NO ONE Can Afford the Cost of Living Anymore

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Can't afford it.

[00:00:02]>> Definitely cannot afford it. Um, cannot afford it.

[00:00:07]>> $3 Mc Chickens. Can't afford it. Can't afford it. Can't afford it. Miss you so much. Can't afford it.

[00:00:15]>> No. Can't afford it. Are you >> Z is one of the most educated generations in history, but we still can't afford to live on our own. Here's why. In the 1980s, the average starter home cost about three times the average annual salary. Today, it's around eight times more. It's not that we're getting lazier, it's that the prices are getting higher while our wages stay stagnant.

[00:00:37]That job that used to buy you a house and a car, now you get a studio apartment if you're lucky. If you have roommates and cut back your costs on eating out and going out. Yes, we still live with our parents, one in three of us, because we want to rely on them doing our laundry and making us food, even though our parents' food is pretty good. But because rent alone takes away half of our take-home pay, we're told to go to college, get a degree, build a life. We did all of the steps correctly, now that life is just on back order, it seems. So, let me get this straight. We can't afford rent because rent prices are increasing so much to push us out to buy homes. But the interest rate is so high, you can't buy a home. And also, you're not going to get funded for a home because of your debt to income ratio. So then what? So then what?

[00:01:27]And then homelessness or houselessness is becoming criminalized. So then what?

[00:01:33]I I don't I don't I don't understand. To be honest, I really like the idea of building a commune, you know, aside from like the culty aspect of it, but essentially buying land, driving vans, building a tiny tiny houses on it, and everyone shares.

[00:01:51]No one can afford the cost of living crisis that we're in in 2026.

[00:01:57]It's just way too expensive for people, especially people who are lower income.

[00:02:02]Maybe they're working minimum wage jobs.

[00:02:05]They are having an especially tough time in this economy. And in this video, we're seeing how people are struggling and how bad everyone's economic situation really is. Everyone is feeling the impact, mainly 9 toive workers who have to get multiple jobs just to survive.

[00:02:25]And I feel like this is not really talked about in the media, especially with a lot of these people in the upper class who just don't understand how difficult it is to survive when our bills continue to increase year-over-year.

[00:02:40]And we're having less and less money in our pockets. This is less money that's going to our retirement, less money going to our emergency savings, and a lot of people really are one or two paychecks away from being homeless. So, this video is to really highlight how bad the cost of living crisis is. Let me know in the comments below what you think. Take a look at the rest of these clips.

[00:03:01]I don't really know how people are able to move forward with their lives right now because me personally, I literally feel like I'm hanging by a thread and I'm kind of at a point where I can't necessarily do any of this anymore.

[00:03:21]I don't really have any motivation to participate in this society where I'm not able to afford anything and I feel like I've completely have burned myself out to the point where I'm physically, emotionally, spiritually incapable of bringing myself to do the things that everybody else is doing.

[00:03:48]Like every day I ask myself, why are we just allowing this? Why aren't we trying to enact change?

[00:03:58]It literally feels like things are getting worse every day and they're trying to trap us here and they're trying to get it to a point where we have like no way possible to escape this.

[00:04:14]It's like we can make this a better place. And I don't really know why we're choosing not to. I don't know why we're collectively all just allowing the world to be on fire and we're all just kind of like, "Yeah, this sounds good to me."

[00:04:30]I'm mentally at a point where I'm just incapable of being able to tolerate this anymore.

[00:04:39]I'm not really sure if it's like a neurode divergent thing or a mentally ill thing, but I'm overstimulated. I have a hard time concentrating. I have a hard time finding the point a lot of the time. And it's like I don't really know how to move forward in a world like this, in a society like this. If anybody has any advice, please let me know because I'm literally at a point where I just don't really know what to do and maybe there's nothing to do except just take it day by day. But it's exhausting just being in survival mode all your life and you know using all of your energy to make it through to the next day.

[00:05:20]So let me get this straight.

[00:05:24]Supposedly, we supposed to be having an El Nino coming in 2026 that's supposed to be way worse than the one in 1877.

[00:05:35]During a time we're having war.

[00:05:40]The cost of living is skyhigh. Billing can afford to get by. Gas prices, food prices up.

[00:05:48]And then we got viruses running the muck.

[00:05:53]I feel like I got earth fatigue.

[00:05:58]Like what what's next?

[00:06:01]I feel like the good Lord is coming back cuz I I can't I'm working my butt off. I don't know what else to think.

[00:06:09]Something got to give. Something got to give.

[00:06:13]If the aliens are real, can I hit a ride?

[00:06:19]I want to start a new I want to start a new somewhere else.

[00:06:25]>> All right, guys. How [ __ ] poor do we have to get before we start robbing these [ __ ] I'm just asking. I'm just asking for the [ __ ] class. How poor How poor are we all willing to get? How much are we willing to pay at the [ __ ] pump before we just start robbing millionaires? I don't know. I it feels like now is about the time. Um since I can't pay my electric bill, I can barely [ __ ] afford to put [ __ ] gas in my [ __ ] tank. Um I can barely afford to put [ __ ] groceries in my [ __ ] house. A pack of [ __ ] hot dogs is damn near [ __ ] $12 at the grocery store. A pack of hot dogs is $12 at the grocery store. Do we even know what the [ __ ] is in the hot dogs? No. Do we think it's worth $12? No. Can somebody please?

[00:07:13]Um, I don't know. Tell me when it's time. Thank you. They tell us to keep working harder, but for what? To still not afford a place to live. Nah, be serious. Cuz we're out here doing everything right. Working two jobs, picking up side hustles, cutting back on everything from take out the toilet paper. And for what? to still be priced out of basic housing to scroll Zillow and see homes starting at $550,000 with an HOA fee on top of that. And then people will tell you just move further out. Like gas ain't $4 a gallon and you already got three jobs and can't afford to drive 90 minutes to work. Let's just call it what it is. It ain't a housing market. It's a lockout. They're building for the future, but that future doesn't include you. It's not for teachers. It's not for delivery drivers. It's not for the people that keep this country running. It's for investors, corporations, people with names on buildings, the folks who already have five homes buying their six home right out from up under you. If you feel like housing ain't for everyone, say so in the comments, cuz I know it's not just me.

[00:08:29]>> I want to talk about rent prices. So before CO, pre-COVID days, I was able to rent a three-bedroom town home for a reasonable price, CO hits, and then like a year or two later, the management company comes to tell me, "Hey, the owners want to move back in." And I was like, "What the [ __ ] man? What the fuck?" Because the rent prices skyrocket.

[00:08:53]Apartments were like $3,000 for a three-bedroom apartment here in Orlando.

[00:08:58]I don't know where it is anywhere else, but Florida is insane.

[00:09:02]So, I was like, "What am I going to do?"

[00:09:04]So, I reach out to my sister and I end up moving in with my sister and her family. I'm still there four years later. Why? Because rent prices are still insane.

[00:09:16]You're telling me for a three-bedroom apartment now, it's like $2,200 for a town home that I rented before is like 25, $2,600, if that. It might be even more. I haven't checked the prices lately, but when are the rent prices going to go down? Seriously, in our economy, it's just [ __ ] insane. I'm a teacher. I don't make that much. I shouldn't have to get two, three jobs just to survive in this economy.

[00:09:43]And let me not even get started on the groceries. That's going to be a whole another video. What is going on in our world today? Is it going to get better or are we in I don't know what we're in.

[00:09:57]>> Keep saying that wages have gone up, but have you actually looked to see the price difference since 2020?

[00:10:05]Let's see.

[00:10:06]People are feeling poorer now than ever.

[00:10:09]If you have a look at some of the price increases since 2020, so water rates up 50%, council tax is up over 20% if not more in some areas, food 40% in a six-year space and apparently it's going up towards the end of the year. You've got energy that's almost doubled. It's just the prices of everything has increased so much. And that's all before your mortgage or your rent, your child care, your petrol, your insuranceances, your transport, anything that you need to do dayto-day just as a necessity. It's not even luxury. And this is the bit that people don't get. You might be earning what feels like a decent salary on paper, but the wages just haven't kept up with the price of everything else. And this is why people are feeling just so stretched. And that's why this conversation matters because you're not alone.

[00:11:10]>> I just got paid today and my check is gone. I mean like gone gone. I did my budget and I don't even have enough money to get through the first of the month. The worst part is I don't know.

[00:11:22]It's funny.

[00:11:24]A few weeks ago when I was struggling with how I was going to get my medication, I I just prayed. I was like, "Jesus, please take the stress of money away.

[00:11:35]I didn't think you would delete it this hard. Like, I'm going to pay my nips.

[00:11:43]Are they Are they going to shut my nip off if it's late?"

[00:11:49]Oh my god.

[00:11:51][ __ ] guys. I can't breathe. I'm having to take a guess for the next two weeks.

[00:12:02]God seems to be answering my prayers really hard lately because before worrying about money would have been a completely different set of tears.

[00:12:12]>> Happy Friday.

[00:12:16]I live in a place that I can't afford. I work so very hard, so very hard to not be able to afford to live in Virginia.

[00:12:27]In my area, everything is so expensive.

[00:12:31]And for what I do, for the corporation I work for, which is a very big corporation in this area, I still can't afford to live here. Nowadays, you cannot get a decent apartment without paying thousands of dollars to live there. and I'm being told I don't make enough money to buy a home where I live, where I work, where I pay taxes, I can't afford to buy a house. I don't make enough money for that. I think it's just so sad and sucky to put so much work in to look up and realize you only paid bills and taxes and you can't afford to have something of your own without making a ton of money, which you should be able to make the money to live where you work and pay taxes. It makes me so frustrated to be a single mom, to be a full-time worker, to actually do well at what I do and still not be able to have things of my own because the area does not pay its people what it costs to live in the area. That is so insane to me.

[00:13:46]>> We're probably going to see an economic collapse pretty soon because no one can really afford these insane prices. You got high gas prices. You got high grocery prices. You got high rent prices. Everything is just way too expensive. People are considering even leaving America just because it's way too expensive. And I completely understand that. It's just not affordable. We're not able to own our own things. And the American dream is out of reach for a lot of people. The middle class has pretty much evaporated.

[00:14:17]A lot of those people have now been pushed into the lower class. And we're seeing a huge wealth gap in America between the wealthy billionaires and the workingclass Americans, which is very sad to see.

[00:14:30]>> Can we talk about the cost of living at the moment? Because I am sitting in my car right now with $125 worth of groceries just sitting on my front seat.

[00:14:39]And I don't know about you, but $125 worth of groceries used to fill my entire boot. Now it's just on the seat beside me. I don't know how we're just expected to survive in this economy anymore. And I'm super upset at the moment because my husband and I have been trying to figure out ways that we can make it work. One of the things that we have settled on is taking my son out of daycare. And don't get me wrong, I am so privileged that I am able to be a stay-at-home mom. I know so many people do not get that opportunity, but at the same time, daycare is my son's social aspect. He loves going and it's breaking my heart that I have had to tell them today that I'm giving them my two weeks notice for him. Like I'm pulling him out. There are things that we can do.

[00:15:25]You know, we can go to the park. We can do all of this. But he loves his friends. And the fact that we can't afford to live because our daycare fees are expensive. Shopping is expensive.

[00:15:34]Fuel is expensive. Like it's just I don't even know what to do anymore. And I feel so bad for those moms that have to return to work straight away. It's not fair for you. And I just I don't know. I don't even know why I'm making this video. I guess I'm just disappointed and I'm upset and I just wanted to come to the internet and complain about it. Anyway, let me go put away my $125 worth of no groceries. And also why is the government allowed to give these loans to 18 year olds, 19 year olds, 20, 22 year olds, literal children, literal children. Like I would not trust an 18-year-old to make a a very life determining lifealtering decision. But yeah, you could take out like a $50,000 loan though. like you were just in high school yesterday, but yeah, you could like take out this loan for like more than some people make the year. Why not? Why not? It's It just doesn't make any sense. And then the government can turn around and flip your whole life upside down and say, "Hey, you were paying $150 on your loan every month and you were paying it every month on time, but yeah. Uh-uh. We want you to pay 800 now." And but we're the problem.

[00:16:54]No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. We are not the problem. The people who borrowed the money are not the problem. The people who borrowed the money wanted to go to school and get an education and do better for themselves and their families. The people who borrowed the money were never the problem. The system that gave out the money has always been the problem.

[00:17:19]Can we talk about how fast the cost of living in Michigan has changed? Because I swear it happened overnight. Like in 2018, you could walk into Meyer, Kroger, any of those grocery stores with a h 100 bucks and you could leave with quite a bit of groceries. Now I have barely anything in my cart. I get to the register, it's $187. 2018 gas around two bucks a gallon, maybe a little more. Now we're pushing $5. And don't even get me started on rent for apartments. They used to be like 900. Now it's 17. And the carpet in them is still from 2004.

[00:17:51]Car insurance, insane. Fast food crazy high, but wages have moved like 37 cents. I think this is the craziest part about it all. People aren't buying luxury anything. All out here struggling over basic necessities. Why does existing in Michigan feel like a rich people activity?

[00:18:07]>> Chrissy says, "I owned a house I'm not sure I'll ever own again. It was a hassle the entire time. Gladly renting again." There are more people out there than I thought that were homeowners and decided it wasn't for them very quickly and then went back to renting. A lot of people think that renting an apartment is not sound. financial advice, but it actually can be for a lot of reasons.

[00:18:26]Instead of putting all of your money into your mortgage, your property taxes, your utilities, and then the maintenance that the house requires monthly, you can take that money and you can invest it.

[00:18:38]Like, at the end of the day, like you're just adding up your mortgage and evening that out with what we're paying for rent, but you guys are still paying more in the long run. You realize that, right? Plus HOA fees. We're paying a flat fee for rent. It might be, you know, inflated rent compared to some of the mortgages that you guys got from buying your houses like years ago. I'll agree with you there. But a lot of people who are renting will take their money, their extra money, disposable income, and they'll put it in an investment account. So by the time you retire, you don't have to sell a house to get the money to put into your retirement account. Do you see what I mean? There's alternate ways of being financially smart. Renting can be smart if you do it the right way.

[00:19:17]>> There's no money to be saved. And this is what I mean when I say that in Louisiana, a bill just failed. Uh, Republicans basically voted it down and a bill was to increase minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour. It was a progressive bill though in that it would have increased it immediately to $10 an hour and then well it would have increased it in 2027 to10 $10 an hour uh to $12 an hour in 2029 and then $14 an hour by 2031. But they they voted it down. And I would love to blame this on the boomers. Y'all know I want to blame this on the boomers. But it was actually a mix of the boomers and the Gen Xers that basically voted this down. How do you expect somebody to save money for a house at $7.25 an hour? H how are they going to save money for a house? How are they going to save money for a car?

[00:20:15]Basically, if you making $7.25 25 an hour. You're probably living with your parents. Even if you're 60, you're living with your 80year-old parents at $7.25 an hour. Like, let's be for real.

[00:20:30]There's no money to be saved. When I was in my early 20s, I would say I was like 23 years old. It was just my son and I at the time. I had a two-bedroom, two-b apartment. It was 1,162 ft. Third floor valet trash.

[00:20:46]Okay. Valley trash, beautiful water view, screened in balcony.

[00:20:53]I was paying $798 a month. Oh, washer and dryer was included as well. Washer and dryer was included in my unit. Um, updated appliances, hardwood floors, and this was in 2013 14.

[00:21:09]Yeah, 2013. Cuz my son was turning one when I moved into that apartment. So, yeah, this was 2013 2014. My rent was $798.

[00:21:17]$798. That same exact apartment today in 2026. And I went and looked at the pictures. The apartment looks the exact same. It doesn't look like they've done anything to it. Um that from 2013. And that same apartment is now running you anywhere from $1,200 to $1,600 per month depending on where the unit is located on the property.

[00:21:40]So, I went to college in Iowa and most of my friends ended up living there after we graduated, but I wanted to go to New York and pursue my dreams.

[00:21:48]However, thinking about it, I don't think I could have survived. However, in the moment, thinking about it, I was like, you know what? I'm not going to be making enough to like live a comfortable life in New York. So, why don't I live in Iowa while I like gain some more money until I can move to New York? No.

[00:22:04]No. I am making 60 grand a year living paycheck to paycheck. Hardly have anything saved. Everything I save goes to either rent, food, car payment, gas, any expense that is used to keep me alive. That's where all my money goes. I have no opportunity to invest. I have no opportunity to save. Like, you'd expect this type of cost of living from a big city or a big place, but Iowa. Are you [ __ ] kidding me?

[00:22:29]>> We got breaking news. A study just came out that says that even if you make $100,000 per year, you still might not be able to afford a home. Now, the crazy part with this is it's not about home affordability. It's about interest rates. Like, say you took your $100,000 and brought it back to CO when interest rates were 3%. In those days, you would have been able to afford a $450,000 house, which is above the average price of the average home in the United States. Now, however, as interest rates get to 6 to 8%, people are only able to afford around $290,000 worth of property with the same income.

[00:23:07]Now, I'll share what you need to do in a moment in order to accomplish home ownership. But the other side of this is that there also are property taxes that are going through the roof. My house, for instance, I started off paying $1,300 every 3 months. Now I'm up to $2,000 every three months, and it's only been three years. Let me know if you think this is fair, but it seems like if you want to go and buy a house, you're probably going to have to marry someone or combine incomes with someone to do so.

[00:23:36]>> Being broke in 2025 literally doesn't mean you're irresponsible. It means your rent is $1,800, groceries are $150 a week, gas is $50, and your student loan repayment just restarted. You're doing everything right. working, saving, budgeting, and it still feels like you're running on a treadmill, working a full-time job, picking up side gigs, or even freelancing on the weekends. And somehow the math is still not mathing.

[00:24:05]People love to say, "Oh, just work harder." But harder doesn't fix rent hikes, medical bills, or wages that haven't kept up with the inflation.

[00:24:16]We're just living in an economy that makes survival feel like an accomplishment. If you're tired, if you're over it, if you're doing everything right and you still feel stuck, you are not the problem. Someone tried to comment on my post about the air conditioners and was like, "Now your rent's going to go up. You'll never get it. I suppose you support rent caps, too."

[00:24:40]Close.

[00:24:42]I support people not being able to own multiple properties that they can then rent out for income. I support actual affordable housing so that everyone can have their own home without being beholden to a landlord. What I actually support is uh abolishing the existence of landlords. Whoop. And that's something you'll likely never get because you're a class traitor.

[00:25:04]But I suppose we all have our own burdens to bear. Best of luck with yours.