Life's Too Expensive (why no one can afford anything anymore)

Today on the show, we're talking about the fact that so many people feel life has become unsustainably expensive.

My friend works at a biotech startup and despite making more money than ever, is in credit card debt for the first time.

[GrkGk]

20 years ago an old man told me "you can only make so much money but you can ALWAYS spend less". For a while I thought he was wrong but after living through some financial ups and downs today I know it to be true.

[JaDanBar]

I've been married for 2 years... in those 2 years my wife and I have both received decent pay raises...and yet we can afford less now than when we first got married

[compromisedssh]

Millennial with a real job here. I work remotely and mostly bounce around Latin America. Cost of living is unbeatable. I currently have a three bedroom apartment in the nicest building in the nicest part of Quito. I'm paying $1400 per month. The view is amazing. It overlooks Parque Carolina, which is Quito's version of Central Park. Couldn't be happier.

[johnm]

$66, 000 a year just for rent is insane especially for a 1BR apartment. So much harder for young people now than when I was your age. Good luck to all of you.🙏

[GrkGk]

In my experience, the vast majority of people cannot afford to live where they would ideally like to live. Most people live where they can afford to live instead.

[jopmota]

"You don't have three dollars??!!" hahahahaha that one kills me everytime

[sheviper]

Agree with your points. Also people's expectations of what are normal requirements has gone up a lot in terms of beauty, clothes etc. Its pretty normal for people to have nails, botox, fillers etc in lots of groups, latest computer and phone... It's interesting watching caleb hammers financial audits, so many people have death by 1000 cuts with subscriptions and doordash etc and putting things on credit card and not understanding need to pay it back to avoid interest. Oh and Americans obsession with having flash cars and putting them on cc seems to be a huge factor as well. There's also a sense when watching tiktok that lots of people are living a life of luxury but much of that is manufactured

[Black-March]

Bought apartment around 2014, paid it off just as interest spiked like crazy.. Had some really rough years paying the apartment off, spending far too much time at work and not enough time out and about. But I'm so happy I did it. No debt, no credit cards, just living life with no major worries.

[petrov]

I bet there are 1 bedroom apartments in nyc less than $5500. The one you showed looked really nice and new. When me and my wife started our careers we lived in a lot more modest apartment trying to save for a house, bought used cars and drove them till they turned 13 years old. I bought my first new car for $23k well after I turned 40. All these time I was making pretty good money as a software engineer and definitely could afford to spend more. I just tried not to spend it on avocado toasts and beautiful apartments. Now we own a few rental houses and we take care of our tenants . some of them are in a difficult life situation. If not for landlords like us it is likely they would be priced out from the area by people who are in a better financial position and would just buy those houses we own. What blackstone is doing is called capitalism and that’s why we who live in this country on average richer than people in Europe or elsewhere. If You want cheaper apartments Midwest has plenty of them and the job market there is good as well. It is just not fun to live there and they may not be able to make a proper avocado toast.

[roc]

a neoclassical economist should explain why rent control does not work when the landlord is a corporation? they keep saying rent control hurts small landlords, but how about a hedge fund?

[helpyourcattodrive]

I remember when the first $6 smoothies came out! And I thought that was too much. Cost of living these days is just too high!

[MJ-inee]

I feel like i cant do anything anymore. 2000$+ for rent plus health insurance(220$), 4 day vacations with the lady are almost 1000$, aftermarket car parts are 500-1000$, dirtbikes are 2500$, 50$ in groceries get you some bread milk lunchmeat and some other things. I made 50k last year and probably gonna make the same this year. I feel like i cant afford to do anything fun without effecting my financial position greatly.

[tkenben]

"Too expensive to borrow." Such an easy encompassing concept to grasp now hearing it from you, and it explains so much.

[cryptoorchid]

listen to the podcast "Nomad Capitalist". It has the motto: live where you are treated best. PS: why has this channel only 16k subscribers? Should be 600k

[wachtwoord]

So Carly: why the hell do you voluntarily live in New York? Even worse: Manhatton?

I wouldnt live there if they paid me.

[angie--]

Many of the comments are discussing being frugal, which yes, for some that may be true. But for some, it’s choosing between not being able to pay car insurance or electricity or rent. Our family, and many other families, are currently struggling to pay for the basics. Even with living with in an inexpensive rental, having no car payments, using the cheapest phone plan available… it’s still hard to purchase food (which I make our bread and other things from scratch in order to cut costs). It’s still not enough.

It’s depressing and crushing. My husband and I used to be able to have simple date nights. I feel like we can’t afford to use gas to just go to church every Sunday.

[StuartConsulting]

It’s not rocket science, you don’t need avocado toast, you don’t need designer clothes, you can make nice coffee at home, you just need decent parents imparting good values like being frugal, and access to good education. I am retired and have more wealth than I know what to with it. Most of my accumulated wealth will be unspent and inherited to family. Get rid of debts, whatever it takes. My indulgences has been spent on experiences like travelling from Australia to Europe 4 times, and not on dumb possessions to feed my ego.

[jaimebarr]

Enter Bernie: "Billionaires shouldn't exist. They really are like Dragons laying on mountains of gold."

[jeffn]

Upon realizing most of the stuff I kept in the fridge was unhealthy anyway, I recently shut the stupid thing off for good (and I mean good). Being a little eco-friendlier, and I've never eaten cheaper _and_ healthier: rice, beans, potatoes, pasta, oatmeal, grits, apples, bananas, dehydrated kale, vitamins and supplements. It's also nice not being woken up multiple times a night by the fridge in my studio apt: got woke, now sleep better. Trying to make the retirement thing work, at the same time staying tough, keeping it real, ready at any time mentally to resume work if I have to.

But these are personal decisions. Empower yourself to stay in NYC if that's what your happiness depends on. Tough it out and be real to yourself in your own unique way.

[nolongeranurse]

Weird...I make 30k a year and live just fine..no debt at all even paid my house off...have all I need and quite a few wants...it's amazing how great life is once you buy your freedom back..I worked 80+ hours a week for 8 years to do so..worth every second