There used to be a time when “being alive” was mostly free.
You paid rent, ate food, maybe had a car, and that was it. Everything else felt optional.
In 2025, existing costs money — aggressively, relentlessly, and without apology.
Not luxury.
Not indulgence.
Just baseline survival.
And the worst part?
Nobody warned us that simply staying afloat would become a full-time financial strategy.
Nothing is one-time anymore.
Everything is:
You don’t buy things — you maintain access to them.
Housing.
Utilities.
Phones.
Internet.
Software.
Entertainment.
Transportation.
Even basic life requires logins, passwords, and recurring charges.
Miss one payment and suddenly life stops working.
Let’s start with the obvious one.
Housing isn’t just expensive — it’s predatory.
Rent increases feel random.
Mortgage rates feel hostile.
Maintenance feels like a punishment.
You’re not paying for comfort.
You’re paying for permission to exist indoors.
And the options?
No option feels stable.
Just less terrible.
Groceries used to be annoying.
Now they’re offensive.
You walk in with a budget.
You walk out with bags that don’t justify the receipt.
And somehow you still forgot something.
Nothing feels affordable anymore:
You don’t splurge at the grocery store.
You compromise.
And somehow still overspend.
Cars are no longer freedom.
They’re financial obligations with wheels.
You pay for:
Public transportation?
Limited.
Inconvenient.
Unreliable.
So you pay to commute.
You pay to exist outside your home.
You pay to get to the job that barely covers the payments.
Healthcare in 2025 is less about treatment and more about navigation.
You pay for:
You hesitate before seeing a doctor.
You Google symptoms longer than you should.
You ration care like it’s optional.
Being sick is expensive.
Being healthy is preventative debt.
Utilities are the quiet stressors.
They don’t feel dramatic — until they stack.
Electric.
Gas.
Water.
Trash.
Internet.
Each one inches up.
Each one sends polite emails explaining nothing.
Each one is non-negotiable.
You don’t notice how much they cost until you try to cut them.
And realize you can’t.
You can’t function without them.
Jobs expect availability.
Life expects connectivity.
Everything expects two-factor authentication.
Phones and internet aren’t luxuries anymore.
They’re access fees to society.
And they’re priced accordingly.
Nobody talks about how expensive it is to have a job.
You pay for:
Work drains time and money.
Then demands gratitude for the paycheck that barely offsets it.
The most expensive cost isn’t listed on a bill.
It’s mental.
Constant decision-making.
Constant budgeting.
Constant anxiety.
You’re always calculating:
There’s no off switch.
Even rest feels guilty.
Fun used to be spontaneous.
Now it requires:
You don’t ask “Do I want to go?”
You ask “Can I afford to exist tomorrow if I do?”
Joy became conditional.
There is no such thing as a “small emergency” anymore.
A flat tire.
A medical visit.
A pet issue.
A broken appliance.
Any of it can derail the month.
Sometimes the year.
That’s not irresponsibility.
That’s fragility built into the system.
It’s not because people overspend.
It’s because the baseline keeps rising.
Even if you:
You still feel like you’re losing ground.
Because you are.
People love saying:
“Just cut back.”
On what?
Most people already cut everything optional.
What’s left is survival.
Life in 2025 requires:
You’re not lazy.
You’re managing an expensive system designed without you in mind.
Because it is.
Money stress seeps into:
You’re not just paying bills.
You’re negotiating your future every month.
We’re not here to pretend there’s a simple fix.
We’re here to:
Because pretending this is normal doesn’t make it easier.
If it feels like life is harder than it should be…
It’s not because you’re bad at living.
It’s because being alive in 2025 is overpriced.
And you’re doing the best you can inside a system that charges admission for everything.
Welcome to UglyBrokeSmelly — where we admit it costs too much just to exist.
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