The cost of things has gone up so much so that it's glaring. Imagine paying 5-12$ for an average meal you could get before for 3$. The jump cost is extremely high. Cooking a meal at home can cost you the same amount you would spend on eating in a restaurant. Funny enough people still afford all these things without complaining. My anger is that we make money to spend it all into our normal life expenses. It's difficult now to save or invest unless you part of the rich people in society. An average man has to just eat, pay bills, and survive.
The cost of cooking a meal isn’t comparable with eating at a restaurant. We should note that a restaurant is different from a fast food joint.
The cost of living is obviously not it was a decade ago. You rightly noted that despite the cost of food, people still eat at restaurants and afford to splurge money on other things. It would be difficult to save enough money to invest in anything cause they obviously aren’t earning enough. Strive to earn more and there would be something left to save after settling expenses.
An average man likely doesn’t strive that hard to significantly increase his income level and that’s why he has just enough to eat, pay bills and survive.