I paid more for the same distance.

Few days back I went to Hyderabad, my home-town. As I had luggage with me, I took an autorickshaw from Secunderabad Railway Station to my home in Dilsukhnagar. I paid Rs 100/- to the autowala. Earlier, I used to pay Rs 60/- for the same distance.

We spent more and ate less.

The next day my wife took me to the market to buy some essentials. Cost of fine Sona Masoori rice went up from Rs 18 per kg to Rs 25 per kg. My wife wanted to buy 15 kgs of rice, but she ended up buying only 10 kgs.
From there we went to a vegetable market, where vegetable prices shot through the roof. Instead of buying five varieties of vegetables (leafy or non-leafy), we ended up purchasing only alu (potato) and pyaz (onion).

We paid more for less power consumption.

During my stay at home, we also received the power bill. It gave me a jolt. My power consumptions expenses went up from Rs 200 a month to Rs 500 a month. I was confused. We spend just 12 hours of our daily life at home. Which means we don’t use power for 12 hours in a day. Next, the AP Power Transmission Company resorts to unscheduled power cuts ranging from 3 hours to 5 hours per day. Meaning, we actually consume power for only 8 hours a day. We don’t have any heavy duty power consuming products at home. We just have one idiotbox - which we switch on for just one hour a day - three ceiling fans and three tubelights. Still, the power bill shock was quite strong.

Paying more for same education.

Last year we paid Rs 9,000/- for my younger daughter’s education. This year I am shelling out Rs 15,000. Last year I paid Rs 15,000 for my elder daughter’s education. This year, I am paying Rs 2.5 lakhs towards tuition fees alone.

Pay more and get less health care.

I am an asthma paitent. Earlier, I used to spend Rs 45 to buy one Asthalin inhaler. Today, the same inhaler costs Rs 86.

Working more for same salary.

Last year for 12-hour per day work my income was Rs 30,000 per month. This year, my per day work hours have gone up to 15, but my salary is stuck at Rs 30,000 pm.

End result

1. Working more for less income.
2. Spending more and gaining less.

Conclusion

Expenditure up, income down.
Tensions up, health down.