Fermsy

My rent went up 22%.
My groceries went up.
My insurance went up.
My utilities went up.
My paycheck didn’t.
Apparently I’m getting richer according to the statistics though 😭
Insurance: “That’ll be another $1,000 this year.”
At this point I’m paying for things I didn’t even do.
The government says inflation is under control.
My rent, groceries, insurance, and utility bills seem to have missed the memo.

I charged my daughter $400 a month to live at home after college.
She thought I was being cruel.
Paid every dollar without missing once.
Two years later she moved out.
I handed her an envelope.
$9,600.
Every single dollar she ever paid me.
Plus a little extra.
She cried.
I told her that was her security deposit, her first month’s rent, and her emergency fund.
She thought I was punishing her.
I was just a parent who understood that the world she was walking into doesn’t come with a safety net.
So I built her one.
Without telling her.
That’s not tough love.
That’s the only kind of love that actu

nobody is talking about how heavy it is right now.
car insurance went up 40% and nobody got a raise to match it.
eggs are $7 a dozen in a country that produces more food than it can eat.
a dentist visit without insurance is $400 for a cleaning.
a cleaning.
an ambulance ride is $3,000 before they’ve done anything.
before they’ve even closed the door.

My boomer dad swears he raised a family of 4 on one salary.
So I handed him my grocery receipt.
$340.
For one week.
He looked at it like it was written in a foreign language.
Then said “you’re buying the wrong things.”
Sir that’s eggs, bread, chicken, milk, and vegetables.
The wrong things are apparently just called groceries now.

let me tell you how banks actually work.
you have $2 in your account.
you spend $4.
you’re overdrawn by $2.
the bank charges you $35.
not because they lost anything.
not because it cost them anything.
not because $2 hurt a institution sitting on billions.
just because the fine print said they could and the people getting hit with these fees aren’t people who forgot to check their balance.
they’re people who checked their balance. knew it was low and bought groceries anyway because the kids needed to eat.
banks collected $8 billion in overdraft fees last year. $8 billion extracted almost en

i remember watching my mom open the hospital bill.
She stared at it for a long time. Then folded it back up and slid it under a stack of papers like hiding it would change the number inside.
$47,000. After insurance.
31 years as a nurse. Never missed a premium. Never skipped a copay.
One surgery. One week in the hospital she didn’t plan for.
Gone. All of it.
That night I heard her on the phone negotiating a payment plan. 61 years old explaining to a billing department why she needed more time.
I never forgot that phone call.
In America you can do everything right for 31 years and one bad week

A girl went viral today. Gas light on, $20 in her bank account, two McDonald’s hash browns on the seat next to her. Up at 6am for a job that isn’t covering her basic needs.
She looked into the camera and said “I’m so sick of America.”
And I felt that.
Because this isn’t a lazy girl. This is a working girl. Up before the sun, showing up every day, doing everything she was told to do. And she’s rationing gas money and eating $2 worth of food for breakfast.
Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud. 36% of Americans under 35 own a home. 42% of Gen Z lives paycheck to paycheck. 52% of Millennials a

Boomer dads really built their entire personality around “I worked hard and figured it out.”
Cool.
You also:
Bought a house on one income at 26.
Paid $400 a semester for college.
Got a job with benefits straight out of high school.
Had a pension waiting at the end.
Paid $90 a month for health insurance.
Filled up a tank for $18.
Raised a family on one salary and still took a vacation every summer.
You didn’t just work hard.
You worked hard in an economy that was designed to reward hard work.
We work hard in an economy designed to extract it.
Same effort. Completely different machine.
But sure

The same insulin that costs $400 in America costs $12 in Canada.
Same pill. Same factory.
Same chemical compound. Same life saving medication.
$400 here. $12 there.
Americans are rationing insulin to survive.
Splitting pills in half to make them last.
Driving across the border just to afford medication their doctor prescribed.
This is not a supply chain problem.
This is not a shortage.
This is not complicated.
It is a deliberate decision to charge Americans more because the system allows it.
And every year politicians hold hearings about it.
Express outrage about it.
Form committees about it.

my dad retired at 59.
I’ll still be working at 59.
He had a pension.
I have a 401k I fund when I can afford to.
He bought his house at 28.
I’m 31 staring at a down payment I can’t touch.
He paid $90 a month for health insurance.
I pay $430 for a plan that still left me with a $3,200 bill last year.
Last Sunday he looked across the dinner table and said:
“You just need to be smarter with money son.”
I smiled.
Didn’t mention the economy he thrived in doesn’t exist anymore.
Didn’t mention I’m funding his Social Security while mine gets gutted.
Didn’t mention the ladder he climbed got pulled up th

Boomers told us the stock market always goes up.
Then watched their 401k drop 30% in 2008 and needed a government bailout to recover.
Boomers told us homeownership builds wealth.
Then complained their property taxes tripled on a house they’ve owned since 1987.
Boomers told us loyalty to a company pays off.
Then took the pension and watched the company eliminate it for everyone behind them.
Boomers told us Social Security would be there.
Then voted for people who’ve been trying to cut it for 40 years.
Boomers told us healthcare was fine.
Then went on Medicare and wondered why younger generation

Dave Ramsey says get out of debt so a medical emergency isn’t also a financial one. Cool Dave.
But what if the medical emergency IS what created the debt?
He says get out of debt so you can buy a home. With what Dave?
The down payment I’ve been saving while rent eats 50% of my paycheck?
He says fill up the entire gas tank instead of putting a few dollars in.
I would love that Dave.
Right after I pay the $500 health insurance premium that comes out this Friday.
He says read the menu in order instead of price first.
Sir I am reading the prices because eggs are $7 and I have $40 until Thursday.
H