Right....an average. 6k is quite heavy. Especially since according to research here in the US nearly 2/3 of people live pay check to paycheck.
I'm thinking those in heavy credit card debts are probably always in credit card debts. .... Would be interesting to know how many people wipe away their debts and those who continue to drown in it.
When you do not have to pay back student loans and in some cases medical bills the message is out there. Rack up all the debt you can. Either you will sink or the government will help you out. If I knew I was going to die in 6 months, I would create a trust, and then I would get every credit card I could and rack up to the max.
ABSOLUTELY agree. People today do not how to budget and do not know how to plan to spend. They let peer pressure and media dictate how they live and spend instead of living according to how much they have. I did the same thing when I first started out as well. My first job paid $23K a year and that was a good pay for college graduates back then. There was no way I could afford to rent on my own at the time so I lived with my parents to save until I saved enough for a downpayment on my first home and I moved out of my parents' place. When I was living on my own in my first house, my living budget for the entire month was $150 besides mortgage payments and that included food, clothing, other living expenses and occasional entertainment expenses. And I didn't find it difficult at all. If you can't afford it, you just don't buy it. Simple. DO NOT let others tell you what you should or should not buy. You should be the one who decides that. I find renting to be a total ripoff unless you are in one or more of the following situations: 1) You are ultra-rich and really don't care about money or 2) You are renting to own or 3) You are in a very temporary living situation where you are only in that place for a very limited amount of time like traveling or 4) You can make extremely high returns in the asset market that far exceed how much your owned property can appreciate in the real estate market and you are making much more than the rent you pay otherwise you are throwing away money for nothing. Everything that you spend money on, eventually the thing that you spent your money on comes back to you except renting. When you rent, you are spending money on something that will never come back to you; at the end of the day, you spend all that money and yet you can be kicked out at any moment, none of an inch of a square of the place that you so painstakingly decorated that you call "home" is yours. All those money that you have spent are just gone and gone forever!! And for what? Just a bed to sleep on at night? Cuz that's really what you really need a home for if you think about it, is just a place for you to rest your head when you are tired at night; everything else, you can get it somewhere else. This is why I either stayed with my parents or just bought outright.
Exactly. People don't realize when your income goes up, your expenses go up too. And many times, even when you don't want to, somehow you are expected to pay more when you are making more. It's like if I make a higher level of income, I cannot shop at discount store anymore. And this is what I don't agree with. I feel no matter how much money you make, you should still be entitled to shop at Walmart or dollar stores. People shouldn't put this expectation on you that just because you make this much amount of money, you must be shopping at this "level" of store now and buying this kind of house and buying this kind of car and etc. I can if I want to but I shouldn't be obligated to. I budget according to how I want to and you don't get to tell me how I spend my money.
There is a definite genetic aspect to saving and not being a spend thrift. I have also noticed a strong correlation between mean people and how miserly they are. Not saying all good savers are mean people. That is definitely not the case. But I have noticed a strong correlation and you probably have too, with Ebonezer Scrouge being the obvious fictional example. And google says: Scientists have pinpointed a stretch of DNA that makes people tight—fisted. One in four of us carries the ‘mean gene,’ inherited from parents. On an average, those with the ‘mean gene’, gave less than half as much to charity, the University of Bonn study found. Some people will have genetics that encourage high spending, and they will never save anything regardless of how much they earn.. My guess there is also a genetic bias for trading aptitude, how well anyone can handle losses without trowing out the trading plan is probably heavily helped or hindered by genetics.
I save by default as most everything I enjoy is free. I enjoy simplicity and trust me I am a Cuban marielito who has made money hand over fist in his life time. That being said I’m not a mean guy, maybe when I’m hungry
I saw an article recently that was showing numbers behind rent vs buy. It said in the past that housing prices and rent were aligned so that it was always a slight advantage in the long run to buy. But lately average home prices have increased a lot more than average rent prices and it gives renters an advantage if they invested the difference at an average rate of return. The increase in housing is from an actual housing shortage. But since people do have incomes (low unemployment) they can overpay when they need housing. My opinion on current inflation is that it isn’t being caused by excess money in peoples pockets, but from actual shortages. Not natural resource/food shortages but of things that we have come to rely on. During the pandemic I remember the prices of used cars were sometimes higher than the sticker price of the same car - new off the lot. The manufacturers couldn’t get the components needed to meet demand. Dealers weren’t having to be competitive on price and the profit per vehicle sold skyrocketed (although the dealers were selling fewer cars and making less money). Same thing with farm equipment. There’s a wait list to buy new machines that is as bad or worse than the one for cars. I’ve seen several $500k tractors sit for over a year because a $1000 electrical component can’t be obtained to repair it. John Deere was selling some tractors without major electrical components which limited functionality drastically with the promise of installing them when available and I don’t know if they have become available yet. Then there’s the doctor shortage. I know someone who recently had a triple bypass, it took 6 months to schedule the surgery. Another friend had the same issue 20 years ago and he was able to schedule the same surgery for the same week he was diagnosed. I’ve heard the same story a dozen times already this year. I’m not familiar with how the medical system pricing system works but I bet that costs per service have increased massively since this shortage began. In my opinion the fed should have left the rate at zero and the government should give tax incentives/subsidies to encourage companies that address these shortages. Build housing. Start producing electrical components domestically….or anywhere for that matter as long as we get a steady and sufficient supply.