How do people in New York City able to continue living here effortlessly and carefree with all of the following happening in the past year alone?

• Increased rent (20-50%)
• Increased cost of takeout food
• Increased cost of dine-in restaurants
• Increased cost of groceries
• Increased cost of coffee
• Increased cost of public transit
• Increased cost of clothing, furniture, hygiene products, and other necessities
• Starting student loan payments

And all of this with NO income increase. How??

People seem to be doing the same things and continue to live the same lifestyle with everything getting more expensive but salaries and income staying the same.

For example, $2000 rent last year and now $2400 rent this year. That’s $4,800 more in rent this year. You have to increase your salary by $10,000 (to account for taxes) just to keep up with rent alone. What about the other increased costs like food, groceries, living expenses?? You have to earn at least $20,000 more every year to keep up. Are people getting $20,000 raises every year??

Edit: the tips and strategies in the comments are very helpful. Thanks everyone! It’s also interesting reading other people’s experiences. It puts things into perspective. I walk around a lot outside and see people get $8 coffees and dine at not-so-great restaurants that charge $30 for a single lasagna or $20 for a tiny plate of pad thai, and I’m wondering “How do people just casually throw their money away like this while rent and the cost everything else continually go up?!”