NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE ARE LEAVING TEXAS…
Moved here thinking I was escaping expensive states. No state income tax. Lower cost of living. More affordable housing.
Then came the property taxes. Then the homeowners insurance. Then the HOA fees. Then groceries, car insurance, electricity, literally EVERYTHING.
At this point, Texas isn’t “cheap.”
It’s just charging you in different places.
WHERE EXACTLY IS THE LOW TAXES PART? 🤨
The life of a boomer:
- Graduated when a degree guaranteed a job
- College tuition cost 6 blueberries
- Worked at one company for 30 years
- Bought a house at 22 on one income
- Wife could stay home & raise the kids
- Monthly mortgage cost less than Netflix today
- Networking happened at the strip club
- “Work hard & you’ll get ahead” was actually true
- Promotions meant life changing money & not just a pizza party
- Passed on their generational trauma to their kids
- Rode a historic bull market into retirement with a fat pension
- Sold their house for 30x what they paid
- Enjoy their social security checks while the fund runs out of money
- Tell their kids to stop buying lattes
You save up $6,000 of your own post-tax income, buy lumber, and spend three weekends building a deck in your back yard.
A county assessor drives past your house, notices the wood, and re-evaluates your property.
Your property tax bill goes up by $600 a year. Forever.
Did your new deck put $600 more wear and tear on the county roads? Did the fire department need a new engine because you have a place to put a grill? Did the local police deploy an extra cruiser to your street?
No.
You paid for the materials. You did the labor. You improved the neighborhood.
We don’t talk enough about how outrageous property taxes can be!
BOOMERS GOT TO LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM. GEN Z GOT THE BILL.
Boomers entered adulthood during a time when buying a house, raising a family, and living on one income were realistic goals for millions of Americans.
Now Gen Z is working full time, watching rent eat half their paycheck, putting off having children, and wondering if they'll ever own a home.
The same milestones their parents reached on ordinary salaries now require massive incomes, years of savings, or financial help from family.
They didn't build the American Dream.
They borrowed against it.
They inflated the price of everything that made it possible.
And now Gen Z is being told to work harder to afford a life that used to cost a fraction of what it does today.
THEY GOT THE HOUSE. THEY GOT THE PENSION. THEY GOT THE CHEAP EDUCATION.
GEN Z GOT THE DEBT, THE RENT, AND THE BILL.
WHY AM I WORKING 40 HOURS A WEEK JUST TO BARELY SURVIVE?
I wake up, go to work, pay rent, buy groceries, pay bills, and somehow I'm still one unexpected expense away from falling behind.
I'm doing everything we're told we're supposed to do. Get a job. Work full time. Be responsible. Pay your bills.
And I STILL can't afford the most basic thing a person needs to survive.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL POINT OF WORKING FULL TIME IF YOU CAN'T EVEN AFFORD A PLACE TO LIVE?
WHY AM I WORKING 40 HOURS A WEEK JUST TO BARELY SURVIVE?
I wake up, go to work, pay rent, buy groceries, pay bills, and somehow I'm still one unexpected expense away from falling behind.
I'm doing everything we're told we're supposed to do. Get a job. Work full time. Be responsible. Pay your bills.
And I STILL can't afford the most basic thing a person needs to survive.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL POINT OF WORKING FULL TIME IF YOU CAN'T EVEN AFFORD A PLACE TO LIVE?
I don't give one single fuck if a landlord with six properties has to sell one because the math finally stopped working in his favor.
You know what I don't hear enough about?
The tenant who's paid $2,000 a month for five years, never missed rent, and still has nothing to show for $120,000 in payments.
But the second a landlord's profit margin gets squeezed, suddenly we're supposed to feel sorry for them.
IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO OWN SIX PROPERTIES WITHOUT SOMEONE ELSE PAYING YOUR BILLS, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T OWN SIX PROPERTIES.
Employee: "I was hired as fully remote 4 years ago and moved my family closer to affordable housing."
HR: "We're updating our policy. You need to report to an office 2.5 hours away, 4 days a week, starting next month."
Employee: "That's impossible for my commute. Is there severance if I can't relocate?"
HR: "No. Failure to report will be classified as voluntary resignation."
Two weeks later, the CEO announced a "12% reduction in force with zero severance payouts" on an earnings call to boost quarterly margins.
Mandatory return-to-office mandates were never about corporate culture……they were a back door layoff strategy designed to strip working families of unemployment benefits.