SOURCES:
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/15/biden-economy-bidenomics-poll-republicans-democrats-independents
- https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-poverty-rate-jumped-2022-child-poverty-doubled/story?id=103130527
- https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/31/63percent-of-workers-are-unable-to-pay-a-500-emergency-expense-survey.html
Enjoy your strong economy, everybody!
And yet everybody around me is driving an eighty thousand dollar truck. People and their justification of debt for toys is so strange to me.
Someone once told me “You’re supposed to be in debt, that’s just how things work”
I have avoided debt like the fucking plague. Banks are happy to shackle anyone they can into a life long payment plan, and one day it’s going to all come crashing down.
It depends. You’re supposed to use that debt in as smart way so that in the end, you have more money (liquid or in assets) than before, even taking into account the interest you pay.
Good reasons to take on debt: buy a house (no more money lost in rent + your house will keep increasing in value over time), renovate your house (increasing its value), get solar panels (less money spent on electricity + added value to your house),…
If your situation requires it, a reasonably sized car could be a good investment as well. Less money spent and time wasted on public transport (I’m a big fan of public transport though, don’t get me wrong).
Even student debt could be seen as a good investment. But I just think higher education should be at least affordable for anyone from the get-go.
An oversized car that you don’t really need and loses value as soon as you drive out of the dealership, is not a good reason to take on debt though.
Edit: note that I’m European and not super familiar with the debt culture in the US, where you need to have debt and pay it off for your credit score.
I was just talking to somebody about this. It’s simultaneously so confusing and so depressing. I work hard, try to do everything right but I can’t afford shit. Everyone I know and everyone around me lives in a damn mansion and drives around in 70k nice ass cars. Then they go to the Swiss alps or something for 3 weeks on vacation. I’m over here figuring out how I can make purchasing a camping permit for a 3 day weekend work…
If everyone is in debt they suuure don’t live like it. I just don’t understand it.
it seems to be a global thing too, here in sweden we have people living in huge houses in the middle of nowhere with 2 cars and 3 kids and they have the audacity to wonder why they can’t make their budget come together when prices for things rise slightly…
Some of these people might have family money (trust funds, inheritances, or gifts). Some might be older and more established (meaning they have more savings and less debt, bought their home long ago). Couples in general can afford more than single people. Childless people or people with older children who are now living on their own can afford more than people with kids at home. Some people don’t talk about their moonlighting/side hustles.
And some people have debt.
The problem with your logic is that you don’t know the financial situation of “everyone i know and everyone around me”
That’s not to say they are being smart and wise with their money or that they aren’t struggling. But it’s very easy to have only some context (their vacations, cars, and excess) and make bad inferences on their financial situations.
Have you asked these people, all of them, how they are managing this excess that feels impossible for you to meet yourself? You might find their financial situations are much more complex than appears and you aren’t actually on the same playing field
You’re completely right. It’s more of just how it feels looking around. It just seems like everyone has all this great stuff and lives in these big giant houses and I’m just not able to do that. It’s also probably one of those things where I’m just subconsciously blind to all the other people that aren’t living like that around me.
There are several friends that are definitely living very large and I have absolutely no clue how they are managing it since I know what them and their spouses do for a living. I’d love to know what the hell is really going on but it’s a bit awkward to bring up lol
Yeah, this “can’t afford an x expense” is not at all a sign of wealth, it’s a sign of debt culture that’s gotten better since 08 but it’s very much still alive.