To clarify, my neighborhood is not "bad" by any means. It's simply a neighborhood of moderate "starter" homes that are packed fairly tightly on small lots. There are certainly denser places in big cities, but I don't do well when I'm surrounded. Another big problem is that my area is converting from rural suburban to a more crowded suburban. I came here to escape that situation, so I'm not doing well with the change.
I agree wholeheartedly with the advice to be frugal. I try to delay every "new" purchase no matter how small as a matter of practice. If I see something that interests me, I don't try to give myself an absolute "No." I just try to say "Wait." I come home; I think; I sleep; I research. If the purchase still seems like a good idea later, I get it. There are plenty of things that I've waited years and years to buy.
On the other hand, the uncertainty of careers today makes frugality something that many of us must do for survival and not for the hope of something better in the future. We deny ourselves and deny ourselves so that we'll have a reserve if things go bad again. I have three engineering degrees. I grew up with being frugal so we could afford my college education so that I'd always "have something to fall back on." However, when I've had to fall back, I just kept falling until I hit hard ground. Saving may provide some cushion, but there comes a point where living to deny oneself seems to be a long and frustrating exercise in self-denial. I look around and say, "Do I want to live like this for another thirty years?" The answer is "not really. If I can't ever get ahead and enjoy things, what's the point?"
I'm not saying that things are bad for me. I've worked very hard, and I have a good job. I make enough to live in reasonable comfort and still save some money. However, I see many peers who haven't worked as hard as I have doing better, and I really don't see myself doing as well as my parents did. The phony numbers game of the original editorial does nothing to make me believe that things are as good as they could have been at an earlier time. I think others likely feel the same way. Even when we save, we never seem to get ahead, so what's the point?
Bill
You are on the right track, the next step is to realize that your time to "get ahead" starts at the end of your 8 hour workday. Your job is for survival, to get ahead you must also start a business. I don't have a job anymore, I have 3 one-man businesses. There is something in your life that you would do for free, just becuase you like it. Plan a way to make money at that, or something at least related to it. Buy this old paperback book and read it 3 times a year: "Think and Grow Rich." The author is not writing only of monetary wealth, though he does cover that. He is writing of living a rich life. You have what it takes, you are a thinker, and what you think can become a reality. Think the right things, and create what you desire. Freep me anytime with questions about this, and best of luck, though we make our own luck.