Avocados Pricing Millennials out of Housing in Australia?

[audreyh1]

Some Australians are apparently worried that millennials are spending way too much $$ on avocados and therefore not able to safe enough to buy a house. Avocados Are Why You Can't Afford a Home, Millionaire Says | Money

Now I'm not sure why avocados are so expensive in Australia. We spend $6-7 for a nice bag of 5 avocados at Costco that lasts us a couple of weeks.

Maybe avocados are the Australian version of expensive Starbucks drinks?

Anyway - this article really has it out for those avocados!

 

[zinger1457]

I usually put one into my daily breakfast smoothie. Hasn't broken the bank yet, cost around here is usually $0.59 each but may vary a little depending on the season.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I thought it was a funny article, but did some head-scratching on how many avocados it would take to equal a down payment on a house. Even considering it was Australian Dollars.

Turns out, others did too.

Fact-checking a mogul's claims about avocado toast and millennials

 

[meierlde]

On avocados did folks see the pieces about folks hurting themselves trying to get the pits out and instead injuring their hands. Of course amazon has a solution a chain mail glove that you wear on the hand holding the avocado. (Actually a good idea if your doing serious slicing anyway, you can get steel mesh gloves or go all the way to chain mail, which if it is good enough to stop a sword, would be good enough to stop a knife)

 

[Fedup]

I never like avocados that much. I bought a nice one and only half eaten. I mean I should like it but somehow I can't bring myself to eat all of it. It's a big one, but still. So avocado is off my list of potential fruit trees to be planted in my small yard.

 

[audreyh1]

Love avocados! Eat lots.

BTW I highly recommend mashed avocado on toast, even for breakfast!

 

[audreyh1]

I thought it was a funny article, but did some head-scratching on how many avocados it would take to equal a down payment on a house. Even considering it was Australian Dollars.

Turns out, others did too.

Fact-checking a mogul's claims about avocado toast and millennials

Oh we were head scratching today alright! DH could barely contain his guffaws! Thanks for the link.

 

[FUEGO]

I once saw a nearly toothless older gentleman on the streets of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (a wealthy expat enclave, but we were staying on the poor side of town en el barrio). I can't imagine he was a millionaire in disguise. He looked pretty poor actually - burnt leather skin, a dusty beat up cowboy hat, shirt not particularly well-buttoned.

He appeared to be holding a peso's worth of tortillas (maybe 4-5 of them, cost about $.05 USD). And he had an avocado he smashed to get to the flesh inside (cost - 5 pesos or about $0.30 in the mercado). No knife, no fork, no napkins.

There he sat on the steps leading up to the carniceria, eating his lunch as the flies buzzed through the ripeness of castaway refuse from yesterday's produce market. Smashed avocado smeared on freshly toasted tortillas. Poor f$cker couldn't afford to buy a house because he wasted all his money on avocado toast.

 

[Rambler]

I hate avocados. I guess maybe that's why I got to retire @ 51. ROFLMAO.

 

[walkinwood]

Remember when it was cappuccinos and lattes that were keeping young people from buying homes?
And more recently, iphones keeping people from buying health insurance?

A good laugh is all these articles are good for.

 

[Alan]

Some Australians are apparently worried that millennials are spending way too much $$ on avocados and therefore not able to safe enough to buy a house. Avocados Are Why You Can't Afford a Home, Millionaire Says | Money

Now I'm not sure why avocados are so expensive in Australia. We spend $6-7 for a nice bag of 5 avocados at Costco that lasts us a couple of weeks.

Maybe avocados are the Australian version of expensive Starbucks drinks?

Anyway - this article really has it out for those avocados!

Remember when it was cappuccinos and lattes that were keeping young people from buying homes?
And more recently, iphones keeping people from buying health insurance?

A good laugh is all these articles are good for.

+1

We spent 5 months in Australia in 2014 and was introduced to the "avocado smash" in cafes which we thought was excellent, and we now often make it ourselves these days (the avocado is mashed up with olive oil, lemon and spices and dressed with arugula and feta cheese). I think that going to restaurants and eating avocado smash has become the equivalent of Americans having a Starbucks coffee every day given as the reason of not being able to save enough to retire.

 

[audreyh1]

Growing up in the tropics we simply mashed up an avocado by spreading a chunk on toast, sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Sometimes top with a tomato slice. Very nice for breakfast. And this was before I'd ever had guacamole.

The avocado was off our tree, so free!

So I guess the Australian version of guacamole is way more expensive in restaurants than the Mexican version!

 

[marko]

Seems the article is really about Millennials spending habits: "We're at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high," Gruner said. "They want to eat out every day, they want to travel to Europe every year"

....and buy a house.

Poor kids. They must be so disillusioned.

 

[Maenad]

Kids these days! Spoiled brats! Get offa my lawn!

I remember people saying this kind of stuff about GenX too. At the time I got offended, but now I have to wonder - do any of these writers remember being in their 20s? If you were responsible with your money you were in the minority - how many of your friends were out partying every night?

It's the same every generation. And people grow out of it, or don't.

 

[JoeWras]

Millennials? OK.

Our Starbucks are filled with Late Boomers (my gen) and Gen-X. Lots of big old honking SUVs in the parking lot (the $50k kind). I'll stick up for the Millennials on this one.

 

[exnavynuke]

Seems the article is really about Millennials spending habits: "We're at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high," Gruner said. "They want to eat out every day, they want to travel to Europe every year"

....and buy a house.

Poor kids. They must be so disillusioned.

I'm not sure why everyone gravitated to the avocado line that I'm hoping was an exaggeration ($19 for a smashed avocado??). It seemed to me that the actual message was that you can't expect to save enough for a house if you're paying a lot of money to eat out all the time and take extravagant vacations every year. For the "average" worker in the millennial age range, that would probably be accurate.

 

[ponyboy]

I'm not sure why everyone gravitated to the avocado line that I'm hoping was an exaggeration ($19 for a smashed avocado??). It seemed to me that the actual message was that you can't expect to save enough for a house if you're paying a lot of money to eat out all the time and take extravagant vacations every year. For the "average" worker in the millennial age range, that would probably be accurate.

Bingo...someone finally gets it. People hate to be told how to fix a problem that is so obvious everyone misses it.

If people are scraping by and they're spending $15 on an avocado sandwich...they're also spending money on other things they shouldnt be. They have no budget...they blame everyone else for their money problems, etc etc. God forbid they give up their $100/month phone plan. No way can they give up their $6/day coffee. People need tivo, dvr, 10 tv's throughout house, 10 ipads...gotta have 5 alcohol drinks when you're out...couldnt give that up...no way!

But people will laugh at this article and put the blame elsewhere...like on wages being low, healthcare too high, student loan issues, blah blah blah. Same old story...different day. No one wants to take responsibility for anything. They want everything handed to them.

 

[Alan]

I'm not sure why everyone gravitated to the avocado line that I'm hoping was an exaggeration ($19 for a smashed avocado??). It seemed to me that the actual message was that you can't expect to save enough for a house if you're paying a lot of money to eat out all the time and take extravagant vacations every year. For the "average" worker in the millennial age range, that would probably be accurate.

The first time we had Avacado smash was in a little seaside town on The Great Ocean Road in Australia and the lunch special at a small cafe was Avacado smash, incredibly cheap and really good value, served on a delicious crusty roll.

 

[AllDone]

The fancy restaurant in the fancy part of town here sells avocado toast for $7.99. I'm too lazy to go to a restaurant for breakfast -- way more trouble than it's worth -- so I mash my own with olive oil.

Buy the bags of avocados when they're cheap. If they're still hard when you buy them, they'll keep for weeks in the refrigerator and you can take them out of the bag and ripen them on the counter one by one. I'm apparently the only person who goes through the pile looking for unripened avocados.

I second the idea of not having an avocado in the yard. I rented a house with one for a while and my fat dog started to look like a sausage with toothpick legs after the first month or so.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm not sure why everyone gravitated to the avocado line that I'm hoping was an exaggeration ($19 for a smashed avocado??). It seemed to me that the actual message was that you can't expect to save enough for a house if you're paying a lot of money to eat out all the time and take extravagant vacations every year. For the "average" worker in the millennial age range, that would probably be accurate.

Right, and I'm in that camp. Always drink the free coffee at work.

However, one reason I'm sticking up for Millennials a bit is because I do seem them squeeze elsewhere.

Cars for example. They tend to not go fancy and take public trans. It is gen-x and late bloomers who just love the $50k+ SUVs.

I also maybe defend them a bit on vacations -- to a point. I'm thinking a big one every 5 years or so. Many of them go every year or multiple times a year. That will take a bite out of their future.

But, I really wish I hiked Europe when I could. I'm only in my 50s and many of the routes I want to take are now out of reach for my ailing body.

That said, I was cheap as hell. I had my Sears 11" black and white TV sitting on a box for 1 year in my first apartment. It could be why I didn't have a girlfriend. Then again, not having a girlfriend those first few years also saved some money.

 

[Fedup]

It's unfair to accuse millennials of spending money while young. This is the exact age where one should be spending money. I did and I'm a boomer, late bloomer but still.
My own kids, both young millennials, spend their money traveling. Wise move, if they wait any longer they may get to be too sensible and won't travel as much. I know one kid is trending that way, instead of spending 2 months after graduation to travel in Europe, she is cutting it down to one month. She said she might not enjoy it as much if she's in Europe for two months. When she starts working, she might be satisfy with 2 weeks but in more posh hotels versus youth hostels.

 

[txtig]

This thread reminds me of another story of apparent millennial overindulgence involving avocados. One year ago, our youngest son, along with his two roommates, was graduating from college. It was a very proud day for DW and me as we celebrated with DS and his friends. A few weeks later, we were talking with DS and he was expressing some concern with the security deposit on their rental house as they were preparing to move out and start their respective professional careers. Details were slow to leak out, but as they did, we learned that, on graduation night, after DW and I left to head back home, their celebration ramped up, the drinking continued, culminating in a 4:00 am game of "avocado baseball" in their rental house. We weren't sure at first what he meant by avocado baseball, but it was exactly what it sounded like . . . batting pitched avocados inside the house which splattered over their white walls, leaving some lovely avocado stains all over the place. Once they sobered up over the next couple of days, our new college graduates figured they could simply go down to Home Depot and pick up some matching paint to eradicate the evidence of their late night drunken celebration. But, they discovered that matching paint colors is not an easy thing to do, and ended up with dozens of mis-marched paint splotches on every wall. They ended up losing some, but not all of their deposit, and are now all gainfully employed and contributing to my Social Security. Thank goodness. But, I now realize that if it hadn't been for that game of avocado baseball, they might all be homeowners by now as well!!!

 

[Chuckanut]

If I lived in an area where I could raise an avocado tree in the back yard I would do it.

Right next to a fig tree!

 

[FUEGO]

Millennials? OK.

Our Starbucks are filled with Late Boomers (my gen) and Gen-X. Lots of big old honking SUVs in the parking lot (the $50k kind). I'll stick up for the Millennials on this one.

+1

I don't think we go to the same starbucks, but mine is kind of similar during the weekday work hours. It's my usual hangout spot when I meet fans from my blog. Mostly middle-age professionals and older. Occasionally I'll see what's probably a college student getting some work done. In general it looks like a place people park for an hour or two to plug in their electronics, work on some stuff, meet with others to collaborate, etc.

The drive thru line is full of expensive autos, many SUVs. I assume they're stopping by on the way to work since that's not the demographic of my neighborhood.

 

[grasshopper]

I posted a great avocado recipe to friends back east, they said it was to rich for their blood $1.50 to $2 each. My foodstore 1/4 mile from the border has them 4 for a buck most of the time. We eat them riper than most of my neighbors in the checkout line. I eat 1/2 to 1 whole one everyday.