> The $600 iPhone which I absolutely need for any modern job (thanks to BYOD)

I agree with your overall point that things like housing, healthcare, and education are much more expensive today and are much more difficult to acquire, securely, on a median income. However, when you say things like "I absolutely need a $600 iPhone for any modern job", it comes across like out-of-touch whining. No, you do not need the latest iPhone for any modern job. You want the latest iPhone. You can get a very capable, brand new Android phone for around $100 bucks.

In the same way that client-facing bankers don't need to wear suits.

If part of your job is conveying status, bringing an Android to work conveys a completely different kind of status than an iPhone. It may not feel good, but that doesn't mean $600 for an iPhone, even when you can barely afford food/rent, is poorly spent.

If you're in a position where 1) your phone is out of your pocket and 2) you need to impress people, I'd be willing to bet you can afford the nicer phone or justify its cost to your management.

Functionally you don't need a smartphone to do most work. And that's coming from someone who works with the devices at a major telecom...

Oh, puhleeze, this is just straight up bullshit. A client-facing banker may need to wear a suit, but no one gives a shit if it's a Saville Row bespoke version. If it's so important for your job that you need an iPhone because an Android is somehow for the unwashed masses, you can afford it.

>Every time I mention the high price of homes...

Location. Location. Location.

1,480 sq. ft., $23,000 http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/113-Bernal-Ave-Hickman-KY-...

918 sq. ft., $18,000 http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/309-W-B-St-Ramona-KS-67475...

1,056 sq. ft., $24,999 http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/943-Wisconsin-Ave-Beloit-W...

1,134 sq. ft., $27,000 http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4751-Bellm-Dr-SPC-20-Klama...

2,064 sq. ft., $28,500: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/908-Lelia-St-Newport-AR/10...

Jobs? Jobs? Jobs?

Live in SF bay area and save up $50k (One year if you could make $120k(?) and live with your parents?). Buy two $25k houses, one to live in, one to rent out for your living expenses. Semi-retire. ?

That's great for the small minority of people like you or me for whom that ("just make $120k. just go save $50k annually.") is a realistic achievable plan.

Everyone else who's not in this small minority still has a right to complain about coastal/urban housing prices.

Yeah, just to be clear, the question marks in the original were my attempt at saying I was unsure of how realistic the proposition was. Certainly hanging around HN, you could easily come to the conclusion that $120k is essentially a starting salary for software engineers in the Silicon Valley area (and how that's not enough, since the VCs are always taking the bulk of the value). But I don't have a feel for how "true" that is. My own personal story is that I live on a large plot of land in a large house, and support a wife and 4 kids on a significantly smaller income in fly-over country.