

I’m sorry, but comparing yourself to actually physically isolated people while you were seeing people in person at work is wild. Humans are social creatures! I too loved the privacy and peace that came with covid, but if you saw people live and in person at work, you have no idea what it was like to actually quarantine at home with only screen people for companionship. It messes with your head.


It’s so tough. 45k isn’t enough to cover expenses where I live (I know because we’re doing it, and if we weren’t dual income it just wouldn’t work). It doesn’t matter that my husband gets amazing retirement matching and decent benefits, because without my (admittedly small) income we couldn’t pay rent and utilities. If you want to be independent here and have a yard, you need to make more. A few years ago here you couldn’t even find an apartment with that salary, but it’s calmed down a little.