How Much Does It Cost to Be You?

Photo by Arina Krasnikova from Pexels

I’ve been a lot closer with my younger brother for the past few months since Thanksgiving.

We have always been very close, but sometimes weeks or even months have gone by in the past without us talking much. Perhaps a few texts here and there, but no real heart-to-hearts.

Like all of us, he has a lot going on in his life and not all of it is good. But one thing that impresses my middle-class mindset is how he casually mentions something like having forty thousand dollars worth of bills in some month including mortgages on multiple properties, rent on two offices, four employees (including my son), five human and three pet mouths to feed, frequent travel, and ordering food delivery nearly constantly, just to name a few.

One month like that would nearly wipe me out, twenty grand being about the most that a month has cost me lately and that was way more expensive than usual.

But it did get me thinking about a phrase in a book that I read several years ago, which is “How Much Does It Cost to Be You?”

In my own case, the thirty-two-day span between December 9th and January 10th cost us $13,766.

Breaking it down a bit further, one could say that it cost about $430 per day to keep my middle-class family afloat and living the lifestyle to which we’ve become accustomed…