Desperate homeowners and renters say they're giving up food and even their pets to afford housing. What you can do if you’re squeezed

For many Americans, managing their personal finances has gone beyond belt-tightening and into pure survival mode where people are sometimes sacrificing basic necessities to stay on track.

What Americans are giving up to keep a roof over their heads

Housing costs remain stubbornly high. Redfin reports that buyers now need to earn $111,000 a year to afford the typical U.S. home, roughly $25,000 more than the median household income (2).

Mortgage rates (3) have cooled slightly but were still historically elevated when the survey was conducted, in November 2025, as compared to 2022.

Redfin notes that compared to last spring, things have actually worsened. In a survey from May 2025, 44% of Americans said they struggled with housing payments. By November, that proportion climbed to nearly half.

According to a recent analysis by the National Association of Homebuilders (4), 65% of households across 39 states and the District of Columbia can’t afford the median-priced new home.

Young adults are getting hit the hardest. Only 27% of Gen Zers own a home, compared to more than half of millennials, and more than 70% of Gen Xers and baby boomers, according to the Redfin report.

Many younger workers have yet to hit their peak earning years and are still building savings, anxious about layoffs or a potential recession, but the result is a generation who are pushing back major milestones and in some cases, maybe even basic needs.

To make rent or cover the mortgage, Americans are making deeply personal trade-offs like cutting back on eating out, skipping vacations and working extra hours.

But the most shocking data from Redfin reveals how much further some are going:

• 15% say they’ve skipped meals entirely to afford housing.
• 14% have delayed seeking medical care.
• 4% have postponed having children.
• 4% have even given up pets.

Among Gen Zers specifically, 20% have sold belongings, 18% have taken on side hustles and 15% have moved back in with their parents.

A recent survey by Unlock Technologies (5) highlights more cost-cutting behaviors homeowners are taking, including what they’d do to avoid another monthly payment:

• 19% would double their commute time.
• 16% would call an ex and ask them to dinner.
• 14% would wear the same underwear all month.
• 9% wouldn’t brush their teeth for a month.

These findings come at a time when there is heated debate in Washington over whether an affordability crisis even exists.

During his recent State of the Union (6) address, President Donald Trump said that, “the roaring economy is roaring like never before,” and “Our country is winning again.”