Since I was an adult, I've had big swings in income, my lowest year was about 1/8 of my highest. This is by choice mostly, so I'm very lucky. It gives me perspective, and actually I was usually happier when I had less money and more time, though the insecurity of the lean years was tough. A small, steady income and housing would be the ideal. I also consumed much less in the lean years, and this article about going off grid reminded me of the benefits of a simpler life https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/i-disconnected-from-the-electric-grid-for-8-months-in-manhattan/
@PublicLewdness yeah definitely. In so many places, it is really hard to escape the large "real estate tax", where landlords and real estate investors extract ever more immense profits out of all of us, most of the time without actually doing anything productive. There is a good reason why in economics, non-productive income is called "rent". The big real estate investors now have found a way to extract lots of "rent" from people buying homes.
In the last ten years my income has risen 84%. Yet I have gone from being able to afford a two br apt to living with my in laws and still being more broke and having less money despite having less bills. I'll take more purchasing power over more income.