That is called DIY, I believe.
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I live in southern Ontario about 45 min from Toronto in the direction of Niagara Falls…the pandemic has accelerated the expansion of the GTA firmly into our city. Average house prices are now over 1M CAD and people often pay something like this or close and then tear down the house and build some monstrosity that basically fills most of the lot.
I am of a generation that went through some booms and busts…this boom is so far out of control in my head that I fear the crash that might have to follow…I would have expected it by now …many people are so leveraged. I fail to understand how the banks will loan out so much money and how people float multiple credit cards…oh well…
I am entering that pre retirement phase so I am saving already and the pandemic actually helped as my expenses basically went down to almost nothing…only the basics…
No gear purchases other than a new PC as mine died…
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I saw on 60 minutes that there are 2 large firms in the US buying up whole neighborhoods for that express purpose…ie drive up the price and rent back the dream home to the younger generation because they can’t afford to buy it and they have also become accustomed to paying for everything on monthly bills and not owning things…
It is like Dream bigger. Creative Cloud. (Exorbitant Prices.) but with homes and food. It has been the case for as long as I have been alive but it has certainly not uncommon anymore, affecting this and generations to come.
Oh yes, 1-2 years ago, I noticed a hotel or professional firm like building with full wall windows. I had to do a double take before realizing it was a mansion of some sort.
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Preaching to the choir my friend. Unfortunately the globalists are not part of the choir…
And the rich get richer…
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Just want to add: as I am working on alternative holiday plans, I realized that one night at a middle class hotel in the alpine regions of Lower Austria meanwhile costs around 100€ (well, I guess May/June is pre-season) - before the pandemic it was more like 60-80€. So that seems to be an increase of almost 100%?
That one is especially controversial because those companies have been targeting neighborhoods that have ethnic minorities: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/31/charlotte-rental-homes-landlords/ is one example. There was another one I read within the past month or so that also discussed Charlotte and how some HOAs (which are usually evil) are enacting rules to keep rental properties out of the area.
I spent at least $240 on groceries this past week. This amount only includes what I paid using my credit card. If I were to include cash, then maybe $160 on top. I do not spend on frivolous items. That is super expensive for two people for minimum grocery ($200/person).
Indeed, my mortgage is about that much, if I were to buy my place now it would probably be double that thought.
I’m out in a rather rural area and the town isn’t NYC, Denver or SF. Just a university town/mountain resort vacation town so prices are unbelievably inflated especially considering the lack of real employment opportunities around here. Housing costs used to drop off sharply outside of town limits but that’s changed recently too. At least here the driving force has been a transient price insensitive population (students with federal student loans) and rich retirees buying second vacation homes up here. Most of the people near me have sold in the last two years and most of the places sit empty 75% of the time or are AirB&Bs now.
The good news is graphics card prices seem to be coming down so if you’re wanting to pick up a new RTX or RX 6000 card for OpenCL acceleration things are far less bleak.
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No house in sight but at least we got cheap accelerated darktable 
We have talked a lot about the first part of the question, the cost of living. Here’s an answer to the second part, did I spend money on photography lately.
Yes, yes I have. In fact, I more or less swapped out my entire kit in the last year, and replaced my computer.
It’s almost embarrassing, really, how much stuff I tried out. But I realized that I wouldn’t get that voice in my head from stopping the “what if” game without satisfying its curiosity. So I tried all the things. Bought and sold dozens of cameras. Rationalized the difference between buying and selling as a “rental fee”, of sorts. Eventually the urge to try things abated, as I slowly got to know most tropes.
That in turn meant I had finally learned what kind of gear gives me joy, and started accumulating a consistent kit of it. Last year it started making “sense” to buy some more recent/expensive/specialized gear, since I no longer feared I’d grow out of it before too soon.
But I fully acknowledge that all of this is toys to me. It does not represent an “investment” any more than a vacation does. And I know all of it can be sold quickly and without much loss should I need to.
And I must say that all things considered, photography is not that expensive a hobby. One colleague of mine is into cars, which are just woefully expensive. Another likes video gaming hardware, which loses value in mere seconds after it is released. Another enjoys musical instruments, where the used market is almost nonexistent and selling is largely not a viable option. And let’s just not talk about jewelry or watches or top-tier smartphones. And my not-quite-recent Fuji kit is comparatively modestly priced, anyway.
And yet, I evidently felt the need to defend my purchases here with several paragraphs worth of hedging and rationalization. I don’t know if that’s healthy, either. Perhaps a sane person might simply own up to buying frivolous things for fun? Perhaps a sane society would not put a stigma on reasonable excess? Or perhaps I am insane after all, and decadent, and a hypocrite? I truly don’t know.
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Lol!
Life-as-a-service (Laas)
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Soon it will be like this show from Amazon, where dead people (by choice or (un)natural means) have a second chance in life in the virtual world:
It all depends on one’s (or their family’s) net worth and ability to pay: as the preview image implies, they are frozen if they run out of data.
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The pandemic has meant that I spend less money but I’ve worked just as much. Inflation isn’t really affecting me much. I live in a rented relatively cheap flat to small for my family but it has qualities that mean we’re very reluctant to move.
I’ve never been a big spender on photo gear (or any gear or products) but I’ve spend more time on auction sites during the pandemic. Looking for some very specific and relatively rare vintage lenses. Rare but still rather cheap if you wait long enough.
I feel this has somehow primed my brain into becoming more gear focused. It’s clear to me that spending time on gear related sites and thinking about gear is a feedback loop creating ever greater desires. I’m not particularly inclined to cut myself slack on becoming consumerist.
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Western Canada - new photographic equipment is in dream land. I am with Canon 70D (it will be 8y old this year). I did splurge on a computer from System76 https://system76.com/ - 2 years ago because I was using one that was 8 y old at the time and darktable was struggling on it.
The new equipment is out of reach. I have doubts investing in the old one (like lenses)
It used to be an affordable hobby but it is getting almost a luxury (especially if you are hoping for a newer model full frame).
I guess - on the positive site - the camera still works so better be thankful for that 
I haven’t really used any significant amounts of money on photography gear lately. My last major purchase was a Canon 5D mk IV almost three years ago. Since that I think only photography gear I’ve bough has been a Hahnel remote system.
I already have a quite comprehensive set of everything purchased over the years and my current gear is fine for pretty much anything, so I do not really need or even want anything right now. My desktop computer runs everything I need pretty well too, so I don’t think I need to upgrade anything besides maybe storage for a few years either.
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For photography I was working on a shoestring - just-discontinued cameras, refurb-ed lenses, and then I got talked out of retiring. Wife said, “Windfall! What do you want to do?”, and I said “Z 6”…
I also got new a AF-P FX 70-300mm and SB-500 flash, but I’m now back to ‘on-the-cheap’. Actually, I’ve got about all the equipment I think I’ll need for whatever I want to do, although I’d sure like to dump that FTZ-1 adapter; I can’t mount any F lens to my Z without having to remove the quick release plate…
My hobby expenditures are now going to a 3D printing setup. With all the consumables and multi-vat workflow, feels a lot like the old darkroom… 
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My late father used to have rather expensive gear. Due to his illnesses, he ended up damaging or destroying all of them. For those of you who are older and have made substantial investments, be careful and perhaps invest in some straps and padding for yourselves and the gear.
Regarding my personal status on gear. I spent zero dollars besides an odd memory card or three. If I manage to land on a job and overcome poverty, I will definitely buy a new kit. The current gear works 50% of the time only because it belonged to my father. (What’s left of it is the cheap kind, so not worth repairing or reselling.)