies biweekly into my 401k, squirrelled away money for stocks & bonds, funded a Roth IRA, etc etc - In short, paid my own rent, food, utilities, and savings. I saved enough for a down payment on my first apartment, which I just bought, and fully acknolwedge that I am standing on the shoulders of giants, and without that help, I couldn't even dream of being where I am today.

My parents and I have had many discussions re: finances, and they have stated many times that it is foolish for me to reinvent the wheel and to take out loans to fund my schooling, and that if they can afford for me to start life on level ground, I should. I'll be heading back to school, though, which means I'll be almost completely on their take again. I struggle with the idea of burdening my (now) older parents with my living expenses, but they insist that they can afford to help me, and I'm grateful for the help. I suspect I am like AR's daughter, semi grown-up...What I can't pinpoint is why this situation is so vilified.

boo, when all is said and done would you do everything in your power to help your parents if they needed assistance? if the answer is yes, you have the only answer you need. you are a family, and you help each other. you don't burden each other, you give and receive. nothing wrong with that, in my book.

"My parents haven't paid a cent for me since the day I joined the full-time workforce. "

These are not the 20- and 30-somethings we're "vilifying", boo.

nice story, booy, nothing in it should incite a vilification.

booyakasha -- I don't hear anyone vilifying you. There's a big difference (to me, anyway) between your parents helping you get through college and now grad school, and parents subsidizing an overgrown adolescent who just wants to hang out all the time. You look to me like a good investment -- the Williamsburg trustafarians, not so much. I think this is one of those questions everyone's bound to see through the prism of their own experience. I come from a huge family (eight siblings), therefore no help with real estate purchases or higher education. But I readily acknowledge that I get a ton of help from my family in other ways. I live within blocks of three of my sisters (we joke that it's Walton's Mountain in Manhattan), whose assistance is critical to getting me through the tightrope-walk of working motherhood. My kids have the biggest cheering section at any school event or concert. One of my sisters, prior to starting law school, has been our nanny for a year. So who am I to look down on someone whose familial assistance took financial form?

I'm 45 and still need my parents to cosign my lease in Manhattan - We pay our own rent but couldn't get a lease because we don't show the income required. It is what it is.

This story brings a warm and fuzzy feeling to me.

Right, but I am really just one step removed from a trustafarian in that I could have chosen to work in a non-profit. Or at the lowest ranks of publishing, etc etc. It's a luxury that i can entertain going back to school in the first place. Anyway, these were just the thoughts that came to mind when I read the NYT blog comments on the article.

The real question is -- what if you don't have parents who are loaded? Which is pretty much the case with us. Or much worse, what if you have no parents anymore? Do these kids (shameless adults) even understand how lucky they are? Some of these kids take things for granted and don't learn until they get into difficult situation where there's no one to bail them out. Frankly, it's easy to not value money you don't earn yourself.

booyakasha, why do you have to start again? Secondly, why can't you do this part-time? I have some friends who went back to school. One went full-time for post-grad but he's got scholarship, another one went to law school and took out loans. And one who decided to take part-time classes and let the company pay for everything. All of them don't have parents to support them.

LOL @ jason

boo,

You are a hardworking young person, keep up the good work!

"The real question is -- what if you don't have parents who are loaded?"

You do what so many of us in that situation do: pull your own weight.

I started out in journalism, which pays even less than nonprofits. How did I pay the bills? I worked two and even three jobs at a time, until I got my journalism career up and running. It's what most non-trustafarians do in the absence of a third-party source of funds: we work HARDER and LONGER. Sometimes - *gasp!* - we don't even have time to party on the weekends, because we're too busy working that third job!

Well, I've spoken with some friends who are currently in med school and they say they have no time to hold any "real" job...I entertained the idea of joining the army to pay my tuition, but my father basically said over his dead body would I do that, and if I really wanted to enlist after school, I was free to do so...

But this is really deviating from the issue at hand, which is that those who perceive they don't receive any help have a propensity to have a negative opinion of those who do, and it's become increasingly that way. I'm not saying whether it's a good or bad thing, I'm just pointing it out

Then you start off with a handicap. I had a more affluent childhood than my parents, who in turn had a less affluent childhood than my grandparents. My children have had, thus far, a more affluent childhood than mine.

I'm trying hard not to over-analyze things. I have no issue with paying for college & one grad school degree. After that, not so much. I've known people from wealthy families who are hardworking and have taken advantage of every opportunity, others who are lazy. Ditto poor families.

wow, what a bunch of prudes.

My parents pay for my apartment, my car, my insurance, my travel, and give me allowance and I basically set up all my bills (phone, internet, etc) to be deducted from their bank account.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

westsidehighway = petrfitz?

either that or Brabus.

PrincessEdna. Black Russian.

"The real question is -- what if you don't have parents who are loaded? Which is pretty much the case with us. Or much worse, what if you have no parents anymore?"

exactly. add to that why on earth those that are 100% on their own (don't have loaded parents and don't receive any help from them, don't inherit anything) have to pay for social security and medicare of loaded parents that transfer wealth that could take care of their retirement to their kids? why not asking those kids to pay for their parents bills instead of everybody? some say "cause we are in all this together" others say "this system is just protecting inheritances of the lucky". if you chose the 2nd you might vilify those that have it easy.

maybe we should vilify those with good genes.

yep, that's another source of envy. luck has way much more to do with our life that people want to recognize. nice genes, talents, high IQ, good looks, parents with money ... make life way much easier. why not accept that? "got lucky, it's not 100% fair for others, so it's ok for them to envy a little bit".

What's the worst case scenario? You ended up like that NYT reporter who in his 50s ended up borrowing from his parents. How sad is that?

I wonder if 95% of the people on this site who condemn Wmsbgh trustafarians (as I do) believe that they themselves should be able to leave all of their money, small businesses, family farms, etc. to their children w/o inheritance tax [which the US doesn't have, btw]
... "I earned it and I should be able to do what I want with it when I die", "I already paid taxes on it"
-- to which I say, "yes, but your children didn't" and "don't like it? Take your money with you when you die."

AH, the estate tax is one of the most powerful, redistributive, equalizing forces in America. I believe in it. Having said that, i'll still do my best to protect as much of what we have for our daughter. the last administration weakened the estate tax significantly (i don't know exactly where it is right now), but i have no doubt that the current one will need to reverse that.

"The real question is -- what if you don't have parents who are loaded?"
That's very much the case with me, too. It's just that in my family you share everything you can. My parents helped us buy a home in which they will always have their own space, well into their dotage. It's one of the reasons we bought - to prepare for our parents' advancing age. Because you do for others as they do for you. I agree with AR (natch) - it's a culture thing. Not a wealth thing.
Tina
(Brooklyn broker)

Admin: not having parents and then subsidizing others' parents through SS is the unkindest cut of all. But if you're going to go through life envying everyone else, that's not living.

I'm also okay with leaving our children property and/or $. Depends on the gchildren situation. Might be best to leave it all in education trusts for gchildren.

AR, of course you as an individual/family should do what you can within the structure of the law. But that's neither here nor there where correct policy is considered. So I'm glad we're on the same page regarding the estate tax.

But I mean there should be an inheritance tax, so the recipient fully understands that his windfall doesn't transcend that of the earnings from hard labor, and so he can proudly feel that he's done his part to supporting the society in which he lives.

"Admin: not having parents and then subsidizing others' parents through SS is the unkindest cut of all. But if you're going to go through life envying everyone else, that's not living."

exactly. i don't envy in general cause of my deep pragmatism (it's not healthy lol). but i'm not shocked that the vilification happens.

AH, are you saying that an estate tax is not an inheritance tax? it seems as though if i have an estate, which involves certain individuals inheriting, and that estate is taxed, that is also an inheritance tax. i would think that the issue could be resolved with a proper level of taxation on the estate, rather than taxing the amount being left twice. i have no problem contributing upon my demise, but i do have a problem with the notion that my child/grandchild is not entitled to some of the fruits of my labor, particularly as i view family connectivity as so important.

and if they are going to spend my hard-earned money ensuring that Citi stays alive and not-so-well, and expanding the defense budget, well, i may just change my liberal thoughts.

aboutready, inheritance taxes and estate taxes are 2 separate taxes; the former is on the size of an individual's inheritance, the latter is on the size of the estate. They are levied on different transactions.

In these cases, the money isn't taxed twice because, for the most part, if there is a tax due, the tax basis for subsequent transactions is stepped up. So if an estate is worth $10 million then it is taxed, but the cost basis of the assets is changed to the market value at the time it is taxed. So if part of that tax is levied on a $2,000,000 apartment that only cost the decedent $50,000, the cost basis for the legatee is $2,000,000 when he goes to sell it.

stevejhx westsidehighway = petrfitz?

evnycevnyc: either that or Brabus.

alanhart: PrincessEdna. Black Russian.

No. No. and No.

I'm just a privileged black 23 year old who has never worked. Working is boring. I'm too young for it....I'll do it when I'm old. My parents buy me whatever I want. I don't feel guilty for my conspicuous consumption. Everyone is jealous but I'm black so I'm not singled out as a yuppie! Only white people can be yuppies!

I'm apparently a black faux hipster. Maybe because those poors mistake my avant garde Comme Des Garcons and Dior Homme ensembles as "hipster", EW. In any case, I remember I drove to Williasburg like a week ago in my mommy's Bentley to pick up a friend and all the real, dirty hipster "artists" were looking at me like they were sooo jealous. Get over it. Ugh.

Ohhhh, I get it. westsidehighway is that tiresome impoverished Bronx drag queen who used to post here as "desgarcons"

printer, you need to be more rational.
Parents should not be using their money for their kids. We on streeteasy are here to tell parents what they can and can't spend money on. Definitely not on real estate.

who?

so, matt tell us about your three jobs....more make believe?

"so, matt tell us about your three jobs."

Temp work, waiting tables in the evenings, and working in the stock room at a department store on the weekends. That of course was in addition to my "real" job.

no leeminors, we're here to tell people where to poop.

thx for the explanation, steve.

so...you were working what 70, 80 hrs a week? or more?

Actually, CC, it wasn't unusual for me to work 80 hours a week. I was busy trying to pay off school loans, as well as cover rent, car, car insurance, and utilities.

westsidehighway, my father is black Irish, so we might be related.

tell us more of your rags to riches...or i guess, based on your comments riches to rags and back to riches. How many years of 80 + hrs at your fourteen different jobs? Where did you break through or are you still doing this?

CC, I can't tell you how flattered I am over your interest in me. It gives me the warm fuzzies!

I guess it's a bad time for Craigslist to have shut down that "Erotic Services" section.

Steve: black Irish -- what kind of glass is that served in?

Matt: that's mold. It's been there all along.

30yrs, pretty damn funny.

alanhart, i'm red irish (and french, i can't even begin), my ancestors were served up in a boat, probably horse thieves each and every one (ok, maybe some larcenists, given that we're a bit bright).

Why is HunterDouglas still able to spam streeteasy? Does the report abuse button not work anymore?

JuiceMan--why don't we all start inundating 'David' with crank calls, day and night? That'll teach him to spam SE.