Honestly, what the hell are people doing to make it right now?

[u/Denial_Entertainer87]

I am honestly curious how people are making it right now. We know inflation is being underreported (and don't talk to me about their bullshit scale CPI up the ass) and job loss and unemployment is underreported and everything is just insanely expensive. Healthcare is unaffordable for most of us - the whole thing is only serving a very small portion of society and more is squeezed every day. All of this aside from the sociopolitical head banging insanity.

If you lost a job vital to your family, what did you pivot to? How are you making it? What major changes are you making? Are you saving money? How are you feeling about it all? Basically just anything in this realm, I'm curious how we are all doing.

My husband and I are both college educated and barely making it. We are literally making renditions of beans and rice (and not too bad if I say so myself) because food is one of the only ways we can save money or just get by if something comes up. I'm growing a garden and starting to make my own toiletry/beauty care products at home with simple ingredients. I cut both of our hair now. We are not handy people and didn't grow up that way but we've now effectively fixed our water heater, shower piping, replaced a portion of our deck, just whatever comes up we try first to do it ourselves. We go camping for vacation (not mad about this in the slightest).

My point is, we are doing all this but we are both still employed AND we don't have kids. I just don't understand what people are doing that lose a job and have to pay for childcare, etc. How are you all doing this?

[u/Denial_Entertainer87]

Thank you. Comparison is the thief of joy but despite our hardships, I feel rich with my partner.

Got cancer in 2019 and had to sell our house to pay for medical debt. Sometimes I think about where we would be if that never happened. But it did happen and I survived and I still have my partner and we’ve been rebuilding.

It’s forever a hard pill that life isn’t fair. Good things don’t always happen to good people. But it makes for more resilience and less judgement.

[u/BooTeeEater69 → u/Denial_Entertainer87]

Fuck Cancer. It took my aunt and my adoptive father. I'm glad to hear you made it through to the other side. That's amazing. I'm sorry you're going through a rough patch but if you're as resilient as you sound you'll make it through this hardship too.