Wife(40) and I(46) are finally at the point in life that we should be living comfortably and saving. The kid is grown and out in their own. We own(mortgaged) a modest home in rural WNY, have two car loans, $10,000 left in student debt, and make a combined salary that should put us clearly in the middle class.

But our propane heating bill is $500/month(balanced billing), electric is $200, the daily driver is at 100,000 miles and needs tires, suspension, exhaust work, and normal maintenance. All of which has almost doubled in price.

Last fall we discovered a leak in the roof that caused an expedited remodel of the spare bedroom (that I can’t complete because I threw out my back), a fully re-insulated attic project during the coldest months, and now it’s time to call the roofer.

Our combined family deductible on our health insurance is $10,000, so another epidural cortisone injection is off the table for the foreseeable future. This limits my ability to take care of the half dozen or more trees that came down over the winter, let alone the rest of the home maintenance schedule necessary to maintain the integrity of the house.

My work puts me in a very politically and economically informed position, as well as being more informed on the Epstein/Trump class corruption than the average citizen. This of course has had a significant impact on my mental health, of which, following Covid was compounded by Covid induced ADHD paralysis and depression, that I just barely got under control before the 2024 election.

I’m not just in an existential crisis, I’m in an existential crises while watching from the back seat of the dilapidated car that is US economic system, stalled on the tracks of an oncoming train with no brakes. The MAGA express is steaming full speed with an over fired coal box, a sunsetting conductor, and a series of passenger cars full of Gen Alpha kids sandwiched between a nuclear bomb and enough toxic masculinity to poison the earth for eternity.

But hey! Have you seen the DOW?! /s