What are we doing wrong? Why are we struggling financially?

[Anonymous]

The thing is… No matter what we do we can’t save up! No, we do not go to fancy dinners or have a blast every weekend, we don’t drive expensive cars or smth like that. We do not have any debts.
we barely go out, but it feels like we’re trapped in somewhat cycle since COVID. It was fine before. we do have an emergency fund but there is always something happening and we use this money. And then try to catch up again. And then losing everything again. We both are working but it feels like salaries can’t keep up with the inflation. Are we the only ones? How do you save up while earning medium wage according to statistics? I feel so trapped and overwhelmed…

[MrOracle]

You're in the same position as most people, because, yes, inflation is crazy high and the party in power keeps spending like a drunk spoiled teen girl with daddy's credit cards. Every time the government gives someone money - be it Ukraine or Israel or millions of illegal immigrants - and every time we engage in military operations - and every time there's some program designed to "change the culture" - that's billions and billions of dollars more in debt the country is, and inflation goes up (meaning the value of YOUR money goes down), and you get further behind. Far too many people think the government has "free money" - but that "free money" comes from you and I in the form of taxes AND inflation. If you vote for this, you shouldn't be surprised when you get it.

You have been trained to vote for what "feels good" rather than what's logical - they don't WANT you to actually think for yourself or figure out what's actually in your best interest - they want you to do what they tell you FEELS good - so that they can do whatever the hell they want and make you pay for it.

If you had ANY IDEA how much VALUE your money SHOULD have - vs how much it actually has - and where that money was actually spent that lowered your money's value, you would be seeing red with anger. But most people just shrug and accept their chains, because they could never vote for someone the press was vilifying, because that would "feel bad." And that's why it's likely to keep getting worse.

[TheSpaceGnome]

If you aren't a member of the electoral college, you actually don't get to vote at all. And even if you did, voting for a "king" is stupid. Vote for laws.

[MrOracle]

Of COURSE it's more than just a president - it's about ALL levels of government, down to your mayor and county supervisors. And even more, it's about voting in the PRIMARY, so that you are less likely to have to choose between two bad options.

But so many people vote for candidates who RUN ON doing things that will screw over their own voters (and almost everyone else), and then they are shocked when they get screwed.

Biden and the Dems made no secret about being pro-war they've been pro-war since the 80s. They also were very clear about their open border policy, as well as their "bail reform" policies that now put criminals right back out on the streets. These things were talked about extensively before the election. And these policies are all terrible for America.

Don't think I'm not aware that the Republican party has some members that are just as bad, and who also vote for this crap, because they do. But, on balance, they are much less evil.

People haven't seen anything yet. Dems are shutting down small farms and billionaires and Chinese have bought up tons of farmland. What do you think happens when they decide not to grow anything because "it's bad for the planet"? That is quite literally coming soon.

How long will you eat if a dozen eggs cost $200 and a bag of flour costs $150? It's not just the US either - there have been farmers protests all over Europe for the same reasons.

These people think the world is grossly overpopulated, and that you and I are destroying THEIR planet, so they have to find ways of reducing the population. Starving people to death is a very common way that governments have done this - it's happened over 60 times in the 20th century. And people are still voting such people into power...

[TheSpaceGnome]

No I mean voting for a president is stupid, its like voting for a king because they can just do whatever they want instead of following our orders after being elected (Congress also needs term limits).

We should be voting on bills INSTEAD of a president. but regardless of if its a president, congress, or bills, so long as the electoral college exists, none of our votes get counted (at all).

And you would also need to get rid of district and state based votes to stop gerrymandering and to make each person's vote count as 1 vote. and stop counters from tossing ballots in the trash, and stop random people from hacking voting machines remotely for 15 bucks.

Otherwise voting does nothing, and complaining about who people voted for with the current system is just silly when you consider that in this system, no one's vote actually matters.

You might as well vote for goku, groot, or scooby doo, it will have the same impact.

[TheSpaceGnome]

It just doesn't make any sense to have somone "represent" us, politicians will always be for themselves, not the public. Better to represent ourselves instead.

[MrOracle]

@TheSpaceGnome While you might believe that, it's simply not workable. Few people have the time to devote to doing all that work, and it would slow things down and since most people wouldn't read - much less be able to reasonably interpret these bills - people would end up voting on a lot of things they didn't understand, and it would be a big battle of sound bytes: vote for the "save our schools" bill (that, say, also allows open borders and completely defunds all police departments) or whatever. It would be an even worse disaster.

[TheSpaceGnome]

It is workable.

People have plenty of time, we don't need anywhere near as many bills as we have, and legalese needs to be replaced with layman wording thats shorter, precise, and to the point. Slowing things down is needed, people need to observe the effects of their choices to see the outcomes and learn from it. You are basing your statement on the current system's way of doing bills, which doesn't work.

People cannot make the right choices in their next vote if they aren't allowed the luxury of learning why a choice is bad. Right now they just blame politicians instead of looking at the problems and seeing what was done and why it did or didn't work, and that needs to change.

[TheSpaceGnome]

If the average blue collar worker cannot understand a bill, the bill needs to be rewritten.

[MrOracle]

@TheSpaceGnome Many bills are over 1000 pages long, and often they will read something like:

"In USC 18 Title 6 14c, strike the words 'handguards and shields" and insert "safety equipment as determined by the attorney general" and in 16b, strike "in legal commerce" and insert "with state permission."

They don't explain what any of that means - you are left to look up the existing laws and figure out what the changes actually mean - but you often don't have enough background to understand the TRUE meanings of the changes. And this is just a quarter of a page of a 1000+ page bill.

This is why it's a full-time job, and why every government on the planet uses some form of representatives who do this for a living, rather than making everything a direct vote of the people.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Thats what I'm saying though, those types of bills need to end, try 5 pages, in plain English, thats what we need.

[MrOracle]

@TheSpaceGnome That's a nice dream, but it's not likely to happen in our lifetimes.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Likely or not, it is what needs to happen for politics to matter at all.
The way we do it now is just a monarchy pretending to give us choice.

Either we do my suggestion, or we admit we are just voiceless peasants and ignore politics entirely.

But the whole "republican"/"democrat" bickering about "no we should vote for this person" is a complete waste of time.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I do agree though that its unlikely to happen.

[ProbablyClueless]

Most people are in the exact same situation as you. There doesn't seem to be any good answers, unfortunately. You could try going on the beans and rice diet (what I affectionately call "the B & R"). Try riding a bike around instead of a car, where possible. Maybe move to a cheaper apartment, or even move back in with family to share expenses. Oh, also, getting rid of stuff like Netflix is a surprisingly effective way to save money because that monthly subscription fee really adds up.

Times are tough, man... I'm basically not interested in moving out of my dad's place for a year or two because I want to devote my salary to paying off debt and build up an financial history to get a mortgage from the bank to buy a home.

[Anonymous]

This is common before 30. Because you're still in the "building your life phase". You seemingly get nowhere. Trust me, you are! The fact that you're not in debt shows how far ahead of the game you are.

I was flat broke at 26

I had about 9k to my name and a net worth around at 30k

Now at my age I got 150k and a net worth in the high 6 figures.

Trust the process and keep trying to better yourself you should start making significant gains in your 30's if you're doing it right. And your 40's is typically your prime income earning years.

[TommyMountainFigure]

Wages haven't gone up anywhere near as much as inflation.. Utility bills are up between 30 and 50% here, Food prices have skyrocketed too.. As well as Covid though, the war with Russia and Ukraine hasn't helped!

Just keep plodding along and you will see a difference when (or indeed IF) things start to go back to normal.

[worldscolide]

I'm willing to bet that somewhere in there there are expenses that aren't needed, or you are paying for things that are too expensive for you. For example, your home costs (rent/mortgage) should not be more than a quarter of your income, same with vehicle payments.

[Asker]

We bought our cars before pandemic. No payments on those. And our rent is no more than 30% of combined income.

[worldscolide]

Then without details I'm afraid I can't help here. It sounds to me like you need someone to help you with budgeting.

[normalice]

The people with all the money spend all their time figuring out how to keep it. They have made a career out of taking exactly the amount of money from everyone that they can get away with.

[Dargil]

You have not set a budget. Do not spend above your means.

[Revolutioner_83]

I felt sad to read your words. I want to give you an advise.
Borrow money and invest to cryptos. Hold those 1.5 years and you will make a lot of money at the end.

[exitseven]

It is mostly because of inflation. I do not think there is an easy answer to that.

[jahaims]

Gain skills to make more money or work multiple low skill jobs.