50k a Year Is Not What It Used to Be
It’s so funny how a mere five to ten years can dramatically change your perspective. Well, let’s add in there that a large chunk of perspective when it comes to money and how much things cost and how far a certain amount of money per year is gonna get you, has a lot to do with inflation.
What I’m talking about here is the fact that just ten short years ago I used to consider $50,000 a year a LOT of money to earn. Granted, it was a decade ago, but how has that same amount today seemed to barely keep some people afloat – even people who may just be single and not responsible for supporting a family or even a spouse.
It’s ALL inflation. When I consider how much I used to spend on groceries back then, $50k probably would have supported both myself and my husband quite comfortably. Even when we were eating out fairly often at restaurants – both sit down and fast food.
Just the fact that groceries and staples such as grain, corn and dairy and meat have gone up astronomically in the past few years makes the simple necessity of eating a lot more expensive than it used to be.
When you’re an adult, you also have a lot of obligations, or things that you feel obligated to do where you have to spend money. Buying gifts for the endless baby showers, the wedding showers and weddings, the birthdays of your friend’s kids, the holidays, the special occasions, all the various financial obligations that are of a “social” aspect as you get older are pretty high.
This is especially true if people perceive you as being financially comfortable. It’s as if different expectations are placed on you if people have this perception. Granted, it’s probably a totally self-inflicted guilt thing, but I’ve found it is true for us.
Even the simple fact that at both of our jobs, we are expected to pitch in for group gifts, add to the pot for various causes, and spend money to do social events outside of work can be financially burdensome.
Then there is the cost of energy. There’s the gas bill, the electric gill, and of course the all too pervasive gasoline for the car to get you both to and from work five days a week. If you work far from home, this can really put a dent in the annual budget quickly as well with the high oil prices.
In general, the pressure on our money is much greater these days. The cost of living is high, while the prices for our hard earned homes is at a historic low. Put the two together, and you have inflation compounded several times – that’s why that 50 G’s no longer gets you too far in this world.
