08/29/2026
I find myself in this conversation a lot as I talk real estate with many different folks ... especially on a day when I am GUILTY of eating out several times a week or treating my girls and I to a drink at our awesome coffee cabin in town. There is a lot of talk about how far money can go now ... and don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of truth behind that and contributing to the housing affordability crunch we are facing.
There also happens to be a LOT of truth in what is stated below and most of us are VERY GUILTY. I am not here with any answers, but certainly questions I am asking my own self and habits.
The way our grandparents approached homeownership feels almost foreign today.
Not because they had some secret financial formula. In many households, the strategy was simple: live with less, share more, avoid unnecessary debt, and keep the long-term goal bigger than the short-term comfort.
One car. A smaller home. Home-cooked meals. Hand-me-downs. Repairs instead of replacements. Free entertainment at parks, porches, neighborhoods, and family gatherings. Privacy and convenience were often traded for something they considered more valuable: building equity.
For some families, multigenerational living and shared expenses were practical tools for reaching that goal faster.
But there’s an important reality check: today’s housing market is not the same market your grandparents faced.
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported that the median existing single-family home price reached $412,500 in 2024, while the price-to-income ratio reached 5.0—far above the roughly 3.2 average seen during the 1990s. The typical first-time buyer needed an estimated $126,700 annual income to afford the median-priced home under the report’s assumptions.
And the challenge has continued. Harvard’s 2026 housing report says home prices increased 54% nationwide from 2020 to 2025, while the national homeownership rate fell for two consecutive years.
So this isn’t about blaming younger Americans for buying coffee, subscribing to Netflix, or wanting a comfortable home office.
It’s about remembering a powerful principle: your lifestyle and your financial goals have to coexist.
You don’t have to live exactly like your grandparents. But if owning a home, becoming debt-free, or building wealth matters to you, every recurring expense deserves a job.
The question isn’t “Can I afford this today?”
The better question is: “What is this purchase costing my future?”
Small sacrifices repeated for years can become a down payment. A down payment can become a mortgage. A mortgage can become equity. And equity can become options.
The goal isn’t deprivation.
The goal is freedom.
Disclaimer: Historical household habits varied widely, and this post simplifies a complicated period.
Housing affordability today is shaped by prices, wages, interest rates, supply, taxes, insurance, and many other factors.
