You know, until presented with this question, I never bothered looking up the definition of millennial...of which there isn't a specific one.
Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation[1] or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates when the generation starts and ends. Researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
I suppose I could be considered one since I was born mid-80's. I'm 29, and managed to find MMM through Mark's Daily Apple in mid-2013. I screwed up my Google-Fu, and found
this MMM post. I was hooked. Entire blog read through within a couple of weeks, spreadsheets expanded, and plenty of self-face-punches.
Due to my (juvenile) delinquent nature, I was out of the house and in group homes at age 14. Spent the next 9 years either in jail, in group homes, on probation, on parole, or on the run. Being on the run really saved me from spending a bunch of money. You can't spend money very well when you don't have a social security number, checking account, etc. Granted, once I got my head on straight (around 22-23), I certainly went down the "standard" path, except even more recklessly than the average. I don't remember the 'bad year', when I kicked out my GF (not related to the year being bad...well, kind of...but the first year I really looked at my spending), but my calculations came out to $3640 in pay day loan interest, and $2790 in overdraft fees. That's not to mention smokes, probation restitution, and all that. Fortunately, I didn't wind up in a crazy amount of debt, just not very consciously spending and not saving at all. Only debt I had was a repossessed vehicle, and about $15K in student loans. Now I'm within 5 years of FIRE.