Just living today costs a lot of money. The average cost of housing has gone through the roof. The median price of a single-family home is around $419,000, with interest rates currently around 7%. That’s about what most Americans were used to paying until the ultra-low mortgage rates first appeared some years back. I remember when a 7% fixed rate loan would have been a great deal, back when I had a 10% adjustable mortgage. There’s nothing like your loan balance increasing every month.

But the house payment is just one part of that tremendous iceberg of monthly charges it takes to live in today’s world. Now the cost to protect our single largest asset has gone through the roof — assuming insurance is available at all. Insurance is a form of gambling — and right now the house is losing. Casinos can’t stay in business if they run at a loss. Neither can the insurance companies. The repeated payment of astronomical losses due to wildfire and weather damage empties the companies’ financial reserves. The whole idea of insurance was for everyone to pay a small amount, covering the occasional significant loss of a policyholder. The arithmetic just doesn’t work if these losses are no longer rare — and involve entire cities. I don’t have any answers or suggestions — I’m only noting the tremendous increase of this monthly expense for the average family. I have retired friends who can no longer pay for fire insurance, and remain within their budget. They’re forced to gamble that their house won’t be the one that burns, or at least not until they’ve gone to that big retirement home in the sky. Renting a place isn’t the simple answer either, as the landlord has to pay those expensive insurance rates too, which he will pass you along.

Aside from real estate taxes, utilities are to be paid (at least if you want to continue living in a civilized modern society). Electric, gas (propane or natural), water (or electric for the pump if you have a well), sewer (septic tank maintenance), and garbage collection. Then you have the cost of auto insurance, which is not cheap. Assuming you can afford a car, which means a hefty monthly car payment for five or six years. And I don’t need to tell you about the price of cars and trucks today. And they don’t work without gasoline, and recharging an EV isn’t free either.

And don’t forget food, at least if you want your family to continue living — and its cost is rising too — substantially. And it’s pretty much agreed that a telephone is necessary, albeit many folks only have a cell phone — as there’s no reason to pay for a landline too. Cell phones are no longer fun without data or an internet connection. Again — not free. And it’s a good thing these big screen tv’s are getting so cheap, because unless you want to settle for what rabbit ears can bring in — you’ll need to pay for cable or at least one streaming service. Most folks today have more than one — Netflix, Disney, Max, Hulu, Amazon and/or Paramount. And they don’t work without a wi-fi/internet connection. And those companies have started increasing their rates, and/or charging extra to avoid commercials.

Everyone has always dreamt of the day when they finally own their home free and clear. If you’re retired today, that’s pretty much a given to be able to stay afloat. All this other stuff can add up to more than that mortgage payment ever did. We still have a monthly mortgage payment — it’s not for the house.