Why Is Being Alive So Expensive?

 Is Everything Too Pricy?

    The moment you are born, your parents are already paying for your expenses whether it is the hospital bill for you to be delivered or the necessities for you to survive such as baby clothes, diapers, or food. Recently, items such as food, gas, clothes, and many other essentials for living have skyrocketed in price, making it worse than before. This is not only seen in California but worldwide as inflation rises. According to the IMF Blog website, the article "How Food and Energy Are Driving The Global Inflation Surge", written by Philip Barrett, states that “The average global cost of living has risen more in the 18 months since the start of 2021 than it did during the preceding five years combined.” This quote describes that only the basics to live has grown a lot over the years.

The Problem

    As prices continue to increase, the amount we usually spend for fuel or groceries may not be enough to buy everything we need anymore. The CNBC website article, written by Jessica Dickler, describes how “64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck.” It is a reality we have to live in where we have to spend everything we worked hard for on basic supplies that everyone should be able to afford. The same site also depicts a graph of the price of things compared to how much people are earning and it shows how they are not making enough to afford to buy what they need. This evidence supports my claim that just by being alive, we are paying more than ever for things we need to survive.

How Am I Personally Affected By This?

    Living in California, I keep hearing about rising housing and gas prices and it makes me wonder if it would be possible to be able to stay in this state and become independent. Even when buying all my school supplies added up to $500 in total. It also feels like my friends and I cannot go out to eat and spend time together as often because we cannot afford to. When going shopping for food, I am very conscious of the price and decide what to buy based on how much it costs. I chose this issue because I know this problem does not affect me as much as other people, but I still try to be aware of how much I am spending and how to save when I can.

Evidence

My Mom (Did not want to post photo)

"To be within my budget, I have to buy less of everything to spend the same amount of money every month."

My Brother (Did not want to post photo)

"Everything is expensive because companies are greedy and raise prices so they can make more money. It affects me because I can't spend as much as I used to."

Sources

Barrett, P. (2022, September 12). How Food and Energy Are Driving The Global Inflation Surge. IMF. Retrieved October 9, 2022, from https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2022/09/09/cotw-how-food-and-energy-are-driving-the-global-inflation-surge 

Dickler, J. (2022, March 8). As Inflation Heats Up, 64% of Americans Are Now Living Paycheck To Paycheck. CNBC. Retrieved October 9, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/as-prices-rise-64-percent-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html