Like a Tightening Rope...

Lately, I have been shopping for homeowners insurance.

Our existing carrier just keeps increasing the premiums every year, in spite of the fact that we have been with them for almost 10 years, and we have made no claims at all.

Of course, they make the "perfectly reasonable claims that it's because there are cost of living increases, our property value has increased, in our house is getting older thereby presenting a higher risk.

There's always an excuse.

I'm not writing this as a particular criticism of the insurance industry but just to highlight yet another way in which the mere Business of Being Alive and trying to navigate the world feels like an ever-tightening rope around our necks.

When I sat and reflected on the overall situation of increasing costs everywhere and often declining income, one of the things that strikes me — and scares me a little — is the fact that so many products and services are dropping what you might consider the "economy option" from their lineup of selections.

Over the past couple of years we have been considering moving to a smaller house and one of the things we discovered — and which ultimately led us to decide not to move — is the fact that the building industry simply does not build smaller houses anymore.

I thought maybe it was an illusion and that I was imagining things, but I went and did some research and discovered that in the 1960s the average house was about 1200-1300 square feet (115 sq. M) while the size of the average new house today is 2,700 ft (250 sq. M). Meanwhile, we can offset that with the fact that our families are actually getting smaller.

The point here being that the smaller and less expensive option is simply not available anymore. And that's where the rope around our next really feel like it is tightening!

I think I first noticed it maybe 20 years ago when the post office did away with "economy" international mail... particularly with packages. I used to be able to send a box to Europe by "slow boat" for maybe 6-8 USD... but now the minimum is 24 USD because there is no economy option.

Meanwhile, at the supermarket the "cheap brands" keep getting removed from the shelves, and premium brands are put on the shelf in their place. For example, where we previously could choose between $5, $8 and $10 coffee, we now have $8, $10 and $12 coffee.

Honestly, it's a little bit scary!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

How about YOU? Do you ever feel squeezed by the financial demands of the world? Is it getting worse, or staying pretty much the same? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2026.06.06 01:34 PDT
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