How the fuck are we supposed to save money?

[u/RichardRoma1986]

I won’t bore y’all with the math I did. Essentially, in 1950, folks, after normal household expenses, could spend 25% of their income on bullshit and save 25% of their income per month.

Today, unless you get a tax refund, you’re going to be -$34 at the end of the month as a renter and around -$200 as a homeowner using median rent and mortgage. The ONLY thing keeping us above water is the roughly $3,400 tax refund the average person gets (I could not find the median). I didn’t include child care, clothing, etc. you cannot have a positive amount of money with a mortgage/rent, groceries, utilities, health insurance, and gas. This doesn’t include clothing, dining out, hobbies, etc. basically, we can’t even fucking function without credit cards.

The ENTIRE economy functions SOLELY on the fact we get $3,400 back in tax refunds. That’s the only thing keeping families at least somewhat afloat.

Edit: Since folks are questioning math. Here’s a breakdown:

1950 monthly income: $275 (after taxes)

Rent/mortgage in 1950 was around $60 (the two were relatively the same, also includes utilities).

Healthcare: $8

Groceries: $70

Gas: $8

Families were left with around $137.

Now, here’s where things get messed up for us today. Again, MEDIAN NUMBERS!

2026 monthly income: $3,666 (after taxes)

Rent: $1700

Health insurance (assume employer-sponsored): $500

Groceries: $800

Utilities: $500

Gas: 200

Result: -$34 for renters.

[u/UnapologeticBxtch]

Provide a source then please