I stared at a $8 loaf of bread like it had personally offended me. A year ago, it would’ve landed in my cart without a second thought since it was half the price. Now, I’m in the bread aisle doing mental math, wondering if I can justify the upgrade from the dry, off-brand stuff that disintegrates when you look at it wrong.

Anthony W. Haddad
The Millennial View

I eyed a can of corn creeping up to $3. At that price, I had to wonder — was it harvested by angels? Will it lower my cholesterol and clear my skin too? Big no for me.

This is what grocery shopping feels like now — not a routine chore, but a survival test.

Every item becomes a negotiation: Do I need mustard this week or is flavor a luxury now too? When peanut butter costs more than lunch used to, you start rethinking every decision. And I know I’m not the only one. For millennials, even eating has turned into an emotional math problem.

And it’s not just in our heads, the numbers back it up.

Food inflation hit its peak during the pandemic, with the U.S. Inflation Calculator reporting a 3.9% increase in 2020, followed by 6.3% in 2021, and a staggering 10.4% in 2022. We keep hoping prices will return to something resembling pre-pandemic levels — but they haven’t.

The last time food prices actually dropped was nearly a decade ago, in 2016, and even then, it was by a measly 0.1%. Since then, it’s been a nonstop climb.

But Here’s the Real Point

Millennials aren’t financially irresponsible. We’re living in an economy that no longer makes sense.

I’m in my 30s (that hurts to write). I budget. I skip brunch. I don’t drink much. I split bills with a roommate. I do everything the advice columns and financial gurus say to do — and still, I feel on the edge. Sure, I should’ve invested at age five but I was too busy watching Teletubbies.

One of my monthly PG&E bills hit $1,500 last year. My car payment, with insurance, is about $500. Other utilities tack on another $300, and housing? A whole separate monster. Could I sell my car? Sure. But I live in a city with a public transit system that isn’t useful unless you enjoy walking in the 100 degree heat and don’t mind an hour ride to work.

Meanwhile, older generations love to remind us that they bought homes, raised kids, and paid for everything on a single income. That world doesn’t exist anymore. Not because millennials are reckless — but because the math simply doesn’t work.

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Let’s Be Real: It Hasn’t Worked for a While

We entered adulthood during a recession, took on mountains of student debt to get jobs that barely cover rent, and now we’re being told we’re failing because we can’t make a broken system function like it did 30 years ago. We didn’t kill the American Dream. We were just handed the ruins and told to “try harder.”

I’m not saying every millennial is perfect with money — we’re not robots, we’re people. But blaming an entire generation while ignoring the structural failures that got us here? That’s dishonest.

And don’t even get me started on having kids. Imagine adding a baby to this financial circus. Even the proposed $1,000 birth stipend some politicians are floating won’t do much when it disappears into rent, groceries, or loan payments the moment it hits your account.

I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m just tired of the narrative that millennials are lazy, entitled, or wasting money on lattes. We’re not asking for yachts. We’re asking to breathe without it costing $8 a loaf.

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