TLDR: Maintaining things suck magnificently, but it might suck less if you make conscious decisions.
At some point I no longer remembered in my childhood, when I first learned about the concept of “renting”, it sounded like the dumbest thing in the universe. When you buy something you only pay a finite cost once, whereas if you rent it you’ll have to pay infinitely - an infinite total cost! There are many issues with that statement. Obviously my kindergarten self is not going to know about interest rates and present value discounts, not to mention market volatility and risk. However, when I brought this up to my parents, their response wasn’t these but - “purchased things cost money too”.
The entropy of the universe naturally increases - and so almost everything in life has an extended maintanence cost that’s often overlooked at the time of purchase. Houses require insurance, utilities, property taxes, and repairs (also, if you live in an American suburb, heavens forbid, HOA dues and lawn maintenance). Cars incur insurances, maintanences, inspections, and natural depreciation. Machines break, systems fail, and one day your washer will randomly start running with no manual input at 4 a.m.
The rot will one day claim us all
This cost is never just monetary either. Maintanence is one of the most time consuming parts of mundane life. Ever had to reach out to Whirlpool’s customer service? I doubt you’d have anything nice to say about it. Mowing your lawn and getting the right pesticide? Time. Diagnosing a persistently tripping breaker? Time. Tired of wasting your time and want to hire someone to do it for you? Looking for the right person also takes time (and unholy amounts of money!). Worse yet, these mundane chores are nevertheless skilled. Didn’t do them for a while? You might have just forgotten the exact watering scheme recommended for your lawn in Autumn.
Did you know that most cities in Texas have a required watering schedule? Neither do my neighbors.
How do you avoid getting passively taxed on your time and money? I don’t think it’s ever possible to completely avoid the rot, but you can always factor maintanence cost into your decision-making. Really dislike cleaning? Try cooking meals that stain less. Not a fan of things breaking down? Do research and buy more reliable options, or just don’t buy it. Want to avoid the more egregious bundle of timesinks in human history? Don’t live in the rural American suburbs. (And if you do, don’t get a yard pool.) Time and money are valuable. Spend them on things you truly care about rather than “QuAlItY oF lIfE"slop.