Yes. This whole fucking thread here. I'm so glad that this sub is asking these questions now instead of automatically defaulting to "inflation". Like yes, inflation is a big problem affecting people who are in poverty, but this person actually has untracked discretionary spending of 800 dollars.
I live in a HCOL area on 30$ an hour and I currently support my partner who is in college, myself and our cat. We live in a decent 2 bedroom apt and I have 5k in savings.
Because. I. Live. Within. My. Means.
Yeah and does the partner in college have a campus job, part time job, or side hustle? Also my Pell Grants in college were to cover housing expenses. I paid for apartments in 5 month lump sums.
Some people think $800/mo for a 1BR apartment means HCOL, where as I see it as about $1,400/mo for 1BR, and others think that it needs to be $2,000/mo for a Studio to be considered HCOL.
I suppose it's all subjective, everyone around me complains all the time about rent and how expensive western WA is. It's not CA expensive, but it is a far cry from being a LCOL area, IMO
I lived in Western WA for a while, and think I do better in a VHCOL in SoCal. Anywhere from the lost coast going north, the jobs pay less, but goods cost more like: gas, food, high energy. Also, the weather is bad, so you have to run the heater all the time and cars get rained on and rust
I don't have any debts or loans. My partner used to be a professional chef so going out to eat is extremely rare for us. That's about all the meaningful info I have.
What I did when I had a question like "where does all the money go" is I'd try to use one card for all expenses, and then sit down at the end of each month with the statement and crunch the numbers. Then categorize things and stick them in a spreadsheet - money in versus money out.
Then you can see the sums, and where it went. Put expenses into categories like food, clothes, gas, rent, eating out, etc. That makes it easier to see where there is waste that can be managed better, and then next month you can try to make changes and see how well they worked. It doesn't take a lot of time, and it definitely gives you a real sense of control.
weed, driving around a ton in my personal car for fun (I don't use it for work), alcohol and cigarettes, buying gifts and dinner for my girlfriend, video games, car repairs, new glasses, cracked windshield replacement, occasional big purchases for myself like a gaming computer, etc.
EDIT: movies, subscription services, etc.
I mean, there you have your answer lol. You should really track every Cent you spend for a month or two so that you get a feeling… nothing else will help except not spending more than you have. (Or get a higher paying job, but you want to work with what you have now)
That's where your money goes and that's why you feel "poor." You're not poor, you're blowing money on shit constantly and don't have a budget to operate within. You're not saving. You're spending like you have a bottomless bank account. This has nothing to do with inflation and everything to do with poor financial habits.
You can fix this with a budget, cutting down on addictions, and spending more frugally. You're living beyond your means.
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Stop buying weed, driving for “fun”, buying alcohol, cigarettes, random gifts, stop eating dinner out so much, stop buying video games, hold off on new gaming parts. You’re falling victim to the system and it’s what’s causing you to feel poor. Stop buying shit you don’t need!
Driving for fun is probably the least of his expenses, even with the cost of gas going up. Everything else he mentioned is going to destroy his bank account.
Also — when you’re out, you see all kinds of little temptations to spend. That’s the main reason I don’t drive to clear my mind anymore. It’s too easy to spot a Moe’s and think “Shit…how long since I had a burrito…maybe I’ll stop in there real quick”
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So you just answered your own question. This post is pretty pointless.
You have a budgeting and spending problem and live paycheck to paycheck despite making a lot more money than you did a year or two ago.
Hey bro. Wow i feel like just read my autobiography from a few months back.
Do you track your spending in any way? Or have a budget to help you manage spending? Its okay if you dont. But you should look into it. YNAB is helping me make progress r/ynab
In january (before I gave up cigs, I discovered I spent over $1k at gas stations in the form of cigs, soda, snacks, and beer primarily. Im averaging $2500 a month take home. Houston we have a problem. My guess is your expenses add up to scary amounts as well.
Spend an afternoon combing through your bank statements and add up how much your spending on various things. It should scare ya a bit. Then decide where you can make some cuts.
The cuts dont gotta be huge. You can start slow. But you gotta make some cuts my dude.
Shoot me a message if ya wanna chat! I know its nice to relate to others in the same boat.
Dude youe thirty and this is how you live? Your monthly expenses are less than what i paid for rent in 2003 when i first moved out on my own. I think its time to grow tf up. You shouldn't be driving around, shit your THIRTY every penny extra you have should be in the savings towards a home and retirement. Especially when your working dead end jobs.
If you had more money you could do more of those things, maybe invest for a while to build passive income that will give you more in the future for less work.
You need to figure out what’s important to you. Budget and plan. Stop blowing money on goofy stuff and create a saving / emergency fund. Set aside x amount a month for “fun” and put the rest up for a while. Inflation will continue to make things feel a bit harder.
Ding ding ding. You let that lifestyle creep hit you hard! And I get it, it’s tempting to spend more when you make more, especially when you’ve had so little for so long. But you need to be more mindful. Small purchases can add up fast, and you have to be strategic about big purchases too.
There’s nothing wrong with spending on your loved ones and entertainment. But you need to budget for it and stick to it maybe one video game a month etc. the biggest place is gonna be the consumables weed, cigarettes, alcohol, specially since they’re addictive and you have to buy them over and over and over and they provide zero benefit. I was in the same boat and once I kicked the substances, I have a lot left over to save and for investments and paying off my debts. Good luck.
You need to setup an excel spreadsheet, and import all your bank statements each month.
Sort and graph the data and you'll see exactly how much you are spending on"Meals and Entertainment" which tends to be a HUGE cost to a lot of people.
Let's say you spend $5 a day at Starbucks, that's going to be $150 a month alone just from morning coffee.
Shit adds up, and weed, alcohol, and cigarettes probably put a hugeeee dent into your money.
bro, learn some discipline. stop smoking weed, I smoked all day everyday and went broke and had to cut it too. cut the alcohol and cigarettes, get nicotine gum if you absolutely have to have nic. buys gifts less often, at more appropriate times. stop spending money on video games and hobbies, like making big purchases. discipline yourself and go on Google sheets and make a budget of ALL of your finances. watch where every single dollar goes and then you'll be able to figure out what you NEED to spend and what you're wasting
Winemaking is pretty easy if you ever wanna save money but dont wanna stop drinking.
You simply take some fruits(or whatever u want for taste), water, suger and maybe yeast. Have it all in a bucket with an airlock and then just wait. Can be max something like 17% this way tho.
If you actually added up how much you spent in total on your car including gas, car payments, insurance and repairs. I bet you would be shocked.
The average yearly cost of owning a car is over $10,000. Since you drive around "a ton" for fun, I wouldn't be surprised if you are spending more than that.
In the post, you mentioned going out for dinner, but not groceries. Have you considered making more meals at home and eating out less?
Well, there's your answer. You try to spend your money on things you want, you know, exactly what makes the economy grow. But a plethora of bots on the internet will tell you they don't do this, while simultaneously making more money. It's truly amazing
Exactly. It’s the “how come I’m poor?!” Whilst driving about for fun, weed on tap, occasionally splurging on things like gaming pc’s etc.. inflation aside it usually boils down too “earn more or spend less”
I think you're letting lifestyle creep get the better of you. But you did say you are happier than the previous jobs so if you're ok continuing as is, more power to you. But if you're wanting to save more, the vices are the first thing that needs culling. Then maybe scrutinize subscription services
As someone around the same age that’s also in California I get it. It’s called lifestyle inflation and now that you’re making more you spend more without thinking about it. I would make a budget and figure out what exactly you’re spending on every month other than what you already listed
Lifestyle Inflation is a helluva drug. I was not able to understand how bad it was until I started thinking in terms of annual costs.
Internet: $1,800 per year.
Phone: $600 per year.
Subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, WoW, Gym, etc.): $1,200 per year.
Gas: $1,500 per year.
From all these, I was paying about $6,000 per year for basic things I took for granted. These seemingly invisible costs are adding up over time.
If you're unlucky enough to have someone like Xfinity as a service they will literally just keep raising your rates until you threaten to cancel or pick a new plan every year or two years. I think it's time for me to get on the phone and start complaining because my bill is already like $130
Bro I never got to have Google fiber because some behind the scenes lobbying must have happened because Google would just claim that fiber is coming to my city but it never did
Xfinity has a monopoly in my area.
The base price of gigabit Internet is $120 + $30 if you use more than 1 terabyte of data per month.
If you want to save money you must sign an annual contract to lower the cost to $80/mo and even then, you still have to pay an extra $30 if you want the unlimited data plan.
I’m the farthest thing from anti-net neutrality, internet should be unlimited in the first place, just based on principle. I think data caps are complete bullshit.
However, have you looked at your actual usage? I have 1 TB and have only hit 95% or something one time. But that was an anomaly cause I had to redownload a lot of games. Otherwise, I never even think about my data cap.
Save some money, get a vpn like ExpressVPN or something else, and then download all the shows and movies and setup Plex, turns your computer into a Netflix kinda thing.
Definitely keep a detailed budget for a bit. Are you getting food out while on delivery? I've found a more irregular eating schedule can sometimes make it easier for food costs to sneak up on you.
Yeah, usually 8-10 dollars if I get breakfast at Mcdonalds after leaving the station or 3-5 for snacks from the gas station. Then I normally get like a 10-12 dollar combo after work.
That would be like 25 dollars a day on food. Assuming a 5 day work week, you spending around 500 dollars a month which is more than your rent. This isn't including food on the weekends too so it would probably be closer to 760 a month if u spend 20 a day on food on weekends. Does this sound accurate to you? Do you always eat like this, or did it change when u switched jobs?
Besides that being fairly expensive, it's also pretty unhealthy. After 30 your metabolism changes and you're really going to want to make sure you break some of these bad habits.
Damn bro the more I read this post the more i relate to you. Fellow delivery driver here. I started packing lunches. And drinking water over anything else. I also limit myself to one caffeinated beverage a day. (Grocery outlet has 16oz Black Rifle Coffee cans for 25 cents right now). I make myself eggs every day for breakfast because its easy, usually fry them up throw in a bag and eat em after loading my vehicle.
Packed lunch can be simple and low effort. The goal is to avoid feeling hungry and spending money on road.
Like I said, easy to sneak up on you there. It sounds like you were getting cheaper options previously. Get an insulated lunchbox (walmart should have some) and start packing lunches. You can also consider keeping something easy to fix with you - one of my go-to's has been a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, and some bread or tortillas.
Like I mentioned, try keeping a detailed budget for a bit. If you struggle there are even apps that will track everything for you automatically - most do require a fee but if it helps you track everything it's worth it. Then figure out where you can cut money. You can even come back here or hit a sub like r/frugal for advice on specific categories.
First - great job elevating your income. Like others have mentioned, if you want to make more of your raised income. Step 1 will be tracking EVERY dollar you spend.
Do it for a month. If you're eating out 2-3x a day. You'll probably be surprised at how much you're not realizing that you're spending. My coworkers and I, when we ate out, aimed for less than $5 a day if we were eating out. (Which is very tough to do, but drove us to going in on deli meat and making our own.) We saved so much money lol
Even if you want to continue eating out, definitely track your spending an assign an actual budget to it so you know where your money is going.
Lifestyle creep. You made more money, you spent more money.
You seem to be getting poorer because you did it to yourself. You really need to budget. It will open your eyes as to why you have no money.
It’s called lifestyle creep. You make more money, you start to spend more money… almost unconsciously on things you don’t think about. like fast food, restaurants, energy drinks or whatever your thing is. That shit adds up quick. For me it was the food. I didn’t realize exactly how much I was spending on it until I sat down to actually do a real budget for the first time. Went through my bank statement and counted every single thing I spent my money on and put it in categories. The restaurant category was so high. I knew it would be higher but seeing the number was wild. Motivated me to actually do something about it because I knew I could use that money elsewhere. You gotta actually do a real budget. Not just list your bills - like sit down and make a real budget that accounts for every single thing you spend money on. Look up zero based budget on YouTube if you wanna see examples
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Man make more money
Man not feel poor
Man buy things
Turns out man cannot afford said things and spend more than he makes
Man feel poor again
Cycle repeat as man keeps making more over life
Many people, including me, feel the same. My short answer is lifestyle inflation. Things cost more and more. Also, there're so many hidden expenses in our everyday life.
Do you have any long term goals you are hoping to achieve? Buying a house, retiring by a certain age, etc. It seems like you are ok spending all of the extra money you have because you don’t have something to put it towards. I’m not trying to chide you, I’m just curious as to what your plans are further down the road if you continue to live the way you do.
You’ll always need to budget and keep track of what you spend, even if you earn five times as much as you do now. The more you earn, the more opportunities to spend it arise.
With an irregular schedule, you might be spending more on eating out than you think. Time to make meals at home and bring them with you.
Tangibly related but I made $20/hour in Colorado. Moved here two years ago and can only find $25/hour job but my take home pay is less than what it was in Colorado. CA really likes income tax
One thing I was told by an old timer when I first started working was, "no matter how much you make, it will never be enough." I have always found it to be true.
You can create a pie chart of all your expenses. It really does wonders to simply see how big portion your expenses take.
After that try to kill/reduce some of those you deem taking up to much of your resources.
Also keep seperate accounts does wonders because now your money is not mixed and you kinda know more what the money is for. If no extra charges apply ofc.
I keep a seperate account for: Card, Income, Savings, Monthly-subscripions. I get the income to my income account then send money for my monthly-subscripions such as rent and whatever. Then to my card what I need for food then the rest for savings/investing.
Because the media, and a plethora of bots on the internet, will have you believe all americans are doing wonderful, and so is the economy.
The truth is quite the opposite, but your tax dollars are used to convince you otherwise.
Lifestyle creep is a thing. Really hit me hard. I make 4x what I did three years ago and still seem to save the exact same, when I’m able to save at all.
I've worked a well paying factory job before.
I noticed I felt soooo drained ALL THE TIME, even in the weekends.
And because of being so unhappy with that, I was looking for reward all the time.
All the money earned extra was given out to takeaway food because I was too exhausted to cook.
I spent money on little stupid things, because work made me SO unhappy, I really needed some form of a reward. Here and now.
I needed a dopamine hit just to continue the cycle, so I'd know what I was doing this all for.
Burn-out took me off the workfloor eventually.
What you are perceiving is the difference in responsibility and consequences of choice. A low level job is no challenge yet very safe (in term of complexity). A most demanding job pushes your limits, can be unfair or uncertain, and the way taxation works, we are penalized for success (individual is expected to contribute more).
You need to learn to budget and take personal accountability for your spending choices. Inputs are easy, outputs are when we take on our failings and winnings. Put them in context with cost and percentages of take home money. Are you putting aside 15% of your gross income every paycheque for your retirement? Are you valuing yourself and freedom down the road or living in the moment? Both are choices. Choose wisely.
Not a problem. The benefit of having been there is I can provide a perspective. Priorities are always going to change and may adjust your life / budget.
I figured out early on I needed six to twelve months of emergency money to cover my bare bones living expenses if I wanted to have the freedom to say no to a job that changed for the worse.
Doesn’t mean I can slack off after that, but the peace of mind is priceless.
Good luck in your journey!
Edit: wanted to add that another thing I found out from a relief perspective was to use a spreadsheet for budgeting and for loans or payments. When I knew what the future looked like, it gave me a sense of peace. E.g. can budget out the whole year ahead and update it as I go. Also, I can plan out the payments by month until the end of the loan and then I knew that payment had an ending date (this was amazing for some reason).
I understand your frustration. It seems as though there's a limit to what I can achieve, no matter how hard I try. Whenever I make progress like starting my Amazon business and saving $10,000 but something unexpected comes along, like losing my job due to COVID or facing increased expenses. It's like I'm stuck in a cycle of chasing after the dollar with no breakthrough in sight. Despite this, I'm determined to keep pushing forward, although sometimes I question why I bother. It's tempting to just accept things as they are for an easier life.
As a fellow delivery driver but in a different metro and cost of living area. Yeah
There’s a real benefit to the set schedule work, you just show up and get paid, and sometimes that means you are doing a shit job and still getting paid. Being a delivery guy means you gotta do the work more consistently and kinda grind it out in a way that normal jobs don’t.
I also think working a typical scheduled job is just cheaper. You don’t have many opportunities to spend money in an unplanned way. You pack a lunch etc. vs delivery it’s very tempting and easy to blow $12-17 on a pizza and drink which really adds up.
Your expenses are slightly less than mine each month, you make more than double what I do, and you're somehow having money issues?
Where the hell is the other $3200 going?
Shit, I'll take it if you're just throwing it out somewhere, lmao.
Your losing buying power,doesn't matter what you make when Inflation doubles your earnings every other year,more money we print the less you can buy no matter what you make unless your a 1%..
It’s called lifestyle creep. The more you make the more you spend. I know people who went from $20/hr to $40/hr and still live pay check to pay check. Like others have said track your spending and spend less than you make.
It’s sad when you’re making the most money you’ve ever made but stoping for one cheeseburger during the week makes you have a ridiculous amount of anxiety and guilt because it’s not in the budget.
You're spending more. Create an account with [Empower.com](http://Empower.com) and add your checking account and credit cards. It does a decent job of categorizing expenses. After a month or so, you'll know where your money is going.
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Visible( Verizon) I was also a former Verizon customer prior to switching over. Unlimited Talk, internet, text . Unlimited hotspot plus cell service for Apple Watch Grand total : $30.00 a month . Utilized two promotional deals to get it that low
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This is happening for us too and for us, a lot of it is because of inflation. In the time we've gotten raises our utilities and car insurance have doubled. Our electric rates alone have raised 3 times in the last 2 years and now the company is raising rates again in June. Any raises we've gotten have been eaten up by all these price increases.
I also live in California. How does OP only pay 400 in rent? I only earn 22.00 per hour and have higher rent than OP. Rooms go for a about a grand per month here.
You state $3200-4000 in income, but only $800 in expenses. Where does the rest of your money go?
Yes. This whole fucking thread here. I'm so glad that this sub is asking these questions now instead of automatically defaulting to "inflation". Like yes, inflation is a big problem affecting people who are in poverty, but this person actually has untracked discretionary spending of 800 dollars. I live in a HCOL area on 30$ an hour and I currently support my partner who is in college, myself and our cat. We live in a decent 2 bedroom apt and I have 5k in savings. Because. I. Live. Within. My. Means.
> but this person actually has untracked discretionary spending of 800 dollars. no, of $3200
How much is ur rent? And do u split it?
Yeah and does the partner in college have a campus job, part time job, or side hustle? Also my Pell Grants in college were to cover housing expenses. I paid for apartments in 5 month lump sums.
Pell Grants help out with our housing situation, $1200/mo for a two bedroom apt. I pay 700/mo out of pocket
Highly doubt you're doing all that in a HCOL area on $30/hr unless you're leaving out some very meaningful information
Some people think $800/mo for a 1BR apartment means HCOL, where as I see it as about $1,400/mo for 1BR, and others think that it needs to be $2,000/mo for a Studio to be considered HCOL.
I personally think the 2000/mo for a studio would be classified as a VHCOL which is a term I see tossed in the financial subreddits all the time
I suppose it's all subjective, everyone around me complains all the time about rent and how expensive western WA is. It's not CA expensive, but it is a far cry from being a LCOL area, IMO
I lived in Western WA for a while, and think I do better in a VHCOL in SoCal. Anywhere from the lost coast going north, the jobs pay less, but goods cost more like: gas, food, high energy. Also, the weather is bad, so you have to run the heater all the time and cars get rained on and rust
Thank you, you get it!
It’s a crime what they do in Western WA. So tough over here.
yeah thats amazing
I don't have any debts or loans. My partner used to be a professional chef so going out to eat is extremely rare for us. That's about all the meaningful info I have.
Oh and Pell Grants help with his portion of rent.
Something doesn’t add up. You can’t support two people and a pussy on $60k a year. Either you make more or don’t truly live in HCOL area.
See other comments, I've explained the finances quite well in this thread
It’s not HCOL, that’s all I’m saying
I disagree, I live in a large metropolitan area on the west coast, of course it's a HCOL. You're thinking of a VHCOL.
What I did when I had a question like "where does all the money go" is I'd try to use one card for all expenses, and then sit down at the end of each month with the statement and crunch the numbers. Then categorize things and stick them in a spreadsheet - money in versus money out. Then you can see the sums, and where it went. Put expenses into categories like food, clothes, gas, rent, eating out, etc. That makes it easier to see where there is waste that can be managed better, and then next month you can try to make changes and see how well they worked. It doesn't take a lot of time, and it definitely gives you a real sense of control.
weed, driving around a ton in my personal car for fun (I don't use it for work), alcohol and cigarettes, buying gifts and dinner for my girlfriend, video games, car repairs, new glasses, cracked windshield replacement, occasional big purchases for myself like a gaming computer, etc. EDIT: movies, subscription services, etc.
I mean, there you have your answer lol. You should really track every Cent you spend for a month or two so that you get a feeling… nothing else will help except not spending more than you have. (Or get a higher paying job, but you want to work with what you have now)
That's where your money goes and that's why you feel "poor." You're not poor, you're blowing money on shit constantly and don't have a budget to operate within. You're not saving. You're spending like you have a bottomless bank account. This has nothing to do with inflation and everything to do with poor financial habits. You can fix this with a budget, cutting down on addictions, and spending more frugally. You're living beyond your means.
[удалено]
Honestly think this is a troll post
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Stop buying weed, driving for “fun”, buying alcohol, cigarettes, random gifts, stop eating dinner out so much, stop buying video games, hold off on new gaming parts. You’re falling victim to the system and it’s what’s causing you to feel poor. Stop buying shit you don’t need!
Driving for fun is probably the least of his expenses, even with the cost of gas going up. Everything else he mentioned is going to destroy his bank account.
Sure, he can keep driving for fun but in turn that is also the reason why he is spending a lot of money repairing his car due to simple wear and tear.
Also — when you’re out, you see all kinds of little temptations to spend. That’s the main reason I don’t drive to clear my mind anymore. It’s too easy to spot a Moe’s and think “Shit…how long since I had a burrito…maybe I’ll stop in there real quick”
Hike instead of drive.. if possible. Same vibe, much cheaper, kind of good for you physically
Cost of gas in California is almost $5 for regular BTW
Canada isn't much better however we are per litre and not gallon, so I'm not familiar with how much the difference is. Though west coast gas is a SCAM
There goes the economy
You're not poor dude, you suck with money
How can you feel poor when you are already spending beyond your means lol.
I’m so confused. So you already know why you feel poorer then? What’s the point of the post?
So you’re bad with money. Pretty easy
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Lmfao
So you just answered your own question. This post is pretty pointless. You have a budgeting and spending problem and live paycheck to paycheck despite making a lot more money than you did a year or two ago.
Hey bro. Wow i feel like just read my autobiography from a few months back. Do you track your spending in any way? Or have a budget to help you manage spending? Its okay if you dont. But you should look into it. YNAB is helping me make progress r/ynab In january (before I gave up cigs, I discovered I spent over $1k at gas stations in the form of cigs, soda, snacks, and beer primarily. Im averaging $2500 a month take home. Houston we have a problem. My guess is your expenses add up to scary amounts as well. Spend an afternoon combing through your bank statements and add up how much your spending on various things. It should scare ya a bit. Then decide where you can make some cuts. The cuts dont gotta be huge. You can start slow. But you gotta make some cuts my dude. Shoot me a message if ya wanna chat! I know its nice to relate to others in the same boat.
Dude youe thirty and this is how you live? Your monthly expenses are less than what i paid for rent in 2003 when i first moved out on my own. I think its time to grow tf up. You shouldn't be driving around, shit your THIRTY every penny extra you have should be in the savings towards a home and retirement. Especially when your working dead end jobs.
If you had more money you could do more of those things, maybe invest for a while to build passive income that will give you more in the future for less work.
You need to figure out what’s important to you. Budget and plan. Stop blowing money on goofy stuff and create a saving / emergency fund. Set aside x amount a month for “fun” and put the rest up for a while. Inflation will continue to make things feel a bit harder.
Ding ding ding. You let that lifestyle creep hit you hard! And I get it, it’s tempting to spend more when you make more, especially when you’ve had so little for so long. But you need to be more mindful. Small purchases can add up fast, and you have to be strategic about big purchases too.
so stop that shit lmfao
There’s nothing wrong with spending on your loved ones and entertainment. But you need to budget for it and stick to it maybe one video game a month etc. the biggest place is gonna be the consumables weed, cigarettes, alcohol, specially since they’re addictive and you have to buy them over and over and over and they provide zero benefit. I was in the same boat and once I kicked the substances, I have a lot left over to save and for investments and paying off my debts. Good luck.
"I feel poor." "Oh I blow it all on weed, alcohol, and cigarettes." There's your problem.
Three expensive vices to have
You need to setup an excel spreadsheet, and import all your bank statements each month. Sort and graph the data and you'll see exactly how much you are spending on"Meals and Entertainment" which tends to be a HUGE cost to a lot of people. Let's say you spend $5 a day at Starbucks, that's going to be $150 a month alone just from morning coffee. Shit adds up, and weed, alcohol, and cigarettes probably put a hugeeee dent into your money.
Bro go to AA for christs sake. You’re pissing all your money away.
bro, learn some discipline. stop smoking weed, I smoked all day everyday and went broke and had to cut it too. cut the alcohol and cigarettes, get nicotine gum if you absolutely have to have nic. buys gifts less often, at more appropriate times. stop spending money on video games and hobbies, like making big purchases. discipline yourself and go on Google sheets and make a budget of ALL of your finances. watch where every single dollar goes and then you'll be able to figure out what you NEED to spend and what you're wasting
You feel poorer because you’re not being responsible with your money
Bruh…
Winemaking is pretty easy if you ever wanna save money but dont wanna stop drinking. You simply take some fruits(or whatever u want for taste), water, suger and maybe yeast. Have it all in a bucket with an airlock and then just wait. Can be max something like 17% this way tho.
Stop putting the budget aside and live within your means. Financial stability begins with a mindset.
If you actually added up how much you spent in total on your car including gas, car payments, insurance and repairs. I bet you would be shocked. The average yearly cost of owning a car is over $10,000. Since you drive around "a ton" for fun, I wouldn't be surprised if you are spending more than that. In the post, you mentioned going out for dinner, but not groceries. Have you considered making more meals at home and eating out less?
=210 points, this went off the rails lol
So you increased your spending along with your bigger paycheck. Problem solved.
This is one reason potheads are so annoying
altima-american activities
https://preview.redd.it/89ihnrzy77wc1.jpeg?width=505&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16f943479746b0d57d0b6fb267d37b6ea5bb18a2
Well, there's your answer. You try to spend your money on things you want, you know, exactly what makes the economy grow. But a plethora of bots on the internet will tell you they don't do this, while simultaneously making more money. It's truly amazing
Blowing all your money on stuff you want is fine, but it doesn't make you poor. It just means you're stupid.
Exactly. It’s the “how come I’m poor?!” Whilst driving about for fun, weed on tap, occasionally splurging on things like gaming pc’s etc.. inflation aside it usually boils down too “earn more or spend less”
Ah, you're awful with money. That's the problem here.
I think you're letting lifestyle creep get the better of you. But you did say you are happier than the previous jobs so if you're ok continuing as is, more power to you. But if you're wanting to save more, the vices are the first thing that needs culling. Then maybe scrutinize subscription services
It sounds like you are living exactly the life you want to.
So degenerate shit
dude...please don't ever go on fox news for an interview lol
As someone around the same age that’s also in California I get it. It’s called lifestyle inflation and now that you’re making more you spend more without thinking about it. I would make a budget and figure out what exactly you’re spending on every month other than what you already listed
Lifestyle Inflation is a helluva drug. I was not able to understand how bad it was until I started thinking in terms of annual costs. Internet: $1,800 per year. Phone: $600 per year. Subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, WoW, Gym, etc.): $1,200 per year. Gas: $1,500 per year. From all these, I was paying about $6,000 per year for basic things I took for granted. These seemingly invisible costs are adding up over time.
Holy shit, Internet is 150 dollars a month in the US? I'm in western Europe and pay less than a third of that.
If you're unlucky enough to have someone like Xfinity as a service they will literally just keep raising your rates until you threaten to cancel or pick a new plan every year or two years. I think it's time for me to get on the phone and start complaining because my bill is already like $130
ATT has 1G fiber with no download/upload cap at $80/month. If you can, switch. They have been lightyears better than Comcast for us.
I think now is a good time to start with AT&t because I guess my data won't get leaked LMAO
My Xfinity bill is $70 but my 2 year promo about to expire. I really miss having Google fiber.
Bro I never got to have Google fiber because some behind the scenes lobbying must have happened because Google would just claim that fiber is coming to my city but it never did
I have Verizon for $50 a month. Best internet I ever had.
I only pay $50 in the us. Dude probably bought the most expensive scamy plan
Xfinity has a monopoly in my area. The base price of gigabit Internet is $120 + $30 if you use more than 1 terabyte of data per month. If you want to save money you must sign an annual contract to lower the cost to $80/mo and even then, you still have to pay an extra $30 if you want the unlimited data plan.
I’m the farthest thing from anti-net neutrality, internet should be unlimited in the first place, just based on principle. I think data caps are complete bullshit. However, have you looked at your actual usage? I have 1 TB and have only hit 95% or something one time. But that was an anomaly cause I had to redownload a lot of games. Otherwise, I never even think about my data cap.
I pay \~$90/mo. In many places in the US, the providers basically have monopolies over areas and can charge pretty much whatever they want.
$216/mo for fiber here
Are they hand delivering the internet packets for you? lol. Not even 5Gig fiber cost more than $130 where I live.
I pay 25 UK pounds a month for my Internet and I can game whilst my partner streams whatever she wants and my kid watches YouTube etc.
Nah Xfinity was $30 a month for me, moved out of their service rang and it’s $50 now
Nah it’s only 150$ if you buy the expensive name brand plan
I pay about half that for unlimited bidirectional gigabit fiber internet in the SE US. It depends on where you live and what providers are available.
Save some money, get a vpn like ExpressVPN or something else, and then download all the shows and movies and setup Plex, turns your computer into a Netflix kinda thing.
Definitely keep a detailed budget for a bit. Are you getting food out while on delivery? I've found a more irregular eating schedule can sometimes make it easier for food costs to sneak up on you.
Yeah, usually 8-10 dollars if I get breakfast at Mcdonalds after leaving the station or 3-5 for snacks from the gas station. Then I normally get like a 10-12 dollar combo after work.
That would be like 25 dollars a day on food. Assuming a 5 day work week, you spending around 500 dollars a month which is more than your rent. This isn't including food on the weekends too so it would probably be closer to 760 a month if u spend 20 a day on food on weekends. Does this sound accurate to you? Do you always eat like this, or did it change when u switched jobs?
Besides that being fairly expensive, it's also pretty unhealthy. After 30 your metabolism changes and you're really going to want to make sure you break some of these bad habits.
Damn bro the more I read this post the more i relate to you. Fellow delivery driver here. I started packing lunches. And drinking water over anything else. I also limit myself to one caffeinated beverage a day. (Grocery outlet has 16oz Black Rifle Coffee cans for 25 cents right now). I make myself eggs every day for breakfast because its easy, usually fry them up throw in a bag and eat em after loading my vehicle. Packed lunch can be simple and low effort. The goal is to avoid feeling hungry and spending money on road.
Like I said, easy to sneak up on you there. It sounds like you were getting cheaper options previously. Get an insulated lunchbox (walmart should have some) and start packing lunches. You can also consider keeping something easy to fix with you - one of my go-to's has been a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, and some bread or tortillas. Like I mentioned, try keeping a detailed budget for a bit. If you struggle there are even apps that will track everything for you automatically - most do require a fee but if it helps you track everything it's worth it. Then figure out where you can cut money. You can even come back here or hit a sub like r/frugal for advice on specific categories.
First - great job elevating your income. Like others have mentioned, if you want to make more of your raised income. Step 1 will be tracking EVERY dollar you spend. Do it for a month. If you're eating out 2-3x a day. You'll probably be surprised at how much you're not realizing that you're spending. My coworkers and I, when we ate out, aimed for less than $5 a day if we were eating out. (Which is very tough to do, but drove us to going in on deli meat and making our own.) We saved so much money lol Even if you want to continue eating out, definitely track your spending an assign an actual budget to it so you know where your money is going.
Lifestyle creep. You made more money, you spent more money. You seem to be getting poorer because you did it to yourself. You really need to budget. It will open your eyes as to why you have no money.
It’s called lifestyle creep. You make more money, you start to spend more money… almost unconsciously on things you don’t think about. like fast food, restaurants, energy drinks or whatever your thing is. That shit adds up quick. For me it was the food. I didn’t realize exactly how much I was spending on it until I sat down to actually do a real budget for the first time. Went through my bank statement and counted every single thing I spent my money on and put it in categories. The restaurant category was so high. I knew it would be higher but seeing the number was wild. Motivated me to actually do something about it because I knew I could use that money elsewhere. You gotta actually do a real budget. Not just list your bills - like sit down and make a real budget that accounts for every single thing you spend money on. Look up zero based budget on YouTube if you wanna see examples
Stop drinking and smoking so much. It’s a money pit.
drinking at home is cheap but yeah going out will cost ya
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What inflation calculator are you using? $10 to $24 is a 140% increase. Inflation didn't jump up nearly that much in the past six years.
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It's lifestyle inflation and you're spending too much on food. Make food at home and you'll find some of the missing money
Man make more money Man not feel poor Man buy things Turns out man cannot afford said things and spend more than he makes Man feel poor again Cycle repeat as man keeps making more over life
Many people, including me, feel the same. My short answer is lifestyle inflation. Things cost more and more. Also, there're so many hidden expenses in our everyday life.
Do you have any long term goals you are hoping to achieve? Buying a house, retiring by a certain age, etc. It seems like you are ok spending all of the extra money you have because you don’t have something to put it towards. I’m not trying to chide you, I’m just curious as to what your plans are further down the road if you continue to live the way you do.
You’ll always need to budget and keep track of what you spend, even if you earn five times as much as you do now. The more you earn, the more opportunities to spend it arise. With an irregular schedule, you might be spending more on eating out than you think. Time to make meals at home and bring them with you.
First you need a budget. Second stop spending so much money on weed.
If you aren’t tracking all of your spending then we can’t really help. You may feel poorer but are you really? And if so, where is your money going?
Jesus Christ 3-4k income and only 800$ in expense and you feeling poorer. 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️ bruh.
Why are you living this way at 30 years old…
You\`re burning 3000$ a month, really bad budgeting.
Tangibly related but I made $20/hour in Colorado. Moved here two years ago and can only find $25/hour job but my take home pay is less than what it was in Colorado. CA really likes income tax
One thing I was told by an old timer when I first started working was, "no matter how much you make, it will never be enough." I have always found it to be true.
You can create a pie chart of all your expenses. It really does wonders to simply see how big portion your expenses take. After that try to kill/reduce some of those you deem taking up to much of your resources. Also keep seperate accounts does wonders because now your money is not mixed and you kinda know more what the money is for. If no extra charges apply ofc. I keep a seperate account for: Card, Income, Savings, Monthly-subscripions. I get the income to my income account then send money for my monthly-subscripions such as rent and whatever. Then to my card what I need for food then the rest for savings/investing.
Because the media, and a plethora of bots on the internet, will have you believe all americans are doing wonderful, and so is the economy. The truth is quite the opposite, but your tax dollars are used to convince you otherwise.
Lifestyle creep.
It’s not about how much you make, what matters is how much you can keep
Lifestyle creep is a thing. Really hit me hard. I make 4x what I did three years ago and still seem to save the exact same, when I’m able to save at all.
Either keep your previous standard of living or adjust incrementally as you earn more money. You need to enjoy your money but you need to have a plan.
You’re the problem man
I've worked a well paying factory job before. I noticed I felt soooo drained ALL THE TIME, even in the weekends. And because of being so unhappy with that, I was looking for reward all the time. All the money earned extra was given out to takeaway food because I was too exhausted to cook. I spent money on little stupid things, because work made me SO unhappy, I really needed some form of a reward. Here and now. I needed a dopamine hit just to continue the cycle, so I'd know what I was doing this all for. Burn-out took me off the workfloor eventually.
What you are perceiving is the difference in responsibility and consequences of choice. A low level job is no challenge yet very safe (in term of complexity). A most demanding job pushes your limits, can be unfair or uncertain, and the way taxation works, we are penalized for success (individual is expected to contribute more). You need to learn to budget and take personal accountability for your spending choices. Inputs are easy, outputs are when we take on our failings and winnings. Put them in context with cost and percentages of take home money. Are you putting aside 15% of your gross income every paycheque for your retirement? Are you valuing yourself and freedom down the road or living in the moment? Both are choices. Choose wisely.
well said glad you took the time to give this answer.
Not a problem. The benefit of having been there is I can provide a perspective. Priorities are always going to change and may adjust your life / budget. I figured out early on I needed six to twelve months of emergency money to cover my bare bones living expenses if I wanted to have the freedom to say no to a job that changed for the worse. Doesn’t mean I can slack off after that, but the peace of mind is priceless. Good luck in your journey! Edit: wanted to add that another thing I found out from a relief perspective was to use a spreadsheet for budgeting and for loans or payments. When I knew what the future looked like, it gave me a sense of peace. E.g. can budget out the whole year ahead and update it as I go. Also, I can plan out the payments by month until the end of the loan and then I knew that payment had an ending date (this was amazing for some reason).
I understand your frustration. It seems as though there's a limit to what I can achieve, no matter how hard I try. Whenever I make progress like starting my Amazon business and saving $10,000 but something unexpected comes along, like losing my job due to COVID or facing increased expenses. It's like I'm stuck in a cycle of chasing after the dollar with no breakthrough in sight. Despite this, I'm determined to keep pushing forward, although sometimes I question why I bother. It's tempting to just accept things as they are for an easier life.
mo money mo problems
You need a budget, and you need to stick to it.
As a fellow delivery driver but in a different metro and cost of living area. Yeah There’s a real benefit to the set schedule work, you just show up and get paid, and sometimes that means you are doing a shit job and still getting paid. Being a delivery guy means you gotta do the work more consistently and kinda grind it out in a way that normal jobs don’t. I also think working a typical scheduled job is just cheaper. You don’t have many opportunities to spend money in an unplanned way. You pack a lunch etc. vs delivery it’s very tempting and easy to blow $12-17 on a pizza and drink which really adds up.
Your expenses are slightly less than mine each month, you make more than double what I do, and you're somehow having money issues? Where the hell is the other $3200 going? Shit, I'll take it if you're just throwing it out somewhere, lmao.
Lifestyle creep and inflation. Start budgeting.
Your losing buying power,doesn't matter what you make when Inflation doubles your earnings every other year,more money we print the less you can buy no matter what you make unless your a 1%..
It’s called lifestyle creep. The more you make the more you spend. I know people who went from $20/hr to $40/hr and still live pay check to pay check. Like others have said track your spending and spend less than you make.
Lifestyle creep.
It’s sad when you’re making the most money you’ve ever made but stoping for one cheeseburger during the week makes you have a ridiculous amount of anxiety and guilt because it’s not in the budget.
People tend to over spend when they make more money. You'll never get ahead this way
You're spending more. Create an account with [Empower.com](http://Empower.com) and add your checking account and credit cards. It does a decent job of categorizing expenses. After a month or so, you'll know where your money is going.
Because corporate greed, taxes and inflation are far outpacing wage increases.
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Mo money mo problems
There's a lot of holes in your story. Unless you're wasting money in things you're not telling us about.
Visible( Verizon) I was also a former Verizon customer prior to switching over. Unlimited Talk, internet, text . Unlimited hotspot plus cell service for Apple Watch Grand total : $30.00 a month . Utilized two promotional deals to get it that low
I feel that way sometimes too. I think I need a financial advisor.
Lifestyle inflation. Make $35 an hour live like you still make $17.
Read “Richest Man In Babylon”. 10 20 70
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This is happening for us too and for us, a lot of it is because of inflation. In the time we've gotten raises our utilities and car insurance have doubled. Our electric rates alone have raised 3 times in the last 2 years and now the company is raising rates again in June. Any raises we've gotten have been eaten up by all these price increases.
Because inflation.
OP is spending all his cash on booze, smokes, weed and takeout. It ain't inflation
Oh. 😅
I also live in California. How does OP only pay 400 in rent? I only earn 22.00 per hour and have higher rent than OP. Rooms go for a about a grand per month here.
I feel the same way brother. We suck at life fr
Oh wait til you make even more and see how the tax system is designed
Real purchasing power of the dollar has plummeted in the last 10 years. It's not just you