A Single Person's Guide to Live Economically

Chapter 1: Introduction

         Every year, we the people complain about the prices of gasoline, food, and utilities. Gas prices can be variable, but they can become a problem if they consistently go up. Take for instance from 2003 to 2008. Gas prices went from $1.59 on average in 2003 to nearly $4 on average in 2008. The nation was in a panic, causing the common man to suffer majorly. Perhaps one of the most depressing times for the common man since the Great Depression. Welders, mechanics, plumbers, tree service people, farmers, and carpenters suffered terribly. The high gas prices caused a massive rise in electric bills, grocery bills, transportation costs, and rent. The Great Recession led to a rise of homelessness. It also caused fully grown people to move back in with their parents. Not just young adults, but even middle aged adults that lived on their own for 20 to 30 years were forced to move back to their parents' home after losing their jobs. If they no family, those people unfortunately became homeless.

         It was a huge wake up call for people believed in college, getting a high paying job, and spending to support the economy. It would show an example that a capitalist economy is not infallible. I was forced to work roofing and fencing jobs to survive during the Great Recession in 2008, sapping my will to work the jobs that I wanted to work. Since then, I learned how getting a job works and leaned that expenditures are often greater than the wages we earn. Why is this important to mention? Because if you live in a city, low wages plus high expenditures equal a death grip. Take for example, if a person lives in an apartment, you have to contend with numerous expenditures. Rent, electric bill, water bill, sometimes a garbage bill (depending on where you live), and groceries. Factor in transportation costs if you drive a car or take the bus, that is a lot of financial stress. If you do have dollars leftover, you have to save that money for taxes, virtually leaving you with pennies on the dollar if anything.

        Living in an apartment is always a chore to deal with for many reasons. Rowdy neighbors, superintendents bugging you constantly for rent, things go wrong, waiting for the superintendent to fix things, etc. Why live like that in the long run? I've seen people suffer in their youth because they did not realize there were other options in starting out on their own. Instead, they work a full time job for 40 hours a week or more at $10 an hour or less. The average rent for an apartment is over $1,000 a month, then you have the electric bill for $120 a month or more, water bill for $40 a month, groceries for $200 a month. So let's say you make $400 a week. After 25 percent are withheld for taxes, your paycheck would be around $300 for that week times 4 four weeks. It's impossible to pay rent, electricity, water, groceries, and transportation on your own. So what do you do? You get a roommate and prepare to fork over $1,300 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment. While that does alleviate the rent issue, there are still bills, groceries, and transportation. With two mouths in an apartment, naturally grocery costs will rise.

        No matter how much budgeting you do, people's wages hardly ever go up if it all while superintendents raise their rent. This overwhelms people that want to build up credit for a nice house (which is an illusion that I will talk about later). This is how you, the common man, are under a death grip from the city. Rent, bills, groceries, transportation, and taxes. This is why parents need to actually help their children instead of educate them on the conformity of getting an apartment, building up credit, finding a nice house, then get a mortgage that would take 30 years to pay off. The conformity of capitalism does more harm than good. People do not learn from major economic recessions like The Great Depression, The Great Crash of 1987, and The Great Recession back in 2008.

        The cost of living overall since 1913 continues to rise. Many young adults do not pay attention to the markets and the economy because they feel that they are achieving life. If they feel that they are paying their bills without relying on people, they are living life correctly. However, they were never told by their parents nor the schools when they graduated that cost variables and unexpected costs can happen. Unexpected costs like a car accident, car breaking down, citations from the police for speeding and broken lights, paying fines, or getting injured. Therefore living in an apartment is a major issue to those that are seeking independence.

       Why would anyone with any sense of intelligence want to go through that stress? Because they were pressured into a death grip of conformity. Are there options to living away from an apartment along with pay less taxes? Yes, there is an option. I will guide you folks that are common men, young adults that are looking to break the death grip, or people that are about venture out on their own. You cannot depend on the city nor depend on people living in the city. That is how poverty begins, then escalates almost endlessly. Pay attention to what I discuss in the coming chapter. The years of observation, listening to complaints, and researching will shed a light on the death grip of conformity.