No, the Average College Grad Wasn't Making $100,000 in the 1980s

[LevelUP]

No, the Average College Grad Wasn't Making $100,000 in the 1980s
https://reason.com/2023/05/08/no-the-ave...the-1980s/

Another thing is TV's used to cost $800 for a 25-inch TV back in the 1980's.
A computer used to cost $1500 for an entry-level PC in the 80's/90's.
Furniture and clothes are cheap to buy.

Catalog back from 1980's
https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/80sfurniture.html

This is all while the minimum wage was $3-$5 an hour.

[rachel83az]

That furniture was built to last, though. More than modern furniture is, at least.

[Pats20]

Just about all products were better back then. Calgon take me away. What happened to the Maytag man ?

[virino]

Just about all products were better back then. Calgon take me away. What happened to the Maytag man ?

If you haven't read Cory Doctorow's theory of the "enshittification of social media," then read it. Then apply it to products and voila

[Pats20]

The headline states that it’s wrong to be pessimistic about young peoples future yet it was a young person who posted the tic toc being pessimistic.

[Vle045]

That furniture was built to last, though. More than modern furniture is, at least.

You aren't kidding.  That velour sofa my mom got in the 80s with  earth tone farm pictures on it seemed to last forever.  The couch I bought three years ago is already falling apart.

This looks like the couch we had, but I think my mom got it in the early 80's:  https://www.collectorsweekly.com/article...ird-couch/

[rachel83az]

As a kid, we would sometimes go to the store and get the old (i.e. unfashionable) furniture that had been donated. Some of those pieces were probably 20+ years old and were often "ugly" by the fashion standards of the time, but darn were they sturdy.

Even IKEA furniture of a few decades ago is better than the "exact same" piece purchased yesterday. I've heard stories of people buying a more modern, matching, piece to flesh out their livingroom or bedroom, only for the new piece to start falling apart within months. The stuff they've had for 20+ years is fine.

I'd rather spend an entire paycheck on something that's going to last 15-20 years rather than 1/3rd of a paycheck on something that might only last 3 or 4 years. I'll save so much money over time by not having to constantly replace things.

Without doing any research into the matter, I'd wager that (some) things might cost less today than they did in the 70s or 80s, but we're actually spending significantly more on them (proportional to our income) because we either have to keep repurchasing them or live in a bare empty room.

[dfrecore]

As someone who has moved MANY times, I'll take cheaper (not totally cheap crap) any day, because chances are, it's not going to survive the move. OR, and this is even more common for me, I'm not going to like it in 5 years, let alone 10 or 20. If I buy a fairly inexpensive couch, and don't like it in 5 years, I'm ok with replacing it with something I like better because I didn't spend a fortune on it.

[Pats20]

As someone who has moved MANY times, I'll take cheaper (not totally cheap crap) any day, because chances are, it's not going to survive the move.  OR, and this is even more common for me, I'm not going to like it in 5 years, let alone 10 or 20.  If I buy a fairly inexpensive couch, and don't like it in 5 years, I'm ok with replacing it with something I like better because I didn't spend a fortune on it.

True to an extent. I don’t think furniture is much if any cheaper than it used to be, yet it’s junk. We bought new in 2006  And Replaced the recliner 2 years ago. I don’t believe it was any cheaper than the one it replaced. It actually probably cost more and is already falling apart. 

I want a couch to last longer than 5.  Even if I am tired of it. It can go to the basement or to my kids or whoever.

[dfrecore]

As someone who has moved MANY times, I'll take cheaper (not totally cheap crap) any day, because chances are, it's not going to survive the move.  OR, and this is even more common for me, I'm not going to like it in 5 years, let alone 10 or 20.  If I buy a fairly inexpensive couch, and don't like it in 5 years, I'm ok with replacing it with something I like better because I didn't spend a fortune on it.

True to an extent. I don’t think furniture is much if any cheaper than it used to be, yet it’s junk. We bought new in 2006  And Replaced the recliner 2 years ago. I don’t believe it was any cheaper than the one it replaced. It actually probably cost more and is already falling apart. 

I want a couch to last longer than 5.  Even if I am tired of it. It can go to the basement or to my kids or whoever.

We have a couch we bought in 2003 that is still going strong, down in the basement now.  Honestly, nobody wants it (my kid is moving out this weekend and said "heck no" when I offered it to her).  I may have to actually pay someone to take the damn thing.