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Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF
Why Everything Costs More Right Now (And What's Actually Driving It)
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These prices are getting bananas. When energy gets expensive, it also ripples through everything else. Since transportation and production costs go up, there's huge demand for housing right now and not enough supply, which is why rent and mortgages are shooting up pretty much everywhere in the country. Health care is another area that has been ballooning in cost. And then there's food. Not only is eating out more pricey, so is buying a carrot at the supermarket. Are these costs going to drop anytime soon? Well, What's up, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of Net Worth and Chill. I'm your host, Vivian Tu, AKA Yaritch bff and your favorite Wall street girly. Lately, all we can talk about is that the cost of living is up, up, up. Gas prices are still criminally high. A cocktail in Manhattan is now breaching 25 doll hairs and. And rent everywhere basically costs you your left arm and your firstborn child. It seems like everything is going up and there's no hope for things slowing down. But what if I told you there are ways to make life a little bit more affordable? That there are hacks that you can use to bring down your monthly expenses by a couple hundred dollars? Today on Net Worth and Chill, we'll be talking about what's causing the cost of living crisis, where your wallet is hurting the most, and how to bring those prices back down to a number that actually makes sense with your income. Support for the show comes from Walmart. If you're ready for summer vibes but don't want to spend a lot, Walmart's got your back. Right now, Walmart's dropping prices with thousands of rollbacks and more on summer party essentials, from grills to coolers and even slushy machines. So whether you're firing up, cooling down, or just getting ready for a weekend in the sun, now's your time to save, shop and save in the Walmart app, online and in stores today. So why do things get more expensive? It's if the actual stuff we're buying isn't improving, why do the prices change so much? Our daily cost of living, things like housing, food, transportation, you name it, isn't just decided in a vacuum. Officially, cost of living is an economic measure that notes the change in price, up or down, of the basic necessities of life, such as food, housing, transportation, healthcare. You get the idea. The rising price of the stuff we buy is called inflation, which I'm sure you've heard all about. It's no secret that inflation has been skyrocketing recently. Inflation is rising at the highest pace it has in years, which is basically just a measurement that says you're heading towards a situation where you're paying more and more just to survive. Not to mention, this compounds on prior years inflation, which has been historically high ever since post Covid. So in English, a high inflation rate is the official way of saying yes, these prices are getting bananas. Generally there are three types of inflation. Cost push, demand pull, and built in inflation. Cost push. Inflation happens when something gets more expensive to make, so companies jack the prices up. Easy example, coffee is so expensive now because there's huge issues with the farming of coffee beans. Coffee beans grow in tropical climates which have been hugely affected by climate change. Dry seasons, freak weather incidents and inconsistent weather have been causing poor yields. So there's less beans to go around, period. That means that there's also just less product to sell, which then pushes the prices up and boom. Now your morning cup of black drip coffee costs $3.50 when it used to be a buck 90 in 1990. If you're used to swinging by the deli every morning, that's a $584 jump in your annual expenses. Meanwhile, demand pull inflation is basically the hypebeast effect when when everyone wants something across an industry, the prices tend to rise. Take tech for example. It's not enough anymore to just have one laptop that's operating on Windows Vista now. Everyone wants a tablet, a smartphone, a smartwatch, maybe even wearable glasses with an AI assistant built into them. There is huge interest in purchasing tech across the board, so companies know they can balloon the costs. They know what we want and it's to be watching a screen at all times. Kind of kidding, kind of sadly true. But it's not just about the things we want. Demand pull is also happening to things we need, like housing and gas. There's huge demand for housing right now and not enough supply. Which is why rent and mortgages are shooting up pretty much everywhere in the country. No matter how insane the price sounds, someone needs to live there and will shell out to have a roof over their head. In 1990, the median monthly rent for an unfurnished apartment in the US was $600. And at the start of 2023, it was 1837. That's an Olympic level gold medalist triple jump finally built in. Inflation is the secret third thing. When costs of goods and services start to rise, people naturally start asking for higher wages in order to pay for those things. And then when employees start making more, the cost of production goes up. So companies increase their prices to make up for the amount they're paying their workers. It's cyclical, which is why it's called built in. And it's important to note that the reason for any of these kinds of inflation is for companies to preserve those profit margins as much as possible. Right? This is not your sign that earning less will make your cost of living easier. It's your employer's sign to pay you what they owe you, because corporations have recently posted Record High Profits and these prices are too damn high. Inflation is so particularly bad right now because of the baseline stuff like the fact that things are more expensive to produce and wages aren't rising at the same pace as prices. There are also the ripple effects of these baseline factors. If you listen to our episode on the Federal Reserve, you'll also know that things like interest rates are also decided by inflation. Over the past few months, the Fed has been cutting borrowing costs in hopes of stimulating economic activity so people can spend on bigger purchases. But recently there's also been these extra wild cards that put even more stress on the cost of production. I think I'm talking about stuff like tariffs and the war on Iran that are directly putting more costs on companies. And because they don't want to take that l, they pass it on to us, the consumer. The money printing effect is also still with us. About 80% of all US dollars were printed between 2020 and now, which means there's more money chasing the same goods. More demand plus same supply equals higher prices. So yes, everything is getting more expensive. But who are the biggest offenders? From what I've seen, it's energy, housing and food. But yes, there are ways you can lower these costs, starting with energy. The utility bills and gas prices I have seen recently have been truly off the charts. This is one area that is being attacked by all of the inflation situations. Not only are data centers placing a huge amount of demand on electricity grids, they're also reliant on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, which is getting more expensive because we're rapidly depleting our reserves. Energy has also been deeply impacted by the wild cards I talked about earlier. Things like ongoing geopolitical tensions, specifically the conflict with Iran. Gas prices have surged past $4 per gallon as of June, with certain Californian cities even seeing prices above $6. Energy was also deeply impacted by tariffs since some states take electricity from the Canadian grid with an additional tariff involved. States like Michigan, New York and Minnesota, which border, have gotten, well, an electric shock to their bills. When energy gets expensive, it also ripples through Everything else since transportation and production costs go up even if you're not directly selling that energy. We're talking about flight prices rip Spirit Airlines, shipping costs for our packages, and food we primarily import, like avocados, bananas and chocolate. Another one of the biggest offenders is housing. This has been one of the most debated topics between government officials, but everyone agrees on the same thing. We have too little housing available and it's causing all of these prices to go up. It's also been an issue for a while now. Decades of underbuilding, restrictive zoning laws and rising construction costs have created a severe housing shortage, especially in cities. High mortgage rates have also locked existing homeowners in place, reducing supply further. No one wants to leave the deal they got in 2014. And that leaves a bunch of people fighting for scraps at open houses right now. There's a lot of effort to try and undo these laws because people need places to live, but it's not a solution that can be enacted overnight. And then there's food. The cost of buying weekly groceries has become a huge money drain for so many people. You are not imagining things. The USDA literally released a statement that said in 2026, prices for all food are predicted to increase 2.9% with a prediction interval of 1.3 to 4.6%. Food at home prices are predicted to increase 2.4% with a prediction interval of 0 to 4.8%. Food away from home prices are predicted to increase 3.6% with a prediction interval of 2.8 to 4.5%. So not only is eating out more pricey, so is buying a carrot at the supermarket to go cook at home. There's the things we talked about, like natural disasters disrupting yields and issues like tariffs and the war on Iran impacting pricing. Yes, even the fertilizer that makes our produce is reliant on fossil fuels, which are currently trapped in the Strait of Hormuz. Until Israel and the Trump administration come to a compromise with the new Ayatollah, the long standing supply chain issues in this sector still haven't fully resolved. For years now, we've seen labor shortages and disruptions that are still affecting production and transportation. We've which just keeps pushing prices up. Mass deportations led by the Trump administration also hugely impacted the agriculture labor force, since undocumented workers are quite literally the backbone of who farms our food. Plus, companies have gotten comfortable with higher prices and aren't rushing to lower them, even when their costs stabilize. In many industries like grocery, airlines and healthcare. Corporate consolidation has also reduced competition giving companies more pricing power. They're not incentivized to really cut you a deal because they're thinking, what are you going to do about it? There's nowhere else for you to buy your stuff. We bought out everybody else. Are these costs going to drop anytime soon? Well, maybe no. The fed raised their 2026 inflation forecast to 2.7%, so unfortunately you might have to buckle up for a bumpy ride, at least for the foreseeable future. Most people will get screwed by pricing, but it's a good thing you listen to net worth and chill because I have some tips and tricks for you to beat the cost of living blues. So here's what you can do about it. Let's talk about where you can save big if you're a homeowner, you could refinance your mortgage if rates drop at any point. This is an easy way to take some financial stress off your shoulders and pay a little less for your home. If you're a renter, you should also always negotiate your rent if your landlord does not uphold their end of the lease agreement. For example, if if for whatever reason your radiator breaks, you don't have hot water, maybe they're re scaffolding outside of the building so you can't use your patio and you can't use your deck. If they fail to send someone right away to fix the problem and you have lost use of certain features of the apartment you got, you are more than entitled to ask for a rent abatement, AKA money off of your monthly rent. In particular, if you have a clean record of paying rent on time and reporting issues in the building in a timely way and you beh and people don't hate you, most of the time they'll agree or at least come back with an offer. Finding a new tenant is way harder and costs way more than just giving you a discount. And the worst thing they can say is no. As for food, there are plenty of ways to get your grocery prices back down to pre Covid levels. You just have to get a little creative by incorporating tricks like meal planning and buying in bulk at warehouse stores like Costco or Sam's Club, you can save hundreds every month just with a little more intentional shopping. I'd also prioritize store brands over the splashy names. They're often made by the same manufacturers and taste really similar if not exactly the same. But if you're desperate for a brand name soda or big box cereal, check out the retailer apps for any coupons, usually for big corporation products. Everyone from CVS to Food Bazaar runs weekly discounts on beloved products and the savings can be fairly substantial. And don't forget to check out new services like Misfits Market and Flash Food. Misfits Market sells high quality produce at roughly 30% off just because they're ugly. Maybe your carrot has a little nub growing out the side or your tomato is a weird shape but it tastes the same. Just keep in mind that their pantry goods aren't really cheaper, so focus and hone in on just getting produce here. Do not get duped into getting something else. And for families who go through food pretty quickly, I mentioned Flash Food. They partner with grocery stores to take their surplus food nearing its best buy date and list it at a discount and getting you deals on groceries while keeping good food out of landfills. You'll want to use the food before the expiration date, but if you've got teenagers at home or a big family, you should be able to get through the food pretty quickly. And another great option if you're in the Pennsylvania or New Jersey area. I have to give a special shout out to my friends Evan and Victoria. They run Sharing Excess. It's a non profit that tackles the logistical barriers that keep good surplus food from reaching people. If you need free fresh food and live in the area, check them out, no questions asked. They are doing truly the Lord's work. I love them both so much and hope they get the support to expand to more area soon. Choosing to eat in instead of dine out saves a ton and even putting together a simple meal at home will make a dramatic difference in your bank account. And no matter how you get your groceries, you should check out ibotta which helps you get cash back on your everyday grocery purchases. Users earn $218 a year in cash back on average. You you just add the offers on items you plan on buying via their app. Then you go grocery shopping like normal and you upload your receipt. You get cash back directly to your bank account or in the form of a gift card so you're going to be able to save money on food you were already buying. And like I mentioned, generally dining out might have to get pared down a little bit if you want to save big, but it doesn't mean you have to skip out on the little treat entirely when you're craving something a little sweet, a little something nice. I recommend apps like Too Good to go for discounted near expiry or end of day items where you can get your sweet treats or lunch slop bowls for 50% off or more. I've actually used this platform myself and I got two dozen bagels at the end of a day when a bakery otherwise would have had to throw them out. I took my bagels home, I froze most of them, I enjoyed one of them, and then I was actually able to enjoy them over a course of a number of weeks. Even Class Pass is rolling out food and drink options so you can use your monthly credits for a salad and coffee. All of these tactics help to make sure that you're not just surviving, you're actually thriving. Because what's the point if you can't have a little treat? I think no matter who you are, you still deserve something nice every so often, and this is a great way to do it at a discount and Pivoting Health care is another area that has been ballooning in cost, but there are still ways you can save. You can use a health savings account if your employer offers a high deductible health plan. It's one of the best tax advantages possible with tax free spending on all qualified purchases and tax free growth. If you decide to invest your dollars, which you should if your doctor's a real one, they've probably already recommended Goodrx or Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs for heavy discounts on prescriptions, which can help a lot with your budget. But my biggest healthcare tip is to take care of it before it becomes a problem. Prioritizing preventative care can help you avoid costly interventions later on. So if your back hurts or you have a weird lump growing out of your ear, get that checked out now instead of ignoring it. An $80 visit to the doctor is way cheaper than paying thousands for surgery and specialists later on. If you're already getting medical procedures or things done and you're looking for some master savings moves, check out Claimable. This is not an ad. I'm not getting paid for this. But Claimable is an AI tool that can help you appeal your health insurance claim. If you end up with a claim denial, all you gotta do is answer a few questions about your condition and what got denied. Their system then generates a professional appeal letter on your behalf. If their AI hasn't handled a similar situation in the past, or one of their experts will step in and help you write your case. Then you can submit your letter to your insurance company and Claimable will even escalate it to executives or policymakers. If the situation warrants less than 1% of people who get a denied health insurance claim appeal it, but roughly three out of four people who've used claimable get their denial reversed. That's thousands of people who now don't have to pay out of pocket for medically necessary treatment. Call me crazy, but if I'm paying for health insurance, shouldn't health insurance pay for me now? Let's also talk about beep beep toot toot. Transportation. That's right. If you're looking for more ways to save getting to and fro, you could also consider carpooling with others to share on gas expenses. Sharing rides to and from work or school can help cut down on your usage a ton and also helps you get out more and meet your neighbors and co workers, which is huge. I'd also recommend shopping around for auto insurance annually. Rates vary wildly and auto renewing your same insurance without seeing what's out there might be costing you hundreds of dollars without you even realizing it. If you live in a city with a real public transportation system, also take advantage of it. It's so much cheaper than a ride share and low key. Getting to the airport might take the same amount of time on the subway as it would in a cab, so if you don't have that many bags it might save you a bunch of money. No matter what the gas prices are, there's still tons of way to also save at the pump. A Walmart plus membership gets you 10 cents off per gallon at all Walmart, ExxonMobil and Murphy stations. Not to mention member prices on fuel at Sam's Club. But that's not even the best part. If you have certain credit cards like the Amex Platinum, you get free Walmart plus monthly membership credit, making your membership free. You get all those perks for nothing. Tons of wholesale chains also have their own members only pumps where you can also get discounted gas. I'm talking about places like Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's members only fuel stations get you better pricing from jump, and certain membership tiers and branded credit cards also get you additional cash back and savings. Up next, an Amazon prime membership also gets you 10 cents off per gallon at participating stations. You'll need to sign up for Earnify, a free Rewards app by BP and that'll get you access to the discount at 75,000-BP Amoko and participating AMPM and Thornton stations for all my AAA members. You can also get discounts through their fuel partner programs including Shell Rewards and Loves Rewards. And if you're tech savvy, you could even try to get more money off your gas refill by using Upside, a cashback app for gas stations. Signup is free and you get a quarter back per gallon on your first purchase and every purchase after that will be somewhere between 8 to 20 cents back per gallon, depending on where you go. You pick which station you want to go to in the app, you claim the offer, and you upload a photo of your receipt. Voila. And my last pro tip for cutting down on your transportation expenses that I'm not going to Gatekeep is that you should get gas on Sundays. Across national averages, it's the cheapest day, so if you utilize your wholesale store membership, get discounted gas, use Upside for cash back and refill on a Sunday, we're talking about major, major savings every month. As for those pesky recurring bills and payments, make sure you're also auditing all of those recurring charges and cancel what you're not using regularly. People pay so much extra every year for subscriptions that they aren't even using, and that adds up fast. My worst example, I had a teleprompter app that was helping me to create content faster and I was paying $90 a month until I realized that Capcut also had a teleprompter function and I didn't need to be paying for it. So I ended up canceling that membership and it saves me a bunch of money. Now let's talk a little bit about your Internet, your phone, your insurance providers. I cannot believe I have to say this part out loud, but you need to negotiate your bill anytime it goes up. Simply asking often works. I know no one wants to get on the phone these days, but 15 minutes on the phone can save you months of added expenses. And don't forget to bundle or switch providers when promotional rates expire. You are the prize. You want to make sure all of these companies are working for your business. Another hot tip that I don't think gets enough airtime is that even during this time when you're trying to cut back on expenses, consider work on building up your emergency fund. Because even small automatic transfers to your savings, things like $20, $40 per paycheck builds resilience over time. A high yield savings account currently paying somewhere between 3 to 4% beats a traditional bank account significantly. You never know when life is going to hit you hard, whether it's a layoff or an unforeseen medical issue, and having that safety net is going to be a lifesaver for your financial well being. And if you're currently dealing with debt, tackle the high interest debt aggressively. First credit Card interest can cost more than any saving strategy gains, so make sure you're paying down your principal as much as you can to close that hole in your pocket. Support for the show comes from Walmart. We know Walmart has low prices, but did you know they do price rollbacks too? Right now Walmart is dropping prices with thousands of rollbacks and more on the items you've been eyeing to upgrade your summer vibes. Imagine yourself lounging in the sun, enjoying some nice grill time and ice cold slushy and hanging out with all your favorite people. Summer parties are the best and we could all use one like right now. So check out Walmart and save on that big cooler that always comes in clutch for group hangs or a sleek new grill so you can finally become the grilling master. Not to mention saving on that fun slushy machine that instantly turns any hangout into an epic party for all your summer activities. Whether you're outdoor biking or poolside lounging. Walmart's got it for way less. Do your future self a favor and save on your summer faves. Now you can start saving and shop these amazing summer rollbacks and more right now in the Walmart app, online and in stores. Now onto our Q and A Question one Should I get a side hustle to help out with my cost of living? Absolutely. That said, I think not all side hustles are created equal. Some side hustles have very, very high barriers to entry and some have very low barriers to entry. I would encourage you to get a side hustle that has a very low barrier to entry. What if you find out you start doing it and you hate doing it, but you've already invested all of this money into leasing a car so you can drive for a delivery service or all of these things. What can you do now with what you currently have going on? Maybe it's cat sitting or maybe it's tutoring. I would encourage you to get a side hustle that doesn't cost you too much upfront. That way you can really, really figure out what you enjoy doing and what you can tolerate doing versus what do you absolutely detest doing. So that way you can have a side hustle that helps with your cost of living but also doesn't make you want to claw your eyes out. A great question. How can I lower my medical bills? I think what people don't realize is that medical bills are negotiable. I encourage people when they get a bill to immediately go onto Fair Health Consumer and see what that procedure actually should have cost I think that's a really, really helpful way to figure out if you overpaid. I'd also check your bill for CPT code errors, because sometimes I'm like, wait, I didn't get an mri. What is this? It might just be a fat finger. And then all of a sudden you have hundreds of extra dollars. The stat that killed me was that 80% of medical bills have errors on them. 80? You're telling me a passing grade in this class is 20%? That's crazy. So I would say one, figure out what things actually cost. Make sure there are no errors on your bill. I would then call your medical provider and, and see what relief programs, waivers, if anything, are available to you. Depending on what they say, you can either go down that route or if they're like, hey, sorry, nothing you can say, hey, I'd love to be able to pay this off in full, but I'm going to need a little bit of assistance to do that. Would you be able to help, you know, essentially lower some parts of this bill? Typically, these practices want to get paid asap, so they might be able to cut you a discount to be able to do that if you can pay it off in full. Additionally, what I recommend people who don't have insurance do is actually use some health. So you can do search.somehealth.org and you should be able to search up what hospitals charge for certain procedures all around your zip code, because when you don't have insurance, you're paying out of pocket. These hospitals will provide you a discount, but some hospitals might charge you $500 for an MRI and other places might charge you four grand. So you want to go to a hospital that you know you can meaningfully cover that bill. Ooh, this is a great question. How can I save on special needs care? I really encourage you to look into two things. A special needs trust and an able account. These are two systems and pieces of infrastructure that allow you to help somebody in your life who has special needs without necessarily jeopardizing their ability to qualify for Medicaid. And doesn't necessarily mean that you have to give up every single worldly possession for them to get covered. So I would say look into those two options. Next question. Which credit card offers the most benefits for everyday spending? If you are not someone who's spending heavily on travel or dining out, I would say the best credit card you could likely get is a cashback card. You can get anywhere between 2 to 5%. I would say cash back from certain cards on the higher End those will only be for certain categories and they might be actually rotating categories every single month. But you should be able to get up to 5% on maybe some categories depending on the card you get. And then there are other blanket cards that are like, hey, we'll give you 2% on everything. I kind of love a blanket card because then you don't have to think too hard. You don't have to constantly be worrying about which category am I spending on. But I have the Citi Double Cash card and it gives me 2% back, 1% when I make the purchase and 1% when I pay it off. So I love that. Ooh, this is one that I'm sure a lot of people have. I want to take a vacation this year, but the jet fuel shortage, how can I save on travel? I think one of the best things to do to be able to save on travel to is maybe don't fly. Maybe this year we're taking a road trip. Maybe this year we're doing a staycation. Maybe this year we are seeing if any of our friends want to house swap with us. This is a great way to actually start to cut down on those travel expenses. So if you're house swapping, maybe you can actually afford those tickets because you don't have to pay for lodging. Maybe if you're road tripping, yes, you have to pay for gas for the car, but it won't be as expensive as a flight ticket staycation. Kind of the best of the both worlds. So I would say just get creative. I know everybody posts about being in Mykonos every single summer. I don't know how people go there every single year. If you want to travel, I would take full advantage of travel rewards credit cards. Make sure you're spending on them responsibly but using those points to actually get you those flights that you want or those hotel stays that you want. Try your best to maybe even travel with a group that oftentimes can help offset costs. So maybe you're renting out an entire villa for your 10 friends versus a hotel room at a nice hotel. It usually typically shakes out to be less money per person per night. And I'd also say get creative. Like a vacation can look very different. A vacation can be we are going to locals only spots and eating street food versus oh, we're eating at Michelin starred restaurants. And not to say you shouldn't do that but like you can have one and then be more affordable in other parts. What I will say is it's a balancing Act. If you're going to spend more on the lodging, you have to spend less on the flights. If you spend more on the flights, you have to spend less on the ground. Do you want to do that? I, more often than not will try and take a very affordable flight, but I want to stay at the nicest hotel. And I also like, don't mind doing the locals only thing because sometimes I find that the more expensive food doesn't actually taste better. So there are things that I'm willing to sacrifice on, but then there are other things that I'm like, no compromises here. So you just got to pick and choose. My manager told me that there is no room for a raise even though I exceeded all the criteria in my performance review. Is there a way I can still increase my income this year? I think people often forget that a raise is not the only thing you can ask for as part of your compensation package. Maybe you're asking for stock options, maybe you're asking for equity, maybe you're asking for more pto. Maybe you're asking for a stub bonus because instead of having to increase your overall salary that way, they don't necessarily need to base next year's performance review on this year's salary increase. You can say, hey, fine, my salary can stay the same, but I want a stub bonus, a pile of money that is mine this year only. I will not count it as part of my income next year when we are having this conversation again. Maybe you need a flexible working arrangement because you have a kid. Maybe you want to work from home more often. There are so many things that you can ask for and you have to remember that all of this goes into compensation. Maybe you are the only woman who works at the company and you're like, hey, I would actually like fertility benefits that could save you 30 grand out of pocket and might be something that they're willing to help cover for you because they don't have to necessarily offer it to every other person at the office. There are lots of ways to increase your income or at least decrease some of the money going out the door for you without necessarily getting a raise. Ooh, can I refinance my credit card loans? Yes. So an interesting way to do this kind of two ways is one, you can either utilize a balance transfer card where you roll all of your credit card debt into a new credit card. You do have to pay a fee to do this, but you have no interest on the balance for 12 to 18 months. This means every dollar you pay towards that Credit card debt allows you to pay it down versus paying interest. It's a great way to crush your credit card debt quickly. Another strategy is to take out a personal loan. You grab a personal loan, use it to pay off all of your credit card debt. You cut the card so you're not spending on them, and then you pay back the personal loan for a longer duration than 12 to 18 months. The interest rate's closer to 7, 7 to 15% versus 20 to 30. But there are definitely ways to kind of lower the interest rate on that credit card debt you have. Next question. Is there a way to work less and make more? I feel like I'm doing too much for too little. 1,000%. A couple of things. You got to increase how much is coming in the door, you got to decrease how much is going out and you got to invest the difference. And so first and foremost, increase what's coming in the door. I think you need to ask for a raise every single year. I genuinely do. I encourage people to ask for 10 to 15% and then realistically that number after negotiations and everything ends between 6 to 8. 6 to 8% would be great. You would very much clearly be beating inflation. So you actually have more money than last year and it is going to set you up for next year's conversation even better. So I would say negotiate and ask for a raise every single year. Two, I want you to decrease as much as you can your costs because that is something that I expect everyone to take a good look at. There are certainly people who are listening to this who do truly live paycheck to paycheck. They are only buying necessities. I'm not talking to them. I am talking to everybody else who Instagram purchases like an impulse buy off of their feed. Okay, did you need it? Probably not. Maybe we do less of that. That is going to help you keep more dollars in your pocket. And then the difference. The easiest way to have a two income house while being a single person is investing. When you work for labor and you earn money, you have to constantly be, you know, laboring. You gotta be typing away or you have to be using your physical body or you have to be using your mind. But your money can work 24, 7 around the clock, no lunch break. And that is why it is so critical to start investing early. Because the sooner you start, the more time compound interest has to work on your behalf. And so if you want to work less and you want to make more, more of your income has to start coming from investments versus your job. And the only way to do that is to continue working at your job quite hard, but then also use that money to invest. Thanks for some really thoughtful Q and A, guys. Besties. I know it may seem really, really scary to look at the prices of things nowadays, but this situation isn't going to be permanent. And most importantly, there are still plenty of things that you can do to make sure you're not totally getting screwed by the cost of living crisis. It might take a little bit more planning and being a little bit more creative, but it is definitely possible. And throughout this time you'll learn invaluable tips and tricks that'll set you up for a lifetime of financial success. And if you have any more tips, share them with me on any of my social media channels. Until next time, thank you so much for joining me. Bye. Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Net Worth and Chill, part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. If you liked the episode, make sure to leave a rating and review and subscribe so you never miss a an episode. Got a burning financial question that you want covered in a future episode? Write to us via podcastourrichbff.com follow Net Worth and Chillpod on Instagram to stay up to date on all podcast related news and you can follow me at yourrichbff for even more financial know how. See you next week. Bye. Thanks to Walmart for their support. Take it from me, yorhbff, there's always smarter ways to save. Walmart's got thousands of rollbacks and more to help you save on summer faves with low prices that make saving feel like it's part of the plan. From essentials like sunscreen to that new grill you've been eyeing, Walmart has the savings you want to help you stay on track with those financial goals. So shop now in the Walmart app, online and in stores to save big time.