Moneywise
‘We were living our best lives’: This 32-year-old says he had more financial freedom working at Chili’s in 2012 than he does now with a much higher income — here’s why
Sabina Wex – October 28, 2023
While it’s not hard to get a millennial to indulge in some nostalgia for the 2010s — the decade many of their cohort entered adulthood and the workforce — what’s got them reminiscing about their younger years lately may come as a surprise.
Although many were fresh out of college, still figuring things out and living on minimum wage, they’d likely hesitate to characterize their past selves as “young, dumb and broke.” But not necessarily because they remember themselves as wise and mature.
As Mordecai Nuccio explains in a recent TikTok, he feels like he had more disposable income back in 2012 compared to now — an assertion that’s been making the rounds on TikTok.
“We were making minimum wage, but we were living our best lives,” Nuccio, a 32-year-old photographer, says about his time living on minimum wage working as a food runner at Chili’s.
He adds that a big part of his current financial stress is thanks to his increased credit card and student loan debts. Even though he makes more money and lives in a double-income household with his fiancé, he feels more squeezed.
Here’s how do you get back to living your best life now that you should have more cash flow.
Tackle debt
Back in 2012, Nuccio says he had “minimal” credit card debt. But that’s changed as his expenses have increased — and he’s got his student loans to think of too.
While expenses tend to increase as you age and take on more responsibilities, making more often translates into spending more. Millennials love splurging on experiences, but that can quickly wander into risky spending habit territory.
Living on borrowed money can get expensive once you start to factor in interest but it can be overwhelming to get out of that vicious cycle. If you’ve racked up a couple of balances, one way to start picking away at your debt in a manageable way is to use the “debt avalanche method,”. Here’s how it works: you pay off your highest interest loan debt first, and only make minimum payments on all your other debts.
Once you’ve paid off the highest interest loan, you move on to the next highest interest debt, and so on — until, voila, all your debt has disappeared.
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Consolidate your debt
Up until fairly recently, student loan payments were suspended. But their return means that borrowers like Nuccio need to figure out how to fit these payments back into their monthly expenses.
Unfortunately, 28% of student loan borrowers say they’ll need to take on additional debt to maintain their household payments and repay their student debt, according to a recent Achieve survey.
When you’re robbing Paul to pay Peter, things can get messy. But consolidating your debts can make this a little easier. If you have private student loans and credit card debt, you might consider refinancing your loan.
Even though it means taking on another loan, if you’re able to find an offer at a lower rate than your current accounts, you’ll save yourself plenty in interest over the life of the loan. Plus, by pooling your debts, you’ll only have to worry about making a single monthly payment, which will hopefully make your life a little easier.
Lower your cost of living
Nuccio mentions that he lived in Tampa, Florida in 2012 when he worked at Chili’s, but has since moved to New York City to pursue photography. Though this may have been a good move for his career, it’s bad news for his debt.
Though Nuccio doesn’t explicitly say which borough he lives in, New York’s Manhattan is the most expensive city in the U.S., according to the Council for Community and Economic Research’s (CCER) most recent data. Though several Florida media outlets report Tampa is the Sunshine State’s most expensive city, it still doesn’t rank on the CCER’s list of priciest cities across the country.
So part of your plan to pay back your debt may need to include your locale. If you live in an expensive city like New York, it’ll likely take you longer to pay off your debt than a cheaper city like Tampa.