Life has been easy. I'm probably in the minority. What's my secret? God's blessing, and simple tastes and basic needs. Due to a combination of the genes I was born with and a modest upbringing, I've been blessed with being content with a lifestyle that is well below my means. In my opinion, this is the key to the good life.
Yet, such a life seems to elude most of my generation. News articles and YouTube videos are filled with accounts of unhappy, stressed out people buried in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. However, when they break down their expenses, I quickly discover that while their incomes may be lower than mine, their expenses are higher. There isn't a great social injustice being committed somewhere. The situation seems to be one where people are voluntarily sacrificing their future lifestyle for a present lifestyle, but then complaining when their unsustainable lifestyle gets progressively harder to maintain or comes to an end and the future lifestyle they sabotaged begins.
The prevailing narrative is that the pressures of modern life is driven by rising costs of living. Frequently cited are statistics of these, but just as frequently omitted are the details that these rising costs include. For example, over the past 10-20 years, the average price of a car purchase has risen from $20k to $30k. However, just because the average price of a purchased car has increased does not mean that people are forced to buy more expensive cars. In fact, a $20k car today is far better than a $20k car from 10-20 years ago, and is just as widely available. However, people are buying nicer cars (and phones and food) that are more expensive, and that's a voluntary decision that they make as an exercise of their free will and the freedoms protected by the Constitution of this country.
Where the problem arises, though, is when it comes to financing. Instead of paying the car off at the time of purchase, people are slowly paying it off over the course of many years. Tack that onto the rest of other items purchased with multi-year financing agreements, and a person's future looks decidedly grimmer. Further exacerbating the situation are the regular expenses which were seen as frivolous luxuries in previous generations. Such a lifestyle would not have been sustainable for previous generations, and it not being sustainable for mine does not seem that surprising at all.
At present, I am living far above the bare minimum that I would need to survive, because the Lord has blessed me with an income that can afford these more exotic pleasures in life. However, I recognize that these are luxuries and I am ready to sacrifice them whenever necessary. In the meantime, though, I'm happy to be able to purchase almost everything outright that I've wanted. And for the few things that I can't or haven't, these haven't been too itchy.
Why do I call these itches? It's because while all these things may be strongly desirable, none of them are basic needs. The fact is, in this country, most people are able to afford the basic necessities, especially for people in the middle class. The issue is, the mindset prevalent among my generation is that it is their right to keep an unsustainable lifestyle. When reality meets ideology, reality isn't going anywhere, albeit it may be temporarily suspended or its effects delayed.
Being able to live below one's needs is a basic requirement for a sustainable lifestyle. Live a more comfortable lifestyle now and a less comfortable one in the future, vice versa, or find a way to keep a sustainable one your entire life. I think this covers all the possibilities, outside of some rare edge cases. I would put my money on not winning the lottery or getting a disproportionate return on investments.