America Is “Doing GREAT” — So Why Are People Working 70 Hours and Still Struggling to Eat?

Americans are working, budgeting, buying cheaper brands and cutting back — yet basic groceries still feel brutally expensive. In this episode of Everyday Perspective, host Kayla looks at what the affordability crisis actually looks like in real life: budget groceries that no longer feel cheap, beef and egg prices climbing, school cafeterias changing menus because food costs jumped, a mother spending hundreds for a handful of bags, and people working exhausting hours while wondering where all their money went. We also dig into tariffs and food-production costs, school lunch economics, wages versus rising prices, food insecurity, and what happens when “just work harder” stops sounding like useful advice. Because eventually there is only so much a family can cut before they start cutting the life they were working so hard to have. What do grocery prices look like where you live? Tell me in the comments. CHAPTERS 00:00 — What the hell happened to normal life? 00:25 — Even budget groceries aren’t cheap anymore 02:45 — “Eat ramen, buy liver, stop whining” 04:45 — Americans are actually buying less food 06:25 — When groceries cost as much as a flight 08:04 — How tariffs reach the grocery aisle 09:35 — Food prices are changing school lunches 12:01 — A mom just wants to feed her kids 13:30 — $500 of groceries fits in the backseat 14:49 — Prices rise while paychecks fall behind 16:03 — “How is anybody affording to live?” 17:11 — A decent income still doesn’t feel like enough 18:07 — Dog food went from $19.99 to $52.99 18:56 — Working 70–90 hours just to get by 20:11 — When “work harder” becomes contempt