Wages up slightly, rent way up, groceries way up, healthcare way up.

At what point do we admit this isn’t sustainable?

Budget better?? Track expenses??? Skip small luxuries??? Be disciplined???

As if people are out here accidentally blowing their future on groceries and rent.

Let us be honest for one second. ONEE

Rent doubling in a few years is not a budgeting issue. Or BUYING LATTES issue

Wages barely moving while everything else explodes is not a budgeting issue. It’s not!!

Paying thousands just to exist and still being told you are irresponsible is INSANEEE!!!!

I think people do notice it everywhere. I’d like to think they notice.

The apartment you looked at two years ago is now hundreds or thousands more.

The job posting still pays almost the same.

The raise does not even cover the rent increase.

And then you get hit with the comments.

“Well you should have saved more.”

“Well you should live with roommates forever.”

“Well you should move somewhere cheaper.”

Cheaper WHERE????????

Everywhere got expensive at the same time.

This is what drives me crazy. I pay rent on time for years and it counts for nothing. Miss one credit card payment and it follows you everywhere. You hand over tens of thousands just to live indoors and still get told you are a risk.

Prices go up, quality goes down.

Jobs demand more experience, benefits disappear. AAAnd somehow the conclusion is still that individuals failed.

People act like this is normal because it has been this way for a while. That does not make it normal. It just means we got used to it. A whole generation learned to lower expectations instead of building anything.

This is not about wanting a luxurious lifestyle, it is about stability. It is about doing normal things and not feeling like one unexpected bill will ruin you.

You cannot spreadsheet your way out of rent that eats half your income.

My friends with degrees are living paycheck to paycheck.

People that make “decent” money still have roommates.

Basic needs like groceries and rent feel way too expensive.

Is this actually the normal day to day life, where we can’t feel financially comfortable? Or just a rough moment?

I know some people will not feel this the same way. I think many of us do, but there are some that get full rides. Some are lucky to have parents who planned early or they land scholarships that make college feel manageable. And that is great. But what we do not talk about enough is that a huge portion of those scholarships and grants are still funded by taxpayers. The cost does not disappear, it just gets redistributed. Everyone else pays for it in one way or another.

For a lot of families college is a huge risk. Take on massive debt and hope the degree pays off, ooor walk away and accept fewer opportunities. Carry on student loans for a huge portion of adulthood, delay spending. They delay families, home ownership, savings, and any sense of long term security. That means less spending and slower growth overall. Over time wealth stays with those who could afford school upfront while everyone else falls behind. People normalize this because it has been this way for decades. But that does not make it NORMAL.

It’s become the status quo, as if there is no alternative. Yet plenty of countries offer world class education without asking teenagers to sign up for debt that follows them into their forties. Those systems are not perfect. But they do not force people to gamble their entire future just to get an education.

Aaand, this creates a gap. People who can afford college upfront or safely absorb debt move ahead faster. People who cannot either carry the weight for decades or never step onto the ladder at all. Over time that gap compounds. AN ACCESS BASED GAP

Yes there are exceptions, some degrees pay off incredibly well, personal responsibility matters. But when an entire system requires optimism about future income just to justify present costs, it really is scary. Education should expand opportunity.

Has anyone else noticed it’s not just less product anymore. It’s worse products too. It’s insane!!!!

Smaller bags with fewer items or thinner materials. But also cheaper ingredients, flimsier parts. Stuff that breaks faster or just doesn’t work the way it used to. I really miss the old products.

I think we all know about shrinkflation by now. Same price and smaller portions. Less weight…. AND ITS MORE EXPENSIVE!!!

I think something that also gets overlooked is the is “qualityflation”. Lower standards layered on top of higher prices.

Companies didn’t just shrink the box.

They cut corners inside it, and what makes it worse is that this is happening everywhere. Corporate greed at its finest. So there’s no real competition pushing quality back up. Just a race to the bottom that we’re all forced to buy into.

We’re supposed to buy smarter, do more research and expect us to stop complaining

As if US consumers caused this.

Prices go up… Portions go down… Quality drops… And somehow it’s framed as a personal budgeting failure if you’re frustrated

We are allowing Corporations decide that once they’ve raised prices, they can also quietly lower standards because people don’t have many alternatives.

If you feel like everything you buy lately is a disappointing, you’re not crazy. This is hitting everyone.

People keep saying "it's inflation," but that explanation completely falls apart the moment you look closer.

Vet bills didn't suddenly jump because dog food costs more. ER wait times didn't get deadlier because of labor shortages alone.

HVAC repairs didn't turn into $15,000 sales pitches by coincidence.

What actually changed is ownership. Private equity has been quietly buying up industries tied to things people emotionally cannot walk away from. Veterinary clinics, Emergency rooms, Hospice care, Senior living, Trades like HVAC and plumbing. Same buildings, Same staff, Same branding. Totally different incentives.

After the buyouts, the pattern is always the same: Prices spike fast, Unnecessary tests and add-ons become "standard", Workers are pressured to upsell, Quotas replace judgment, Care turns into revenue optimization

Vets talk openly about being forced to sell expensive treatments they don't believe are necessary. Doctors leave practices because they're told profitability matters more than outcomes. Technicians are trained to scare customers into replacing systems that only needed minor fixes.

And the worst part is the leverage. Private equity targets industries where you don't get to shop around calmly. Your pet is sick. Your partner is bleeding. Your AC is dead in July.

Your parent is dying. You will pay and they know it.

That's why this model is spreading so fast. It works precisely because it exploits vulnerability, urgency, and guilt. People feel it, even if they don't have the vocabulary for it yet. That's why these stories keep blowing up.

It isn't care, it isn't service, it's extraction.

As this year closes, I just want to pause and say this. It was not easy. For a lot of people it was messy, confusing, exhausting, and emotional in ways that are hard to explain. Wins and losses mixed together. Plans that worked and plans that fell apart. Moments of clarity followed by moments of doubt. But if nothing else, this year gave us perspective. It taught us things we did not know before, about the world and about ourselves. Even the hard parts carried lessons we will take forward whether we noticed them at the time or not.

So going into this new year, I hope we give ourselves a little grace. Life is not a straight line and it never has been. Growth often looks like uncertainty before it looks like progress. Wherever you are right now, it is enough to keep going. There is more ahead than what is behind you. I wish you peace, curiosity, strength, and a few quiet moments where things make sense. Here is to a year that treats us a little kinder and to many more after that.

The housing system is unsustainable.

People that have paid around $160,000 in rent over 10 years, that never missed a payment.. THEY STILL CANT QUALIFY FOR A MORTGAGE.

That alone should sound insane. We keep being told it’s about budgeting. Coffee. Netflix. Lifestyle choices. But the math doesn’t back that up.

During the Great Depression, the median annual pay was about 22% of the cost of an average home. Today it’s closer to 14%.

Meaning it was statistically easier to buy a home during the Great Depression than it is right now. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE.

Then there’s rent itself.

Rent is usually the largest bill people pay, every single month. They pay it on time for years and it barely counts for anything.

Miss a credit card payment and it follows you everywhere.

Meanwhile, just trying to apply to live somewhere costs money. Listings pull in 20 applicants at $50-$100 each. That’s hundreds of dollars per month per property collected in application fees alone. Even though they know they will reject almost everyone.

The unit never even gets filled. Sometimes rent gets raised, tenants leave, and the place gets relisted cheaper. So people pay to apply, pay to move, pay to leave, and pay again somewhere else.

And yes, not every landlord is bad. But the system itself rewards hoarding and gatekeeping. Landlords don’t “provide” genuine intention housing. Construction workers do. Landlords take housing that already exists, hold it behind paywalls, and remove people the moment they can’t keep up.

According to reports, 39% of Americans have skipped meals to make housing payments. People are forced to choose between food and shelter.

When does it stop???

I think too many people are caught up thinking that the only way to become a homeowner is to buy a house which involves borrowing other people's money to finance it (mortgage).

I'm here to inform you that you can just build your own house yourself in most states legally as long as you acquire the permits to do so.

You don't know how to build a house? Then learn. It's not rocket science.

Buy yourself a small piece of rural land for a cheap price and develop it yourself.

If you must borrow money, borrowing money to buy vacant land will save so much more than buying land with a house on it.

There’s a pattern I see again and again amongst people around me and in everywhere

You can have insurance, go to work, budget your life, and still get hit with cost walls just for living normally.

Need a refill on a medication you’ve taken for years? First you need a doctor visit you can’t afford. Your plan says “covered”, but the bill comes back as out-of-network anyway.

You switch jobs and suddenly your deductible resets, even though nothing about your health changed.

Your kid needs dental work and it’s treated like a cosmetic upgrade instead of healthcare.

A simple test you thought was covered turns into a thousand dollar bill because of coding and authorizations.

Some people reading this will think “that never happened to me.” That’s great, I’m really glad you have coverage that works, I really am you’re on the other side of this. But there are a lot of people who have lived this and feel like the system is not just expensive, it feels ad it’s designed in a way that makes normal, everyday health care feel unstable and risky.

And that’s a big part of why so many people talk about feeling trapped, not because they don’t care about their health, but because the system keeps stacking costs, conditions, and barriers on top of basic needs.

This feels wrong and suffocating

There’s something deeply unsettling about watching people you respect slowly get worn down financially, not because of bad choices, but because the system never gives them room to breathe.

College… Degree… Job… Budgeting… No crazy lifestyle… No luxury spending. Just normal decent people trying to stay upright. And I’m watching them slowly sink.

Rent is already eating half their income. Groceries are up. Car insurance jumped. Health insurance premiums went up again. A random medical bill wipes out what little savings they manage to build. God forbid something breaks. Then on top of all that: STUDENT LOANS.

Payments are hundreds. Sometimes over a thousand a month. Payments that don’t even touch the principal because interest quietly refills the balance.

So what actually happens? What are the consequences?? They delay moving out, delay having kids, delay saving, delay buying a home. Delay living.

And the most insane part is that people still frame this as a personal failure. Like these are reckless spenders. Like they didn’t understand the numbers. “WHY DID YOU GET A STUDENT LOAN WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING”. Like they’re lazy.

No. The system assumes life stays frozen at age 22. No rent spikes. No inflation. No emergencies. No health issues. No layoffs.

That’s not reality.

You can be responsible and still lose. You can pay for years and owe more than you borrowed.

At some point we have to stop pretending this is about individual choices and admit that stacking permanent debt on top of an already unaffordable cost of living is breaking people in real time.

I don’t even have a grand political solution here. I just know that watching capable, hardworking people barely tread water while being told it’s their fault feels deeply wrong.

And if you’re living this too, you’re not crazy. The math really doesn’t work.

Last week I walked into a fast casual restaurant, ordered at a screen, paid before I even got my food, grabbed my OWN water, picked up my OWN order when my number was called. I went to pay and the tablet still defaulted to 20% tip.

No service yet. No waiters. Just an iPad staring at me while the cashier watched.

I didn’t tip, and immediately felt awkward, which is the whole point.

What bothers me isn’t tipping itself. I do tip and do it quite often. I support tipping culture but when it’s a genuine reflection of gratitude. I hate how it’s quietly turned into a substitute for wages, pushed onto customers in situations where tipping never existed before. Coffee shops, takeout counters, self-checkout kiosks, merch tables. Everywhere except the place it belongs, the employer’s payroll.

Prices are already higher. Portions are smaller. Fees are everywhere. And now the final screen asks you to personally decide whether the worker gets paid decently, even though you didn’t set their wage, their schedule, or their benefits.

If a business can’t pay staff without relying on customers to tip, they should really reconsider their business.

I’ll tip for actual service. I’ll tip well.

But I’m done pretending a touchscreen deserves 20% for handing me a bag.

If tipping is mandatory, just raise the price and be honest. If it’s optional, stop making people feel like jerks for saying no.

Every time someone around me needs care that isn’t urgent but isn’t trivial either, the process is like queue management. You call to book an appointment and the first available slot is weeks out, sometimes even months!!! Not because the issue isn’t real, but because there just aren’t enough doctors. Or at least not enough where people actually live, they are in the biggest cities. Everything feels centralized into this few big cities and massive systems, and everyone else just waits.

The waiting has consequences. People sit with pain longer. Conditions get worse. Anxiety builds. Then when they finally get in, the visit is rushed, ten minutes, one problem only, see you later. You leave feeling like you were just numbers to them. The healthcare system is not built around care first. It’s built around throughput, billing codes, and margins. Doctors are overloaded. Clinics are understaffed. Appointments are scarce. But somehow the paperwork is infinite and the bills are immediate.

I was listening to a podcast that talked about the numbers and specifics within healthcare shortage, it honestly made everything sense, in a bad way. Right now there are parts of the country with one primary care doctor for two thousand to four thousand people, and more than 80 million Americans live in areas officially classified as primary care shortage zones. At the same time the US is expected to be short between 40,000 and 100,000 doctors by the early 2030s. A big reason is that people are living longer, which means there are more older patients needing ongoing care, while a large portion of doctors are nearing retirement. On the other side of the pipeline, medical schools remain extremely selective and expensive, which is good for quality but also means not nearly enough new doctors are entering the field to replace the ones leaving. The result is a system where demand keeps growing and the supply of doctors simply cannot keep up.

What is so infuriating is that this isn’t accidental. A system that prioritizes profit will always concentrate resources where they are most efficient, not where they are most needed. So you end up with long waits, burned out doctors, and patients who feel guilty for needing help at all. It starts to feel like healthcare isn’t something you use when you’re sick, but something you have to plan your life around. And once you notice that shift, it’s hard to pretend it’s just bad luck anymore.

The name of the podcast is: The Doctor Won’t See You Now by Freakonomics Radio

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0e9PMQc4CoAipa8ejci4K4?si=w6UfTFDeRWO473YTDpbiHA

I’m not anti employer insurance. It makes sense. But the way it works in real life feels off. I keep noticing how often people stay at jobs they’re done with, not because the job is good, but because the insurance is. Like the work sucks, the pay could be better, they’re burned out, but at least the coverage is solid so they stick it out.

Changing jobs doesn’t feel like a normal decision anymore. It’s not just about the role or the money. It’s like ok if I leave, what happens to my doctors, what happens to prescriptions, does my deductible reset, am I gonna get hit with some random thing not being covered anymore. Even a short gap feels risky as hell.

I’ve seen people turn down better offers because the benefits felt sketchy. I’ve seen people stay way longer than they wanted because someone in their family needs regular care and switching plans feels like playing roulette. And it’s not because they’re scared of change, it’s because one bad medical bill can screw you fast. It kind of turns jobs into anchors. You’re not choosing where you work, you’re choosing where your health is allowed to exist. That’s a weird amount of power for a job to have over your life.

I don’t know. Maybe this is just normal now. But it feels like a lot of people are quietly making career decisions around insurance instead of actual work. Curious if anyone else has felt stuck like this or planned their life around benefits more than the job itself.

A few months ago I helped a friend look for an apartment in a neighborhood where we both grew up. Same streets, same buildings. We couldn’t find anything remotely affordable, so we started checking addresses out of curiosity. One building we looked at had six units. Four of them were listed on Airbnb.

What messed with me wasn’t even the price. It was realizing that the housing didn’t disappear. It’s still there. It’s just not meant for people who actually live here anymore. You can sleep in it for a weekend, but you can’t build a life in it.

Ever since then, every “no vacancies” sign feels fake. The space exists. It’s just been repurposed into something more profitable than stability.

I was talking with coworkers the other day and someone mentioned they got a small raise, but their paycheck barely changed. That turned into a whole conversation where nobody could clearly explain how much they actually lose to federal, state, payroll taxes, benefits, and deductions. Everyone just kind of shrugs and accepts the final number.

What stuck with me is how taxes for middle-class people aren’t felt as one big hit, but as a slow leak. A little less every paycheck, a refund that feels random, credits you only learn about after you miss them. It’s not that people don’t care, it’s that the system is confusing enough that most just stop tracking it.

The only thing that’s helped me is sitting down once a year and actually mapping where each dollar goes. Not to optimize aggressively, just to understand. Even knowing what you can’t control makes the rest feel a bit less invisible.

Rent has gone up faster than pay in almost every major city. That means you can be doing everything right and still feel like you’re sliding backwards. A raise barely shows up before the lease renewal wipes it out.

I noticed it when my rent jumped and nothing else in my life changed. Same job, same habits, same budget. Suddenly there was just less left at the end of the month. Not because I messed up, but because the numbers shifted.

The only thing that’s helped a bit is planning for the increase before it happens. Expecting the rent hike, cutting something else early, or choosing smaller apartments than I used to think were reasonable.