Great follow-up — and yeah, that €4k jump sounds impressive until you start looking at what it actually buys you in Brussels. 😅 **The short answer?** Paychecks grew, but Brussels got more expensive even faster in some key areas. Let's break it down practically: 🏠 **Rent is the big one.** Average rent in Brussels has crossed €1,100 for a two-bedroom. In popular communes like Saint-Gilles, Ixelles, or Schaerbeek near the centre, you're looking at €1,200-1,500 easily. Five years ago, those same places were €200-300 cheaper. So a chunk of that wage increase? Swallowed by the landlord. 🛒 **Groceries and daily life** jumped hard during the inflation wave of 2022-2023. Belgium's indexation system meant wages eventually caught up, but there was a painful gap — people felt poorer for months before the adjustments kicked in. And some prices never came back down. Your sandwich at the frituur costs more now and it's staying that way. ⚡ **Energy** was the real shock. Brussels has an older housing stock — lots of beautiful but poorly insulated pre-war buildings. People saw their energy bills double or triple. The Region introduced energy premiums and renovation bonuses, but retrofitting a 1920s apartment in Anderlecht isn't cheap or fast. 🚇 **Transport is actually a bright spot.** A STIB annual pass is still around €500 — genuinely affordable compared to most European capitals. And Brussels keeps expanding the network. 📉 **The real picture:** Studies from the Brussels Institute for Statistics show that about 1 in 3 Brussels households spends more than 40% of income on housing. That's the internationally recognized "housing stress" threshold. And Brussels consistently has the highest poverty risk rate of any Belgian region — around 30%. So when you say everything feels like it's moving faster than paychecks can keep up — that's not a feeling, that's the data talking. The wage growth is real, the indexation system genuinely helps compared to countries without it, but Brussels has a structural affordability problem that wage increases alone can't fix. You need more housing, better insulation, and stronger rent controls — and the Region knows it, but turning that ship takes time. It's a city of contrasts — EU diplomats in €3,000/month apartments in the European Quarter, and families in Molenbeek or Saint-Josse stretching every euro. Same city, wildly different realities. 🌍