Photo: Among Us/ ANABEL

"Dear reader,

I am writing to you from someone who deals with money every day. I have been working for years with entrepreneurs, managers, people with good salaries, and people who barely make ends meet. I have seen every kind of budget, every saving trick, every way to keep your spirits up economically. But, for the first time in many years, I am telling you honestly: I do not understand how you manage to live alone, with one income, in this Albania of ours today.

Every day I hear the news saying that "the economy is improving." But the question is: for whom? Because prices are only increasing, rents in Tirana have become more frightening than mortgages, and the basic food basket seems to put an extra zero at the end of the bill every day. Salaries, on the other hand, have no rhythm to brag about. On paper it may seem like we are on the right track, but the reality I see in people is fatigue, anxiety, and a strong feeling that no matter how much you work, it is still not enough.

I've always believed that with good planning you can handle any situation. But this time, even the most perfect budget can't save you from the fact that everything has become unaffordable. I say this as a professional: we are living in a time where one income is no longer enough. And for many of you who don't have a partner or the help of your parents, it's a real struggle to keep your head above water.

Once upon a time, being independent, owning your own home was a sign of strength and self-confidence. Today, it's often a luxury that comes at the cost of stress, overtime, and missed dinners with friends because you "have to save." And it pains me to say it, it's no longer a matter of willpower or discipline. It's a matter of reality. In this economy, many financially prudent people are collapsing under the weight of spending that no longer makes sense.

There's no shame in living with your parents. There's no shame in sharing an apartment with a friend. There's no shame in saying, "I can't do it alone." There's a kind of tiresome pride, the kind that makes you want to show that you can do it on your own. 

I feel it every day in the people who come to me for advice. A female student who earns 600 thousand old lek per month tells me that, after rent, bills and food, she has at best 100 thousand lek left for everything else. A young man again told me that he has started working at night to buy himself a car. And many parents tell me that their children, having graduated, have returned home because they cannot afford to live independently.

All of these are not examples to be pitied, they are the reality of a generation that is working harder than ever, but earning less than what it needs to live normally. Maybe it's time to accept that there is nothing wrong with pooling resources, sharing the rent, helping and being helped. It is not a failure at all.

I know it's not a letter that gives you hope, but maybe it's to give someone peace of mind, to understand that you're not alone. If you feel like you can't make it every month, you're neither incompetent nor irresponsible. It's the system that's wearing you down. And sometimes, the smartest way to be strong is to say, "I can't make it alone right now." There's nothing wrong with that.

Maybe this letter won't change anything, but I felt like writing it. Because even for me, who deals with money all day, it has become difficult to logically explain how a person with a single source of income can survive in this reality. The only thing that comforts me is that despite everything, I see in many of you a strength that I can't calculate with any financial formula. :)" - written for Anabel by a personal finance expert (who sometimes forgets the calculations and rightly asks: "How are you doing, people?").