Hey Pandas, Why Is Living A Simple Life Expensive These Days? (Closed)

• Prices Going Up: Everyday things are getting more expensive.
• Housing Costs Rising: Rent and mortgages are becoming pricier.
• Pressure to Follow Trends: Society pushes us to buy the latest stuff, making it hard to keep it simple.
• Big Bills: Healthcare and education are costing more.
• Buy More, Spend More: The idea that we need more things is making us spend more money.
• Global Changes Impacting Costs: Fuel prices and supply chain issues are making everything cost more.
• Keeping It Simple is Tough: All these changes make it feel like a simple life is getting harder and more expensive.

To add to Adam's response, salaries have not increased at the same rate that living expenses have--they really haven't increased much at all in some industries.

I live and work in the U.S., and in 2022, the annual inflation rate was 8%, but it is still considered standard that annual salary increases are 3% in my sector. In 2023, it was closer, at 3.4% inflation, but every year my salary increase is less than inflation, I am essentially taking a pay cut. That assumes my employer actually approves these increases, and doesn't hold them back because the economy has caused them to be less profitable than they expected.

It has had a pretty big impact on the cultural shift to switching jobs every few years, instead of sticking with the same employer for decades--internal salary increases don't keep up, but to be competitive in recruiting new employees, starting salaries are more likely to increase. Employers benefit when they can take advantage of employees' hesitancy to jump ship. It's part of the reason that so many use vesting for their retirement contributions--to pressure people not to leave.

I wanted to live a basic life downtown with no clothes and no house, but the police get involved, I get charged, and I'm out of money. So simple yet so expensive.