cost of living

Price of existence

Cost of living is the amount of money needed to cover basic expenses—housing, food, transportation, healthcare—in a particular place and time.

The phrase typically appears in comparisons: The cost of living in San Francisco is much higher than in Kansas City.

Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are periodic increases to wages or benefits meant to keep pace with rising prices.

expenses

rent

Payment for temporary use

healthcare · childcare · transportation · education · insurance · mortgage · food · clothing · internet · phone

crisis

housing crisis

Severe lack of affordable dwellings

working poor · inequality · gentrification · displacement · eviction · debt · struggle · hardship · survival · basic needs

inflation

rising prices

stagflation · price hikes · shrinkflation · price surge · housing bubble · rent increases · price gouging · sticker shock

affordability

affordable housing

Shelter scaled to earnings

wages · income · purchasing power · rent burden · unaffordable · priced out · squeezed · take-home pay · real wages · economic mobility

budgeting

frugality

Economical resource management

financial planning · money management · economizing · penny-pinching · belt-tightening · trade-offs · prioritizing · meal planning · couponing · downsizing

regional

urban

Pertaining to cities

New York · Tokyo · London · Singapore · Sydney · relocation · remote work · local economy

adjustment

COLA

Inflation-indexed pay increase

indexing · annual raise · compensation · benefits · pay raise · inflation adjustment · stipend · allowance · hardship pay

Categories
Opposites
economic burden vs. economic capacity

cost of livingdisposable income

Earnings minus essential costs

purchasing power · income · earnings · standard of living · real wages

affordability spectrum

cost of livingaffordability

State of being purchasable

cost savings · frugal living

Family

cost, living, costs, costly, liveliness, livelihood, outlive, livable, costing

Familiarity
Top 20,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G