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> The typical worker takes home $3308 per month The article is a good read, but to anyone who's felt the belt tighten lately, it will likely contain no surpris

> The typical worker takes home $3308 per month The article is a good read, but to anyone who's felt the belt tighten lately, it will likely contain no surprises. I'm just going to make a couple points of comparison to my own situation. I take home about 7k monthly after taxes. This is our sole income. That puts us about on par with the "typical" household with two working adults. Our monthly mortgage payment is about 1700 on a 1200 sq ft house which is really too small for our family of five. I often find myself regretting our conservatism when we purchased our home in 2020. We figured that we were buying a starter home for the next few years, but with rates doubled since then and with the crazy housing prices, it's going to be a long time before we can consider an upgrade. That's on a 250k mortgage. Often wish we'd taken another 100k, which probably would have increased our payment to the mid 2k range... We could afford that nowadays. Hindsight... Our grocery bills have been excessive, well over 1000 monthly. Grocery store prices seem like they've almost doubled over the last few years. Amenities like summer camps and pool memberships in our area are also pretty high, and spots are limited and competitive. Over the summer keeping the kids entertained was tough and expensive. We're extremely fortunate to make the kind of money I make. We're able to pay our bills, save, and maintain a nice lifestyle. We feel squeezed but aren't in any danger of homelessness or starvation. We're comfortable, but lots of luxury stuff is out of reach. We camp for vacation. We tend not to make big purchases. We just had to have $2500 worth of plumbing work done. We could afford it but it sure sucked. We've often considered moving home. We're from a rural area about an hour from the metro area we live in now, and with remote work a tech job back home is actually plausible now. But the schools back home are pretty low ranked, whereas right now we live in one of the top districts in the state. I don't have some grand point to make, guess I'm just laying out what life looks like on an average+ dev salary (155k gross). I can't help but wonder how people making substantially less are managing, especially in the cities.

crtified 3y ago
> I can't help but wonder how people making substantially less are managing, especially in the cities. The way we manage is to make a lot out of (what you would probably consider to be) a little. For reference, I live in a country with living costs comparable to the US, and my wife & I's combined annual income is about $30K USD, or around one-fifth of yours. Our only vehicle is worth less than what you just paid your plumber, and my house's hot water system is coming up on 70 years old, but the thought of replacing it for nicety is out-of-the-question. If it blows up one day, then that's an emergency we'll wail about when it happens. We pay a much smaller mortgage on a smaller house in a remoter location, we have no children, and that whole "vacations, sports teams, extra car for the wife, buying clothes, etc etc" mainstream paradigm is just ... not in the picture. We live differently, yet still, funnily enough (considering the salary disparity) fairly happily and comfortably. I want for little - assuming we put aside large existential things like 'end of your bloodline', which I try not to dwell upon. Among many other things, I spent part of the past few years figuring out how to significantly reduce our food bills, basically by learning to purchase smart, cook well, and waste little. I equate that to somebody working extra-hard in the office to earn a salary raise. I hope this gives some little context.
- Dig1t 3y ago
  I urge you to really think about the “end of your bloodline” thing. I know so many smart people who are going to take themselves out of the gene pool because they don’t want to sacrifice modern comforts. It makes me really sad and I think a lot of people are doing what you’re doing and just ignoring the problem. The future needs more smart, kind, people. Not fewer. It is worth it to sacrifice a little to create the next generation, goodness knows there were generations before you that sacrificed much more so that you could ultimately end up living, and it’s easier that you think, especially if you’re in a country that provides a decent social safety net.
  - crtified 3y ago
    Thank you for the implied kind sentiments and valid points.
  - pcthrowaway 3y ago
    > The future needs more smart, kind, people. Not fewer. The wealthy capitalists who created this situation in the first place are largely going to be the ones inheriting the future. I don't want to bring more "good, kind, people" into existence to be exploited by them. This is where we're heading. "Good people" can't solve it, because they're far less likely than the plutocrats to even be able to survive comfortably.
    - Dig1t 3y ago
      You are right, they did create this situation and they are going to be inheriting the future. But your demoralization only benefits them even more, they want you to give up because ultimately they and their offspring will take the resources you and your family had. Life is a struggle sometimes, but we shouldn't just give up, you have to keep fighting. Life only seems terrible for us because we are viewing it in comparison with the generation that came before us, which was an anomaly in the broader scope of history. Before them (the boomers) life was even worse than we have it now, but that does not mean that there can't be a bright future for those who choose to continue fighting. Your removal from the gene pool is not only the end of your family, which fought for generations to secure a future for you, but it is also a small death of your culture and your values, which I think are great and deserve to continue on.

crtified 3y ago

> I can't help but wonder how people making substantially less are managing, especially in the cities. The way we manage is to make a lot out of (what you would probably consider to be) a little. For reference, I live in a country with living costs comparable to the US, and my wife & I's combined annual income is about $30K USD, or around one-fifth of yours. Our only vehicle is worth less than what you just paid your plumber, and my house's hot water system is coming up on 70 years old, but the thought of replacing it for nicety is out-of-the-question. If it blows up one day, then that's an emergency we'll wail about when it happens. We pay a much smaller mortgage on a smaller house in a remoter location, we have no children, and that whole "vacations, sports teams, extra car for the wife, buying clothes, etc etc" mainstream paradigm is just ... not in the picture. We live differently, yet still, funnily enough (considering the salary disparity) fairly happily and comfortably. I want for little - assuming we put aside large existential things like 'end of your bloodline', which I try not to dwell upon. Among many other things, I spent part of the past few years figuring out how to significantly reduce our food bills, basically by learning to purchase smart, cook well, and waste little. I equate that to somebody working extra-hard in the office to earn a salary raise. I hope this gives some little context.

Dig1t 3y ago
I urge you to really think about the “end of your bloodline” thing. I know so many smart people who are going to take themselves out of the gene pool because they don’t want to sacrifice modern comforts. It makes me really sad and I think a lot of people are doing what you’re doing and just ignoring the problem. The future needs more smart, kind, people. Not fewer. It is worth it to sacrifice a little to create the next generation, goodness knows there were generations before you that sacrificed much more so that you could ultimately end up living, and it’s easier that you think, especially if you’re in a country that provides a decent social safety net.
- crtified 3y ago
  Thank you for the implied kind sentiments and valid points.
- pcthrowaway 3y ago
  > The future needs more smart, kind, people. Not fewer. The wealthy capitalists who created this situation in the first place are largely going to be the ones inheriting the future. I don't want to bring more "good, kind, people" into existence to be exploited by them. This is where we're heading. "Good people" can't solve it, because they're far less likely than the plutocrats to even be able to survive comfortably.
  - Dig1t 3y ago
    You are right, they did create this situation and they are going to be inheriting the future. But your demoralization only benefits them even more, they want you to give up because ultimately they and their offspring will take the resources you and your family had. Life is a struggle sometimes, but we shouldn't just give up, you have to keep fighting. Life only seems terrible for us because we are viewing it in comparison with the generation that came before us, which was an anomaly in the broader scope of history. Before them (the boomers) life was even worse than we have it now, but that does not mean that there can't be a bright future for those who choose to continue fighting. Your removal from the gene pool is not only the end of your family, which fought for generations to secure a future for you, but it is also a small death of your culture and your values, which I think are great and deserve to continue on.