You'll start understanding it when your family grows.
I used to have only one mouth to feed, my own, and I was making 25% of what I make now. I was living quite comfortably.
There are five of us these days. I make 4x what I used to, and it's still not enough. The various costs you can't avoid (healthcare, housing, food) have gone up faster than my income. Every year, the kids spend more money than the year before. Even without the actual goods getting more expensive (and they do), the kids eat more as they grow, their clothes get more expensive, their extra-curriculum activities get more expensive. I can't wait until they start begging me for a car or other really expensive stuff.
The typical COLA raises, if you're even lucky enough to get those these days, do not cover those type of cost increases. Not even close.
I used to have only one mouth to feed, my own, and I was making 25% of what I make now. I was living quite comfortably.
There are five of us these days. I make 4x what I used to, and it's still not enough. The various costs you can't avoid (healthcare, housing, food) have gone up faster than my income. Every year, the kids spend more money than the year before. Even without the actual goods getting more expensive (and they do), the kids eat more as they grow, their clothes get more expensive, their extra-curriculum activities get more expensive. I can't wait until they start begging me for a car or other really expensive stuff.
The typical COLA raises, if you're even lucky enough to get those these days, do not cover those type of cost increases. Not even close.