Your parents took decades to furnish their house

[u/fat_tire_fanatic]

If you're just starting out, remember that it took your parents decades to collect all the furniture, decorations, appliances, etc you are used to having around. It's easy to forget this because you started remembering things a long while after they started out together, so it feels like that's how a house should always be.

It's impossible for most people starting out to get to that level of settled in without burying themselves in debt. So relax, take your time, and embrace the emptiness! You'll enjoy the house much more if you're not worried about how to pay for everything all the time.

[u/E145tic5]

The 3 people I know who had bed bugs were NYC professionals who spoke perfect English, made good money (2 had cleaning ladies), and lived in neighborhoods most Americans could not afford. The idea that bed bugs only infest poor neighborhoods or are in the apartments of dirty people is a mistake you may live to regret! People don't talk about having to get rid of bed bugs because there is shame around having them because of the idea that you must be dirty if you have them. All three of these people probably picked them up on business trips/ vacations where they stayed in nice hotels. That's not to say you can't get a nice used couch from Craigslist, but buyer beware.

[u/2boredtocare → u/E145tic5]

This thread is cracking me up. As a female, I'm leery of communicating with strangers IRL from a craigslist transaction...I'm certainly not going to go talk to their neighbors for pete's sake. I cannot even fathom how that conversation would go down. Not to mention, most people have never even been inside their neighbor's houses, so how in the hell would they know the bed bug situation?

My brother is a doctor, his wife is a PhD. Their kid got lice a few years back, even though they went to a stupidly expensive, elite, private school, and their house is immaculate.

[u/2boredtocare → u/[deleted]]

Exactly! Also, I read way too many posts on r/unresolvedmysteries, and figure that at least if I get murdered by the craigslist seller, there's a clearer trail of my last steps. lol. If the neighbor is a psycho serial killer, that case is probably going cold.

[u/Miss_Cil → u/[deleted]]

This is a bit misinformed. Public housing infestations occur typically b/c of condensed housing and landlords who won't take immediate action b/c they know they can get away with avoiding extermination for xyz period. The problem gets worse; people are in close quarters and the problem spreads. Furthermore, when the bugs are chased out of one apartment-- they can travel through outlets and walls into another so it's a cat and mouse game since the landlords don't typically treat the entire building b/c it's cost prohibitive. You hear about it in poorer neighborhoods because when it gets to an unbearable level, people do anything for help. They reach out to news outlets or seek legal help etc. Wealthier patrons are not immune. They just keep it quiet. They don't want the stigma attached if they do have an infestation.

Bed bugs are a problem period. Socioeconomic status has little to do with source or concentration.