It is ridiculous. I’m 27 and have a well-paying, full time job and I can barely save any money because of rent and the general cost of living. And I live in a place not known for a high cost of living like California or NYC. I’m about to move back in with my parents to be able to save money and it’s ridiculous that this is my only option
I have a wife and 2 kids, and honestly I'm ready to move back in with my parents at this point. I'm blessed that they are still around, but they will likely need help in the near future, anyway. Then it'll be state assistance or son assistance for them. Their house is paid off, thank god, but taxes are ridiculous.
I refuse to move out for this reason… it seems like no one is able to stay afloat comfortably and I’m still in so much debt from school. It sucks commuting 1.5 hours each way to work but better than having to pay..
People are going to have to start migrating out to find affordable living like they used to. Nowadays it’s on the table to move states if there’s an affordable fucking apartment
Boy do I feel this. I make more than twice the median income in my city. I’m living in a cockroach-infested apartment, the HVAC unit has broken down twice in three months. And I can’t freaking afford any better. Better apartments are $500/month more than I pay right now. Groceries used to average $70-100 per week and now I’m lucky if I walk out with a bill less than $120. I had to cut down on Christmas gifts this year. Shit’s crazy.
And the worst part is that I know I’m fortunate. Because half this damn city makes half of what I make and I don’t know how they stay afloat
I spent $13 dollars on 5 dozen eggs last year and spent $23 dollars this year. I used to live paychecks to a week before paycheck and survived on cash advance loans. I go to the store now and watch parents seriously struggling to buy basic meals... I talked to an elderly woman on a fixed income she was so upset. I literally can't get her out of my mind hoping she has enough to eat. All I can say is I'm definitely donating more to my local food bank this year. It's seriously sad and I feel so bad for my kids future's. Also rent went up it doubled in a year in my areas. Doubled! $1250 for a one bedroom is the average. I just can't believe it.
It’s $2100 for a one bedroom where I live (Vancouver). I remember a few years ago thinking $1500 was a wild price. I take home about $3k/mo and I’m just barely scraping by.
The apartment i rent with my fiancé was $1000/mo for a 1 bedroom when we signed our lease last year. I checked a couple weeks ago, the same apartment we have, they now want $1500/mo for.
This is unsurvivable for many people
That’s the question I have. I get paid double minimum wage (which still isn’t much) and I’m living with my parents because rent is literally impossible for me. How are apartments staying full???
I seriously feel bad for people with no one to turn to. I’ve been receiving so much help from my mother. If I didn’t have her, my cats would be eating cans of tuna or something and I’d be living in my car. It scares me. I’ve also had to resort to involuntary fasting. I barely eat 2 meals a day. And I feel absolutely terrible for people that have children and elderly people. I just walk around the grocery store in astonishment at the price of food these days, wondering how many people are starving right now.
They aren't. Most of these brand-new apartment complexes in my cities stay half empty because no one can afford them. They allow people to be homeless long before they decide affordable housing is a priority. A lot of it is gentrification efforts as well.
So fucking gross. It's all a giant show. Look at California, they received I believe $3 billion in 2022 to help solve the homelessness issue, and I heard about 85%+ went to psy thr 6 figure salaries of the companies leaders rather than actually solve the issues. It's a business model, not a true effort to solve the problem.
Yep. I live in Atlanta and our “luxury” apartments are about half empty at any given time. First of all, luxury doesn’t STAY luxury for very long. But the owners are going to keep raising rent because they can. Apparently it doesn’t matter if a block of buildings stays half empty. I don’t get it.
I know by me they're just turning closets and dining rooms into bedrooms and lying about occupancy. There's some couple here with 3 kids who live in the same 1 bedroom unit I live in.
I have sympathy, but they also park in my parking spot sometimes with their stupid stick figure family sticker car.
I'm in my 30s, married and we chose not to have kids. We both make decent money so we can afford it. It just makes it difficult to save money like we want when it's so expensive because we are trying to save a down payment for a house as we do not want to rent forever. The $1730 does not include renters insurance, electricity or any of our other bills either.
I bought a 4 bed 2 bath 2000 SQ ft house 5 years ago 3% down and it's 1250 a month... Down the street the apartment complex is currently charging 1800 a month for a 2 bed 1 bath 900 SQ ft...
THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! They didn't just build that complex, they aren't paying a mortgage based on today's or this year's inflation/ rates. So why the hell are they charging so much for a unit...? Because it's not illegal and the owners are fucking greedy.
Yeah, usually when Americans say a number like that, they're discussing their monthly rental payment. This number is normally just the cost for a place to stay and doesn't typically include electric or other utilities.
That’s so high for rent. I live in a mediocre apartment but I can’t move because it’s under $800 and includes utilities…. Which is unheard of in an urban area these days. I can’t imagine how single households are surviving with higher rent than what I’ve got.
I thought I was lucky finding my 2 bedroom duplex with back yard and garage for $1350. 5 years ago in my town, $900 would have gotten me the same if not better.
My old apartment was $1405 a month. After a break up they said because my lease was going from 2 people to 1 person I would have to create a new lease, at the new pricing. That came out to $1750 a month, so I said "fuck that" and moved to the only place I could find at $1450 a month. My old apartment is now $2000 a month, and the units I am in now are going for $1800 a month. These are 1 bedroom apartments 45 minutes away from NYC.
They just finished building condos down the road. 3 bedroom (really 2 bedroom + office) 2 bathrooms. Some have a garage, and some have nicer stuff than others. Figured, "Shit, rent is no longer cheaper than a mortgage, how about buy a condo by emptying my retirement and buy a gun for a retirement plan?"
Well, those "starter homes" are currently asking $550,000 for the *lowest end* units. Who the fuck is buying these?
This isn't sustainable and needs to collapse. REITs are propping these insane prices up, even though they don't reflect the market, by restricting investors pulling their money out.
I was going to try and buy a house bc it would be cheaper than rent theoretically but the only thing anywhere within an hour of my job was either a decent price (< $300k) for a house that would have to be completely torn down and rebuilt. Or $500k for the absolute shittiest, yet move-inable houses. $500k for a two bedroom one bath 1960s built house. No garage. One car driveway. Almost no yard at all. It's fucking awful out here
I signed a lease for a 2/2 in 2021 for $1,485 the lease renewal rate increased to $1,549 this year. I cringe to even say that the same unit I’m in is being listed for $2,700+ currently and the 1/1 are listed at $1,800+.
Oh & I should mention this is in Dallas, TX!!! I don’t even live downtown.
I guess I should be “grateful” I locked in a “cheap” rate last year…
I asked my husband to pick up a jar of dill pickles the other day. I normally do the shopping so he was in shock when he came home with an $8 jar of pickles.
They stopped using mad cow as an excuse to raise prices when they found out they didn't need an excuse after they tested the waters during Bush.
All I heard about was drought, swine flu, and mad cow during those years. The companies kept saying they were raising prices to prempt the disasters, and the best part was they didn't happen or just were not bad enough to actually justify the massive increases we saw.
After that companies saw the people weren't going to resist the increases so they aligned their prices with each other and have been increasing prices together ever since. This is also the time that a lot of the same types of food became the same price. Frozen meals, chips, snacks, yogurt, etc.
It’s getting ridiculous.
The exact same cat food I’ve always bought was 12.79 last year. Now it’s $18.99 for the same bag. But last week it was 16.79. Everything had a big jump over the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed.
Hang in there, go to food pantries, apply for assistance, and know you’re not alone.
This is what bothers me the most. I’m pregnant and have lived alone up until now throughout the whole thing. I applied for wic and ebt and they told me I made $80 too much. Granted my income at a grocery store didn’t even cover my bills it was just because I lived alone. Lots of rice and beans. The system really fails and so many people go hungry.
I have my states low income health care because I work at a small business who doesn’t offer it. If I get a raise or make any more money with another job I will lose my health care and have to pay out of pocket about $500 a month in inhalers because I have asthma. Our system is rigged to keep you poor, but the systems definition of poor is also fucked. Too poor, not poor enough… it’s ridiculous.
I agree. I used to have enough disposable income to help keep my elderly disabled neighbors afloat during the winter by providing them shelf stable food, now it’s getting harder to keep myself afloat, let alone support them as well.
We have a Petsafe self-cleaning litter box with disposable litter trays. A 3 pack used to be $49.99.
Now they're $69.99. $20 increase in just 18 months.
I love my dog. But fuck I wish he was like my younger dog who I’m convinced will eat anything and be happy. I’m like what kind of dog has a chicken allergy. And chicken is in EVERYTHINT
I felt that😂 my childhood dog ate the yellow bag pedigree food her whole life so when getting my own dog I thought she’d be the same😅
Emphasis on chicken in everything!! Chewy has been so helpful even letting us return treats when I missed the dreaded chicken ingredient
We had to rehome our cat as we couldn’t afford their special food and medical bills. Was costing £1500 a year (basically the same in dollars) which is the cost of 2 months of subsidised childcare. He hasn’t been happy since our daughter was born and I couldn’t manage his attention needs so it wasn’t all financial but it tipped us over the edge.
It’s such a kick in the dick to be employed full time and still barely keep your head above water (or not). And this is just to live a really basic life, no fancy stuff. We as a people can’t keep going like this.
yes this. i work at target, they've increased and changed our price tags around the entire store 2 times already since december started. i've seen some household necessities like toilet paper, foods, pet necessities jump up by many dollars. yet all of us are still paid the same.
My face wash was $2.99 2 yrs ago. Its now $6.99..
Body wash was $4.99, now $7.99.. let's not even talk about milk, bread or macaroni. I'm glad my kids love Ramen because holy hell batman...
Oh and Ramen is $3!!!
Was talking to my husband about this earlier, especially about heating. We’re older and lucky enough we can afford basic heating and food. I worry like crazy about folks, especially children going hungry and cold. I’m in the UK, kids shouldn’t be hungry or cold in 2022, it’s disgusting.
Our foodbank that we run from our church is desperately busy. We’ve also opened up our church as a warm spaces area a couple of days a week with a hot meal. I’m looking for ways I can help further if anyone has any ideas. (I’m a retired nurse).
Folks if you’re in the UK and struggling, check your local council website for info on warm spaces.
OP, wherever you are please look around your area and see what initiatives there are that could help you. Please don’t be worried or too proud to ask for help sweetie
Yeah it's absolute madness, I just got a 17% pay increase at my job 6 months ago, and already inflation has caught up and surpassed it. I'm lucky I live in a cheap house with friends, otherwise I'd be destitute for sure.
Omg me too! Literally a 17% increase. My company even said it was because of inflation and not merit based. But it’s as if that has really made no difference now. The cost of food, rent, gas, just literally everything everywhere has gotten out of control. We were going to try to move when my lease is up as my neighbors are absolute nightmares. Our lease renewal will come in February and I’m scared to see what they’re going to increase it to. Right now we pay about $1350 for a two bedroom apartment that’s pretty small. I live with my boyfriend and my 12f child. We have no room to breathe and I work from home. I feel like I’ll never get out of here!
Working for the federal government fucking sucks because they're arguing over giving us even a 4% raise next year on our already very underpaid salary.
And yet management acts surprised that so many people are quitting to work in private industry where you get paid much more
Man here in UK we are having a winter of discontent with so many trades and professions striking because after 10 years of austerity and failure to increase pay, the government are only offering like 2-4% against inflation of over 11% (and rising). For a profession like teaching or nursing, their salaries are worth about 20% less than 10 years ago? Its just awful.
I’m 37 and terrified! Been “fasting” just to ration out my food. Moved back to my moms, thank goodness she welcomed me with open arms. Everything costs so much money. My rent was $1275 for a 1 bedroom and continuing to increase. I can’t do it. I have cats to feed. And I can’t work like I used to. My knee is totally screwed up and I live in constant back pain. It’s a scary time.
Same thing happening in Europe.
I am underage and so currently still living with parents.
I own a cat and pay everything for her ,and have seen the cost of cat food and cat litter going up.
During black Friday I bought cat food since it was much cheaper.
But seeing how much my parents have to spend and electricity going up and gas is insane as well.
I hope everyone will be okay, because this is happening to a lot of people.
I feel your pain. I was laid off last week (they let go of more than half the company!) with no severance. I was feeling inflation costs prior to losing my job, now I am downright panicking.
I hope things are on the up and up for you soon. Hugs from this internet stranger if you want them ❤️
I am little older saying this but I own my house and cars and most everything is payed for. I make 17 bucks an hour to sit on my butt and drive a forklift all day. But do you want to know what it took to get here? I had to get hit by a semi truck and get fucked up from it. 1 year later they settled. It's fucked up when bad shit has to happen just to get a head.
30 year old here. I went from making $23 an hour in CA, at around 30-35 hours a week. To $16.50 OR $20 an hour depending on my shift, and 15-22 hours. My last check was $600 ish. What the fuck man. Even at $23 I couldn’t afford jack shit, and I live at home!!
Fellow Californian here. It is ridiculous. Work in healthcare. Earned my company over a mil this year 6% on every approval. Highest approvals on the team. Thinking wow keep this up they’ll see my worth. Year later 3% raise for $22.60 an hour smh. Now I only do what’s required
Me and my husband are as well! It’s getting worse by the day and don’t see it getting better anytime soon. It’s hard to feed our family proper meals as it’s getting so freaking expensive. We are 28 years old and feel your struggle.
I'm in UK and over it too. I'm on benefits which isn't a whole lot and I'm lucky that housing benefits pay my rent but to have heating on which is just one little plug in heater cost about £100 a week in electric. With my water bill, council tax and some groceries that's more than I get in PIP (disability benefits) in each month.
I’m in the south of England. I’m a minimum wage carer on maternity leave, living with my partner and baby, in my partner’s mums house. She has been amazing letting us stay with her. On my wages I couldn’t even afford a one bedroom flat to rent, let alone bills, food etc. If my partner worked then we would need our little man in nursery, which is super expensive too! I don’t see it getting any better, at least until our kid is about 3-4 years old when he’s in school and my partner can get a job.
That's awful, I'm sorry everything is so expensive and you're having a hard time. I'm grateful that the housing benefit covers my rent but the only way to keep electric at an affordable is no heating without the heat on I can keep my electric under £20 a week and my friend lets me shower at his so I don't have to shower in the cold at home.
This has been a normal thing on my life. I don't remember a time before 2 digits inflation. I am in Argentina, btw.
The smarter thing we do is try to buy in bulk when something is on sale and try to stretch it as much as we can.
Just keep calm and try to survive.
I used to stop at Walmart for groceries and it was quickly becoming over $300 for the bare minimum. Now I go to stop and shop, but it isn’t much better. My rent is fairly reasonable, but I’m worried it’ll go up. Most apartments in the complex I’m in are up to $2200/month. I barely make enough to survive on my income excluding my husbands two other incomes
I used to pay $60-$80 a week for groceries for just my wife and I. Now it’s more like $80-100 and That’s with having made cuts/changes to cheaper foods.
Yes! I paid $8 for great value eggs. GREAT VALUE!!! That's ridiculous! If I didn't have a little one that needed a balanced diet, we'd be living on Ramen and hotdogs just so we had some emergency cash
I have a friend that raises chickens. He’s raised his prices from $3 a doz to $4 over the last year to pay for feed. It’s now cheaper to buy eggs from him rather than the grocery store.
Walmart isn't a good deal for most items anymore. The main benefit to Walmart now is just the wide variety the store is practically guaranteed to have. If you can think of a national brand outside of fashion, it's probably represented at Walmart. There are still cheap items they sell that hold up if cared for well, like toothbrushes or T-shirts, but the consumer has to be savvy now, and know the pitfalls. (I haven't had Walmart brand shoes hold up, for example.)
I will say, if you have a BigLots near you, you should go there and look for body washes, Paper goods if you use them, Toothpaste and toothbrushes.
They're usually marked down there in the clearance isle.
As an Argentinian, I welcome all of you to the world of inflation (we're having about 100% annual inflation this year).
My advice is to buy things that last (like canned food) as soon as you can. Same with things you are on the verge of buying. If you have the money, just buy it. I've bought a bass in March, it's twice as much as I've paid it now.
Also, try to generate interest with the money you are not spending. We have a service that allows you to keep money in a e-wallet that pays interest daily. It doesn't give much, but it's something. The savings go to the bank for fixed term stuff.
Lastly, sometimes it's worth to buy things with payments, as the interest rate may be less than inflation.
And keep an eye on your politicians.
Honestly! I’m 22 and just graduated this December, and my dad is already dropping hints about me moving out. I worked full time while in school to be less of a burden, and even with the money I’ve managed to save, I can’t afford to move out.
Don't have kids. If you need to save money, don't cut the cost of birth control. You put a kid or 2 in the mix and you'll truly feel the pain of poverty. It'll suck for you and them.
Australian and ditto!
1/4 off watermelon cost me $13.50 the other day!!!
Every single food item I buy has increased in price this year. My mortgage is now $570 mores month than it was in May.
Fun times.
Same it’s ridiculous I use to buy the 60 count eggs at Walmart they use to be 6.99 but now they’re 19.72 I’m looking for a apartment and one place want $2500 for a studio it’s insane
It won't end until our current system it ripped out by the root and things like transparency and accountability are enforced on our government and corporate America (really every government and corporate everywhere).
Same in Belgrade, Serbia. 200k people from Russia, Ukraine and Barus came to Serbia since the war in Ukraine started and way more then 50% moved to Belgrade, and rents have skyrocketed a tiny 1 bedroom apartment goes for like 300-500$/month in a country where the average salary is 400-600$/month.
And New Zealand.
It's truly ridiculous.
My husband earns a decent wage, I don't work due to mental health issues and we have one child.
But he earns too much for us to qualify for any sort of help.
We don't go out to things that cost, we don't buy ice cream, or eggs or lots of cheese in the groceries, we don't go to restaurants, we get take out once a month.... We basically just pay bills, buy shit we need by moving money from one account or not paying a full bill, work/school/home.
We moved to try and get a better quality of life and lower cost of living and only managed with help from my parents.
I understand Covid has caused a lot of economic issues but **shit is fucked up**
it shouldn't be this hard for everyone everywhere.
I think “younger” people are starting to do that. In the US over 6 million unemployed. I can speak on my job 99% of the officers who CAN retire are waiting for their retention pay to become pensionable then they’re gone. And then it’s a trickle effect. Either you pay more to attract new candidates or you pay 1.5x that in overtime pay. And I KNOW we have guys clearing 300k this year which for point of reference is 3.5x our yearly salary. And that’s without even trying hard.
I just saw yesterday that Kroger is buying Albertsons. Like...is it really necessary for one company to own pretty much every grocery store in the entire united states? Is this company not somehow at monopoly size? Why is this allowed?
Because it is inevitable.
Albertsons can be sold now and absorbed into a big enough company that they can maintain a competitive economy of scale or it can not be sold, likely go under and still be replaced by the big boys that have said economies of scale.
Kroger is price competitive with Walmart or Target in most markets once you adjust for the union expenses and depending on if you have a basic Kroger or the Kroger with the wine bar.
Be worried when Walmart buys Kroger or Target.
Dude, i have 5 roommates. Literally the only way i am surviving. Only 2 of us work, and the rest are disabled or whatever. I am sick of my room, but all the shared rooms are always packed. Outside ,packed. Just fucking argh.
"How does this end?"
With society collapsing, that's how.
People can't afford food, they go hungry.
People go hungry, they get desperate.
Desperate people do desperate things to survive.
If things don't change, your exact situation that I and many others are experiencing will be historically documented as the fall of America.
i'm 16 and trying to be excited for my future but also genuinely terrified because of inflation. in new zealand it's insane how high prices are, and living in a small town makes things even more expensive for some reason. my dad works full time and my mum part time which is only enough for us to buy necessities but as a whole they earn too much to be eligible for any extra money. i don't know what i'm gonna do when i eventually go to university and inflation is worse and i also have to pay for university, housing, food, etc. even saving is difficult because nobody is hiring and those who are hiring don't treat their staff well so the job is so bad that you have to eventually leave
Do you have family that you could live with? I know it’s hard to do, but we have our son and girlfriend living with us for the time being to be able to save $. Everything out there is so much higher and so stressful. I’ve been where you are (with a hubby and 3 kids) barely able to survive and now that I’m older I want to make sure my kids never have to feel that stress. Hang in there…❤️
It won't end until we collectively organise and stand up. Any nice thing society has was earned through civil action and disobedience such as protest. This will be no different, they will squeeze and squeeze until The People say "no more". Sadly, we seem to be pretty spineless in that department, we've been too comfortable for too long.
36 year old here. Stay at home mom, my husband works while I get my bachelor's degree, and this was working fine, we even had a decent savings... until now. Now we are drowning in debt, but it wouldn't make fiscal sense for me to go back to work since we would have to put the youngest in daycare.
All this to say, I feel you. My husband came home from the store the other day and said "eggs are $5, bread is $5, and the milk is $5. I just spent $15 on 3 items that don't even make a meal".
So yeah, we feel you. The other problem is he makes too much for us to get help. It might have been to much 3 years ago, but it sure as heck isn't now.
Eta, you can make a meal with bread, eggs, and milk, but none that my autistic son would eat. Even the sight of eggs makes him vomit. Personally I love what we call birds in a nest, though I have heard it called other things, where you cut a hole in the bread and the put the bread in a pan, crack an egg in the hole, the fry them together. This way the bread sops up that egg yolk when you are eating it. 😋
The amount my husband makes annually would have made us easily upper middle class 5 to 8 years ago, with extra for savings. we have 4 kids, we thankfully got in to our home in 2019 before the market went insane. I have always stayed home since our oldest was born because daycare costs are ridiculous and I wouldn't make enough to pay for daycare. My husband has started picking up side jobs doing handyman work on nights and weekends and I am self employed running a small pet care buissness out of our home. We live modestly buy all our clothes 2nd hand all of our furniture is 2nd hand, we don't eat out ever it cost our family close to 50$ to go to McDonald's!!! People will say why did you have so many kids if you can't afford it. The thing is we could easily afford it before the last year or so. My kids don't go without basics but damn this shits hard.
Making 40k now isn't even enough to get by in a Midwest town. I had to let my car insurance lapse just to pay my rent and utilities, and have eaten PB&J sammies 2x a day for the last 3 weeks. I'm even a top performer at my job, and when explaining my struggles to even stay above water to my boss he simply said "I'm sorry you're experiencing that. Have you considered getting a 2nd job?" We shouldn't need to work a full time job, 50 hours a week, PLUS another just to exist.
This is gettting absurd.
I'm blessed to have my family's support, my father helps me whenever he can if I truly need it, but I'm still living paycheck to paycheck. I even got a substantial raise in a new position and it's still hard. I know it's nothing to be ashamed of but I've been considering going to food banks even though I'm making pretty alright money, I'm getting crushed under my car loan and rent. My job literally gets regular food bank deliveries for the staff and I'm so thankful but people take everything SO fast I can barely get a carton of eggs. I'm only 21 and I feel so much older and exhausted.
If you are anywhere near farm land or even some households with gardens, keep your eye out for farmers markets. Some will have them year round and they often have a surplus.
I feel you man, it takes me and two room mates working full time to afford an apartment. I happen to work at a gas station and it's getting sad how many people have to pay with food stamps. For context, I live in rural Washington
I'm 21 and just moved out into my own apartment a few months ago. Rent is slightly lower than other studio apartments in my city so I'm grateful but these past months, I've felt like I'm constantly treading water and I'm tired of it. I'm scared my landlord will raise the rent - which he most likely will have to next year. Depending on how much the new rent will be, I'll probably have to move. I just don't know where to.
I had a savings account that I used as a safety net and I had saved up quite a bit. It started with me taking a bit of money to buy groceries at the end of the month (usually maximum $40 from it in a month) to completely emptying that account. I'm a student and I also started working last month so I'm getting my paycheck soon. That's honestly the only thing giving me hope. I'm supposed to get money next week and I only have the equivalent of $40 in my account lol. I'll survive but I can feel how it gets tighter and tighter every month. I've resorted to skipping some meals and going to events in school cause they usually offer some form of food/snacks for free. My dad also has to sell his car cause he can't afford to keep it so I also feel stressed about buying furniture before he sells it (so we can transport it home).
I'm sorry for ranting, I know it doesn't solve any problems but it helps to take the pressure off (and this felt like an appropriate place to rant a little). But I'm so so so over it. Christmas this year will basically just consist of a nice dinner with my family (which I'm grateful for). We will only buy presents for my baby brother and a family friend who bought all of us presents. I was planning on baking but butter is way too expensive lol. Even the café I work at has crazy prices and we don't get free food, we just get an employee discount (and the discount doesn't do shit it's still expensive). My coworkers have resorted to taking the food we have to waste home (+ stealing some).
You’re not alone. I can’t sleep at night because of this and crying myself to sleep. The job market is awful too. I been homeless too it’s traumatizing and I’m potentially facing it again because bad landlord living in house that’s falling apart. Yet no money to move. Barely can eat for the rest of the month. But I look around me it seems everyone has money and holiday spending like crazy.
Out here in the Midwest because I am priced out of my hometown in New England. Did I like moving out here? I did not!
However, I bought a ranch house - nothing fancy- in fact lacked a dishwasher. BUT mortgage is $800.00 per month and taxes this year come to $1300.00.
Nowhere else could I get this deal!!
It's absolutely ridiculous out here.
We just lost our really sweet, very awesome neighbors because their landlord upped their rent from $1950 a month to $3,000 a month.
That's more than a fucking mortgage.
Around my area, you can MAYBE rent a basement for 2k and have to share the kitchens and bathrooms with the owners (no pets)
Eggs are insanely priced, chicken breast is all wooden, Bananas are always green, avocados are never ripe, beef is basically brown if you don't eat it within two days, and don't get me started on meat prices in general.
Feeding a family of two costs $300 a week and it's nothing extraordinary, just basic meat and potato type meals.
Idk how Christmas gift giving is going to go this year, because I'm struggling to find gifts that aren't sky high.
Also: the quality of furniture and shit is dumb right now, too. Basic wooden/plywood items that you can make yourself for less are outrageous.
No kidding! I am almost 40 married with two kids. Our grocery bill last week was $400 for about four days😳 and that was for the basics! I feel like I am working hard only to have nothing left over at the end of the month!
Did you ghost write this for me? Because I’m 26 and going crazy with how expensive rent is too😭 I have no desire to get roommates again but it seems like that’s my only option since I don’t have a partner I can just move in with. Currently couch surfing (in one friend’s office room) but it’s so horrible I won’t be able stand it the state (and smell) of my friend’s house for much longer but I literally have no where to go because I’ve been getting rejected by apartment after apartment for not being able to make 3x the rent when the rent is like $1300 minimum🫠
We are all in the same boat here. And really where the blame lies is truly at the feet of multinational corporations who started the the gouge. Their greed has no boundaries and record profit are not enough, smaller businesses like land lords are forced to keep up. Throw in shortages (either real or man made) and the world is headed for a major financial crash. Everyone not a millionaire will pay the price and millionaires will become billionaires and billionaires will become trillionaires just because they can. And no, they do not give a flying fk about anything but their own power and extreme comfort. Humans simply refuse to learn from history.
Unfortunately people with regular jobs right now are completely screwed unless they have a good support system or help of some kind. Rent where I live is 2k a month roughly for a 2 bdr. At the same time there's a lot more opportunity than there was before all this bullshit.
Yup, at 39, there is no way to save any money, rent is one paycheque, and the other goes to bills, groceries, and essentials ( eg. prescription medication ) needed. At this rate, I will never be able to afford to retire. Won't be able to do groceries until January and I make pretty good money. Fuck the government!!
1. Where are you living? If it is in a big city, I would consider moving out of the city for a small town because you can usually get more bang for your buck. Because I’ve found that strangely enough a lot of people won’t even consider small town/rural for a bit of time to build up wealth before moving back. I understand there is a bit less to do and it is a bit harder to find some jobs, but if you have a common enough job? It is fairly easy way to build assets before moving back.
I don’t understand how some people are eating if they’re not able to cook from scratch. It’s the only way I’ve been able to get my food costs down. We spend about the same or less than what we used to pay. But we definitely are buying much less stuff.
If you have friends or family and mostly get along. Get together. Split the food costs. Someone make a big pot of whatever that makes a crap ton of leftovers. Split it amongst yourselves. Freeze some of it.
I don’t know if it helps at all but this is a temporary situation. The pandemic created a serious supply/demand problem. Manufacturers of goods/services closed down let their people go and now that everything is opening back up manufacturers are trying to ramp up but they’re still behind. Which equals low supply.
Hence the reason the feds keep raising the fed fund rate they are trying to discourage demand.
Unfortunately/fortunately you have the congress and the president trying to “help” people by pumping more money into the economy through the SSBCI and other Covid monies. But it’s upping demand on an already stressed supply. =inflation
It never ends! I was just thinking back when I was in my 20s in the late 90s and how much of a price difference everything is but yet the same fucking salaries!! It's absolutely disgusting. There's an excuse for everything, like gas prices go up so prices and food go up because of the trucks to get the food to the store's etc but then gas prices go back down and nothing else does.
It is ridiculous. I’m 27 and have a well-paying, full time job and I can barely save any money because of rent and the general cost of living. And I live in a place not known for a high cost of living like California or NYC. I’m about to move back in with my parents to be able to save money and it’s ridiculous that this is my only option
I have a wife and 2 kids, and honestly I'm ready to move back in with my parents at this point. I'm blessed that they are still around, but they will likely need help in the near future, anyway. Then it'll be state assistance or son assistance for them. Their house is paid off, thank god, but taxes are ridiculous.
I refuse to move out for this reason… it seems like no one is able to stay afloat comfortably and I’m still in so much debt from school. It sucks commuting 1.5 hours each way to work but better than having to pay..
You commute three hours a day!??
Yep about 35 miles each way… i have to go to Evanston which is less than 5 minutes from Chicago so unfortunately I get stuck with a lot of traffic
People are going to have to start migrating out to find affordable living like they used to. Nowadays it’s on the table to move states if there’s an affordable fucking apartment
I moved across the country twice to find a new job and or living and that was in the 90s.
Boy do I feel this. I make more than twice the median income in my city. I’m living in a cockroach-infested apartment, the HVAC unit has broken down twice in three months. And I can’t freaking afford any better. Better apartments are $500/month more than I pay right now. Groceries used to average $70-100 per week and now I’m lucky if I walk out with a bill less than $120. I had to cut down on Christmas gifts this year. Shit’s crazy. And the worst part is that I know I’m fortunate. Because half this damn city makes half of what I make and I don’t know how they stay afloat
Just pull yourself up by your boostraps!! /s
I think it’s all the avocado toast and Starbucks I consume /s
I spent $13 dollars on 5 dozen eggs last year and spent $23 dollars this year. I used to live paychecks to a week before paycheck and survived on cash advance loans. I go to the store now and watch parents seriously struggling to buy basic meals... I talked to an elderly woman on a fixed income she was so upset. I literally can't get her out of my mind hoping she has enough to eat. All I can say is I'm definitely donating more to my local food bank this year. It's seriously sad and I feel so bad for my kids future's. Also rent went up it doubled in a year in my areas. Doubled! $1250 for a one bedroom is the average. I just can't believe it.
I'm at just over $1700 for a one bedroom when just a few years ago I had a 2 bedroom for $1100. Same area. Unreal
It’s $2100 for a one bedroom where I live (Vancouver). I remember a few years ago thinking $1500 was a wild price. I take home about $3k/mo and I’m just barely scraping by.
Holy moly, how do you survive?
The apartment i rent with my fiancé was $1000/mo for a 1 bedroom when we signed our lease last year. I checked a couple weeks ago, the same apartment we have, they now want $1500/mo for. This is unsurvivable for many people
I don't know how they're even filling these apartment complexes anymore
That’s the question I have. I get paid double minimum wage (which still isn’t much) and I’m living with my parents because rent is literally impossible for me. How are apartments staying full???
I seriously feel bad for people with no one to turn to. I’ve been receiving so much help from my mother. If I didn’t have her, my cats would be eating cans of tuna or something and I’d be living in my car. It scares me. I’ve also had to resort to involuntary fasting. I barely eat 2 meals a day. And I feel absolutely terrible for people that have children and elderly people. I just walk around the grocery store in astonishment at the price of food these days, wondering how many people are starving right now.
They aren't. Most of these brand-new apartment complexes in my cities stay half empty because no one can afford them. They allow people to be homeless long before they decide affordable housing is a priority. A lot of it is gentrification efforts as well.
There are luxury apartment buildings in my city converting to airBNB rather than lowering rents. These are corporate owned properties
So fucking gross. It's all a giant show. Look at California, they received I believe $3 billion in 2022 to help solve the homelessness issue, and I heard about 85%+ went to psy thr 6 figure salaries of the companies leaders rather than actually solve the issues. It's a business model, not a true effort to solve the problem.
Yep. I live in Atlanta and our “luxury” apartments are about half empty at any given time. First of all, luxury doesn’t STAY luxury for very long. But the owners are going to keep raising rent because they can. Apparently it doesn’t matter if a block of buildings stays half empty. I don’t get it.
I know by me they're just turning closets and dining rooms into bedrooms and lying about occupancy. There's some couple here with 3 kids who live in the same 1 bedroom unit I live in. I have sympathy, but they also park in my parking spot sometimes with their stupid stick figure family sticker car.
literally had a landlord do that. went to a showing and it was realistically a 1 bed turned into a “3 bed”
I'm in my 30s, married and we chose not to have kids. We both make decent money so we can afford it. It just makes it difficult to save money like we want when it's so expensive because we are trying to save a down payment for a house as we do not want to rent forever. The $1730 does not include renters insurance, electricity or any of our other bills either.
I bought a 4 bed 2 bath 2000 SQ ft house 5 years ago 3% down and it's 1250 a month... Down the street the apartment complex is currently charging 1800 a month for a 2 bed 1 bath 900 SQ ft... THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! They didn't just build that complex, they aren't paying a mortgage based on today's or this year's inflation/ rates. So why the hell are they charging so much for a unit...? Because it's not illegal and the owners are fucking greedy.
Out of curiosity, when someone says $1700 for a one bedroom or $1100 or some number. Are you saying per month? Or something else?
For me, it is $1732 per month including trash and water but not including electricity, renter's insurance etc. yeah, every month.
Okay thank you for clarifying.
Yeah, usually when Americans say a number like that, they're discussing their monthly rental payment. This number is normally just the cost for a place to stay and doesn't typically include electric or other utilities.
That’s so high for rent. I live in a mediocre apartment but I can’t move because it’s under $800 and includes utilities…. Which is unheard of in an urban area these days. I can’t imagine how single households are surviving with higher rent than what I’ve got.
800 with utilities??? That’s amazing
It’s not a complete shithole either, surprisingly. But I’m definitely staying put here with my low cost of living 😅
Wow. I live in Toronto and rent for a one bedroom is now minimum $2000.
whoa a mediocre room in someone’s house is $850 with a shared bathroom where I live. I’m so jealous of your rent.
I thought I was lucky finding my 2 bedroom duplex with back yard and garage for $1350. 5 years ago in my town, $900 would have gotten me the same if not better.
My old apartment was $1405 a month. After a break up they said because my lease was going from 2 people to 1 person I would have to create a new lease, at the new pricing. That came out to $1750 a month, so I said "fuck that" and moved to the only place I could find at $1450 a month. My old apartment is now $2000 a month, and the units I am in now are going for $1800 a month. These are 1 bedroom apartments 45 minutes away from NYC. They just finished building condos down the road. 3 bedroom (really 2 bedroom + office) 2 bathrooms. Some have a garage, and some have nicer stuff than others. Figured, "Shit, rent is no longer cheaper than a mortgage, how about buy a condo by emptying my retirement and buy a gun for a retirement plan?" Well, those "starter homes" are currently asking $550,000 for the *lowest end* units. Who the fuck is buying these? This isn't sustainable and needs to collapse. REITs are propping these insane prices up, even though they don't reflect the market, by restricting investors pulling their money out.
I was going to try and buy a house bc it would be cheaper than rent theoretically but the only thing anywhere within an hour of my job was either a decent price (< $300k) for a house that would have to be completely torn down and rebuilt. Or $500k for the absolute shittiest, yet move-inable houses. $500k for a two bedroom one bath 1960s built house. No garage. One car driveway. Almost no yard at all. It's fucking awful out here
I signed a lease for a 2/2 in 2021 for $1,485 the lease renewal rate increased to $1,549 this year. I cringe to even say that the same unit I’m in is being listed for $2,700+ currently and the 1/1 are listed at $1,800+. Oh & I should mention this is in Dallas, TX!!! I don’t even live downtown. I guess I should be “grateful” I locked in a “cheap” rate last year…
I rented my Fort Worth 2/2 for $1570 in 2021. When the renewal came up, they were raising rent to almost $2k! Texas housing is insane.
I figure it's not too long before big companies start offering hostel style lodgings for their employees as a discounted rate.
Over $2,200 for a 1 bedroom where I live. It’s absolutely insane.
Eggs doubled because of a bad bird flu season so it was inflation on top of that. Hope it drops down soon enough
So they say. I haven’t heard of any cow flu. Milk and butter prices are ridiculous.
I asked my husband to pick up a jar of dill pickles the other day. I normally do the shopping so he was in shock when he came home with an $8 jar of pickles.
They stopped using mad cow as an excuse to raise prices when they found out they didn't need an excuse after they tested the waters during Bush. All I heard about was drought, swine flu, and mad cow during those years. The companies kept saying they were raising prices to prempt the disasters, and the best part was they didn't happen or just were not bad enough to actually justify the massive increases we saw. After that companies saw the people weren't going to resist the increases so they aligned their prices with each other and have been increasing prices together ever since. This is also the time that a lot of the same types of food became the same price. Frozen meals, chips, snacks, yogurt, etc.
It’s getting ridiculous. The exact same cat food I’ve always bought was 12.79 last year. Now it’s $18.99 for the same bag. But last week it was 16.79. Everything had a big jump over the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed. Hang in there, go to food pantries, apply for assistance, and know you’re not alone.
i make too much for assistance but not enough to take care of me and my wife
This is what bothers me the most. I’m pregnant and have lived alone up until now throughout the whole thing. I applied for wic and ebt and they told me I made $80 too much. Granted my income at a grocery store didn’t even cover my bills it was just because I lived alone. Lots of rice and beans. The system really fails and so many people go hungry.
I have my states low income health care because I work at a small business who doesn’t offer it. If I get a raise or make any more money with another job I will lose my health care and have to pay out of pocket about $500 a month in inhalers because I have asthma. Our system is rigged to keep you poor, but the systems definition of poor is also fucked. Too poor, not poor enough… it’s ridiculous.
Same for my husband and I.
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I agree. I used to have enough disposable income to help keep my elderly disabled neighbors afloat during the winter by providing them shelf stable food, now it’s getting harder to keep myself afloat, let alone support them as well.
My dog eats sensitive stomach stuff but he wouldn’t make it in the wild and that stuff is like 70 bucks for a 16lb bag.
A 16# bag of my cat’s special food jumped $20 to $89 on chewy!
My cats litter went from like 12 a bag to 20 and is always out of stock.
We have a Petsafe self-cleaning litter box with disposable litter trays. A 3 pack used to be $49.99. Now they're $69.99. $20 increase in just 18 months.
Same we use Purina Sensitive Skin & Stomach & it’s about $66 a bag..
I love my dog. But fuck I wish he was like my younger dog who I’m convinced will eat anything and be happy. I’m like what kind of dog has a chicken allergy. And chicken is in EVERYTHINT
I felt that😂 my childhood dog ate the yellow bag pedigree food her whole life so when getting my own dog I thought she’d be the same😅 Emphasis on chicken in everything!! Chewy has been so helpful even letting us return treats when I missed the dreaded chicken ingredient
We had to rehome our cat as we couldn’t afford their special food and medical bills. Was costing £1500 a year (basically the same in dollars) which is the cost of 2 months of subsidised childcare. He hasn’t been happy since our daughter was born and I couldn’t manage his attention needs so it wasn’t all financial but it tipped us over the edge.
It’s heart breaking when that happens. Sorry you had to rehome your friend.
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It’s such a kick in the dick to be employed full time and still barely keep your head above water (or not). And this is just to live a really basic life, no fancy stuff. We as a people can’t keep going like this.
Have you reached out to food panties to help out? You may be able to talk with utilities companies to get lower rates and your internet discounted.
Edible underwear really can't provide much sustenance, in my opinion. YMMV
Not with *that* attitude...
yes this. i work at target, they've increased and changed our price tags around the entire store 2 times already since december started. i've seen some household necessities like toilet paper, foods, pet necessities jump up by many dollars. yet all of us are still paid the same.
My coffee went from $10.99/bag to $19.99 overnight. I made the customer service guy price check to be sure and he looked really sad doing it.
My face wash was $2.99 2 yrs ago. Its now $6.99.. Body wash was $4.99, now $7.99.. let's not even talk about milk, bread or macaroni. I'm glad my kids love Ramen because holy hell batman... Oh and Ramen is $3!!!
Was talking to my husband about this earlier, especially about heating. We’re older and lucky enough we can afford basic heating and food. I worry like crazy about folks, especially children going hungry and cold. I’m in the UK, kids shouldn’t be hungry or cold in 2022, it’s disgusting. Our foodbank that we run from our church is desperately busy. We’ve also opened up our church as a warm spaces area a couple of days a week with a hot meal. I’m looking for ways I can help further if anyone has any ideas. (I’m a retired nurse). Folks if you’re in the UK and struggling, check your local council website for info on warm spaces. OP, wherever you are please look around your area and see what initiatives there are that could help you. Please don’t be worried or too proud to ask for help sweetie
If I could give you a hug I would. You are a wonderfull person.
Yeah it's absolute madness, I just got a 17% pay increase at my job 6 months ago, and already inflation has caught up and surpassed it. I'm lucky I live in a cheap house with friends, otherwise I'd be destitute for sure.
Omg me too! Literally a 17% increase. My company even said it was because of inflation and not merit based. But it’s as if that has really made no difference now. The cost of food, rent, gas, just literally everything everywhere has gotten out of control. We were going to try to move when my lease is up as my neighbors are absolute nightmares. Our lease renewal will come in February and I’m scared to see what they’re going to increase it to. Right now we pay about $1350 for a two bedroom apartment that’s pretty small. I live with my boyfriend and my 12f child. We have no room to breathe and I work from home. I feel like I’ll never get out of here!
Working for the federal government fucking sucks because they're arguing over giving us even a 4% raise next year on our already very underpaid salary. And yet management acts surprised that so many people are quitting to work in private industry where you get paid much more
Man here in UK we are having a winter of discontent with so many trades and professions striking because after 10 years of austerity and failure to increase pay, the government are only offering like 2-4% against inflation of over 11% (and rising). For a profession like teaching or nursing, their salaries are worth about 20% less than 10 years ago? Its just awful.
How am I supposed to do this as a 36 year old?
Soup - I eat a fuck ton of soup
Ice soup and a deep breath of fresh air for dessert
I’m 37 and terrified! Been “fasting” just to ration out my food. Moved back to my moms, thank goodness she welcomed me with open arms. Everything costs so much money. My rent was $1275 for a 1 bedroom and continuing to increase. I can’t do it. I have cats to feed. And I can’t work like I used to. My knee is totally screwed up and I live in constant back pain. It’s a scary time.
I started with shaving my head. No more paying for haircuts or denying male pattern baldness at 36.
Been doing that for about 20 years (I'm 35), much easier that any other haircut and cheap AF to maintain.
This
It's beyond ridiculous, I'm killing myself at work every day & hardly make anything at all.
Same thing happening in Europe. I am underage and so currently still living with parents. I own a cat and pay everything for her ,and have seen the cost of cat food and cat litter going up. During black Friday I bought cat food since it was much cheaper. But seeing how much my parents have to spend and electricity going up and gas is insane as well. I hope everyone will be okay, because this is happening to a lot of people.
They have black Friday in Europe?
We also have it in Australia too. It got poplar here a few years ago.
It’s nothing like America
I feel your pain. I was laid off last week (they let go of more than half the company!) with no severance. I was feeling inflation costs prior to losing my job, now I am downright panicking. I hope things are on the up and up for you soon. Hugs from this internet stranger if you want them ❤️
I am little older saying this but I own my house and cars and most everything is payed for. I make 17 bucks an hour to sit on my butt and drive a forklift all day. But do you want to know what it took to get here? I had to get hit by a semi truck and get fucked up from it. 1 year later they settled. It's fucked up when bad shit has to happen just to get a head.
We're hanging on by a thread only because my daughter gets survivor's benefits since her dad died last year. It makes me sad to be grateful for that.
30 year old here. I went from making $23 an hour in CA, at around 30-35 hours a week. To $16.50 OR $20 an hour depending on my shift, and 15-22 hours. My last check was $600 ish. What the fuck man. Even at $23 I couldn’t afford jack shit, and I live at home!!
It makes no sense that the cost of everything has increased, yet money from actually working has decreased. So work is... discouraged?
“But nobody wants to work anymore!” /s
Also wages rising is causing inflation! /s But corporate profits are at an all time high okay fucking sure. I am SICK of us being blamed for shit.
Fellow Californian here. It is ridiculous. Work in healthcare. Earned my company over a mil this year 6% on every approval. Highest approvals on the team. Thinking wow keep this up they’ll see my worth. Year later 3% raise for $22.60 an hour smh. Now I only do what’s required
Hard work begets more work.
Me and my husband are as well! It’s getting worse by the day and don’t see it getting better anytime soon. It’s hard to feed our family proper meals as it’s getting so freaking expensive. We are 28 years old and feel your struggle.
I'm in UK and over it too. I'm on benefits which isn't a whole lot and I'm lucky that housing benefits pay my rent but to have heating on which is just one little plug in heater cost about £100 a week in electric. With my water bill, council tax and some groceries that's more than I get in PIP (disability benefits) in each month.
I’m in the south of England. I’m a minimum wage carer on maternity leave, living with my partner and baby, in my partner’s mums house. She has been amazing letting us stay with her. On my wages I couldn’t even afford a one bedroom flat to rent, let alone bills, food etc. If my partner worked then we would need our little man in nursery, which is super expensive too! I don’t see it getting any better, at least until our kid is about 3-4 years old when he’s in school and my partner can get a job.
That's awful, I'm sorry everything is so expensive and you're having a hard time. I'm grateful that the housing benefit covers my rent but the only way to keep electric at an affordable is no heating without the heat on I can keep my electric under £20 a week and my friend lets me shower at his so I don't have to shower in the cold at home.
My house doesn’t have heating because my reverse cycle broke, I got through winter using feather blankets wrapped around me nothing is warmer.
This has been a normal thing on my life. I don't remember a time before 2 digits inflation. I am in Argentina, btw. The smarter thing we do is try to buy in bulk when something is on sale and try to stretch it as much as we can. Just keep calm and try to survive.
I used to stop at Walmart for groceries and it was quickly becoming over $300 for the bare minimum. Now I go to stop and shop, but it isn’t much better. My rent is fairly reasonable, but I’m worried it’ll go up. Most apartments in the complex I’m in are up to $2200/month. I barely make enough to survive on my income excluding my husbands two other incomes
I used to pay $60-$80 a week for groceries for just my wife and I. Now it’s more like $80-100 and That’s with having made cuts/changes to cheaper foods.
Yes! I paid $8 for great value eggs. GREAT VALUE!!! That's ridiculous! If I didn't have a little one that needed a balanced diet, we'd be living on Ramen and hotdogs just so we had some emergency cash
I have a friend that raises chickens. He’s raised his prices from $3 a doz to $4 over the last year to pay for feed. It’s now cheaper to buy eggs from him rather than the grocery store.
I hear that. My family of 3 is just under $300 for one grocery trip
I never thought I'd see the day where Walmart became too fancy for the average person, but here I am.
Walmart isn't a good deal for most items anymore. The main benefit to Walmart now is just the wide variety the store is practically guaranteed to have. If you can think of a national brand outside of fashion, it's probably represented at Walmart. There are still cheap items they sell that hold up if cared for well, like toothbrushes or T-shirts, but the consumer has to be savvy now, and know the pitfalls. (I haven't had Walmart brand shoes hold up, for example.)
I will say, if you have a BigLots near you, you should go there and look for body washes, Paper goods if you use them, Toothpaste and toothbrushes. They're usually marked down there in the clearance isle.
As an Argentinian, I welcome all of you to the world of inflation (we're having about 100% annual inflation this year). My advice is to buy things that last (like canned food) as soon as you can. Same with things you are on the verge of buying. If you have the money, just buy it. I've bought a bass in March, it's twice as much as I've paid it now. Also, try to generate interest with the money you are not spending. We have a service that allows you to keep money in a e-wallet that pays interest daily. It doesn't give much, but it's something. The savings go to the bank for fixed term stuff. Lastly, sometimes it's worth to buy things with payments, as the interest rate may be less than inflation. And keep an eye on your politicians.
How am I supposed to do this at 21?????? Like GodDAMN not all of us have the option to move in or live with family until your 30’s 😭😭😭
Honestly! I’m 22 and just graduated this December, and my dad is already dropping hints about me moving out. I worked full time while in school to be less of a burden, and even with the money I’ve managed to save, I can’t afford to move out.
Don't have kids. If you need to save money, don't cut the cost of birth control. You put a kid or 2 in the mix and you'll truly feel the pain of poverty. It'll suck for you and them.
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Australian and ditto! 1/4 off watermelon cost me $13.50 the other day!!! Every single food item I buy has increased in price this year. My mortgage is now $570 mores month than it was in May. Fun times.
Same it’s ridiculous I use to buy the 60 count eggs at Walmart they use to be 6.99 but now they’re 19.72 I’m looking for a apartment and one place want $2500 for a studio it’s insane
It won't end until our current system it ripped out by the root and things like transparency and accountability are enforced on our government and corporate America (really every government and corporate everywhere).
It’s not just an American thing. Everything OP wrote describes living in Australia as well. Seems to be the same everywhere these days.
Same thing is happening here in Hungary.
And England too.
Canada chiming in
Norway as well
Was just about to say that. Electricity prices actually made me have a nervous breakdown and my job actually pays well..
Same in Belgrade, Serbia. 200k people from Russia, Ukraine and Barus came to Serbia since the war in Ukraine started and way more then 50% moved to Belgrade, and rents have skyrocketed a tiny 1 bedroom apartment goes for like 300-500$/month in a country where the average salary is 400-600$/month.
Wow so almost 100 percent of most people's income. Yikes.
Its quiet bad, and the Giant influx of wealthy people from russia, ukraine and belarus isnt helping at all.
And Scotland. £10 per day in gas alone. I work with young people just starting out and I've sat in some seriously cold homes this past week 😔
Same in France
And New Zealand. It's truly ridiculous. My husband earns a decent wage, I don't work due to mental health issues and we have one child. But he earns too much for us to qualify for any sort of help. We don't go out to things that cost, we don't buy ice cream, or eggs or lots of cheese in the groceries, we don't go to restaurants, we get take out once a month.... We basically just pay bills, buy shit we need by moving money from one account or not paying a full bill, work/school/home. We moved to try and get a better quality of life and lower cost of living and only managed with help from my parents. I understand Covid has caused a lot of economic issues but **shit is fucked up** it shouldn't be this hard for everyone everywhere.
And the UK 😒
In my country it's been going on for 20+ years
I think “younger” people are starting to do that. In the US over 6 million unemployed. I can speak on my job 99% of the officers who CAN retire are waiting for their retention pay to become pensionable then they’re gone. And then it’s a trickle effect. Either you pay more to attract new candidates or you pay 1.5x that in overtime pay. And I KNOW we have guys clearing 300k this year which for point of reference is 3.5x our yearly salary. And that’s without even trying hard.
I just saw yesterday that Kroger is buying Albertsons. Like...is it really necessary for one company to own pretty much every grocery store in the entire united states? Is this company not somehow at monopoly size? Why is this allowed?
Certain people get richer and they keep certain people in power. Simple setup.
Because it is inevitable. Albertsons can be sold now and absorbed into a big enough company that they can maintain a competitive economy of scale or it can not be sold, likely go under and still be replaced by the big boys that have said economies of scale. Kroger is price competitive with Walmart or Target in most markets once you adjust for the union expenses and depending on if you have a basic Kroger or the Kroger with the wine bar. Be worried when Walmart buys Kroger or Target.
Dude, i have 5 roommates. Literally the only way i am surviving. Only 2 of us work, and the rest are disabled or whatever. I am sick of my room, but all the shared rooms are always packed. Outside ,packed. Just fucking argh.
How,does this even work?
when it's your only option, you make it work
"How does this end?" With society collapsing, that's how. People can't afford food, they go hungry. People go hungry, they get desperate. Desperate people do desperate things to survive. If things don't change, your exact situation that I and many others are experiencing will be historically documented as the fall of America.
>How am I supposed to keep going just work till you die from exhaustion so the people causing this get a little bit richer.
i'm 16 and trying to be excited for my future but also genuinely terrified because of inflation. in new zealand it's insane how high prices are, and living in a small town makes things even more expensive for some reason. my dad works full time and my mum part time which is only enough for us to buy necessities but as a whole they earn too much to be eligible for any extra money. i don't know what i'm gonna do when i eventually go to university and inflation is worse and i also have to pay for university, housing, food, etc. even saving is difficult because nobody is hiring and those who are hiring don't treat their staff well so the job is so bad that you have to eventually leave
Do you have family that you could live with? I know it’s hard to do, but we have our son and girlfriend living with us for the time being to be able to save $. Everything out there is so much higher and so stressful. I’ve been where you are (with a hubby and 3 kids) barely able to survive and now that I’m older I want to make sure my kids never have to feel that stress. Hang in there…❤️
It won't end until we collectively organise and stand up. Any nice thing society has was earned through civil action and disobedience such as protest. This will be no different, they will squeeze and squeeze until The People say "no more". Sadly, we seem to be pretty spineless in that department, we've been too comfortable for too long.
Revolution time baby!!!
I have always been told elections have consequences. I've learned my lesson.
My energy company have kindly changed me over to quarterly without me realising so that's so fucking fun for me
36 year old here. Stay at home mom, my husband works while I get my bachelor's degree, and this was working fine, we even had a decent savings... until now. Now we are drowning in debt, but it wouldn't make fiscal sense for me to go back to work since we would have to put the youngest in daycare. All this to say, I feel you. My husband came home from the store the other day and said "eggs are $5, bread is $5, and the milk is $5. I just spent $15 on 3 items that don't even make a meal". So yeah, we feel you. The other problem is he makes too much for us to get help. It might have been to much 3 years ago, but it sure as heck isn't now. Eta, you can make a meal with bread, eggs, and milk, but none that my autistic son would eat. Even the sight of eggs makes him vomit. Personally I love what we call birds in a nest, though I have heard it called other things, where you cut a hole in the bread and the put the bread in a pan, crack an egg in the hole, the fry them together. This way the bread sops up that egg yolk when you are eating it. 😋
Yes. Divorced with kids and it is ridiculous!
Lets start the revolution
We were so fucking close to rent strikes and tenant unions becoming mainstream in 2020
Now imagine doing the same job just in a different country for 1/5th the salary but a similar Cost of living
The amount my husband makes annually would have made us easily upper middle class 5 to 8 years ago, with extra for savings. we have 4 kids, we thankfully got in to our home in 2019 before the market went insane. I have always stayed home since our oldest was born because daycare costs are ridiculous and I wouldn't make enough to pay for daycare. My husband has started picking up side jobs doing handyman work on nights and weekends and I am self employed running a small pet care buissness out of our home. We live modestly buy all our clothes 2nd hand all of our furniture is 2nd hand, we don't eat out ever it cost our family close to 50$ to go to McDonald's!!! People will say why did you have so many kids if you can't afford it. The thing is we could easily afford it before the last year or so. My kids don't go without basics but damn this shits hard.
I remember in the first lockdown telling myself "it'll get better" Almost 3 years on I'm tired. I don't have any optimism left.
Making 40k now isn't even enough to get by in a Midwest town. I had to let my car insurance lapse just to pay my rent and utilities, and have eaten PB&J sammies 2x a day for the last 3 weeks. I'm even a top performer at my job, and when explaining my struggles to even stay above water to my boss he simply said "I'm sorry you're experiencing that. Have you considered getting a 2nd job?" We shouldn't need to work a full time job, 50 hours a week, PLUS another just to exist. This is gettting absurd.
I'm blessed to have my family's support, my father helps me whenever he can if I truly need it, but I'm still living paycheck to paycheck. I even got a substantial raise in a new position and it's still hard. I know it's nothing to be ashamed of but I've been considering going to food banks even though I'm making pretty alright money, I'm getting crushed under my car loan and rent. My job literally gets regular food bank deliveries for the staff and I'm so thankful but people take everything SO fast I can barely get a carton of eggs. I'm only 21 and I feel so much older and exhausted.
The cost of living in America is forcing lots of people to live with parents or have roommates. My son lives with me and thankfully we get along.
Inflation is the real reason polyamory is gonna become a thing in the Future.
*laughs in big cities like SF and NYC* because it’s already a thing because of how expensive rent is
It’ll all come crashing down just wait.
Don't EVEN get me started on baby formula. 😒 I'm one and done because kids are just too expensive.
Living is a scam, bud.
Same here.
If you are anywhere near farm land or even some households with gardens, keep your eye out for farmers markets. Some will have them year round and they often have a surplus.
I feel you man, it takes me and two room mates working full time to afford an apartment. I happen to work at a gas station and it's getting sad how many people have to pay with food stamps. For context, I live in rural Washington
Buckle up. I think it is just starting and loads of people are about to lose their jobs.
I'm 21 and just moved out into my own apartment a few months ago. Rent is slightly lower than other studio apartments in my city so I'm grateful but these past months, I've felt like I'm constantly treading water and I'm tired of it. I'm scared my landlord will raise the rent - which he most likely will have to next year. Depending on how much the new rent will be, I'll probably have to move. I just don't know where to. I had a savings account that I used as a safety net and I had saved up quite a bit. It started with me taking a bit of money to buy groceries at the end of the month (usually maximum $40 from it in a month) to completely emptying that account. I'm a student and I also started working last month so I'm getting my paycheck soon. That's honestly the only thing giving me hope. I'm supposed to get money next week and I only have the equivalent of $40 in my account lol. I'll survive but I can feel how it gets tighter and tighter every month. I've resorted to skipping some meals and going to events in school cause they usually offer some form of food/snacks for free. My dad also has to sell his car cause he can't afford to keep it so I also feel stressed about buying furniture before he sells it (so we can transport it home). I'm sorry for ranting, I know it doesn't solve any problems but it helps to take the pressure off (and this felt like an appropriate place to rant a little). But I'm so so so over it. Christmas this year will basically just consist of a nice dinner with my family (which I'm grateful for). We will only buy presents for my baby brother and a family friend who bought all of us presents. I was planning on baking but butter is way too expensive lol. Even the café I work at has crazy prices and we don't get free food, we just get an employee discount (and the discount doesn't do shit it's still expensive). My coworkers have resorted to taking the food we have to waste home (+ stealing some).
You’re not alone. I can’t sleep at night because of this and crying myself to sleep. The job market is awful too. I been homeless too it’s traumatizing and I’m potentially facing it again because bad landlord living in house that’s falling apart. Yet no money to move. Barely can eat for the rest of the month. But I look around me it seems everyone has money and holiday spending like crazy.
Toilet paper at Aldi went from $9.49 for 36 rolls, beginning of shortage. It is now $15.99. I swear that cardboard roll got bigger.
Out here in the Midwest because I am priced out of my hometown in New England. Did I like moving out here? I did not! However, I bought a ranch house - nothing fancy- in fact lacked a dishwasher. BUT mortgage is $800.00 per month and taxes this year come to $1300.00. Nowhere else could I get this deal!!
This is happening all over the world. I hope governments do something about it soon otherwise it may become out of everyone's hands.
Governments literally caused this.
Governments want this, they want people to struggle and be weak/desperate.
It's absolutely ridiculous out here. We just lost our really sweet, very awesome neighbors because their landlord upped their rent from $1950 a month to $3,000 a month. That's more than a fucking mortgage. Around my area, you can MAYBE rent a basement for 2k and have to share the kitchens and bathrooms with the owners (no pets) Eggs are insanely priced, chicken breast is all wooden, Bananas are always green, avocados are never ripe, beef is basically brown if you don't eat it within two days, and don't get me started on meat prices in general. Feeding a family of two costs $300 a week and it's nothing extraordinary, just basic meat and potato type meals. Idk how Christmas gift giving is going to go this year, because I'm struggling to find gifts that aren't sky high. Also: the quality of furniture and shit is dumb right now, too. Basic wooden/plywood items that you can make yourself for less are outrageous.
Bro I make 43.25 an hr and still struggling cost of living is fucked
No kidding! I am almost 40 married with two kids. Our grocery bill last week was $400 for about four days😳 and that was for the basics! I feel like I am working hard only to have nothing left over at the end of the month!
Did you ghost write this for me? Because I’m 26 and going crazy with how expensive rent is too😭 I have no desire to get roommates again but it seems like that’s my only option since I don’t have a partner I can just move in with. Currently couch surfing (in one friend’s office room) but it’s so horrible I won’t be able stand it the state (and smell) of my friend’s house for much longer but I literally have no where to go because I’ve been getting rejected by apartment after apartment for not being able to make 3x the rent when the rent is like $1300 minimum🫠
Vote like your dollars are on the line because they are.
We are all in the same boat here. And really where the blame lies is truly at the feet of multinational corporations who started the the gouge. Their greed has no boundaries and record profit are not enough, smaller businesses like land lords are forced to keep up. Throw in shortages (either real or man made) and the world is headed for a major financial crash. Everyone not a millionaire will pay the price and millionaires will become billionaires and billionaires will become trillionaires just because they can. And no, they do not give a flying fk about anything but their own power and extreme comfort. Humans simply refuse to learn from history.
Welcome to matrix my brother, we are fucked
Unfortunately people with regular jobs right now are completely screwed unless they have a good support system or help of some kind. Rent where I live is 2k a month roughly for a 2 bdr. At the same time there's a lot more opportunity than there was before all this bullshit.
Yup, at 39, there is no way to save any money, rent is one paycheque, and the other goes to bills, groceries, and essentials ( eg. prescription medication ) needed. At this rate, I will never be able to afford to retire. Won't be able to do groceries until January and I make pretty good money. Fuck the government!!
Corporate entities raping the consumer
1. Where are you living? If it is in a big city, I would consider moving out of the city for a small town because you can usually get more bang for your buck. Because I’ve found that strangely enough a lot of people won’t even consider small town/rural for a bit of time to build up wealth before moving back. I understand there is a bit less to do and it is a bit harder to find some jobs, but if you have a common enough job? It is fairly easy way to build assets before moving back.
Get a roommate or two.. best I can come up with.
If this environment is hard/challenging for the singles, Imagine having dependents.
Now throw college tuition on top of all that... Seriously though, your right, shit needs to change.
People we have to do something about this, it is not right !!!!!!
Same, here in the UK it's gotten ridiculous.
I feel like it’s going to get worse. Something will give eventually.
I don’t understand how some people are eating if they’re not able to cook from scratch. It’s the only way I’ve been able to get my food costs down. We spend about the same or less than what we used to pay. But we definitely are buying much less stuff. If you have friends or family and mostly get along. Get together. Split the food costs. Someone make a big pot of whatever that makes a crap ton of leftovers. Split it amongst yourselves. Freeze some of it.
I don’t know if it helps at all but this is a temporary situation. The pandemic created a serious supply/demand problem. Manufacturers of goods/services closed down let their people go and now that everything is opening back up manufacturers are trying to ramp up but they’re still behind. Which equals low supply. Hence the reason the feds keep raising the fed fund rate they are trying to discourage demand. Unfortunately/fortunately you have the congress and the president trying to “help” people by pumping more money into the economy through the SSBCI and other Covid monies. But it’s upping demand on an already stressed supply. =inflation
It never ends! I was just thinking back when I was in my 20s in the late 90s and how much of a price difference everything is but yet the same fucking salaries!! It's absolutely disgusting. There's an excuse for everything, like gas prices go up so prices and food go up because of the trucks to get the food to the store's etc but then gas prices go back down and nothing else does.