> "The way society is designed is that, if you're lucky, you earn a bit more than you spend every month."

1- Society, in the United States, is not "designed". There doesn't exist a worse word to use to describe what life in the US, and the west in general, is like, because that word, this whole piece really, smells like victim mentality. You need to escape that mentality. Its not just wrong; its harmful to your mental health.

2- What I hate seeing is 24 year olds moving to an awesome downtown apartment in whatever city. Buying a new Toyota (I'm being financially responsible, its not like I'm buying a Tesla or something right). Planning a girls trip to Mexico. New iPhone every other year. Doordashing anything, ever.

Teachers and nurses make like $40-$55,000 in my state. Putting aside the fact that its way too little; if you have the skill to write this blog post; to (awkwardly) connect the concept of npm packages with the Bundle Size Of Your Life, you're making more than this. So your excuse is...?

The reason you feel that you earn a bit more than you spend each month is because of the financial decisions you've made. Its not the system. Its not society. Its human nature. Its you. Do you think its just a coincidence that most people earn a bit more than they spend? Across every income level? Its a coincidence that this is true for nurses, true for software engineers, and true for married power couple business owners in a million dollar mansion? Congratulations, you've just independently discovered lifestyle inflation. Your expenses are bounded by how much money you make, so if you let them they will balloon to absorb everything you make (and, then, the system will step in and let you spend even more! thanks, system!)

You're also circumnavigating your way to describing what is probably burnout. Much has been written about that; maybe the first step is recognizing that this is what you're describing. Here's the second step to recognize: Burnout doesn't usually happen because you're working too hard; it happens when you're working too hard for no reason. You aren't going to be significantly happier by finding a job that's less stressful; that requires less of you; that pays twice as much; your real focus should be on identifying a better reason to work. The two most common ones: That you believe, deeply, in the company's mission; or, to support your loved ones.

Another thing I'd add, drawing back to the original metaphor: Nothing is stopping you from throwing things away. Look, yeah, that synthesizer was like $400 and you were so sure you'd learn to make music but it just never happened. I get it. Facebook Marketplace it. Or throw it away. Leave it out by the dumpster where someone can find it and give it new life. Identifying and nuking unused dependencies, The Things You Own, can be very cathartic and good.

My plates have these gross calcium water stains on them, but I always put up with it. Could never get it fully off. A few weeks ago a thought occurred to me: I can just throw them away? So, I did. I just threw them away. They were like a $50 Ikea plate set; who cares? Just throw them out. Doing that unlocked a second thought: What if I just bought paper plates? I use like one plate a week. So, I did that. Its fantastic, and works so much better for me.