The 'By Age 35' meme originated as a reaction to viral financial planning advice and articles suggesting that people should have astronomical savings or specific life achievements by their mid-thirties. What started as genuine financial guidance quickly transformed into a Twitter-based parody format where users list increasingly absurd, niche, or hilariously realistic milestones. It serves as a way for Millennials and Gen Z to cope with economic pressures by finding humor in the shared experience of not meeting traditional societal expectations, replacing massive bank balances with things like 'a favorite kitchen sponge' or 'a collection of grocery bags inside a larger grocery bag'.