Americans would probably have a lot more freedom if they didn’t normalize getting into debt. You can save a lot of money if you never pay anyone interest.
When I hear about middle class people struggling to pay the bills, I’m always curious what their lifestyle looks like and where they are spending their money. Literally today I saw a news article that broke down a family’s monthly expenses like this:
$1700 rent
$800 payment for two cars
$400 insurance
$250 phone
$60 internet
food paid for with whatever’s left
The big thing that stood out were the cars. They obviously bought some brand new cars that they couldn’t afford. If they sold those and replaced them with beaters their budget would be solved.
The worst part is, the news article was trying to paint this example as proof that the economy is ruined and only new laws can save us.
The rapid inflation occurring right now is expected to slow down in the coming years. Over time it is highly probable you will catch up as long as you keep saving.
I’d take education and cars off that list. With the price of college where it’s at, if you can’t afford it on your own, I think you should look for alternatives like community college or online courses. It’s better to get education in things you’re not passionate about than to attend college and get saddled in crippling student debt that not even bankruptcy can save you from.
I’m also against paying interest on cars because a reliable used one is still cheap enough for most people to pay cash. Brand new cars should be seen as luxury items.
I’m not sure if this is really representative of everyone, but it’s telling that the news decided to use that example when trying to convince viewers the economy is bad. I’d love to see more research into middle class spending habits, as I suspect that predatory lending and consumerism cause problems more than inflation.
The housing market isn’t going to crash. New homes aren’t going to flood the market and demand for homes will not fall. As long as we have a growing population the price of homes will also increase.
I agree, you can and should both save money and try to fix society. I offered you a suggestion to save money and you got mad because I forgot to add the obligatory “eat the rich” clause.
Saving money is literally the only way to get a house. Let’s say you got a roommate and saved $800 a month. That’s almost $10k a year. You will get even more if you invest that money, too. Do that for a few years and you’ll have a down payment for a house.
It also feels good to smoke cigarettes and eat cheeseburgers. And there has also been a big marketing push for those. I don’t necessarily think people are and more impulsive, but they’ve been led to believe debt isn’t as harmful as it actually is.
Housing market affordability is so bad that Zillow says it will take you 13.5 years to break even on a purchase from July onward ( finance.yahoo.com )
Homes "unaffordable" in 99% of nation for average American ( www.cbsnews.com )
Uh oh.. ( sh.itjust.works )
What, you thought you were getting paid for that? ( lemmy.world )