Please don't complain about inflation if...

I looked at research by behavioral scientists and an array of personal finance experts. More often than not, they find, that feeling of financial insecurity is the result of lifestyle inflation. ... The more some folks make, the larger they live. Wants turn into needs. Luxuries become necessities. …. If you’re feeling you aren’t earning enough to feel financially secure, do a reality check. “Americans would feel rich if they made this amount of money: Lifestyle inflation may be keeping you from feeling financially secure.” Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, July 3, 2024

Please. If you:

• Drive a vehicle for which you paid more than $25,000 and gets less than 25 mpg
• Live in a house with a value of more than $300,000
• Drink wine that costs more than $10 a bottle
• Smoke cigarettes or pot
• Have a phone that cost more than $300
• Eat multiple meals out each week
• Buy new clothes before the old ones are worn out (or outgrown)
• Eat junk food
• Buy books instead of checking them out from a library
• Own a cabin or a timeshare
• Send your kids to a high priced private school or college
• Take out a loan or accumulate credit card debt to take a vacation
• Attend live concerts and/or sporting events
• Own a boat, RV, motorcycle, ATV, or ebike
• Drink coffee at Starbucks
• Subscribe to multiple streaming services

please do not let me hear you complain about inflation. Consider Singletary’s words above and ask yourself if you can’t afford your needs - or can afford your ever increasing wants.

Two things especially frustrate this grumpy old man. One is the amount of junk food that fills grocery store shelves. It’s expensive, bad for you, and addictive. If you don’t by the Doritos, you can probably afford that gallon of milk or fresh sweet potatos. The second is sharing the road with giant pickup trucks that seem to have no reason for being driven except to relieve the physical insecurity of the driver.

Yes, we all have our spending weaknesses. Yes, there are plenty of people who just squeak by from week to week or month to month. Yes, I am judgemental and lacking empathy.

Just don’t bitch about the price of gas when you are only getting 12 mpg.