44-year-old questions where teens are getting "DoorDash lifestyle" money: 'I can't figure it out'

Dream big, work hard, and stay humble. It's all you can do these days. You've got to try and be strategic in your career as you navigate your field… if you're lucky, dedicated, and a hard worker, perhaps you'll end up in a high-paying job with benefits and a 401k. 

However, as this person observed, a lot of people are living beyond their means with zero regrets about that. That used to be the old financial advice, right? Save your money in a high-yield account, keep that frivolous spending to a minimum, and soon enough, you'll have a golden life for you and your 3 children. Nowadays, though? Let's be so real, if you're under 35 you're probably living with 4 roommates or your parents basement, making barely enough money to scrape by. That means that when you do have an extra chunk of cash, it's going to go towards clothing, food, or experiences. You can "save" $100 if you want… but that's not going to buy you a better life anytime soon. There's even been an issue with young people who use buy-now-pay-later services to get themselves new clothing or Temu junk, only to find themselves swamped in debt they can't pay back. 

There are so many people who order meals constantly from those ever-present food delivery apps like UberEats, DoorDash, Grubhub, or Seamless, just to name a few. These meals are not cheap! As this man writes, he's noticed that the same kids who are making $16 an hour at the restaurant he works at are also ordering $16 meals. Like, they'll get a single dish (maybe dumplings or a fast food meal) that costs $16, and they don't even bat an eye. They probably feel like they'll be stuck in debt forever, so why even bother to pay it back at all? If they have to spend all their time grinding away at low-paying jobs, they may as well get a tasty treat or 5. 

Next up, read about this employee's interesting idea to get their 24/7 surveillance software off their computer, changing it to a .exe file that can't be opened: "I'm probably not gonna get fired."