Woman reveals 3 things she stopped spending money on due to the high cost of living

The world has come to terms with the fact that inflation is an inevitable phenomenon that hits us every decade. People make smart investments and plan their expenses according to economic conditions. However, such planning also calls for certain lifestyle sacrifices. Heather—who goes by @heathersidehustleskeptic on TikTok—known for trying out new side hustles to help people know their pros and cons, recently addressed the issue of 2023's outrageous rise in the cost of living. She revealed some of the simple, basic things she had to eliminate from her lifestyle because she couldn't afford them anymore and it is so relevant to our current economic status.

She quipped that this video was just 'part one of infinity,' indicating the myriads of changes she had to make because of the high costs of living. The first thing that Heather had to give up was "unnecessary, expensive food purchases." She mentioned that a few years ago she was capable of affording olive oil and was too health-conscious, but she has now switched to vegetable oils on sale. The hustler also started baking her bread and insisted it was "easy to make, delicious and cheaper than store-bought bread." "You get to knead it, punch it, take some aggression out and it tastes a lot better," joked Heather. Also, she stopped buying ready-made pancake or cornbread mixes and chose to make them at home, which is convenient and better tasting too.

The second thing that Heather had to give up was buying random presents for her family. "Back in the day, I would just take my kids out on a Saturday or something when they were out of school and be like, 'You've been really good this week. You wanna go and get a toy? Or do you wanna go out for ice cream?'" she said. She mentioned that whenever she went out shopping and found something interesting, she instantly bought it for her or her husband. She also gave up ordering random accessories or outfits on Amazon.

Finally, Heather shared that she had to sacrifice her hair salon time. The 36-year-old woman loved to bleach her hair to the point where it was all white and often used to adorn her hair with heavy highlights. However, she had to say goodbye to all the styling and coloring. "I haven't had my hair done in two years and this is its natural color now," she said and added that even if she wanted to change her hair color, she couldn't afford it with the surging costs. "It costs me over $100 every time I do my hair and I just can't justify spending that anymore," Heather added. Just like how she was inspired by similar videos of people sharing their lifestyle downgrades, Heather wanted to let people know that they are not struggling alone in this rising cost of living situation.

With over 700K views, this video went viral and more than 2100 people shared their opinions in the comments. Many revealed the things they had given up and some related to Heather's view on 2023's economic situation. "I can't afford to buy mums and pumpkins for my porch because I used to buy hundreds of dollars of both to decorate now I can't justify that," wrote @tric.23. "No candles, no decor, no desserts or snacks, soda, nails, hair, name brand items, gifts, postage, Amazon, shoes, fast food," listed @hughberries. "I don’t go out to eat anymore, gave up nice grocery stores and definitely look at the prices of everything," commented @beeeeze1923.

You can follow @heathersidehustleskeptic on TikTok for similar content.

 
Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 4, 2024. It has since been updated.