US expenses up an average of $961/month
And incomes remain stagnant.
Our groceries on prepared, especially frozen, food went up about $300/month. But we can reduce this by getting fresh food, and making it ourselves. Food at restaurants has also gone up about 20% around here, sometimes 25%. Because it involves labor.
As people quit working in 2021 to get regular unemployment, and the Biden Bonus $600/week unemployment, at that point they could earn more than getting a job. So they quit. And they wouldn’t come back until employers paid them more. So employers paid them more. And all these companies had to raise their prices to cover the additional expenses. All of this was predictable.
Raising wages plays a big part in prices going up. Per my 4 years of accounting, people are the most expensive part of a business by a big margin. Every time the minimum wage goes up, prices go up about 12 months later as companies do a combination of 1) lay off a few employees, and 2) raise prices of their goods and services. I’ve been watching a fast food crew get cut 60% since 1987 when I worked in fast food. At the same time the minimum wage has gone up, and prices have gone up as well.
The problem isn’t income so much as poor money management. No matter how much sheeple earn, they will still be unable to manage that money. They are like a deep pit with no bottom. In order to meet the demands of this challenging economy, people need to manage their money better. Stop getting tattoos, those are a luxury, you don’t need them. Don’t eat out so much, this means reduce your $5 coffees as well. That’s a luxury you don’t need.
People who fail to properly prioritize their spending will always have problems regardless of how much money they have. Thus raising wages is not a solution. Nor is training. Trial runs have already been done in Wisconsin where they trained people to budget and gave them a free class. 6 months later they called the people who took the class. Only 10% were using the skills they learned in the free class. Training just doesn’t work for sheeple.
Total compensation vs income
Total compensation is: income, medical insurance, life insurance, and the value of anything the employer gives to the employee. While total compensation has gone up since 2000, incomes have been largely stagnant for many people since 2000. Most of the total compensation that has gone up is the cost of medical insurance. This does is not cash a person can use to buy food.