Quote:
Originally Posted by Zary's-Mustache
I never claimed I spend 30k on groceries. Don't know how you read that from my posts, that was another poster who said that, not me.
Yeah started the thread saying prices were out of control and how was everyone doing it...mainly people making less with high mortgages. I never said I was struggling to pay anything. Struggling to save for retirement yes.
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Even if you're doing well it's still notable that it's noticeable at even high income levels just how expensive everything has become.
We've been on a tear lately of consolidating phone bills/plans, cancelling streaming services, not buying extra crap and I'm even selling a bunch of stuff on Marketplace just to make sure we're being as efficient as possible with our resources. If something is sitting unused in my garage for going on a couple years, it's now for sale.
At the very least it's a good exercise for my kids to see what needs to be done when times get tougher, but it's also important to feel the pinch of this changed economy so as not to become too out of touch with the broader experience people are having.
If you can put yourself in the shoes of making changes I think it helps empathize with people for whom the difficulties are even greater and stakes are higher. I notice our changed grocery bills. I can see every little thing is more expensive and how it adds up. And I also know salaries aren't keeping up. I'd hate to be ignorant to that.
Due to my understanding of how things are because of the way we've made ourselves feel them, it motivates me to try to find ways to get more money to my staff. Right now my business is slower, costs are way up and I cannot get my margins to where they once were, which is affecting my ability to pay my staff more. I stress more about their finances than my own. I'm letting my office guys run things basically right now and I'm trying to find new ways to pick things up - not for me, but so I can dish out some raises, which I know people need.
Times are tough AF even if your own household is managing fine. We do live in a society, so it's definitely not all about Number 1. I like this thread. It's good for everyone to see how we're all approaching things.