While no one can agree on the age ranges, by just about any definition I am a millennial. What that means about me, I'm not sure. News articles like to make broad, sweeping generalizations about millennials. Most of these fluff pieces show a real lack of depth and understanding. Sure, all millennials share some similar experiences such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or entering the workforce during the Great Recession. While we came of age during these events, everyone still has their unique experiences. As much as they'd like to, Boomers can't pigeonhole an entire group of people with labels such as "lazy" or "over-sensitive". Still, this doesn't stop people from trying. I'll try not to fall into the same trap of over-generalizing.
One common theme among millenials is that they can't afford to buy homes. Home ownership is indeed lower among millenials as compared to older generations [1]. Several reasons are thrown around for why this is the case. Millenials have higher student loan debt, which affects mortgage elligibility [2]. The average new home size keeps increasing. Since 1973 the average home size has increased by 1000 square feet[3]. No wonder prices have gone up! And some millenials are just plain rejecting the idea that home ownership is a part of the American Dream. I fall into this last category.
Two years ago I moved to a small midwestern city with affordable home prices. For the first time in my life, I could afford my own home. People at work often asked why I chose "to throw money away renting" or "when was I going to settle down". My answer that I just have no desire to own a home never satisfies them. To me, home ownership means less freedom to travel and pursue my hobbies. I don't want to worry about maintenance and the additional chores. I guess you could say I have commitment issues, but the ability to break a lease at any time and move to a totally new area appeals to me. Lastly, buying a home means I would have to buy more stuff to fill it. This leads me into minimalism and how some millennials are embracing this lifestyle.
Based on my own observations, minimalism has been trending over the last couple of years. The basic idea of minimalism is to live simply, and without a lot of stuff. I think this appeals to some of the people who either cannot afford, or do not want their own home. Without a permanent home, there is much less opportunity to accumulate material things. I see this first hand when I go home to visit my mom. Having lived in the same house for almost 30 years now, she has accumulated a lot of stuff. I actually have to fight the itch to take a car load of it to goodwill every time I'm home. Moving frequently has prevented me from ever starting down the path of accumulation. For my last long distance move, I simply packed everything in my car and took off. I picked up a few pieces of furniture from Craigslist and Ikea when I arrived, and I was set.
For many millennials, I think the minimalist lifestyle ties into their value of "experiences" over "things". When I look at social media, my generation is mainly sharing photos from trips, pictures of fancy meals or selfies at live events. These experiences have become a priority over having a house with the biggest garage or nicest furniture. For my generation, keeping up with the Joneses means attending Burning Man or skiing at Vail, not a white picket fence. The material goods that do appeal to this subset of millennials, generally have a strong narrative behind them and can be expected to last for a long time. Cheap, mass produced goods have little appeal.
All this leads me to the can opener I just purchased two weeks ago. Over the last few years, I have been in search of the perfect can opener. All I want is something simple and durable. Every store bought can opener I tried would break. I couldn't find a single one that was made with steel that didn't rust or have plastic gears that broke. At last I found a can opener from a Japanese company that had no moving parts, was easy to use and should last a lifetime. Crazy that I had to order all the way from Japan just to get a quality can opener.
Along with minimalist, this can opener can be considered a "buy it for life" product. Most consumer goods these days are designed with planned obsolescence in mind. I have created a buyitforlife tag for this post. I encourage you to use this tag if you have your own buy it for life items to share. I have a lot to say about buy it for life, planned obsolescence and the ill effects of continual cost improvement but I'll save that rant for a later date.
