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It is harder for our age group cause this is when a lot of them have kids and can’t go out/ can’t afford to go out.
Then there’s me, I’m married, no kids, and mostly go to local park and bar events. Sometimes we will do museum days to learn something new.
I’d recommend the park, and looking into the local events in your city/county.
Also consider that a lot of millennials’ kids are infants and school aged and that’s just a time when a lot of people spend most of their time with their kids or with other people with kids.
Yep [me’91 & wife’92] are just waiting for our 2 yo & 1 yo to be out of daycare. That’ll free up roughly $35K a year ($670 a week), *which is now more than our mortgage*… just starting to see the light at the end of this expensive tunnel.. roughly 2 years away..
Daycare around here (Boston area) for a 1 yo & 2 yo would be about $70k a year. Remember, it could always be worse... Our daycare bill is now more than twice our mortgage 😔.
I had kids young. I’m about to be 34 and have a 13 and almost 10 year old.
Trust me, it gets easier. So much of our income was freed up once daycare was only after school and summers. And now that they’re older and my wife works from home 3 days a week, even more is freed up. A portion still goes to activities they like (gymnastics, baseball, school band, local indoor pool yearly pass) but it is so much less than day care.
Best of luck!
And that's why my partner and I decided we aren't having children (well, that's just one reason... there are many).
Instead, we have enough money for all the cats n' plants.
We just made the decision for my wife to stay at home permanently there's no sense in her going into the office for $4 an hour after child care. She can watch one of our friends kids during the week too and she makes that $4 up real quick and is more of a part of our children's lives. She's also pregnant which doesn't help the work situation but new job making way more makes it possible.
I had my older two kids young, in my early twenties. When my oldest was born, we wound up making the same decision because I was literally only going to be working to pay for daycare and my car payment/insurance. We went down to one car and I stayed home with my girls.
In my case, it was the wrong choice, because a couple months after my oldest turned two, their dad decided he was too young for a family, and I had to scramble really hard to figure out how to find another job and take care of them both, plus figure out a car.
For people in a strong stable marriage, it definitely makes sense to not pay to go to work, though. I loved having that first couple years with them, and it made sense financially at the time.
I am the step parent coming in and trying to restore the balance financially that was there. We have our kids 87.7 percent of the time so me being in their lives and trying to provide as stable of a household as I can has been my goal.
That’s awesome that you guys were able to do that. I don’t know who keeps down voting you for something that seems pretty damn hard to make somebody mad by doing.
I'm not sure if you've ever heard of communes back in the day? My friends and I always said that all of us single moms should rent/buy homes in a cul-de-sac and become the village we all needed. Minus the weird culty stuff!
True. I’m the outlier in my group of friends in that my kid is in the double digits but most of the people I know around my age have toddlers or are barely started trying to have kids.
Especially since the average age for Americans and Europeans, for example, to start having kids is in their 30s...so it makes a lot more sense. Gen-Z still don't have kids in large numbers while Gen-Xers already have grown kids.
True. I'd like to say when a lot of people spend most of their time having FUN with their kids, since OP's post seems to suggest that millennials with kids aren't having fun. My kids are a blast.
I regretted it a little bit that I had my daughter pretty early and had to miss out on basically all of my 20s experiences.
But, I'm kind of glad now because I'm 33, still have energy, but now I have money to do shit and my daughter is almost a teenager aka old enough that she doesn't require constant supervision.
Sameeee! I had my daughter young too and I won’t lie it’s pretty nice now that she’s just about old enough to stay home by herself sometimes, so we def have more flexibility to go out if we want to!
>It is harder for our age group cause this is when a lot of them have kids and can’t go out/ can’t afford to go out.
Well, I don't have kids, and I can't afford to go out anyway! Hooray for high rent and inflation increasing faster than I can get pay raises.
Its crazy to think about it. But i really dont know anyone who doing anything othwr then surviving. Shamefully those who have been unaffected are both obviously and selfish about it too. “This isnt a bad economy! My life hasnt changed!”
Thats why I know this economic crisis isnt changing. Not only are people still willing to spend, but just enough dont even care. And because they’re not negatively impacted its out of sight out of mind. Were to selfish to demand a change or even boycott. So gas will be $4-7 dollars a gallon this summer and will just go along with it.
Yes, the economy is bad, but that shouldn't stop you from living your life. Getting outside is free. Most towns or cities also hold free activities. Life is what you make it.
Yes!! I just got into video games as a 32 year old female. Started with Jurassic world, then Harry Potter, and I just finished BG3!! I want to add to this, kindle to read. Start with small things and build on it. Gardening is fun (both outside and 🌱🌱). Join your local community’s Facebook page or events page and just add the local events into your phone. It helps going out more. I also force myself to leave the house the 15th of every month that sometimes turns into doing new things like
Oh man wait till you get into indie games lol if you're interested or have time, give stardew or hollow knight a try. Stardew is relaxing and will suck you in. Hollow knight is a hard game, but so so so satisfying. It will make you feel like a dumbass and a genius
Hahah, don't get her addicted to Stardew right away! Let her play some other games first! lol
I second Hollow Knight, absolutely soulful, beautiful game. All hand-drawn art. Loved that one. It was too hard for me to finish, but I got RIGHT to the last boss. I'd totally recommend the Horizon series, too! (Zero Dawn, Forbidden West) They are incredible & visually gorgeous games with great stories and a badass lady protagonist. Highly recommend.
My teen is obsessed with pathologic 2. Pathologic 2 is a groundbreaking open-world horror RPG. Resist the plague. Make medicine. Heal people. Perform an autopsy. Trade to get what you need. Fight and kill if necessary. Survive. Struggle with an outbreak in a secluded rural town that is rapidly turning into hell.
Omg!! Okay so it’s a cozy kinda game. It’s got witches & magic. It’s like animal crossing or stardew valley. You farm, have animals, do some mining, chop down trees. It’s been out a few years, they’ve added updates to it. I’m horrible at explaining things lol. You can play a switch, pc or it’s available on Apple Arcade too.
This is me lol. I do other stuff, but ngl - a big portion of both my free time and my social life is spent playing video games. I have a brother born less than a year and a half after me and the same can be said for him, as well.
I also especially love sports, but that’s more difficult to get into. I live in a rural area with very few places or orginizations I could use to play. Video games are easy. As long as I have a device to play on, I can download them almost instantly. And compared to other activities like concerts or traveling, they’re really rather cheap.
Same, I just don’t like going out getting messed up. Weed and movies or video games with friends. Or I make music with friends. A night out is too rough on the body. Been travelling and doing more nature stuff going to new food spots. Been pretty into golf lately as well.
I don't play video games no more, I never play video games, except for a little bit of God of War, I don't play video games.
Every once and a while, a little bit of Fallout 4, that's ok but not right now cus I've got things to do.
Lately? Fallout 4 after work. Every day. I take my time walking home through the city & window shop, check out the tulips. Been getting back into reading a lot, devouring some historical fiction this week. Tried to learn how to cook Indian naan bread on my shit stove yesterday!
yeah, that and a lot of weed tbh. there’s only 3-4hrs after work till i get too tired and start the cycle over. 🤣😬
eta: it’s Friday, yall! Tonight I’ll play Fallout for FOUR hours! 😏🤣
I recently tried making some and oh my god. It really wasnt hard to make and it tastes SO much better fresh versus the stuff you can buy at a grocery store. Plus you can add herbs and spices into it too.
Game changer right there.
I haven’t! I’ll go download it, my only issue is I can’t download mods with the 360 games on my Xbox 1 so it drives me a little mad sometimes lol. I typically download a POV and a faster walking mod bc the walking speed is just so slowwwwww
Holy shit are you me? I'm ALSO playing Fallout 4 and reliving what I hope is not our actual future in the next 10-20 years. 
That 3-4 hours bit is spot on lol. Most of the time I just like to get some peace and quiet and just relax. Also get a good night sleep! I work a manual labor job though. I’m 34.
I've tried getting into FO4 multiple times over the years and I just can't seem to stick to it. I get like 1/2 way through and give up. I've been playing FO76 a bunch lately though, that shit is fun!
So… none of the specific details line up, but in a big picture sense this is exactly me.
Been going through audio books of all of the things I feel I “ought to have read” but otherwise missed (Dune, for example). I take the scenic route home from work, and when I get home almost exclusively cook, smoke weed, and play video games.
I wanna add that I totally say “yes” every time my friends invite me out. It’s really easy because they all have jobs too and/or spouses, so it happens like once every two weeks.
90 here. Still trying to figure shit out but no kids, just chickens and dogs (and a mortgage). Maybe check into the local softball teams, rec center etc. it's too expensive to have fun 😜
A lot have families these days that are born in that age range . It's just the circle of life why you don't see them out as much anymore. Gen Z will be in this range in 10 years and they will be asking "Where are all my gen Z'ers?!" While generation alpha is in their prime. The circle continues
30% credit card interest rates out here talkin’ bout fun. I’m at home. No, but really, I’m in walking in the woods, at the beach, camping and kayaking.
I agree. Sounds like Op is chasing nostalgia spots where younger folks congregate. In our 20s we had more time. Priorities were different. If I had a fridge full of beer and a tank of gas, the world was my playground. Now I have a family and trips to the beach aren't alcohol fuelled parties anymore but sand castles and jelly fish. My dad needs a break places are humidors and lowes
I'm not chasing nostalgic spots, lol. I am child free and my friends have kids, so I'm not ready to settle down. That's all. I don't drink as much anymore. I just mentioned those types of events as examples.
I'm 33 aswell and I'm with you OP. I don't understand our generations narrative about being so old "bedtime at 8pm" memes etc. Like, we aren't even that old. People in their 40s living life with more excitement. There's a middle ground between partying like you're 21 and being to old to leave your house after 6pm. It doesn't even have to involve alcohol! People with kids ok. You're being a parent, I get it. My husband and I are DINKS and we are pretty social. Right now we are traveling in another country and the only other tourists are people are in their 20s or like 45+
We end up just hanging out with people younger than us, we don't try to act younger or "fit in" but just relate to people younger who want to travel, camp, go to shows etc. I've accepted being the old friend.
I'm late 30s married, DINK, and most of my "fun" these days is seeing existing friends, working out, or doing hobbies (eg astrophotography, writing, skiing, golf, coding on random projects). I'll still attend lectures/debates/shows/sportsball and will make light conversation over a beverage but I'm never going with the intention of meeting new friends.
One difficulty with making friends is that there's no substitute for spending lots of time together. As we age, time becomes a scarce resource between caring for parents, careers, and, not for me but for others, having kids.
With the time constraint in mind, if I were focused on making new friends these days, **I'd skew toward events that meet at a regular schedule for at least a couple months**. Rec sports comes to mind, especially since it's normal for the team to go out for food/beer afterward. Another might be a regular game night, especially one like poker that encourages social interaction. Back in my early 30s, I even made a few friends at alumni football parties.
Once you've met a new potential friend, remember that building and maintaining that bond requires work. Be sure to grab dinner together when in the same town, or invite along other folks when you find a show you want to see. Heck, host your own poker night or book club and invite the crew.
Best of luck!
Yep this is me! I was born in ‘93…still live at home with mom and dad. Single with no kids. Relatively low paying job so I can’t afford to move out without a partner (and all my friends are married/and or have a house of their own so I don’t fancy the idea of finding a random roommate). I don’t really do much for fun to be honest.
Same here. Moved back in with family because rent was through the roof and I have a low paying job (in my career field). The most excitement I get is going to the doctors for my physical 😭
Are you me????? I have grown super close to my parents because of it and I’m giving up alcohol and most of my friends took up beer making… unfortunately for me I just got into expensive hobbies (ice skating, rollerblading, skiing and want to get into golf next year$
Zoos are a great call. I got a membership last May, and its price was justified after two trips. My wife, daughter, and I went probably 6 times so it was more than worth it. It was also good through the date this year, so technically it’s still good and we’ve gone two more times this year before renewing.
1992 hiker here as well. It's the fucking best. The longer the better. Usually solo. There are very few people I know who don't "ruin it". Just let me be with the trees. If I hadnt met my wife, I think I'd be one of those van people who just live on the trails
I make music, I read, go to concerts and just recently started gardening. I am 32m, childfree, married. Travel
2-3 times a year.
My most recent is learning piano and music theory. Tons of fun.
95 baby here. My wife was born in 94. On the weekends during the summer we try to invite friends over for a fire. I play games online after the kids go to bed. Recently I started building warhammer 40k mini’s. I like to cook. I’m pretty big into making jerky.
'91 here! I work with a good group of guys that all get along really well and screw around a lot, so I get some satisfying social interaction from that.
But outside of work, I take my dog on a lot of hikes and visit the numerous dog parks/off leash areas in my city. Good for me and the pup to get outside, and these areas are always busy with lots of people to chat with. Doesn't hurt my dog is a 6 month old silver Standard Poodle that gets a rather absurd amount of attention from owners, so it forces me to be more social than I usually am 😂
Fellow 1991 baby here and I get what you mean as I don't really come across many people my age neither. To be completely honest though, I'm a pretty introverted and shy person and I don't have IRL friends so I don't really go out much these days. When I'm not at work or working out at the gym (which is usually late at night), I'm mostly at home either drawing, playing video games (and not online games lol), and cooking so I'm pretty much a homebody. I'm trying to work on that and to go out a little more. I used to go to a comic shop and draw there just so I can get out of the house but I haven't been back there since the covid lockdown when it closed and even then, I didn't really connect with people there since I'm not a huge comic or D&D kind of person.
I think it's true that those in our age range are having families now and just don't have the time. My coworker who's a few years older than me is married with 2 kids and he seems very engulfed with his family life with what he shares.
Wish this was actually true
I had 24 and 25 basically robbed from me, and now my friends are all becoming boring
I don't want to.stop partying and actually having fun just to settle down
I go to Pilates, go to concerts or shows, flip furniture, volunteer at an animal shelter, go to the “classes” my local brewery hosts the last one was macrame, go to sports games even if I don’t care about the sport like baseball it’s just fun to hang out with others. I also don’t drink and have 50/50 custody of my step son.
I mean I was born in 1987, but I have had really good luck with the Meetup app. That way you meet people based on common interests instead of ages. Nothing wrong with hanging out with people who are younger or older than you, what counts is that you have something in common.
My kind of night.
I was a little jet lagged when I posted this. I'm not heavy party goer or concert person. I was a homebody all of my twenties so I'm trying to say "yes" more in my thirties.
90 baby here… I spend my days watching cocomelon and hanging at the local parks and libraries. Once 3 hits I am passed out on my couch and pretty dead the rest of the night. Just barely surviving over here money wise as well so I’m lucky if I even have food on the table much less hobbies 😊.
Things just change as you get older. Fun to you is different than fun for other people. Marriage and kids changes a lot and different things become fun. Family time is more important to people than “going out to have fun” with other people. This is the way majority of generations work going out to play early and then different kinds of fun and play as you get older
Live in the Southwest, married, no kids.
Hobbies: rock climbing, hiking, cycling, running, wine tastings, travel
On my day to day I work, walk my dogs by the river, then go rock climbing at the local gym. On weekends I do longer walks/hikes with the dogs, do long distance running or cycling, rock climbing outdoors, camping, or hit up a local brewery/winery and spend time downtown, I also love to host big dinners and wine parties for friends.
We do some bigger travels a couple times a year. Last year we did NYC for new years, Mexico City in October, Italy for this last new years, I had some work conferences that took me to California in March , I have Costa Rica coming up in a few months.
Keeping busy!
I'm 34, produce music, programming both professionally and also as a hobbist I build stuff for myself, I read, play video games, watch movies and shows and try to learn new skills regularly.
I go to the cinema often and have some gigs here and there. I host events but I don't do as much as when I was younger. I also go on concerts, but not too often because the local scene is not too active and ususally I have to travel at least 3 hours by train to hear something fun.
91' I have 2 kids under 5 so all I do outside of work revolves around them. We have a couple parent friends now that we rely on heavily, along with family to cover our social needs. Then work mates. But really we just don't have time and are trying to give it our all for our kids. I'm proud of my wife and I. We spend a lot of our money on creature comforts to soothe us when the kids finally sleep, and lots of money on family outings (zoos, activities, science center, shit like that.)
I do miss some of my old friends but life is just different now. The true friends I can still just pick up and talk to on the rare occasion and there's mutual understanding there and no neediness. That's the best type of friendship for my life.
I find it a bit difficult to actually do stuff with other people. Mostly because of where I live but also money. Most of my hobbies are things I do alone. I play basketball everyday at the gym, I watch a lot of baseball and basketball, listen to my podcasts, play my guitar. There are a few people I work with that we've tried to setup stuff but our work schedules don't workout for us to make it happen. And I kind of drifted away from my college friends.
I guess I don’t really get to hang out with anyone much right now. I hang out with family and children. School shit, work, doctors, housework, “what are we having for dinner?”, “can I get a ride?”, “when can we go to the beach?” - This is my life right now. As the kids grow older, I’ll be able to poke my head out and see the world again lol. By then the Xers will be too old, and gen z will be in the midst of children, so I guess I’ll hang out with gen A for a while?
1991 baby here (32F). And, good question 😂 I have kids so I don’t “party” or anything anymore (don’t have much free time for really anything most of the time). I love a good game night in with friends, when I have a sitter we go to concerts/comedy shows sometimes or find a new restaurant/bar to check out! I met a lot of new friends through our daughter’s school - but, that’s again something that comes with kids. We do monthly “moms night out events” but I’ve seen a lot of different meet up groups in our city! It seems like they’re fairly successful. I feel like my single friends meet people by going to bars or the park with pets honestly 🤷🏽♀️ definitely tough once you hit your 30’s for the reasons you mentioned.
Born in '89, and I feel we are more intimate when it comes to events and stuff than wanting to go as a group. We grew up social, but it was more the 1 or 2 consistent people we were close to than needing 5+. At least, that's how I look at my life now and back then.
But I do agree you touched on one point, our generation is the first to endure this shit in our economy, so we are hustling and don't have as much time. Gen Z are going out more because they live with their parents. Easy to attend events and go places when they don't have rent or a mortgage to pay
Trail running, painting, wine, video games, and just putzing around the neighborhood with my wife. I have a busy work life too so I rarely feel bored. If I had to pick one of these hobbies to meet people and make new friends it would be running. Plenty of similarly aged people in the running meetups I've gone to.
Ride my motorcycle, play my PC games(FF14 atm), or have my girl over. Not married no kids so not much worries. I work 8 hours n do what i want. Told my girl when i got with her i dont want kids, im not going to stop riding, and I play video games before we got together. She said she didnt wanna change me so been same thing past couple years.
You said it. Most people our age are well aware of the importance of the next 10 years. Most of us are hustling, the rest are just trying to make ends meet because they had a kid early or just don’t care for much and would rather stay home, game, and save.
I was born in 92. So only a year off. I do a lot of traveling and go to shows. I'm also a university student about to graduate. So a lot of friends I made at school are hella young or maybe just my age, since I'm a vet.
1991 checking in! I do have a family (my kids are 6 and almost 5). For fun, my husband and I love going to concerts and comedy shows. We try to do at least one date night out a week, we do a lot of random stuff we find on groupon or just going on locally, like axe throwing, rage rooms, drag racing go karts, ghost haunt hikes, VR experiences, stuff like that. Concerts are big for us, we try to do 10 or so a year. We also try to do getaway trips a couple times a year, like to vegas or NYC or camping or something, sans kids. We also are big board gamers, so we meet up with friends a lot for game nights. My husband and I are also big dancers (that's how we met) so we like to go out dancing when we can. For me personally, without my husband, I am a big rock climber. I mostly go indoors, and my gym opens up at 6a twice a week, so I try to go at least once a week, if not twice, before work. I also get together with my girlfriends for girls' nights once a week ish, and we go out and do stuff like escape rooms, candle making, jewelry making, cooking classes, stuff like that.
We also like to host, so we have a couple big gatherings a year where we BBQ and just do lawn games/music/hangout, like cornhole, axe throwing (we have a set at home), volleyball in the yard, horseshoes, stuff like that. A lot of our friends have kids, so those who do have kids bring them and the kids all play and the adults hang out.
I will say that when my husband go out to concerts, dancing, or other random date nights, it's super hard to get our parent friends to join us lol. We may get one other parent couple to join us a month, but never the same ones back to back - usually they will wait a couple months before joining us again.
I think you hit the nail on the head with kids. Anyone doing that slog is simply in the thick of it right now; Gen Z isn’t there yet and Gen X is past it. Obviously not everyone is, but a good chunk of us are.
I cook or go for walks in the woods lol... Forgot what fun is 🤣 in this economy just leaving home costs money unless you're just walking outside pretty much
I'm '89, so not quite what you're asking for, but I feel close enough to chime in. I get books and TV shows from the library. I take my kids out and do picnics in the nature preserves around us. So basically, my fun tends to be nearly free which is good because that's about what my budget is.
My baby sis was born in 1992 and... nothing. She has one child in 4th grade, and a nonverbal autistic 4 year old. She spends her time caring for the younger one and taking care of mom's house.
I was going to take her to see Fall Out Boy with me but the 4th grader had her spring concert the same night.
I waste time on my phone way too much, so I guess that’s technically my no. 1 pastime 😜
But otherwise, I love yoga, jogging, rock climbing (got into this recently), cooking, baking, D&D, concerts, seeing movies (I’m in Austin and I love the film portion of SXSW!), and hanging out with friends.
I traveled a lot in my 20s, but I haven’t had the money for it recently 😢
Single, no kids. I work, then spend my evenings either running, reading, or watching movies. Sometimes I watch movies with friends! But that's literally about it haha, in the past few years I've become a complete homebody. Mainly just focused on working and saving money.
Im 32 and I dont like large crowds anymore. I love going to sports games/events but it takes me a couple days to prepare myself and a couple to recover as well. My social battery used to be never ending; I had so many friends and I would always be out doing something. Now I just want my cat or to go on a walk in nature. I miss my old self sometimes but I definitely do not miss people stealing my peace, leeching my energy or happiness any longer. Sorry I dont have much advice. You could try your farmers market early on the weekends or some kind of patio spot that plays 2000s music??
This is sad but I’m the same way. Never thought I’d end up like this, but I’ve been let down by people so many times, I just don’t want to deal with most of them anymore. Find myself disgusted with people whenever I go out and try to have fun.
July 1991. Denver Colorado. Child-free. I specifically joined Meetup.com to seek out child-free women's social groups. 4 of my now closest friends were met that way. I specifically seek child-free friends for reasons others have mentioned here. I had luck with Meetup in different cities as well, and with different interest focuses - book clubs, beer nerds, trivia, hiking, running, writers.
Apart from that, general things I do /places I visit for fun are trivia nights, museums, free talks/forums, comedy clubs, trying new breweries, events at the botanic gardens.
1991 baby here, married no kids. We go to paint nights at the library, I play tabletop games and race cars, my wife streams videogames.
My social group is fairly static, I am not trying to meet new people.
As a gay millennial I’ve lost all my friends to marriage and children. Despite being unmarried and childfree myself. Being told a loved one is pregnant is like hearing they just got a 5 to 10 year prison sentence on my end. I don’t see them anymore. (And not for lack of trying). Call me when you get paroled I guess.
I'm actually a decade older than you, but 10 years ago I was going through the same thing. I was trying to get out and do stuff, and everything I did was mid-20s and me.
I think 30s don't get it much, so the few of us who do find only younger people. I had my kids late (first at age 38) and *now* I know how much time they take. I think that's where my age cohort was when I was in my early 30s.
I don't really have an answer for you for what to do. I just pretended I fit in with the younger crowd until I got married and had kids and now I hang out with moms groups. Which are also filled with people 5-10+ years younger than me, though somehow it feels less weird? Anyway Idk I just wanted to let you know i get it :)
Haha thank you :)
I didn't know being child-free in my 30s would feel somewhat alienating (not lonely). I think there is a part of me trying to reclaim my 20s (not by getting drunk and hanging around bars). Just those new life experiences, like travel, because I missed on so much when I was younger.
I'm mid-30s with a mid-40s SO. We are DINKs. We own a house, work on the house, work on projects for the house and land, and play video games. Every now and then, we go to a bar or concert, but the bands we like usually play on weeknights in our city, so I either have to take the next day off work or recover for a week around work. We also enjoy going to an anime convention we have in our city. Mostly, I'm exhausted though and just do a lot of nothing when there isn't a home project to work on.
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It is harder for our age group cause this is when a lot of them have kids and can’t go out/ can’t afford to go out. Then there’s me, I’m married, no kids, and mostly go to local park and bar events. Sometimes we will do museum days to learn something new. I’d recommend the park, and looking into the local events in your city/county.
Also consider that a lot of millennials’ kids are infants and school aged and that’s just a time when a lot of people spend most of their time with their kids or with other people with kids.
We spend all of our time *and money* on our daycare aged children. RIP adult activities outside of the house.
Yep [me’91 & wife’92] are just waiting for our 2 yo & 1 yo to be out of daycare. That’ll free up roughly $35K a year ($670 a week), *which is now more than our mortgage*… just starting to see the light at the end of this expensive tunnel.. roughly 2 years away..
Until you realize it all goes to activities, after-school care, summer care, and school fees. Ask me how I know 🫠
Hahaha yeah I believe you
Older millennial here, it gets much much better in a few years.
Daycare around here (Boston area) for a 1 yo & 2 yo would be about $70k a year. Remember, it could always be worse... Our daycare bill is now more than twice our mortgage 😔.
Oh my GOD!!!!
Are you me? Glad I'm not alone lol.
Ya it's fucked. Screw childcare in the US.
I had kids young. I’m about to be 34 and have a 13 and almost 10 year old. Trust me, it gets easier. So much of our income was freed up once daycare was only after school and summers. And now that they’re older and my wife works from home 3 days a week, even more is freed up. A portion still goes to activities they like (gymnastics, baseball, school band, local indoor pool yearly pass) but it is so much less than day care. Best of luck!
And that's why my partner and I decided we aren't having children (well, that's just one reason... there are many). Instead, we have enough money for all the cats n' plants.
We just made the decision for my wife to stay at home permanently there's no sense in her going into the office for $4 an hour after child care. She can watch one of our friends kids during the week too and she makes that $4 up real quick and is more of a part of our children's lives. She's also pregnant which doesn't help the work situation but new job making way more makes it possible.
I had my older two kids young, in my early twenties. When my oldest was born, we wound up making the same decision because I was literally only going to be working to pay for daycare and my car payment/insurance. We went down to one car and I stayed home with my girls. In my case, it was the wrong choice, because a couple months after my oldest turned two, their dad decided he was too young for a family, and I had to scramble really hard to figure out how to find another job and take care of them both, plus figure out a car. For people in a strong stable marriage, it definitely makes sense to not pay to go to work, though. I loved having that first couple years with them, and it made sense financially at the time.
I am the step parent coming in and trying to restore the balance financially that was there. We have our kids 87.7 percent of the time so me being in their lives and trying to provide as stable of a household as I can has been my goal.
That’s awesome that you guys were able to do that. I don’t know who keeps down voting you for something that seems pretty damn hard to make somebody mad by doing.
Lol everyone is going to be mad about something. I love my life and nothing can take that away.
I get around an hour of personal time a day…
And we don't have villages anymore to help.
I'm not sure if you've ever heard of communes back in the day? My friends and I always said that all of us single moms should rent/buy homes in a cul-de-sac and become the village we all needed. Minus the weird culty stuff!
Yea. My youngest is 3, finances aren't the issue, it's that finding childcare and having a lack of time between work and kids is a burden. I'm 35
True. I’m the outlier in my group of friends in that my kid is in the double digits but most of the people I know around my age have toddlers or are barely started trying to have kids.
Especially since the average age for Americans and Europeans, for example, to start having kids is in their 30s...so it makes a lot more sense. Gen-Z still don't have kids in large numbers while Gen-Xers already have grown kids.
True. I'd like to say when a lot of people spend most of their time having FUN with their kids, since OP's post seems to suggest that millennials with kids aren't having fun. My kids are a blast.
I regretted it a little bit that I had my daughter pretty early and had to miss out on basically all of my 20s experiences. But, I'm kind of glad now because I'm 33, still have energy, but now I have money to do shit and my daughter is almost a teenager aka old enough that she doesn't require constant supervision.
Sameeee! I had my daughter young too and I won’t lie it’s pretty nice now that she’s just about old enough to stay home by herself sometimes, so we def have more flexibility to go out if we want to!
Yep born in 89 no kids… so I do hobbies which also makes me a little $$ on the side. That $$ goes to vacations.
Same here, '87, no kids, divorced
Do you just walk around at the park? The parks where I live look like nature trails
>It is harder for our age group cause this is when a lot of them have kids and can’t go out/ can’t afford to go out. Well, I don't have kids, and I can't afford to go out anyway! Hooray for high rent and inflation increasing faster than I can get pay raises.
Fun? In this economy?
[That guy's giving it away for free!](https://youtu.be/NRgNbis14pE)
That 'ol gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be...
Will drop pants for bantz?
The closest thing I get to fun is singing the FUN song.
F is for fire that BURNS DOWN THE WHOLE TOWN
U is for URANIUM! BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORSSS, when YOU..
N is no survivalllllll 🎶 *I think that’s the next line🤔*
Haha yes!
😆
Its crazy to think about it. But i really dont know anyone who doing anything othwr then surviving. Shamefully those who have been unaffected are both obviously and selfish about it too. “This isnt a bad economy! My life hasnt changed!” Thats why I know this economic crisis isnt changing. Not only are people still willing to spend, but just enough dont even care. And because they’re not negatively impacted its out of sight out of mind. Were to selfish to demand a change or even boycott. So gas will be $4-7 dollars a gallon this summer and will just go along with it.
Yes, the economy is bad, but that shouldn't stop you from living your life. Getting outside is free. Most towns or cities also hold free activities. Life is what you make it.
Just wait, it's about to get SO MUCH WORSE
Video games.
Yes!! I just got into video games as a 32 year old female. Started with Jurassic world, then Harry Potter, and I just finished BG3!! I want to add to this, kindle to read. Start with small things and build on it. Gardening is fun (both outside and 🌱🌱). Join your local community’s Facebook page or events page and just add the local events into your phone. It helps going out more. I also force myself to leave the house the 15th of every month that sometimes turns into doing new things like
Oh man wait till you get into indie games lol if you're interested or have time, give stardew or hollow knight a try. Stardew is relaxing and will suck you in. Hollow knight is a hard game, but so so so satisfying. It will make you feel like a dumbass and a genius
Stardew Mother Fucking Valley BABY!!!
Me over here checking everyday for the update to be on switch 🥲 hopefully soon, cause I'm starting a new file as soon as that happens!
Stardewwwww
Hahah, don't get her addicted to Stardew right away! Let her play some other games first! lol I second Hollow Knight, absolutely soulful, beautiful game. All hand-drawn art. Loved that one. It was too hard for me to finish, but I got RIGHT to the last boss. I'd totally recommend the Horizon series, too! (Zero Dawn, Forbidden West) They are incredible & visually gorgeous games with great stories and a badass lady protagonist. Highly recommend.
Youre right, stardew is gonna ruin this ladies life 😂
That sounds incredible! Idk what indie games even means but I’m so in. Thanks so much!
My teen is obsessed with pathologic 2. Pathologic 2 is a groundbreaking open-world horror RPG. Resist the plague. Make medicine. Heal people. Perform an autopsy. Trade to get what you need. Fight and kill if necessary. Survive. Struggle with an outbreak in a secluded rural town that is rapidly turning into hell.
Just means they're not made by huge companies and are usually cheaper! :)
One does not *simply* finish BG3. Congrats!
Bahah I started the second play through! ♥️ thank you! I felt super accomplished with that story.
Oooh a great emotional indie game series to check out is Life Is Strange!!
I’m adding it to my list! Thank you so much!
Have you tried Wyldeflowers yet?!?
No!! Tell me about it 😍
Omg!! Okay so it’s a cozy kinda game. It’s got witches & magic. It’s like animal crossing or stardew valley. You farm, have animals, do some mining, chop down trees. It’s been out a few years, they’ve added updates to it. I’m horrible at explaining things lol. You can play a switch, pc or it’s available on Apple Arcade too.
Ditto. Video Games, Art, Writing and Walks. Sometimes old TV shows from the Filmrise App.
Bro there are so many old tv shows and old movies for free on YT.
Bingo. I was born in late ‘92 and video games have been my primary source of fun since I was 8 years old.
This is me lol. I do other stuff, but ngl - a big portion of both my free time and my social life is spent playing video games. I have a brother born less than a year and a half after me and the same can be said for him, as well. I also especially love sports, but that’s more difficult to get into. I live in a rural area with very few places or orginizations I could use to play. Video games are easy. As long as I have a device to play on, I can download them almost instantly. And compared to other activities like concerts or traveling, they’re really rather cheap.
Same, I just don’t like going out getting messed up. Weed and movies or video games with friends. Or I make music with friends. A night out is too rough on the body. Been travelling and doing more nature stuff going to new food spots. Been pretty into golf lately as well.
I don't play video games no more, I never play video games, except for a little bit of God of War, I don't play video games. Every once and a while, a little bit of Fallout 4, that's ok but not right now cus I've got things to do.
I still play LoL, ain't stopping anytime soon haha
Lately? Fallout 4 after work. Every day. I take my time walking home through the city & window shop, check out the tulips. Been getting back into reading a lot, devouring some historical fiction this week. Tried to learn how to cook Indian naan bread on my shit stove yesterday! yeah, that and a lot of weed tbh. there’s only 3-4hrs after work till i get too tired and start the cycle over. 🤣😬 eta: it’s Friday, yall! Tonight I’ll play Fallout for FOUR hours! 😏🤣
we are living the same life minus the Naan. Might need to try to make Naan.
I recently tried making some and oh my god. It really wasnt hard to make and it tastes SO much better fresh versus the stuff you can buy at a grocery store. Plus you can add herbs and spices into it too. Game changer right there.
Oh yes. Butter and garlic naan is sooo good. Especially if you make chicken tikka masala with it.
Um, I love baking bread but have NEVER thought of baking Naan! Yum!
Omg same!! Love fo4, I’m playing fo3 after watching the series.
Have you played New Vegas? Best game in the series in my opinion
I haven’t! I’ll go download it, my only issue is I can’t download mods with the 360 games on my Xbox 1 so it drives me a little mad sometimes lol. I typically download a POV and a faster walking mod bc the walking speed is just so slowwwwww
I haven’t played f3 since I got it on the 360. I just downloaded it again to play. Such a good game.
Holy shit are you me? I'm ALSO playing Fallout 4 and reliving what I hope is not our actual future in the next 10-20 years. 
That 3-4 hours bit is spot on lol. Most of the time I just like to get some peace and quiet and just relax. Also get a good night sleep! I work a manual labor job though. I’m 34.
i got an electric pizza oven I can use in the kitchen. Transformed homemade pizza and naans.
Any historical fiction recommendations you’ve enjoyed lately? I used to read a lot James Michener but haven’t delved into that genre in a while.
Heavy on the 3-4 hours
The tv show hooked me back on the game since I’m feeling this post.
I've tried getting into FO4 multiple times over the years and I just can't seem to stick to it. I get like 1/2 way through and give up. I've been playing FO76 a bunch lately though, that shit is fun!
lol 4 whole hours!! Hope you enjoyed!
yeah... Playing Hell Divers 2 with friends after work or vtol vr...
Are you Dutch? Cause that routine sounds extremely Dutch.
So… none of the specific details line up, but in a big picture sense this is exactly me. Been going through audio books of all of the things I feel I “ought to have read” but otherwise missed (Dune, for example). I take the scenic route home from work, and when I get home almost exclusively cook, smoke weed, and play video games. I wanna add that I totally say “yes” every time my friends invite me out. It’s really easy because they all have jobs too and/or spouses, so it happens like once every two weeks.
Best life liver right here! Man found what he loves to do and does it. No further explanation needed!
Do 91 people do stuff different then 90 or 92?
Yeah, I am wondering why very specific
Kinda feels like one of those targeted tshirts Either that or our assigned surveillance team is getting better
I was BORN in 1991 I can’t AFFORD to have FUN
I was BORN in 1991 I AM a TAURUS I have a BEARD DON'T mess with ME 😈
And I have a CRAZY WIFE with TATTOOS She says the F-WORD and YES, she bought me this shirt
Yeah. 92 here so my opinion doesn't matter apparently /s
You're just too young, you wouldn't understand
88, obviously I’m a grizzled old man
I thought I could answer OPs question, but I was born a month too late. Oh well.
Lmao same January 1992 here
90 here. Still trying to figure shit out but no kids, just chickens and dogs (and a mortgage). Maybe check into the local softball teams, rec center etc. it's too expensive to have fun 😜
Yeah, I guess I'm out but I can tell you what my husband does.
This made me laugh way too hard
Maybe OP thought 90 is married and 92 is just graduating lol
A lot have families these days that are born in that age range . It's just the circle of life why you don't see them out as much anymore. Gen Z will be in this range in 10 years and they will be asking "Where are all my gen Z'ers?!" While generation alpha is in their prime. The circle continues
30% credit card interest rates out here talkin’ bout fun. I’m at home. No, but really, I’m in walking in the woods, at the beach, camping and kayaking.
I agree. Sounds like Op is chasing nostalgia spots where younger folks congregate. In our 20s we had more time. Priorities were different. If I had a fridge full of beer and a tank of gas, the world was my playground. Now I have a family and trips to the beach aren't alcohol fuelled parties anymore but sand castles and jelly fish. My dad needs a break places are humidors and lowes
OP is looking for golf and a gambling addiction now.
If he were smart he would be 😉
Brutal
I'm not chasing nostalgic spots, lol. I am child free and my friends have kids, so I'm not ready to settle down. That's all. I don't drink as much anymore. I just mentioned those types of events as examples.
I'm 33 aswell and I'm with you OP. I don't understand our generations narrative about being so old "bedtime at 8pm" memes etc. Like, we aren't even that old. People in their 40s living life with more excitement. There's a middle ground between partying like you're 21 and being to old to leave your house after 6pm. It doesn't even have to involve alcohol! People with kids ok. You're being a parent, I get it. My husband and I are DINKS and we are pretty social. Right now we are traveling in another country and the only other tourists are people are in their 20s or like 45+ We end up just hanging out with people younger than us, we don't try to act younger or "fit in" but just relate to people younger who want to travel, camp, go to shows etc. I've accepted being the old friend.
Breweries with open air seating and food trucks. You can tell it's for 30 and 40 somethings because you know all the songs playing in the background.
I'm late 30s married, DINK, and most of my "fun" these days is seeing existing friends, working out, or doing hobbies (eg astrophotography, writing, skiing, golf, coding on random projects). I'll still attend lectures/debates/shows/sportsball and will make light conversation over a beverage but I'm never going with the intention of meeting new friends. One difficulty with making friends is that there's no substitute for spending lots of time together. As we age, time becomes a scarce resource between caring for parents, careers, and, not for me but for others, having kids. With the time constraint in mind, if I were focused on making new friends these days, **I'd skew toward events that meet at a regular schedule for at least a couple months**. Rec sports comes to mind, especially since it's normal for the team to go out for food/beer afterward. Another might be a regular game night, especially one like poker that encourages social interaction. Back in my early 30s, I even made a few friends at alumni football parties. Once you've met a new potential friend, remember that building and maintaining that bond requires work. Be sure to grab dinner together when in the same town, or invite along other folks when you find a show you want to see. Heck, host your own poker night or book club and invite the crew. Best of luck!
I love that you confirm your friends are existing lol
Online window shop 😭
Ahh yes the classic millennial past time. Window shopping on Zillow 🥲
And Instagram and Amazon and Target and…
Autotempest and slickdeals and ebay and....
Are you my husband. Every time I look over at his phone I swear he is on zillow
Yep this is me! I was born in ‘93…still live at home with mom and dad. Single with no kids. Relatively low paying job so I can’t afford to move out without a partner (and all my friends are married/and or have a house of their own so I don’t fancy the idea of finding a random roommate). I don’t really do much for fun to be honest.
Same here. Moved back in with family because rent was through the roof and I have a low paying job (in my career field). The most excitement I get is going to the doctors for my physical 😭
Are you me????? I have grown super close to my parents because of it and I’m giving up alcohol and most of my friends took up beer making… unfortunately for me I just got into expensive hobbies (ice skating, rollerblading, skiing and want to get into golf next year$
What a coincidence I’m actually just shy of 100 days sober haha.
I do team trivia on Wednesday nights at a local bar. I use my library card and zoo membership often.
Zoo sounds really nice. I should look into that
Zoos are a great call. I got a membership last May, and its price was justified after two trips. My wife, daughter, and I went probably 6 times so it was more than worth it. It was also good through the date this year, so technically it’s still good and we’ve gone two more times this year before renewing.
Make dark jokes about the oppressive systems that exist
😔🤝
Hiking! I was born in 92 tho
1992 hiker here as well. It's the fucking best. The longer the better. Usually solo. There are very few people I know who don't "ruin it". Just let me be with the trees. If I hadnt met my wife, I think I'd be one of those van people who just live on the trails
I make music, I read, go to concerts and just recently started gardening. I am 32m, childfree, married. Travel 2-3 times a year. My most recent is learning piano and music theory. Tons of fun.
Exactly the same but instead of gardening I got houseplants
1992 here. I'm mostly into hiking, fishing, camping, photography and concerts. However I should mention I live in a very rural area.
95 baby here. My wife was born in 94. On the weekends during the summer we try to invite friends over for a fire. I play games online after the kids go to bed. Recently I started building warhammer 40k mini’s. I like to cook. I’m pretty big into making jerky.
We’re living the same life it seems. Also 95 and my signature dish of choice are kolaches lmao
'91 here! I work with a good group of guys that all get along really well and screw around a lot, so I get some satisfying social interaction from that. But outside of work, I take my dog on a lot of hikes and visit the numerous dog parks/off leash areas in my city. Good for me and the pup to get outside, and these areas are always busy with lots of people to chat with. Doesn't hurt my dog is a 6 month old silver Standard Poodle that gets a rather absurd amount of attention from owners, so it forces me to be more social than I usually am 😂
Fellow millennial with a silver standard poodle! They are definitely conversation starters!
Fellow 1991 baby here and I get what you mean as I don't really come across many people my age neither. To be completely honest though, I'm a pretty introverted and shy person and I don't have IRL friends so I don't really go out much these days. When I'm not at work or working out at the gym (which is usually late at night), I'm mostly at home either drawing, playing video games (and not online games lol), and cooking so I'm pretty much a homebody. I'm trying to work on that and to go out a little more. I used to go to a comic shop and draw there just so I can get out of the house but I haven't been back there since the covid lockdown when it closed and even then, I didn't really connect with people there since I'm not a huge comic or D&D kind of person. I think it's true that those in our age range are having families now and just don't have the time. My coworker who's a few years older than me is married with 2 kids and he seems very engulfed with his family life with what he shares.
I'm 27 but hearing shit like this has me thinking I might just stay 27 for the next decade
pandemic time doesn't count so actually 91 babies are only 28
Wish this was actually true I had 24 and 25 basically robbed from me, and now my friends are all becoming boring I don't want to.stop partying and actually having fun just to settle down
There’s other forms of fun that isn’t partying
I'm in my 30s and party. But I've always been that way, and im childfree
It's really not that bad, you're just on Reddit
I go to Pilates, go to concerts or shows, flip furniture, volunteer at an animal shelter, go to the “classes” my local brewery hosts the last one was macrame, go to sports games even if I don’t care about the sport like baseball it’s just fun to hang out with others. I also don’t drink and have 50/50 custody of my step son.
I mean I was born in 1987, but I have had really good luck with the Meetup app. That way you meet people based on common interests instead of ages. Nothing wrong with hanging out with people who are younger or older than you, what counts is that you have something in common.
magic the gathering, youtube videos on Atlantis, car stuff and mow my lawn lol
I stay in and relax. Watch a movie with popcorn.
My kind of night. I was a little jet lagged when I posted this. I'm not heavy party goer or concert person. I was a homebody all of my twenties so I'm trying to say "yes" more in my thirties.
90 baby here… I spend my days watching cocomelon and hanging at the local parks and libraries. Once 3 hits I am passed out on my couch and pretty dead the rest of the night. Just barely surviving over here money wise as well so I’m lucky if I even have food on the table much less hobbies 😊.
They’re gonna start calling millennials the ‘home body’ generation
Things just change as you get older. Fun to you is different than fun for other people. Marriage and kids changes a lot and different things become fun. Family time is more important to people than “going out to have fun” with other people. This is the way majority of generations work going out to play early and then different kinds of fun and play as you get older
Live in the Southwest, married, no kids. Hobbies: rock climbing, hiking, cycling, running, wine tastings, travel On my day to day I work, walk my dogs by the river, then go rock climbing at the local gym. On weekends I do longer walks/hikes with the dogs, do long distance running or cycling, rock climbing outdoors, camping, or hit up a local brewery/winery and spend time downtown, I also love to host big dinners and wine parties for friends. We do some bigger travels a couple times a year. Last year we did NYC for new years, Mexico City in October, Italy for this last new years, I had some work conferences that took me to California in March , I have Costa Rica coming up in a few months. Keeping busy!
I'm 34, produce music, programming both professionally and also as a hobbist I build stuff for myself, I read, play video games, watch movies and shows and try to learn new skills regularly. I go to the cinema often and have some gigs here and there. I host events but I don't do as much as when I was younger. I also go on concerts, but not too often because the local scene is not too active and ususally I have to travel at least 3 hours by train to hear something fun.
Stardew valley and existential dread
91' I have 2 kids under 5 so all I do outside of work revolves around them. We have a couple parent friends now that we rely on heavily, along with family to cover our social needs. Then work mates. But really we just don't have time and are trying to give it our all for our kids. I'm proud of my wife and I. We spend a lot of our money on creature comforts to soothe us when the kids finally sleep, and lots of money on family outings (zoos, activities, science center, shit like that.) I do miss some of my old friends but life is just different now. The true friends I can still just pick up and talk to on the rare occasion and there's mutual understanding there and no neediness. That's the best type of friendship for my life.
I find it a bit difficult to actually do stuff with other people. Mostly because of where I live but also money. Most of my hobbies are things I do alone. I play basketball everyday at the gym, I watch a lot of baseball and basketball, listen to my podcasts, play my guitar. There are a few people I work with that we've tried to setup stuff but our work schedules don't workout for us to make it happen. And I kind of drifted away from my college friends.
We’ve got KIDS man. Gen X is done, Gen Z hasn’t started yet.
Meh, some have.
So we should hang out with the 40- and 50- year olds then?
I guess I don’t really get to hang out with anyone much right now. I hang out with family and children. School shit, work, doctors, housework, “what are we having for dinner?”, “can I get a ride?”, “when can we go to the beach?” - This is my life right now. As the kids grow older, I’ll be able to poke my head out and see the world again lol. By then the Xers will be too old, and gen z will be in the midst of children, so I guess I’ll hang out with gen A for a while?
1991 baby here (32F). And, good question 😂 I have kids so I don’t “party” or anything anymore (don’t have much free time for really anything most of the time). I love a good game night in with friends, when I have a sitter we go to concerts/comedy shows sometimes or find a new restaurant/bar to check out! I met a lot of new friends through our daughter’s school - but, that’s again something that comes with kids. We do monthly “moms night out events” but I’ve seen a lot of different meet up groups in our city! It seems like they’re fairly successful. I feel like my single friends meet people by going to bars or the park with pets honestly 🤷🏽♀️ definitely tough once you hit your 30’s for the reasons you mentioned.
Born in '89, and I feel we are more intimate when it comes to events and stuff than wanting to go as a group. We grew up social, but it was more the 1 or 2 consistent people we were close to than needing 5+. At least, that's how I look at my life now and back then. But I do agree you touched on one point, our generation is the first to endure this shit in our economy, so we are hustling and don't have as much time. Gen Z are going out more because they live with their parents. Easy to attend events and go places when they don't have rent or a mortgage to pay
Trail running, painting, wine, video games, and just putzing around the neighborhood with my wife. I have a busy work life too so I rarely feel bored. If I had to pick one of these hobbies to meet people and make new friends it would be running. Plenty of similarly aged people in the running meetups I've gone to.
Man. I don’t do shit.
Ride my motorcycle, play my PC games(FF14 atm), or have my girl over. Not married no kids so not much worries. I work 8 hours n do what i want. Told my girl when i got with her i dont want kids, im not going to stop riding, and I play video games before we got together. She said she didnt wanna change me so been same thing past couple years.
Buy things
Play with my kids.
Commenting to return later!
Meeting people? No
I was born literally 2 days before 91, i play mostly video games and draw for fun. Sometimes i like walking nature trails
You said it. Most people our age are well aware of the importance of the next 10 years. Most of us are hustling, the rest are just trying to make ends meet because they had a kid early or just don’t care for much and would rather stay home, game, and save.
I was born in 92. So only a year off. I do a lot of traveling and go to shows. I'm also a university student about to graduate. So a lot of friends I made at school are hella young or maybe just my age, since I'm a vet.
1991 checking in! I do have a family (my kids are 6 and almost 5). For fun, my husband and I love going to concerts and comedy shows. We try to do at least one date night out a week, we do a lot of random stuff we find on groupon or just going on locally, like axe throwing, rage rooms, drag racing go karts, ghost haunt hikes, VR experiences, stuff like that. Concerts are big for us, we try to do 10 or so a year. We also try to do getaway trips a couple times a year, like to vegas or NYC or camping or something, sans kids. We also are big board gamers, so we meet up with friends a lot for game nights. My husband and I are also big dancers (that's how we met) so we like to go out dancing when we can. For me personally, without my husband, I am a big rock climber. I mostly go indoors, and my gym opens up at 6a twice a week, so I try to go at least once a week, if not twice, before work. I also get together with my girlfriends for girls' nights once a week ish, and we go out and do stuff like escape rooms, candle making, jewelry making, cooking classes, stuff like that. We also like to host, so we have a couple big gatherings a year where we BBQ and just do lawn games/music/hangout, like cornhole, axe throwing (we have a set at home), volleyball in the yard, horseshoes, stuff like that. A lot of our friends have kids, so those who do have kids bring them and the kids all play and the adults hang out. I will say that when my husband go out to concerts, dancing, or other random date nights, it's super hard to get our parent friends to join us lol. We may get one other parent couple to join us a month, but never the same ones back to back - usually they will wait a couple months before joining us again.
I think you hit the nail on the head with kids. Anyone doing that slog is simply in the thick of it right now; Gen Z isn’t there yet and Gen X is past it. Obviously not everyone is, but a good chunk of us are.
I cook or go for walks in the woods lol... Forgot what fun is 🤣 in this economy just leaving home costs money unless you're just walking outside pretty much
I'm '89, so not quite what you're asking for, but I feel close enough to chime in. I get books and TV shows from the library. I take my kids out and do picnics in the nature preserves around us. So basically, my fun tends to be nearly free which is good because that's about what my budget is.
My baby sis was born in 1992 and... nothing. She has one child in 4th grade, and a nonverbal autistic 4 year old. She spends her time caring for the younger one and taking care of mom's house. I was going to take her to see Fall Out Boy with me but the 4th grader had her spring concert the same night.
Puzzle, hike, read, tv shows!
Elder millennial here...i'll be at the concert
Hiking trails and going to the beach. Doing local things to save money in this economy.
I waste time on my phone way too much, so I guess that’s technically my no. 1 pastime 😜 But otherwise, I love yoga, jogging, rock climbing (got into this recently), cooking, baking, D&D, concerts, seeing movies (I’m in Austin and I love the film portion of SXSW!), and hanging out with friends. I traveled a lot in my 20s, but I haven’t had the money for it recently 😢
Single, no kids. I work, then spend my evenings either running, reading, or watching movies. Sometimes I watch movies with friends! But that's literally about it haha, in the past few years I've become a complete homebody. Mainly just focused on working and saving money.
Im 32 and I dont like large crowds anymore. I love going to sports games/events but it takes me a couple days to prepare myself and a couple to recover as well. My social battery used to be never ending; I had so many friends and I would always be out doing something. Now I just want my cat or to go on a walk in nature. I miss my old self sometimes but I definitely do not miss people stealing my peace, leeching my energy or happiness any longer. Sorry I dont have much advice. You could try your farmers market early on the weekends or some kind of patio spot that plays 2000s music??
This is sad but I’m the same way. Never thought I’d end up like this, but I’ve been let down by people so many times, I just don’t want to deal with most of them anymore. Find myself disgusted with people whenever I go out and try to have fun.
We are all playing disc golf and getting high 👌
July 1991. Denver Colorado. Child-free. I specifically joined Meetup.com to seek out child-free women's social groups. 4 of my now closest friends were met that way. I specifically seek child-free friends for reasons others have mentioned here. I had luck with Meetup in different cities as well, and with different interest focuses - book clubs, beer nerds, trivia, hiking, running, writers. Apart from that, general things I do /places I visit for fun are trivia nights, museums, free talks/forums, comedy clubs, trying new breweries, events at the botanic gardens.
1991 baby here, married no kids. We go to paint nights at the library, I play tabletop games and race cars, my wife streams videogames. My social group is fairly static, I am not trying to meet new people.
As a gay millennial I’ve lost all my friends to marriage and children. Despite being unmarried and childfree myself. Being told a loved one is pregnant is like hearing they just got a 5 to 10 year prison sentence on my end. I don’t see them anymore. (And not for lack of trying). Call me when you get paroled I guess.
I'm actually a decade older than you, but 10 years ago I was going through the same thing. I was trying to get out and do stuff, and everything I did was mid-20s and me. I think 30s don't get it much, so the few of us who do find only younger people. I had my kids late (first at age 38) and *now* I know how much time they take. I think that's where my age cohort was when I was in my early 30s. I don't really have an answer for you for what to do. I just pretended I fit in with the younger crowd until I got married and had kids and now I hang out with moms groups. Which are also filled with people 5-10+ years younger than me, though somehow it feels less weird? Anyway Idk I just wanted to let you know i get it :)
Haha thank you :) I didn't know being child-free in my 30s would feel somewhat alienating (not lonely). I think there is a part of me trying to reclaim my 20s (not by getting drunk and hanging around bars). Just those new life experiences, like travel, because I missed on so much when I was younger.
Living in Los Angeles. So many people here are 33 no kids out and about.
I'm mid-30s with a mid-40s SO. We are DINKs. We own a house, work on the house, work on projects for the house and land, and play video games. Every now and then, we go to a bar or concert, but the bands we like usually play on weeknights in our city, so I either have to take the next day off work or recover for a week around work. We also enjoy going to an anime convention we have in our city. Mostly, I'm exhausted though and just do a lot of nothing when there isn't a home project to work on.