The Economy Is Forcing People to Pinch Pennies Like Never Before

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]You know times are tough when the thugs and the gangbangers are resorting to couponing.

[00:00:08]The fact that I'm I'm standing in the store, somebody who I know is about the street life for real, iced out all over, they smell like paraphernalia, if if you catch my drift, talking about hold on, let me open up the Ibotta app. Then going to say every penny counts, right? Do Do you know how how much of an economic crisis we are in for a thug to have Ibotta on their phone?

[00:00:34]Stuff is getting real, real interesting.

[00:00:37]The sing The suburban moms out here stealing. THEY PUTTING I I I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT IT. I I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT IT. YOU stepping out of a $100,000 vehicle that that Chad paid the lease up for for a whole year, and you up there stealing. And they got you on camera. They're just waiting for you to come back again.

[00:00:56]Times are tough. I I have a serious question. What's going to happen when doctors, nurses, and other essential workers can't afford to drive to work because gas is so expensive? I really, really, really think it's just going to keep getting more expensive. I mean, somebody predicted that it would be up to $5 by the end of June, and it's one of the first weeks in May, and it's already almost to $5. What's going to happen? What's going to happen when the minimum wage stays the exact same, but everything else keeps increasing? What are we going to do? And I'm not trying to be funny or like make satire content.

[00:01:29]I promise this is a genuine question.

[00:01:31]I'm I've been trying to I I'm trying to come up with ways to reassure myself and to have hope, but how do you have hope in a situation like this?

[00:01:41]I have this constant pit in my stomach of like dread and just constant stress, because what am I going to do?

[00:01:50]Gas is $5 a gallon, and you have to spend $20 to get two items at the grocery store.

[00:01:57]Nobody can afford that. At first it was like, okay, this is getting a little a little crazy. But I mean, at this point, what are we going to do? I don't I'm not smart when it comes to this kind of stuff, like the economy or anything or finances, but I do know that logically that doesn't make sense, nor would that be sustainable for for people to live. I mean, even nurses and doctors who are making more expensive salaries, they're complaining of, you know, not being able to afford gas and groceries. What about regular people making minimum wage? I'm just so scared. You wake up every day, you see something new in the news about how everything is going up and and I'm not getting an email saying that my I'm getting a raise. What do we do? The economy is making people pinch pennies like never before. We're seeing extreme budgeting measures just to get by because people's wages are not increasing at a good rate. People are getting raises that are pennies. People are getting 2% raises. Sometimes they're not even getting raises at all.

[00:03:01]A lot of these corporations love to cancel raises for the year.

[00:03:05]Last year I had my raise canceled on me, and that really sets you behind because you're losing a full year of uh inflation adjustment.

[00:03:17]And these raises pretty much aren't even raises at all. They're just cost of living adjustments. So, we're seeing people get further and further behind as the cost of living continues to skyrocket. People are eating rice and beans just to save money on groceries.

[00:03:36]They're choosing to skip meals, and people are just penny-pinching like never before. Let me know in the comments below if that's how you're living, and take a look at the rest of these videos. Anyone else feeling more depressed than normal lately? I'm just curious. Like, just this like looming depression. And it's not like boohoo lock yourself in a dark room depression, but you can feel something's off. My take is this, I just filled up my gas tank and for $30 I got a day's worth of gas in my truck essentially.

[00:04:08]And I'm realizing more and more of how [ __ ] our economy is. I went through this last recession deal that we did in the early 2000s and it [ __ ] sucks.

[00:04:18]And this is all the signs of what it was. I mean, who how many people out there right now have no credit card debt cuz you don't need to live on your credit cards. I make more money today than I did 5 years ago by far. Yet I am broker that like tremendously broker than I was 5 years ago. If I would have made this money 5 years years ago, holy [ __ ] Like life would be amazing.

[00:04:41]But it's like it's not enough. And now all of a sudden you kind of like feel like a failure and you and you start to get in your head of like why am I constantly stressed? I mean, are you driving around with your your check you know, your fuel light on or are you giving up your health insurance because you're trying to cut corners somewhere just to get some more money and cash flow somewhere?

[00:04:58]I don't know, man. I will say this, I think it's going to get a lot worse, way worse, way worse than this before it ever gets better. I think you're going to see a lot of people struggle with addiction. I think you're going to see us a lot of people struggle with mental health. Like it's going to get [ __ ] crazy. Uh kind of like it did back then and I don't mean to be like some like like sound the alarms or whatever [ __ ] but I'm just like I'm watching more and more people just using credit cards on [ __ ] and just not having money all of a sudden. And never slowed down the spending. And now all of a sudden it's like we didn't even slow down the spending and you're just broke.

[00:05:31]I don't know. I hope that I'm wrong.

[00:05:33]I hope that this is just a little phase.

[00:05:35]I guess we'll find out. I just want to let you know if you're struggling right now, you ain't alone.

[00:05:39]All right. Um I just want to go on a rant real quick because I am so tired of not being able to do something fun or exciting or even go to the [ __ ] movies without it costing an arm and a leg.

[00:05:51]If you make $700, if not $800 a week, you should be able to have fun. You should be able to do stuff that are exciting, or maybe go to a different city, travel. No, it's not even like that. It's like going to bills, or food, or um making sure animals are good, or whatever it may be. If you have kids, you've got to make sure they're okay, and doctor's visits, all these things.

[00:06:15]And it's like I remember back in the day when $700 you could do so much [ __ ] It could pay your rent. It could pay half your bills for the month, if not more.

[00:06:25]And now $700, if not $900, is not even [ __ ] enough anymore. It's just insane.

[00:06:32]Like this month alone, I have a lot of stuff I want to do, but I don't even know if I'll be able to have the funds for that because all my bills seem like they keep on going up and up and up.

[00:06:41]Whether it's my internet, whether it's my gas, whether it's my electric, whether it's my food bill, or gro- or I should say groceries, or uh going to the pet store, or buying stuff for my reptiles, or doing whatever. And it's just it's insane. It's [ __ ] annoying. And then on top of that, it doesn't help that that my depression, anxiety, ADHD, overthinking, and everything in between is just on high alert. It's just draining the [ __ ] out of me. Like it's like a vampire just sucking the life out of me.

[00:07:17]I just so annoyed anymore. I really don't.

[00:07:20]I don't know how I'm going to make it through this month, let alone [ __ ] summer.

[00:07:29]Peace, guys.

[00:07:30]How do I explain to my mom that my $5,000 a month income is not enough to support me as a single male in the United States? The headache that comes with trying to get her to understand that rent is not $600 anymore. It's almost two grand. And that's for a basic one-bedroom apartment that's not in the hood. I'm not splurging my money buying groceries as part of my budget now.

[00:07:55]Buying groceries efficiently is part of my budgeting. I have a full-time job.

[00:08:00]Here's the worst part. I told her I'm trying to get a new job. She tells me, "Well, have you thought about like, you know, going down to the people's office and, you know, you handing them your resume?"

[00:08:11]Mom.

[00:08:12]Handing them a I can't even get to the assistant without getting through a receptionist, without getting through their security in the front. Mom, that's not a thing anymore. I now use Sprout where I auto-apply using AI directly to company websites, and even that has been a struggle.

[00:08:29]Luckily for me, that method has actually been proven to work. But if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have landed any of these jobs. Mom, 5K a month is not money anymore.

[00:08:39]So, on um this Tik Tok, I've never talked about this. I've I've never talked about like politics or my uh political affiliation, but question. How are you surviving in today's economy? And I ask this because my husband came home this afternoon. He went shopping, and normally it's me doing like Walmart like pickups or drop-offs, so he never sees how much it is. And he's like, "How are people [ __ ] surviving? How are people surviving on these prices? Because they're ridiculous, you know, even at his standards. And you know, I I will say that we are very fortunate. Um while yes, we have to pay more, we are not figuring out do I pay my mortgage or do I pay my electric bill, do I pay my car note, do I pay daycare. We don't have to worry about that.

[00:09:24]Um so, we you know, I I'm so [ __ ] thankful for that. Um but the people that are, you know, barely making a livable wage, how how are How are surviving?

[00:09:36]Um as I said, I never talk about politics, but our lovely president was bragging that, "Oh my god, credit card spending has never been so high."

[00:09:47]Why are we [ __ ] bragging about that?

[00:09:50]My son, people are using credit cards because they don't have enough [ __ ] money to be able to buy things. So, now they're spending stuff at a 30% [ __ ] interest rate hoping hoping that in the future maybe they will be able to pay it back. That's [snorts] not a flex or a brag, and then you know, we took away, you know, how the [ __ ] interest rate with the cap and which is credit cards and the interest rate is just predatory lending.

[00:10:19]Um >> [snorts] >> credit scores are predatory lending, too.

[00:10:22]If you ever wonder where my [ __ ] political stance is, release the Epstein files. I think all children should have free lunch. Nobody is illegal on stolen land. And um when we say say the kids, let's really save the kids. Not this [ __ ] that we hide behind. And um a woman's body is a woman's body and it's her right. So, um if I lose people, I don't really give a [ __ ] but my genuine question is, regardless of what side the line you're on, how are you surviving? Because it is a tough world out there, and I just know like this past Christmas, I couldn't believe, you know, we were able to help over 75 families provide a Christmas, and I just feel like this year is going to be even worse, and it's just it's a very scary world we live in. So, how are you surviving? And I guess the better question is, are you okay?

[00:11:11]Doesn't it piss you off? Doesn't it [ __ ] piss you off that we live in the richest country in the world with the most lethal army in the world, and we don't have [ __ ] You don't have [ __ ] This country demands that you pay your taxes, and you do. You pay your taxes every damn year. What do you get for your investment? What do they give you for your investment of your taxes, and your time, and your effort, and your work? Nothing. You don't get anything here. There's people in the comments of my last video who can't build a pantry.

[00:11:37]They can't stock up their pantry because they're just living paycheck to paycheck. They can barely afford food on a daily basis.

[00:11:43]That's the richest country in the world right now? And meanwhile, all of our [ __ ] tax dollars go to what? The military to spend more money on tanks and weapons and bombs. I thought we already had the most lethal army in the [ __ ] world. And where do they send those bombs and the [ __ ] bullets that we pay for? They send it over to [ __ ] Israel. And they have health care. They have free health care and free education over there. And what do we have?

[00:12:07]Nothing.

[00:12:09]Aren't you [ __ ] pissed? That all should be yours. That all should be yours. You should have the health care.

[00:12:14]You should have the education. You should have the roof over your head that you don't have to worry about because we're paying the [ __ ] taxes. And you know they have the money. They had the money during the lockdown. They gave you stuff during the lockdown. You got a check every damn month.

[00:12:28]Get the [ __ ] out of here.

[00:12:29]Right now, I'm 25 and I feel stuck. I feel stagnant. But not in the stagnant way like an 80-year-old where they're in a senior home. Like they're in a home, whatever, they're in a wheelchair, they can't go nowhere, they don't have a phone, they don't have nothing. Like not that kind of stagnant. Like you can't compare like a 20 20s year-old person versus an 80. Like obviously the 80 person already lived their life. Like that's why they're there. Anyways. But like bro, like I feel stuck right now.

[00:12:52]Like where am I supposed to go?

[00:12:53]Everything is like paths until you're like 18, 22, whatever. But now I'm just like what am I supposed to be doing? Am I off track? Am I on track? Like I don't know. Like am I doing enough? You never feel like you're doing enough. I don't feel like I'm doing enough. I'm doing a lot. I'm like actively like but at the same time I don't feel like I'm doing enough. Like why am I not making a million dollars per second right now?

[00:13:12]Like um like I should like that's how much I feel like I should be.

[00:13:16]But like is that realistic? But like what is realistic, you know? Like everyone comment like oh my god, like it's literally driving me insane. Like I I know. I feel like I can't even take a breath. I'm stuck. Like It's get It's like literally so hot in my car right now. Like I'm on the verge of sweating. It's raining outside. It's gloomy. Like there's like no sun, but I'm sweating because I'm so in a panic state right now, and I'm sweating, and I'm so like like oh my goodness. Like what is happening? What's going to happen to me?

[00:13:43]Like who am I?

[00:13:46]Who am I?

[00:13:47]Like it's just like I don't even know at this point. I'm 25, basically going to be 26.

[00:13:54]And I literally just got a notification.

[00:13:55]Someone was like, "Shelly, day one." Are you serious? Are you serious? Like it's so out of touch. Some people are like so out of touch. It's insane to me sometimes. Oh my god, this lighting up.

[00:14:05]Car just turned off. But like some people are just out here living their best life, and I'm here panicking because I'm turning 26 in 2 months.

[00:14:13]Like I don't see people panicking when they turn 26. I'm like but not ha- not having insurance is illegal. I'm like, "Well, why is not having money um a crime?" Like I can I mean like not having money like illegal. Like you need to give me money because I have none.

[00:14:28]How am I going to Like what do you mean? Like what do you mean? Now, while a lot of people are extreme budgeting, there is a case where people are just not financially responsible. People are buying shiny new cars just to keep up with their lifestyles. They haven't really adjusted to inflation, and they're using debt and taking out massive financial loans just to continue their lifestyles.

[00:14:53]But for other people who are a little more conscious about their budgets, they're a little bit more responsible.

[00:15:00]There's only so much extreme budgeting you can do before it becomes an income problem. These jobs just aren't paying enough, or the cost of living has to go down. I think the cost of living has to go down, and these corporations need to start increasing people's pay, not just these 2%, 1% annual raises, but something a little bit more significant where it actually feels like a raise, where people actually can have some extra money every single year for being loyal to these companies. It's absolutely insane to me and it's probably insane to you as well.

[00:15:34]Here's a recession indicator.

[00:15:36]Uh in my apartment complex, I am seeing more and more people get evicted than ever. I've started to see Section 8 people show up at my apartment complex and it's a very luxurious apartment complex. Um and most importantly, what showed up this month on the little rent bill on the app is uh Flex Pay. So, you can pay in two payments instead of just all at once.

[00:16:01]So, I saw about 5 months ago they had extended the due date by 1 day. For it used to be due on the 3rd and then you would get a late payment, but now it's due on the 4th and then you get a late payment on the 5th. So, that was the first indicator. Then, I started seeing people get evicted.

[00:16:19]One of my friends got evicted. She said four other people are getting evicted with her at the same time in my apartment complex.

[00:16:25]And then, uh like I started seeing Section 8 people show up.

[00:16:30]There's a There's a big one.

[00:16:32]And then most importantly, like I said, Flex Pay. Flex Pay showing up on the apartment payment.

[00:16:37]Kind of a big deal. And this is in San Diego, California, so it's already expensive enough to live here. So, things are Things are starting to crack.

[00:16:44]And uh I'm just curious to see how long it can last. Am I the only one who wants to just quit my job, maybe buy a minivan or buy a old car, and just hop in the car and just simply travel and just see the world, man?

[00:17:02]Like, am I the only one who simply just wants to see life and experience life and not be caught up in this rat race for the rest of my life?

[00:17:16]You know, we pay bills, we pay taxes, and we we work hard, and we you know, we bust our behinds for these jobs, but it's like, is that it?

[00:17:27]We just work, pay bills, pay taxes, work, pay bills, pay taxes, sit in traffic.

[00:17:34]Is that it?

[00:17:36]Is this all there is to to life?

[00:17:40]I can't be the only one who sits back and wonders sometimes, like, this is like this can't be real life.

[00:17:47]Like, it's no way. We were sold a lie.

[00:17:51]The American dream is a lie.

[00:17:54]It is no way it should be this difficult to survive in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

[00:18:02]This is incredible to me. I I I don't understand. So, sometimes I think, man, I just want to quit, hop in the car, hop in the minivan or something, and just travel.

[00:18:15]Like, I mean, life is going to pass us by anyway.

[00:18:20]What do we got to lose? And I'm not saying let's just have a mass walk out of mass walk out at our jobs. I mean, if it happens, it is what it is, but it's just like, there has to be something more than this, right?

[00:18:34]It can't just be work, pay bills, pay taxes.

[00:18:39]Right?

[00:18:41]I'm a working mom, okay?

[00:18:43]And I give so much credit to stay-at-home moms. This isn't about a working mom or stay-at-home mom video.

[00:18:48]Um I've been both, and both are very, very hard. Um stay-at-home mom put me like into a complete depression, and working mom on the go for 18 hours a day. They're both very hard.

[00:19:00]I'm upset because yesterday was an open house for my preschooler, and they asked me to be a part of this parent thing, and it's like the PTA O for preschool.

[00:19:12]And they're like, we really want you to be a part of it. You've been here before for the last 2 years. You got ideas, blah blah blah blah blah, whatever." And that shit's RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. I'M ALL ABOUT BEING A PART OF THAT STUFF. But I have no time. Now, normally, like my work schedule, it's a 9:00 to 5:00, but they're cool. And I could be like, "All right, on Wednesdays, whatever, I'm going to be coming late." And they'd be like, "All right, cool. No worries."

[00:19:36]But I already got my kids in two different um like cheerleading and tumbling. So, there's already 2 days a week I'm leaving early. Now, I'm coming in early, but that's already 2 days a week that I'm like not doing the 9:00 to 5:00, which is my work schedule.

[00:19:51]It makes me sad because I can't do these things, and not because that's not what makes me sad. It makes me sad because I'm working and I can't afford anything. So, I am 50 hours a week, I am on the go work-related, but this ECONOMY IS SUCH [ __ ] THAT I CAN'T AFFORD ANYTHING. I can't do anything.

[00:20:13]I can't even get a home for me and my children.

[00:20:19]I AND THEN I can't do the GOOD THE THE THINGS WITH MY KIDS' SCHOOLS.

[00:20:24]Like I'm just venting because I'm just so mad. It'd be different, I guess, if I could afford all the luxuries and I'm like, "All right, at least I'm in this nice house. You know, I got them in two things." Like, at least it would even out. But, I can't do these things and I can't afford life.

[00:20:41]And this economy blows. If something doesn't change, I am I'm down for a protest, a riot. I don't know.

[00:20:49]Somebody figure it out and I'll sign it up.

[00:20:51]I was laid off on Friday, and I've been laid off three times in the past 3 years.

[00:20:58]And I have been in the workforce for less than 6 years. I am 28 years old. I graduated from college during COVID and I got a degree. I did everything that I was supposed to do to be able to live a good life and afford life and then some, right?

[00:21:22]And I just don't even know how to process this at this point because life feels so incredibly unsustainable and my entire 20s has just been filled with constant anxiety and depression and just not knowing if I'm going to have a job tomorrow or not because I have been laid off three times and it is just so jarring to have your financial stability completely taken from you unexpectedly.

[00:22:02]And on top of that, I live on my own. I fully support myself financially, so it's not even like I have a partner or I have roommates, so my rent is cheaper.

[00:22:13]It's all on me and I just don't even know what to do anymore because everything feels so unattainable and I feel like my entire 20s has just been a cycle of anxiety and depression because I've had no stability. I I get a job. I am finally relieved that I have a source of income, but I've never been able to not be anxious or be settled or feel okay and secure because in the back of my mind, I just have this feeling that I could lose my job at any moment.

[00:22:59]And the fact that it's happened now for a third time is just indescribable.

[00:23:07]And I just feel so numb to it at this point because I don't even feel like there is a future at this point.

[00:23:17]I will never be able to buy a house. If I wanted to have kids, I wouldn't be able to afford them. And luckily, I don't want kids.

[00:23:27]But like part of me also wonders, do I just feel that way because like I won't be able to afford them, so it's easier to just not want kids? Like, I don't even know.

[00:23:38]Um man, it it's just such a crazy feeling that this has now happened to me three times.

[00:23:48]And it's like where where does this end?

[00:23:50]I don't even know what the future holds for me.

[00:23:53]>> [sighs] >> If I got another job in corporate, I don't even feel like I would feel stable.

[00:24:02]And at this point, the job market is just so terrible across the board. And it just feels like there is no future.

[00:24:16]And I think that's that's what's just so hard about Gen Z and this generation is that there is absolutely nothing to work for.

[00:24:26]And just seeing like older generations not understand that because they locked in a mortgage that is $1,000 a month for a four-bedroom, three-bath house with land.

[00:24:41]Like, they just don't get it.

[00:24:45]I don't even know at this point. I just have no words, and I just feel absolutely numb.