Turning 30 is the point at which people are expected to "figure it all out." And indeed, many of those who say goodbye to their 20s begin a new chapter in their lives by getting engaged, pregnant, or tired of everyone around them.
The big 3-0 is often built up to be the biggest celebration after our "coming of age" 18ths. A time to get ambitious. A time to achieve. But while important career changes, 401(k)s, and the inability to party past midnight (not to mention the burning matter of "settling down") might sound anxiety-inducing, in reality, our 30s aren't something to be afraid of. They're when things start to get good.
But to get the full picture of what happens during this decade, let's look at the Instagram account Thirty AF. This millennial heaven shares funny memes, relatable tweets, and all kinds of content that perfectly capture the highs and lows during this period. So continue scrolling and check out some of its most popular posts!
This post may include affiliate links.
He used "You are a nerd" as an excuse to break up with her? Wow... He clearly had self-worth issues, assuming it meant he was not good enough for her.
The account is run by two pals, Chloe Jankowitz, 35, and Peter West, 34. "We've been good friends since day one of our freshmen year at Emerson College in Boston, MA," the guys told Bored Panda. "Since graduating in 2009, we've always lived far apart, in different states or sometimes in different countries."
"We have a very similar sense of humor and a way we've kept in touch is through sharing memes and videos with each other. In 2018, we decided to start Thirty AF as a fun way to share these jokes with a wider group of friends. We never really thought it would ever grow into anything more than a fun hobby, but eventually, it really started picking up and we decided to put more of our focus into figuring out what our brand was and finding creative new ways to engage our quickly growing following through reposted content and regular features that we created ourselves. We both have backgrounds in marketing and media, and found that our combined skills helped us create something that stood out from other meme accounts and build a fun and engaged community of 30 somethings."
I never answer if I don't know who's calling. The decent ones send a text after saying who they are and/or what it is about. I wish all people could do that instead of keep calling several times.
At the moment, Chloe and Peter have a whopping 1.6-million following and this huge fan army also has a few notable names, like singer Demi Lovato and actor Channing Tatum.
"When life changed dramatically for everyone in March 2020 and we all found ourselves spending a lot more time at home and a lot more time with our phones, we put even more energy into building Thirty AF. We grew by over 1 million followers in a single year, and it is now a full-time job for both of us," the duo said.
The project has also expanded to TikTok and recently got its first spinoff — a food account, called Hungry AF. "We run an online shop and release a yearly Nostalgia Box that is a fun mix of products from nostalgic brands like Dunkaroos and the Lisa Frank nail wraps from Orly, and also fun products featuring nostalgic references. Our 2021 box sold out in under 24 hours! We're also working on some very exciting things for 2022 including a touring pop-up event and a TV game show - we can't share a lot of info on that yet, but it is insanely exciting and something we never thought would happen!"
🤣🤣🤣 I'm putting on my footwear before attempting to put on my legings, twice!
Naturally, all of this effort demands a lot of time and energy. "The way we manage Thirty AF has changed a lot over the years. Much of the content that we post is submitted by creators."
"We love meeting creators and comedians who are new to Instagram and helping drive traffic to their pages; we have networked with a ton of incredibly talented creators over the years and share their content a lot. We keep a close eye on meme trends and will often share roundups of the funniest memes and tweets related to trending topics (the latest being the 'According to the CDC' meme trend). We're also part of a lot of online groups, particularly for millennials and different nostalgia groups, and a lot of content comes from there. We also create a lot of original content mostly for our stories and TikTok," Chloe and Peter explained.
YES! Literally every time I’m like “omg what is wrong with me, I’m just the most miserable bitch is this forever everyone hates me” and then 48h later 😂 repeat monthly
Load More Replies...
I am recovering from a hysterectomy and I cannot be happier to have gotten rid of the bleeding and pain :) F**k you period!
Kinda sounds like you definitely HAVE learned this😂 I affectionately call those cheery thoughts my "monthly suicideys." Yayyy for femininity...
Look into PMDD if you haven't. I'll be totally great and then absolutely fall into the sink out of those "monthly suicideys." I'm on spironlactone right now (for hormonal acne) and surprisingly it is also a PMDD treatment. Now instead of suicideys days I have simply emotional days. Antihistamines can help too oddly enough.
Load More Replies...
I also get an really intense sense of impending doom! My personality completely changes. It's horrible!!!
That means it is almost over. YOU ARE LUCKY!!!
Load More Replies...
Omg so true! Also feel like super paranoid that everyone hates me. Then viola! The moon blood makes an appearance
I get really emotional and mad at everything and that means that it will start soon lol
When your mind tells you these things it's hard to realize that chemicals, not reality, are causing these thoughts. Once you do, you feel a lot better.
Yup. I'm a mess the few days before. I hate that feeling. I was on the pill for a long time just to avoid it (but not having a period at all freaked me out even more).
I don't have periods very often, and honestly it's a point of concern but I'm too nervous to talk to my mom about it. I'm not on the pill, the only medications I take are my melatonin supplements, and I'm not super active. I just...don't really have them. Every few months (I think) I have one that's perfectly normal, so I'm not panicking, but I am definitely worried.
Load More Replies...
Funny how it works differently for different people, my only sign is weird feeling in my tummy.
My "Everything is terrible" lasts like a week before...it's awful, my pms has had me suicidal.
Oh my goodness me too! I finally found out about PMDD, it's like really bad PMS, because I swing way too hard before my period that too often I was fighting for my life. Reddit actually has some good support threads. Hang in there💗 You aren't alone. It sucks though
Load More Replies...
I had a total hysterectomy a couple years ago(at 41) I beat that aunt flow bitch haha
I'm with you there me at 36 years in menstruation madness! I can't wait for menopause fairy to come! But alas my aunty flo is right on time now then she was in my 20s 30s!!! 😫😖😣 I'm too old now! I have had my kids all are grown! Auntie needs to end!
I have the other PMS(post menstrual syndrome) it's like the normal PMS except it's all emotional and 5x worse. Basically, for 2-3 days you can't take anything I say seriously because I think, despite being friends for over 15 years, that you only hang with me to be nice and in reality you don't like me
You too should be looking into pmdd, looks like you are sensitive to progesterone level changes. Just read about it. https://www.larabriden.com/how-to-improve-premenstrual-mood-symptoms/ this talks about post period mood too. Hope this helps. I'm going to try antihistamines and magnesium to start with.
Load More Replies...
Omg yes! And I just started crying today after watching some girl (contestant) on a cooking show running to her dad in the audience to help her open her jar. I know I'm due in a few days. 😂
Haha! "Tell me how you are about to have your period without telling me you are about to have your period!" Crying on cooking show certainly answers it
Load More Replies...
Omg yes after 18 years every month I still go hmm why my thighs feeling like I did leg day yesterday (I dont work out) and a few days later Aunt Flo is in town and it all makes sense
Reminds me of a friend, many years ago. She educated her young daughter about menstruation well in advance. A few days after the first 'event', the daughter said "Thank god that's over!". Mum omitted to mention the next 35 years. Oooops!
Yea that always happens to me 1.5 wks BEFORE my period so I NEVER remember til its been a full 2 or 3 days of me lashing out at ppl, crying and wanting to die- then I finally realize "ohhhhh wait im pmsing again, that's right. Dammit I 4got AGAIN" its also tough when you have legit mental illness like bipolar depression and anxiety so u always assume it's cuz of that 1st and then you check what day of the month it is, realize how suddenly u started feeling extra bananas then see how it all went away after exactly 3 days as usual and finally put it together that once again, it was just PMS. Every. Damn. Month.
I have an app that warns me "You might feel weird now - PMS on it's way..." Helps a lot to understand what's going on :)
Could be PMDD, it's like PMS hulked up. I do pretty well most the month but a bit before that period it's a sink hole of depression and fighting for my life. I got on spironlactone for my hormonal acne and was happy to find out it is also a treatment for PMDD. Antihistamines oddly enough help many women with this too.
I'm irritated once a month because I am so hungry out of nowhere. and then two days later i start bleeding and think "ooooh so that's what that was" I menstruate since the year 2000. my period is old enough to drink alcohol in the usa. and I'm still not used to it
Grandma needs to tell you this….I dream of having my period. There’s no escaping.
I think I'm developing new bad symptoms every 10 years or so. I definately wasn't this pissed once a month, when I was in my teens or 20s
I heard it often get worse after you have children (I mean, biologically, not because they stress you out) but I have no source so I can't say for a fact.
Load More Replies...
Yes, but after menopause there's still occasionally days like that, without the bleeding.
When I think I am about to murder my husband or beat my child for being absolutely annoying, I know the rage is a sign of PMS.
Same. Then you think, "Ooooohhh, that's why I hated you so bad yesterday."
I don't bleed any more and i still feel like that most of the time. :( Particularly after watching general chat in a mmog, watching the news, or interacting with rude people in parkinglots. Or listening to gunfire all day. Or thinking about going out in public places. Or... i'll just stop here....
Why did that post twice? I only hit the button once.
Load More Replies... Wait for menopause......you get weeks instead of days of feeling like that...
Especially if they give you progesterone for your hormone therapy. I wanted to destroy the universe after three days
Load More Replies...
33 years in.. Eating everything that doesn't run away tells me I'm 10 -12 days out lol
I had a boyfriend say to me "How do you not know that you are starting your period after having it for 24 yrs, even I know it's happening"
When I still had periods (or as I call it - the BEFORE time), it would never fail - if I ever got really sick, like a bad cold or the flu, I would start my period. When the new husband & I went on the "sexy" trip to San Diego (1996), I got pneumonia & therefore HAD to start my period. I was literally almost delirious on the flight home because my fever was so high, was met @ SeaTac by my mother & taken directly to the hospital. Honey - you're gonna LOVE menopause. I'd rather sweat than "leak".
I keep telling my wife that if for some reason everybody is an asshole and everything sucks it is not everybody else's fault - and it's about time to do a Stockcount of your ladies supplies...
I get really angry, and I’ll have such a terrible attitude and not really understand why I’m feeling like that. Then boom, period 24-48 hrs later lol
and then menopause hits and you realize the true meaning of dark thoughts.
This one is so relatable! Lol...I still can't catch on to why I'm so emotional one day out of the month, and when it happens I'm like oh yeah that's why. Damnit.
This should be higher up and everywhere - I was brought up by my Dad, who did his best, but I had no women around me really. It took me until I was 38 to realize that my hormone swings weren't normal. I finally got a diagnosis of PMDD two years ago. If I'd had someone tell me this when I was a teenager, I might have had a happier and more forgiving life.
Wait til menopause. No more menstrual cycle or mini pads but there’s hot flashes, weight gain, extreme grumpiness, very tired days, on and on. But you can have sex without EVER getting pregnant, so there’s a lot of trade off.
Buying out the ice cream and potato chips sections!?! WTF.... 48hrs later..
And that is a prime example of why women scare the everliving sh*t out of the rest of us...
Talk to your doctor and get an IUD. There's no medical reasons to menstruate every month or go through the hell that is monthly hormone fluctuation. It can be taken out when you want a baby and then otherwise, heaven. Haven't had a period or PMS in 12 years
I got one a few years ago. The copper one made me cramp like i was being ripped in half and bleed like i had actually been ripped in half. (Like, I was thinking about buying adult diapers. That much blood.) The progesterone one was the opposite. ^_^ I barely have cramps and have spotting instead of floods. Still a bit of depression, aching hip joints, and sore boobs on a cycle, but still better than before. It all depends on your body and chemistry. Different people have different reactions.
Load More Replies...
Some people get their first one earlier, others later in life. I had mine at 12, but even at 11 I had something... that I wouldn't call true menstruation, but a certain announcement.
Load More Replies...
For the stories, the account has a daily feature. "Followers apply to be featured as our daily single looking for love. We share their photo and info about them and encourage other followers to DM them. This has been going on for almost two years and a few engagements have come from it so far!"
There's also the semi-regular Small Business Saturday feature where Chloe and Peter share the businesses they love, as well as holiday gift guides. "We have a lot of friends who are business owners and have so much respect for millennials who have decided to reject the corporate hustle and create their own businesses, so helping support people like that, especially businesses run by women and BIPOC is super important to us."
"We also do regular story poll features like our Bop or Flop feature where followers decide if a song is a bop or a flop. When songs score over 65% bop, they are added to our Bop or Flop playlist on Spotify that has almost 40k followers," the two of them added.
Their latest story feature is Now That's What I Call Music brackets where followers rank albums from one of the Now That's What I Call Music. This gig takes Chloe and Peter an entire week and at the end of it, they announce what is the biggest bop. "People (including the two of us!) get so into it. We are starting our NOW 7 bracket next week, we're both rooting for Survivor by Destiny's Child to be the winner... But we'll see. Britney and NSYNC do seem to win a lot! We're going to bracket Now 1-10 and then do an all-stars round where the winning tracks face off against each other. It's really fun!"
Thirty AF's content touches on a lot of different themes but some of the most recurring ones are "self-deprecating humor that millennials relate to, commentary on issues facing millennials such as salaries ... not having the ability to own a home, some tongue in cheek 'okay boomer' humor (love you mom and dad!), finding relatable humor in issues like anxiety and depression, etc."
But the biggest hits are nostalgic posts for the 90s and early 2000s. "The past few years have been really weird and stressful for everyone, and looking back on the comfort of these things that we all bonded over as kids has provided a lot of comfort and connection during these turbulent times," Chloe and Peter said.
I was trying to remember the name of a song recently. All I knew for definite was that "Mountain" and "Sea" were in the lyrics. It took a bit of searching (yes on Google) to find it. FYI it was "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden.
"We really do try to read every message we get and reply when we can, and one of my favorite types of messages is a 'PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who remembers [insert obscure TV/music/product/game reference from the 90s]' type of message and this always gives us ideas for posts and features. So much of the 90s feels like a bizarre fever dream, and being able to connect with other people in an 'OMG I remember that too!' moment is such a fun and, not to sound cheesy, wholesome way to connect," the team behind Thirty AF added.
"There is so much that is driving everyone apart right now and put effort into focusing on our differences, nostalgia is something that can, for a minute at least, make us focus on the things that brought us together as kids. And that has been a main and growing theme of Thirty AF and something we're excited to keep sharing!"
Wait what? Women can be happy and feel fulfilled by having a successful career?
Yeah why don't we have good hackers that go in and erase peoples mortgages and student loans like undercover brother?
You mean we American want healthcare. Europe has healthcare (of course dental could be improved). We would like people to not live on the street. Family with kids to be able to feed them and pay school meals and also less violence
Boomers took everything, ruined everything, then blamed everyone else.
My mom always said "be quiet until they go away" if someone showed up without notice. I do the same with my kids, lol. Even if it's someone I know I want to be prepared to socialize. And if it's someone I don't know its creepy. It makes sense to not just open your door to anyone when it's so easy to call/text/email beforehand.
The older I get, the more I rely on professionals to do anything and everything for me. No more hanging my own photo frames.
Actually, this is sorta genius. I could have saved myself and my realtor a lot of time had I known one house we wanted to see had 6ft ceilings, another had shelf paper glued to the "newly finished floors," and a third had a basement floor on an angle making most of it unusable despite being listed as "finished" and "spacious."
I'd trust my kid to do the booby traps, but there's no way he'd buy groceries or do the laundry.
But that's the only perks you have. Eating what you want. Or drink soda or eat candy on weekdays (but in secret if you have kids).
Can you imagine the decompression alarm just went off, you're putting on your spacesuit, get to the helmet and are trying to stuff your three-foot-long tress up under your helmet before your oxygen runs out....
Note: this post originally had 102 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I'm clearly the target group person exhibit A here. Loved every single post! Thanx
Well over the target group.... but they feel like my people...
Load More Replies...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies...
I used to be embarrassed that I was a millennial. But we're hilarious!
Gen-X here with Millennial & Gen-Z children. These were bloody brilliant. I just might have to give some of these a go.
Wow!! When they say kids grow up fast...Enjoy these brainfart moments now youngins...cuz in your 60's it's a life standard requiring copious amounts of Chocolate 🍫!!
I’m not in the target group and am wondering why on earth you think the target group is Millennials. This is just generally funny! Can we be done with the ageism?
For the record: not all millennials are feminist, snowflakes or leftists.
For the record the majority are and that's a good thing. Signed, a former conservative who educated themselves.
Load More Replies...
Have you considered throwing your sense or humor in the trash and starting over?
Load More Replies...
Sure. Lets not bring issues that are destroying us. That will help...
Load More Replies...
I'm clearly the target group person exhibit A here. Loved every single post! Thanx
Well over the target group.... but they feel like my people...
Load More Replies... This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies... I used to be embarrassed that I was a millennial. But we're hilarious!
Gen-X here with Millennial & Gen-Z children. These were bloody brilliant. I just might have to give some of these a go.
Wow!! When they say kids grow up fast...Enjoy these brainfart moments now youngins...cuz in your 60's it's a life standard requiring copious amounts of Chocolate 🍫!!
I’m not in the target group and am wondering why on earth you think the target group is Millennials. This is just generally funny! Can we be done with the ageism?
For the record: not all millennials are feminist, snowflakes or leftists.
For the record the majority are and that's a good thing. Signed, a former conservative who educated themselves.
Load More Replies... Have you considered throwing your sense or humor in the trash and starting over?
Load More Replies... Sure. Lets not bring issues that are destroying us. That will help...
Load More Replies...