There will be a time in your life when you find yourself trying to get by with less.

Don't believe me? You could ask some of the nearly 15 million people who were unemployed as of last month. Or you could ask your dad, because chances are he lived through fluctuations in unemployment between 2.5% and nearly 11% between 1960 and today.

You could also look at your own situation. Think about it. Has it been a while since you've gotten a raise?

It isn't just you. Planned pay increases are at a 25-year low, with the median predicted pay raise at a paltry 2.8%. That's just 0.2% above the rate of inflation, which puts you pretty much where you started... if you even get a raise.

And if you're thinking of moving to chase a job because it pays better, you might want to keep track of where you're going--it could end up costing more than it's worth. For example, if you're making $40k in San Jose and you move to Manhattan, you'll need to rake in $16 thousand more just to break even, and housing will cost an extra 62%.

If there were any escape, it would seem to be in school. We've always been told that a better education means a higher salary, and sure enough, the recession spurred enrollment to an all-time high in 2008 (the most recent data) with nearly 40% of the country's 18 to 24-year-olds hitting the books. But even there, direct student loans went up a whopping 61%, from $19 billion to $30 billion in loans, meaning that far more students are being sapped by debt.

If there's a silver lining, it's that the GDP grew by 5.7% in the fourth quarter of '09. Better days, and a rising wage, will hopefully be close behind.

--Brandon

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