Woman Who Had to Put Her Education on Hold Talks About the ‘Scary’ Living Costs in US; Netizens Relate

Americans have been grappling with high cost of living for quite some time now, and many are now simply deciding to leave big cities behind, if not the country. A recent post on TikTok is gaining traction, in which a South Carolina woman talks about how she is now failing to afford a living in the country because of rising costs. As per reports by Bankrate, one will need a six-figure income to want to buy a house in many of the major states.

"U.S. home prices continued their drive higher,” said Brian D. Luke, head of commodities, real & digital assets at S&P DJI, in a statement. “Our national composite rose by 6 percent in January, the fastest annual rate since 2022. Stronger gains came from our 10- and 20-city composite indices. On a seasonally adjusted basis, home prices have continued to break through previous all-time highs set last year," continued Luke. "For the second consecutive month, all cities reported increases in annual prices," he added.

In the post, Sidney Carter says, "This is my city; this is my home. Everyone that is down here, locals, we all love each other, everyone is so sweet down here. I couldn't imagine living somewhere else." "It's kind of why I got into serving and waitressing because I love doing it. I love meeting everybody and I love talking to people. Locals are so sweet, but then again it's an easy job to help with bills, expenses, and everything like that," she added.

However, the place that she calls her home has also been the largest growing city for three years consecutive, per U.S News and World Report. She also said that it's sometimes "scary living in America" and added that she had to put her education on hold to save for tuition. "I'm supposed to go back to it this year," she said. "I just put it on hold for over a year or so just because I wanted to serve and save up as much money as I could." "I would work mornings at the pharmacy and at night, waitressing. So that's why it's so frustrating when people are thinking I'm this girl who's just complaining for no reason -- I truly do work hard," Carter said.

Many took to the comment section to talk about their struggle. One user @itsemsworld7 writes, "We’re just working to survive at this point. No luxury, nothing of our own, no peace" while another user clayton_315 writes, "Honestly, our whole generation is struggling. We physically can’t financially afford to live in this country."

Currently, Carter is living with her boyfriend and his mother, with plans to move into a home of their own soon. But Carter fears that it will take longer than she expects, all because of the rising housing costs. According to a Pew Research 2022 report, almost half of Americans (49%) said that they were facing a major problem, with housing prices. Moreover, WPEC compared the numbers and saw that the average rent in 1970 was around $108 which has now become $1,964.

For more such content, you can follow @sidneymariecarter, on TikTok.