A Trinidad and Tobago woman has sparked discussion about the cost of living after breaking down how someone earning a TT$10,000 monthly salary could still find themselves unable to cover their basic expenses.
Crystal Celestine opened her commentary with a frustrated declaration: “I CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE!”
She said that as month-end approached, she had been hearing the same concern from many people she speaks to about money: their salaries simply are not enough anymore.
To illustrate the problem, Celestine presented a hypothetical scenario involving a woman named “Lisa,” earning a gross salary of TT$10,000 per month and taking home approximately TT$8,200.
In the example, TT$2,800 goes towards rent, TT$1,650 towards a loan, TT$1,600 for food, TT$600 for transportation, TT$850 for utilities and phone expenses, TT$900 for children, TT$450 for insurance and another TT$600 for other obligations.
That brings total monthly expenses to TT$9,850.
With take-home pay of TT$8,200, the hypothetical worker is already facing a TT$1,650 deficit every month.
Celestine stressed that the calculation does not even account for savings, emergencies, entertainment, clothing, medical expenses, birthdays, vehicle repairs or unexpected expenses.
“This person is already $1,650 in the hole every month just trying to live,” she wrote.
She also pushed back against the often-repeated advice that people struggling financially simply need to budget better, asking: “Budget WHAT?”
Celestine, who described herself as a financial coach, argued that there are situations where cutting expenses alone cannot solve the problem because the numbers simply do not balance.
She suggested three areas for addressing such a deficit: reduce expenses where realistically possible, restructure major financial obligations such as loans where appropriate, and increase income when reductions and restructuring are still not enough.
“You simply cannot budget your way out of a mathematical deficit. At some point, you have to change the numbers,” she said.
She summarised the approach in three words: “REDUCE. RESTRUCTURE. INCREASE.”
Celestine then challenged others to consider what they would do in the same position, asking where they would find the additional TT$1,650 every month.
The figures used by Celestine are hypothetical and do not represent the expenses of every person earning TT$10,000 in Trinidad and Tobago. However, her example has put a familiar concern into simple numbers: earning what may appear to be a reasonable salary does not necessarily mean having money left after meeting household obligations.
For the hypothetical worker in Celestine’s example, the problem is stark — TT$8,200 coming in and TT$9,850 going out before savings, emergencies or many of life’s unexpected expenses are even considered.
The question her breakdown raises is one increasingly familiar to households trying to stretch their income: **how much is actually enough to live comfortably in Trinidad and Tobago today?**
