Reading about rental costs in Bozeman I was taken back to the day I left the nest. I told my mother I had found and apartment and would be moving out on my own.

I think in her mind she decided to give me six months before crawling back wondering if my old room was still available.

I’ve rented the vast majority of my life. I’ve only been a home owner a little longer than ten years. It seemed that pesky down payment was always the stumbling block.

Rents Are Too High. What’s the Solution?

There are a couple of solutions. One, do what I did. Live in your car until you can afford a place. Or, do what I did. Get roommates to share expenses.

Or, do what I did. Live in the worst part of town in a seedy motel with no lock on the door so you have to cart everything you own in each night and back to your car during working hours.

The point is that more and more each day we’re conditioned to someone coming along and bailing us out.

We always turn to our rich Uncle Sam to fork over the difference between what we have and what we need.

That’s fine of the short term but tell me when that will change? How long will this subsidized living go on?

How and when are you going to make yourself more valuable to an employer? Is there any chance that you’ll move up the economic ladder in a year, two years, five years?

Or will this gravy train continue since more than likely there will be no conditions for you to meet that will end your dependency.

Some Final Thoughts

I think the time has come to just have totally free stuff. Free food, automobile, housing, medical care, child care, Internet, cable TV, free phone and lawn furniture. I mean let’s go all out if we’re doing to do something — do it right.

The problem is always emotional, the solution is always money. The missing pieces are oversight to make sure there are no abuses, and enforcement to deal with those who try to scam the system.

The latter two, oversight and enforcement, are rarely added into the final mix. Free stuff equals happiness.

What’s your answer to this never-ending problem? If it actually is a problem?

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