As an aside on economic reality, budgets etc, I was in the US of A the past couple days. Shopping and pooning trip with my fav FWB with the magnificent breasts but that would be a digression to detail that
On the way back we hit a Costco in the Bellingham area and I was a bit shocked at their food prices, fresh, packaged etc. Hadn't been over the line shopping since Covid hit. I mean ours have gone up, some cases damn near double based on the item but theirs have gone up on things I would have just not thought increases of that magnitude were going to happen. A quick calculation had me thinking hell, thse folks are paying the same or more than we are!! And yet, the parking lots were all full, shopping carts brimming, folks putting their purchases into (for the most part) pretty late model, nice vehicles. Basically the same as the Lower Mainland when it comes to shopping.
My math mind clicks in when things like this are in front of me and I have to wonder if the majority is falling behind say where we were 10, 20, 30 years ago? Or are we all just fine and the money in, money out equation is still pretty OK.
Re pooning and budget, well, I view it as top down. I make room to fit it in and drop a few other discretionary things, but that's just me.