I literally had avocado toast today. You know what made me start? I did the math, and avocado toast costs about as much as a bowl of cereal. They've been gradually hiking the price of all the essential items like cereal and milk, but the luxury goods haven't gone up as much. There's no such thing as "cutting corners and saving up" anymore.

We need the Rent Is Too Damn High guy to be in high political office to get this shit under control.

Ah, but Real Income is up 0.6% over the last fiscal cycle, so why are you complaining?

the same people bribing the supreme court are behind this very bullshit.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/5/2244971/-FBI-raid-on-real-estate-company-linked-to-Harlan-Crow-s-RealPage-rental-price-fixing

And when Bill Shorten proposed to change the tax system to slow down speculative capital gains that are driving house prices, the people voted for Robodebt Scotty Morrison.

My rent has gone up 3.4x in the last 14 years. 2010 I was paying roughly $800/mo for a three bedroom house, now I'm paying roughly $2700 for a smaller 3 bedroom apartment.

Say it with me: Line. Must. Go. Up! - millionaires who don't give a fuck.

When do we eat ^the rich^?

Let's do the math. At a nice brunch place, avocado toast costs $14.

To make up for the $1,500 increase in rent, you would need to eat 3-4 fancy avocado toasts per day, for an average of 107 avocado toasts per month.

Given these numbers we can assume that you exclusively eat avocado toasts at restaurants for all sustenance. This would negate the need for a grocery budget, which usually trends at about $300/month, giving you the budget for an additional 21 avocado toasts per month, for a guaranteed minimum of 4 toasts per day (128 per month).

So as long as you're consuming avocado toast below this level, it's probably not the cause of your financial issues.

Have you seen the price of a decent piece of avocado toast though?

1990: "We don't do that, do that yourself at home. GTFO"

2024: Starts at $11.95 just for avocado, addons are extra

...in `98 i was paying $500 to rent a 650sf one-bedroom apartment at $30k salary; in 2008 i was paying $750 to rent a 650sf one-bedroom apartment at $45k salary; in 2018 i was paying $1250 mortgage on a 1500sf house at $85k salary: today i pay that same $1250 mortage at $105k salary and thank god i managed to save that down payment within twenty years, before the real estate speculators completely overran my local market...

...not sure what that illustrates other than 2024 is brutally expensive relative to pay: we bought three nectarines last night for six dollars at the local discount grocer, which would have cost less than a dollar thirty years ago...

First moved out in the early 00s, rent was anywhere 75-150/w depending. Friends had 2 room units in complex for 95/w. Not even 2 or 3 years later rents were at 200-250/w. Now those same units wont be under 400.

I know airbnb and such arent the sole reason, but when they can rent out their house where nightly prices 350+ where rents are at least 400/w they can rent the place for not even 2 months a year and get the same as if they were renting it out the traditional way. So, naturually there are less longer term rentals available, pushing prices up. We have whole towns which are tourist areas where people cant get a house to live in because of airbnb shit. I'll liikely never own my own home because im paying at least 65% of my income on rent, how the fuck can i save. Fuel, food, energy. Everything going up except wages.

Median income for a single worker in the USA in 2024 is so far $59,228 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In large cities it's significantly higher. Rent and property values are definitely out control though. There wasn't nearly enough housing built after '08. I feel even worse for our neighbors to the north.

Where I live, rent has almost quadrupled since 2010 while wages for many jobs have stayed pretty much the same.

Then you have these financially obese oligarchs skirting their social responsibilities to fund the system however they legally can. Who's the freeloader now?

I mean... yeah? Kinda late to the party though - this has been true for a minute now...

It's DEFINITELY the toast. Have you seen how expensive those fucking avocados have become? Holy shit, man.

Even being homeless got more expensive.

My rent has doubled since the last time we met

Been living with my parents for almost two years again. Thought about renovating a connex as a living space for breakfast just yesterday. Might snack on my last marbles tonight.