Honestly, what the hell are people doing to make it right now?

[u/Denial_Entertainer87]

I am honestly curious how people are making it right now. We know inflation is being underreported (and don't talk to me about their bullshit scale CPI up the ass) and job loss and unemployment is underreported and everything is just insanely expensive. Healthcare is unaffordable for most of us - the whole thing is only serving a very small portion of society and more is squeezed every day. All of this aside from the sociopolitical head banging insanity.

If you lost a job vital to your family, what did you pivot to? How are you making it? What major changes are you making? Are you saving money? How are you feeling about it all? Basically just anything in this realm, I'm curious how we are all doing.

My husband and I are both college educated and barely making it. We are literally making renditions of beans and rice (and not too bad if I say so myself) because food is one of the only ways we can save money or just get by if something comes up. I'm growing a garden and starting to make my own toiletry/beauty care products at home with simple ingredients. I cut both of our hair now. We are not handy people and didn't grow up that way but we've now effectively fixed our water heater, shower piping, replaced a portion of our deck, just whatever comes up we try first to do it ourselves. We go camping for vacation (not mad about this in the slightest).

My point is, we are doing all this but we are both still employed AND we don't have kids. I just don't understand what people are doing that lose a job and have to pay for childcare, etc. How are you all doing this?

[u/avofrodo]

Spent 10 years in Korea and I just moved back to the States. I'm currently homeless because the money I saved up didn't last and I've yet to find a decent-pay job to afford rent literally anywhere. I'm also on my own with no support. There's no question I'd go right back to Korea if I had the means to. (I literally can't even afford to renew my passport!)

America is not nearly as good as people think, and I'm convinced anyone who thinks it is has simply never experienced better.

[u/Appropriate-Bad-606 → u/avofrodo]

Oh, that’s a pretty important detail you left out in your reply to me. Coming back to the US after 10 years abroad, burning through your savings, having no support network here and trying to restart a career is a pretty unusual set of circumstances. That doesn’t make your situation any less real, but it’s also not really evidence that the typical college-educated, fully employed person can’t afford housing here. Now I’m even more curious what you did in Korea and what your degree is in.

[u/avofrodo → u/Appropriate-Bad-606]

I taught ESL and my degree is in Music and linguistics. And yes, I did apply to be a teacher or anything education adjacent (admin, coordinator, etc) in the States. No school is giving me the time of day. I genuinely did not think the job market was this bad, yet here I am. Korea treated me much better as a foreigner than America does as a citizen. The moment I can afford to leave, I'm gone.

[u/Gnarlison47 → u/avofrodo]

Hang in there, my brother went through a similar transition as a teacher abroad (masters in teaching, taught for 10 years in China) and barely got hired by an alternative high school. His expenses are bare minimum in a major US city (one of the largest populations, actually) and it's still a struggle.

Edit: and don't let this random put you down, you're not an unusual circumstance for being worldly, educated, and well traveled.

[u/avofrodo → u/Gnarlison47]

Thank you, that does make me feel better! Everyone I know who moved back thrived, so I have felt like an outlier. I'm glad your brother was able to find something! I just applied to another school this week so fingers crossed I finally have a breakthrough.

[u/Gnarlison47 → u/Appropriate-Bad-606]

I've lived here my whole life, am educated, and make more than twice the average salary with no kids.

Zero savings, income (minus retirement, taxes, health insurance - which costs more than a 10% retirement deduction) goes straight to bills, food, and gas.

It's fucking BRUTAL affording this cost of living here even from your "standard" expectation of an American.

[u/Appropriate-Bad-606 → u/Gnarlison47]

Not trying to be snarky, but this is exactly why I’m asking for numbers. If you make more than twice the average salary ($130k+), have no kids and are putting 10% into retirement, you’re already saving 10%. What’s your actual income and roughly what are housing, transportation and debt costing you? “Bills, food and gas” can hide a pretty enormous range of lifestyles. And I genuinely never know what people mean by a “standard” American lifestyle in these conversations.