My Solution to 2024’s Money Problems Is No Solution at All
… but since I can’t fix the economy singlehandedly, it’s the only one I’ve got.
On a rainy Sunday, you can usually find me in the same place:
Brow furrowed, swearing under my breath because I forgot to feed my little pixellated chickens (Pixie Chicks?) yesterday, and now I have no eggs to sell.
If that sounds familiar to you, I will stake my little wealth on a bet that you play Stardew Valley. And if you do, then we should be friends.
Farming RPGs are great.
What could be more relaxing and fulfilling than watching a little two-dimensional plot of land start overgrown, wild, and full of rocks and turn into a highly profitable business? All while I sit on my sofa, drinking tea and eating biscuits? I’m in!
Whenever I win over a grumpy NPC with a drinking problem or bring a home-cooked meal to the one who lives in a tent in the mountains, I think — why isn’t this my life?
Why can’t I live in a fertile valley full of (mostly) friendly people and slightly less friendly monsters?
Why can’t farming be as easy as fertilize, plant, water, repeat?
And most importantly, why does this game have such a monopoly on my free time?
Why we (or maybe just I) need them
We live in a world where food and living costs, in general, are rising with no end in sight. Most people can’t afford groceries, rent, utilities, or all three. Many others fork over 50% of their monthly income for the privilege of living in urban centers.
And lots of us have to live in cities, for access to job opportunities to make the money that buys the things that keep us alive.
People my age struggle to get on the property ladder, which many people in previous generations didn’t really need to worry about.
So is it any wonder I long to have a relative bequeath me a tract of land in a faraway rural town on the condition that I revive it to its previous pastoral glory?
WE NEED AN ESCAPE.
Don’t get me wrong …
City living can be brilliant. Unparalleled access to jobs, culture, resources, more reliable infrastructure (sometimes)? Unlimited people-watching from any transparent surface at any time? Access to Korean soft tofu stew most hours of the day? Sign me up!
But times are tough, wages are stagnating, and the cost of living is on the up.
Final thoughts
So what is the solution? I wish I could say I had one that would fix everything, but I don’t.
And based on what I’ve been reading in the news recently, nobody else does either. Because if one more person tells me I just need to start making my own bread, shop deals at five different grocery stores, or, god forbid, stop eating my beloved avocado toast to save money, I am going to scream.
That’s not the problem. I’m not the problem. Convenience isn’t the problem.
Don’t get me wrong, I am doing those things to save a bit of change here and there: I’m going out less, drinking less, indulging less. I’m shopping at thrift stores, and I’m hunting for sales.
Making my own hummus isn’t going to make my rent cheaper. And it isn’t going to make my wages go up.
And hand-feeding tiny cartoon goats isn’t going to do any of those things either. But what other solution do I have?
I can’t “pretty please” lower rents or higher wages. I can’t wave a magic wand and “bibbity, bobbity, boo” the economy back to health.
So, in the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be on my pretend farm growing pretend pumpkins, pretending that I can afford it.
How are you scrimping while you wait for better times? Let me know in the comments!
