40-year-old homeowner says economy doesn’t add up: ‘I’m making the most money I’ve ever made, and I’m still living paycheck to paycheck’

Hey, somebody's gotta pay for the highest corporate profits in 70 years.

There's a term for this, HENRY. High Earner, Not Rich Yet. The lie is the "Yet". Millennials and Gen Xers have been struggling to reach the middle class that is kept perpetually out of reach. They have given up on the idea of financial solvency and are going into debt to indulge in luxuries like having children, going on vacations, and living somewhere that isn't a complete shithole. Saving for retirement is as realistic as training to live on Mars, so why bother? Keep digging a financial hole and then lie down and die in it.

Honestly, same boat. Our power bill has gone up over 20% this past year like it's insane. Our grocery costs have easily doubled in that time, too. Like I'm doing the math and seeing the numbers like I'm making more than I was 3 years ago, but I wasn't living paycheck to paycheck then, and I'm rationing food today.

I also can't count the number of times prices have gone up on common groceries in the last year. Every time I go in I'm spending more than I did the previous time. And the grocery stores around here have started phasing out their cost saving brands. More and more lately what used to be the expensive brand is the only one left, and I'm paying twice as much for half as much compared to what I was getting before. They're not even trying to hide what they're doing.

I had dinner with my mom last night. She told me she made $2.20/hr as a waitress in 1972. Not including tips.

That's the equivalent of over $16/hr now.

The boomers have no idea how lucky they were. And they fucking wasted it.

Nikki Cimino, a 40-year-old recruiter living in Denver, said she finally saved up enough to buy a condo last year, but missed out on the ultra-low interest rates that had made homeownership more affordable in the early days of the pandemic. Her 5.25% interest rate pushed her monthly payments to $1,650. After a divorce in 2020, she’s shouldering $4,000 in credit card debt.

It's the credit card debt...

Instead of paying that off since 2020, she saved a down payment and bought an expensive condo. She's wasting a shit ton of money on interest because credit cards are all like 20-30%

Credit cards are predatory, if you ever carry a balance to the next month, that needs to be your highest priority.

Do a transfer to get 0% each year if you have to when recovering from emergencies. But paying credit interest for years is insane.

I like the implication that economists aren't people

Her mortgage is $1650/mo, which is incredibly reasonable in Denver. I think this specific person's problems have more to do with her recent divorce. She was used to splitting costs, and probably spent quite a bit on the divorce itself

To anyone struggling in the USA and wondering how to possibly get out, just live like Congress and become rich. Then, money problems are way easier to handle. If you have as much money as a Congressman, you will be equally as unconcerned with them as to the state of our union and you will be able to say things are great with a straight face.

Like Dubya said, you should get 2 or 3 more jobs so you can put more food on your family.

I'm in this article and don't like it.

Gary Stevenson explains why this is, and why it's not gonna get better anytime soon.

Every year the value of our money goes down because the government keeps printing more of it like its a cocaine addiction (This is on top of prices going up for other reasons as well).

Unless you're getting huge raises every year you're never going to get ahead, and if you're getting nothing, you're actually losing money.

Consider the possibility that, first and given the political importance they have in the present day, the official numbers that the Economists are using are less than honest.

Also, I know that some countries don't include Housing Inflation - which is huge* - in their Official Inflation. Is that also the case in the US?

Last but not least, there is the whole difference between what is usually reported to us by Politicians, Economists and the Press, which is either country totals (which grow up merelly by the population growing) or the mean average (i.e. adding all values and dividing by the total number of points) which suffers from the "if a man has 10 chickens and 9 others have none, each has in average 1 chicken even though most have none" problem, and the mode (the value around which most cases are found) which is far more representative of most people's experiences: if for example the wealth increases from higher productivity are going entirelly to a few people who just get ever more filthy rich whilst the many have either stagnated or, worse, are getting a bit poorer due to inflation eating up the true value of their pay, the grand total will be growing, as will the average (if the population numbers are steady) but the mode will have stagnated or even be falling, matching the experience of most people - people get to hear about country GDP growing and even GPD-per-capita growing all the while the vast majority see not growth at all, maybe even a falling of their purchasing power (the latter for sure for any who don't already own their house).

A higher quality of living is being gatekept by the wealthy.

Honest work: You make just enough to live on until its not enough and then you're homeless

Scams and grifting: You make possibly lots of money then maybe get sent to jail which is where the courts are gearing up to send homeless people anyway.

Some months I struggle just to save $1000 and it's really starting to get to me

So it isn't just me. My spouse and I bring in together $250000 (before taxes), we own a house and we are living paycheck to paycheck. One factor of many why I chose to move to another country. The only good thing is that once I sell the house I will be able to pay off all my debts because of how much the price of the house gone up.

"I just made the most expensive purchase of my life and I can't figure out why I am living paycheck to paycheck."

Inflation is hitting people hard. And it's happening globally not just in the USA.

Last night I ordered some food and the delivery agent told me she is living in her car because people are not tipping well and she can't afford rent anymore. Paid for her stay in a motel for now.

Yeah welcome to the fuck guy.

It's as if workers can only improve their condition in a capitalist society when the pie grows exponentially, but continual exponential growth is an impossibility in a physical world.

Have you tried skipping breakfast??? /s

Isn't Denver an expensive city? Buying doesn't mean instant low monthly payments. You gotta sit on that crap for ten years.

A former treasurer of Australia solved it. You just need to get a good job.

Yep. That's the truth. I didn't even feel like I was treading water until my late 40s and we were making decent money by any standard. A mortgage, a single car payment, all the insurances (family health, dental, home, car) you need to pay for, data connections (we don't have cable tv), taxes (FSaLT), and skimming money off the top for a 401k and there's very little left. Especially with the all the rising prices of groceries (our bill feels like it's almost doubled) and being subscription-fee'd to death.