Alexa, Play “Money on my Mind” by Lil Wayne

Yesterday I went on Zillow to look for houses to rent and they were all so high that I thought, “I might as well buy one” so I changed the selection from rent to buy and that’s when all of the prices started to really scream “YOU DON’T HAVE NO MONEY GIRL.” Then that was followed by the following thoughts: which lottery do I have to hit, who’s money do I need to inherit, and should I just go find my rich husband today?! But my last and most pressing thought was, gentrification is real because houses never costed this much in the hood when I was growing up. These houses cannot be intended for people that look like me and have the background that I have to purchase. I do not have any family to help me put a down payment on a house nor do I have a job that can afford a house that is typically between $200k and $300k (yes, that’s how much quality houses cost in New Orleans).

Started from the bottom and still not there?!

Once upon a time, I was naive and I thought if I went to college and worked a “good” job then everything else would fall into place but the reality is life does not work like that. It takes a level of wealth that I have not touched yet and my degrees do not mean a thing when it comes to purchasing a home. So, how am I supposed to comfortably afford a home and feed myself and my child? I really do not know because robbing a bank is not an option and no one is going to simply drop money into my lap. Simply put…lettuce pray because New Orleans is where my heart is but the housing market here is not created for a New Orleans millennial.