how are people affording to live?

[Senkusha]

so genuine question: how are you affording to live? where do you live? what do you do for work and how much do you make? whats your average rent and bills?

I'm living in the United States.  I've lived in various States throughout my life, and I'm 50 now.  I've lived on the East Coast, the West Coast, down South, the Midwest, the Ohio Valley, and I found my way over to New England.  I live just outside of Boston now, one the most expensive areas in the country to live.

It's a struggle.

I earn $17.30 an hour.  Work 35 hours a week, commute one-way 1.5 hours to 2 hours just to get to work, by public transportation.  I have very little free time.  I have no children.  No pets. No social life.  Dare I say, I have no friends-- something I desperately want to change.

My rent is $1650 every month.  This is a cheap place that I lucked into.  It's only one bedroom with one bathroom.  It's just big enough for my Partner and I.  I should probably mention that I don't own a car.  That's a luxury item.  The payment, gas, maintenance, parking, insurance.  It all costs too much.

Food.  I buy a lot of things in bulk, dry, shelf stable stuff from work.  I work in a food service warehouse, so I have this option available to me.  To get it home, I have to pay $40 one direction in an Uber or Lyft, so I try to only do this shopping once a quarter (three months).  I don't order out.  We don't dine out.  We eat mostly rice, beans that have to be soaked all day.  We eat frozen chicken breast or thighs.  Ground sausage.  Beef is a luxury.  I've learned how to bake.  I make my own tortillas.  I recycle my bacon grease.  I've learned how to make my own butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and ice cream.  I'm making my own vinegar.  I use any fruit solids in muffins or breads when I make juices (like the apple cider I'm making tonight).

We're growing some of our own food.  We've invested in a hydroponic tower to grow herbs.  We've got a couple of pots filled with dirt for other veggies.  I'm learning how to pollinate plants manually.

Both my partner and I are attempting to freelance write for additional cash.  She's on SSI (and now receives about $800 a month-- for the last two years it was $72 a month, because of a "clerical error").

I pay for our cell phones once a year, out of my taxes.  That's what's supposed to be the monthly bill.  I pay it all in one shot.  I use Mint Mobile.  The cheapest plan I could find. Five GB of monthly data.  I use my internet sparingly.  I don't stream anything.  I don't watch television either.  You might think that I live a pretty boring life.

I'm in chronic pain from standing all day, wearing poor footwear for years-- recently just fixed that, I think.  Can't afford to go to the doctor as much as I should, so my teeth are rotting, I'm vitamin deficient, and most of what I know comes from internet searches and Chat GPT.

We've had to beg for financial assistance more than a few times this year.

How do we survive this economy?  Barely.  By cutting EVERYTHING.  Life IS boring.  HOPE is what keeps us going.  Hope that our crappy leadership will change and we'll be granted decent people who aren't totally morally corrupted.

Yes, I chose to live here.  I cannot flee the United States.  But, even if I could, where would I go?  It's expensive here.  But I have decent public transit, and most of the people are kind and compassionate.  I've moved around enough during my life.  I'm staying put.  Besides, I don't have triple the amount of rent, plus moving expenses, plus everything else that goes into moving-- especially finding a different job.  Because NOBODY wants to hire a 50 year old.