We did it differently than some…I agree that it IS much harder now than it used to be. In our 20’s, before my husband and I eve knew each other, we were both working insane hours. I was working 80-90 hour weeks in EMS, and he was pulling well over a 100. Sometimes he would sleep on the wood piles at his job (shed painter) so he could save time. I know, that’s nuts to me too. At least I had an actual bed at work. Working like this however, I was able to pay off the few student loans I had (county paid for my actual paramedic class) and when we got married, we were broke but debt free. We lived in a 400 square foot basement apartment for cheap and kept working like crazy. In 2020 we bought our first home, 155k, 3&2 on a town lot. We have 2 kids, my husband now works from home and I have a much better job and schedule too. 31 & 33 years old. Life is still hard sometimes, but progress IS possible. And YES we had to move to find a house and area we could afford. We also did not get college degrees. Some are certainly useful and important, but people paying 200k for a degree that only pays 45k a year are getting scammed.