There is a line. People who make their money from assets have been doing well. People who make their money from wages have not.
As lower income households struggle to afford Walmart, Walmart is growing in popularity with higher income households seeking out sales.
“Walmart posts worst comparable sales performance in six years”
Yeah, shits tight and every institution is in decay. On the other hand it’s only gonna get worse until it gets better, so theres that.
…and it’s probably going to get a LOT worse.
To put things in perspective, imagine it being way, way worse in 5 years and the point you are at right now is the least struggling you’ve been through that you can remember. You might look fondly at these days, before shit hit the fan.
Try to save whatever you can.
Yeah that’s why I think its important to be a part of a community, if you can.
More than that, we have to be a worldwide community, because those who are receiving the benefits of our hard work act at that level. Left, right, democrat, republican, none matter, the strings are pulled by the same people. We are in this together, we have to see through the bullshit and help each other.
…Why help each other when we can just kill the hoarding puppeteers?! Then everyine will be able to easily help themselves!
Lol dafuq are you on about?
Feels like it. I’m getting the most pay in my life and 5 years ago it would have been comfortable. Now with the cost of everything I’m just eeking buy. Hell I drive a 30 year old car still as I can’t afford a new one or even a newer used one
you can’t afford a 25K civic or similar?
issue i see with people is they seem to want 50K cars. at least going by the average price of new car purchases, but most car buyers buy like 2x the car they actually need.
Something like 65% of people can’t afford a $1k emergency. NO thry can’t afford a payment on a 25k civic. We are all people scraping couch cusions to get a used car lot $4500 Toyota.
Don’t know about you, but a $4,500 used Toyota in my neck of the woods would be an early 2000’s Toyota with 200k+ miles and in serious need of expensive repairs. And those living paycheck to paycheck wouldn’t have a way to put down the cash to buy even that car.
Nope not with kids and a lack of child care. One parent stays at home as their paycheck got devoured by child care and I work. Both of us with degrees in tech too. Once both kids are in school maybe she’ll be able to work part time but obviously someone still has to go pick up the kids. I have zero family support. My parents died of cancer and meth.
I’d love a hybrid civic or corolla. Hybrid mostly to save on gas. I absolutely don’t need a F150 or something
childcare is about 3K a month max in a HCOL. even with 2 kids that’s 6K a month.
if you both have degrees in tech in your 30s, you should both be making like way more than 6k a month. neither parent should stay home, unless it’s a lifestyle choice. i have known a few people who did this. a dual income tech couple should be pulling in well over 200K/yr
and yeah if you are poor because of lifestyle choices… that’s not struggling. that’s you choosing to make less money than you could. or i suppose you could be 24 or something and both be making 60K, but why you had kids so early is against a lifestyle choice and your struggle would again be self-imposed.
and by the sounds of it you very much could afford a cheap least or car payment. a lease on basic hybrid civic is 250/mo or so. sounds you aren’t open to leasing a car though and think you have to purchase it outright.
Got to love when people say 24 is young to have a child and it’s a choice. Not every state allows abortion, and even with birth control and contraception, children occur.
Then the dogshit advice to lease… Sure, it might make sense to some, but it’s almost always a terrible choice.
Not sure why you are going on about 25-50k cars. I read OP’a comment as them not being able to afford a nugget that is worth a couple of thousand at best.
At least in the US the average new car price is now close to $50k. That’s the reason car loans now are going upwards of 7 years. A lot of the car price is more and more expensive safety features being added on cars. Add in, you are quite a lot safer in a modern new car compared to even a 20 year old car.
Motorcycles are much cheaper, easier to maintain, and convenient if you don’t live in a place with snow. If I ever go back to America, I am selling my 20 year old toyota and buying a sensible Honda Motorcycle.
I would totally ride a motorcycle if I wasn’t surrounded by people on their cell phones not staying in their lane.
The bigger danger is people not looking or their brain not working and pulling out directly infront of you.
Unless you live in America, then the biggest dangers by far, accounting for >3/4 accidents are drinking and riding or going into a turn too fast for conditions and eating shit.
Here in vietnam, its probably people with a phone in their hand riding into the back of stuff, then alcohol.
I’ve been bumped by people doing the no-look-lane change once hard enough to deform my foot peg, as long as you have grip, there is a lot of force trying to keep a moving bike upright.
I actually used to ride believe it or not. But with starting a family and the insane amount of distracted driving here in the US I quit. It’s disturbing to see people with their phone in their hands while driving. Plus I didnt want to leave my family without a father. I loved riding and still miss it
I used to ride, but even bikes are getting quite more expensive, and it’s much dangerous to ride on at least in the US as everyone is driving bigger and bigger vehicles and more distracted as well.
I know Harleys are overpriced, but you can get a brand new cb750 for 7-8K, cheaper most of the world.
What is weird is that much cheaper bikes the third world gets are way more expensive in the US, a XR150L is 3.4K in the US, a CB150 verza has the exact same engine, it’s less than half the price in Indonesia.
Same with the Honda Wave in asia vs Grom in the US, they switch the functional frame/clutch for something “sporty” and just double the price.
Struggling a bit more financially but I prepared for this tbh. I expected shit to get bad, and still think it will get worse.
To put things in perspective I’m learning stuff in case the next depression happens soon, like planting potatoes, food preservation…
Save whatever money you can now. This might be the least you struggle financially for years.
Yep. They’re boiling frogs.
We’ll be the ones eating the pets.
It’s pretty standard to have to choose between paying rent and eating, now. My electric bill is three months overdue. I’d not even be online if I wasn’t pointing a cantenna at the store down the hill. I think the only bills I’m current on are my email, which I’m not sure I’ll be able to swing $50 a year when it is due, but for now it’s current… And my VPN.
do they charge fees for overdue utilities, they dont over here, and people i know have overdue charges for utilities they dont charge extra fee, they just shut off the power after a certain amount of time, due to him being a pushover unable to stop a hoarding wife that also shops, plus not able to rent because he wont fix the house.
They do, but it’s much less likely to be cut off than being evicted or starving, so if you have to not pay something the power company is the first to be skipped.
I have about $60 in late fees on it, now, which is actually pretty low for late fees compared to most places.
Perhaps because we’re all hydro, here, and don;t have a datacenter explosion… Yet.
I overdrew my account less than 24 hours before my paycheck cleared.
We don’t generally have to worry where our next meal is coming from, but there is little to no wiggle room after that. Savings? Lol. Investments? See savings. No vacations. No subscriptions. Just rent, food, and bills. We’re one unexpected large expense away from homelessness at any given time. But we do have the essentials covered.
Of course not. Nothing is ever the same for everybody
I’m very lucky
I live in a civilised country (not 'Murica)
A few years ago I worked my arse off doing something very niche and managed to save a lot of money
I live a fairly simple life, but I do drink a lot, so that’s an expense I could cut
I travel a lot at the moment, and when I stop doing that I’ll be able to save quite a lot of money
I know how fortunate I am, and how difficult it is for some people, especially in the US
What was your niche specialty?
I’m not going to say that, because it’s a very small world sometimes
I hope you understand
Of course. Glad you found something that worked out for you
This is probably not an appropriate question, but… are you hiring?
There are many ways to immigrate here
Especially if you are willing to live in one of the smaller places
I’m an immigrant myself, and moving here absolutely changed my life
Where is ‘here’?
"Straya, cunt
Financially? No, I’m doing pretty well, having made a lot of boring but good long term decisions, gotten a few lucky breaks, and had the sort of career where I’ve always been able to find a new job when I needed to. Though with the rise of LLMs that may not be true in a few years.
Health wise though? Fuck. And the mental fallout from that sucks.
Yeah, the burnout is real. I keep trying to do everything I can to keep it from being ever present, but I feel without a career change and a massive risk to my financial stability that I am utterly stuck and will just keep getting fried out at the cost of keeping dinner on the table.
It’s always something.
— My Life
I just went to Costco for a monthly-ish grocery trip. This month was 700, whereas in previous months it has been 4-500. I’m not even buying beef. I’m in a privileged position to still afford my groceries, but honestly I’m dancing on a knife’s edge right now.
How many people are you feeding?
3, we are all home full time and no eating out ever. Its about 45 days worth of food for us. I definitely see my privilege when it pertains to food, but after a 9% pay cut in March and significant price increases the budget is basically maxed at this point.
Not in the US, and I myself am doing fine. I earn about 30k after taxes, job is quite chill and for the moment it is safe, rent is about 12k a year, and I have some savings to not worry about the immediate future. But I can feel it coming, one way or the other.
your situation sounds ok as long as you stay healthy.
If the fascists don’t ruin the country too quickly, I should have almost-everything-paid-for health insurance and protection against unjust dismissal for the foreseeable future. As I said, not in the US.
And I’m lucky enough to have enough savings to live a year or two without a job, even without welfare.
I am more worrier about how they grind up what is left of the economy between the US, China and “we need 500000 tanks to fight Russia”. And desperate people vote for easy answers, hence the fascists. If the US serves as an example, they will accelerate the decline, but at least they will shoot some brown people in the process, yay…
yeah. I have a sick wife and healthcare was a third of my monthly nut. If the us had universal healthcare I would be able to keep going for some time.
Ouch, that sucks. I am amazed how there is not a landslide majority in the US to fix the healthcare system, one way or another. Even if I didn’t have insurance, paid everything out of pocket, it would still be cheaper than the US, for what I believe is a comparable standard.
But then again, the average voter probably knows nothing about the world and is fed too much propaganda. I can see it starting here, too.
