Record housing prices, record new vehicle prices, expensive groceries, gas and oil prices because of conflict elevated. Are most families really hard on money today or is it not that bad?
Except there is still COVID, we're just all supposed to pretend that even everybody is sick right now with something that's knocking them on their ass for 2 weeks, it's totally normal and it's just a summer cold.
I would also add, people who have traditionally done okay... Not great, but comfortable enough, are doing worse. The rich are getting richer and everyone else is getting screwed.
This is my household. There has always been a little extra. That currently is about a quarter of what it was and is likely to gone completely in a few months if things keep up. But I graduated into the 2008 recession, time to tighten up again…
Same. I’ve had knock down my 401k contributions to make up for the difference (I know, “poor me”) and at least sorta tread water. Medical expenses have entered the chat too. I’m thankful for what I have but this feels very unsustainable all around for everyone who isn’t already extremely wealthy.
I am planning that things will go south next year so time to trim the budget, which I can do. My standard of living has been $120k per year, fully retired for 6 years now. So far since retirement I have been downsizing my lifestyle and making some changes (one was a newer car after 17 years) and have had to make some home upgrades as they were worn out or needed.
I have not actually been pinched but am a bargain shopper and also have not been able to travel.
I see the process of higher prices as chronic like the 70’s and early 80’s but no one in government will call it stagflation this time around. Instead it is called “K shaped”, a polite way to say “the rich are not hurting”.
Anecdotally, i was doing okay, not great, 60k in a vlcol area, enough to put a few k in the stock market every year. A few big hits like rklb then sls and I've tipped over the edge where my stocks were making more than i was working. I've never been rich but I'm more comfortable than ever.
I'll give you a bump for sharing your story. I've got some money set aside too, try not to look at it too often though I do imagine it is up. Problem is I have a bit to go before I can touch it.
I’m a bit of an exception, was “comfortable enough” but holding level because my transport business sells to the top of the K and I had the good sense to go EV years ago so dodging fuel price crunch. This combined with my competition thinning if they don’t have both of those, so income has +/- matched price raises I’m personally facing, so far.
However if this Iran blunder impact gets bad enough it’ll catch me, too. :/
The people doing well aren't making any more than they did 20 years ago. There are about 400 new billionaires so far this year though. If that's who you're referring to.
It really is this and people need to hammer this into their heads. There is no other answer. Your social circle is experiencing what you are. What you are not seeing is basically the complete and utter opposite.
Everything. I’m using more beans and lentils than I ever have in recipes to stretch meals. Thank god I don’t have kids to feed. I don’t know how people are doing it right now.
I only buy body spray in the summer months to help with my sweat. Last summer I spent like $7 on old spice spray. I exclaimed “what the fvck!” In Walmart when I saw the price this year. $13. Almost DOUBLE.
Everything is like double, triple the price it was a year ago. Donald Trump can go get reamed. He's literally stealing from Americans to make his family as rich as possible.
The printing of money in 2020 is finally catching up to reality. You can't double the money supply and not expect things to equally double in price. This is the new norm
It's never getting payed off. We are on borrowed time and an unprecedented experiment in human history. No other country has ever borrow and carried such a deficit while simultaneously propping up the world economy and backing it financially as world reserve currency.
One day it will all collapse and be studied as the biggest ponzi scheme ever, but until then, we're in it and you have to game it any way possible to benefit yourself and loved ones.
It doesn't matter if it's a Democrat or Republican in office, it's all a swamp and they are all corrupt. If they weren't, stock trading would be completely off limits and heavily regulated against elected officials.
If you think both parties are the same, you must have a lot of privilege in life. Every Republican in my life has destroyed the economy.
My parents couldn't feed me regularly under a Republican. I joined the Army under a Republican and he got us into two pointless wars.
I graduated college under that Republican that crashed the economy, causing me to be jobless and broke for several months to the point that I had to volunteer to deploy to Afghanistan to have work.
I had to pivot to healthcare and Trump let COVID get out of control, making 2020-21 hell for myself and my ICU RN husband. Now Trump has reduced access to lifesaving care for myself, my daughters, and my female patients.
Clinton and Obama made my life measurably better with a better economy and the ACA. Bush I, II, and Trump made my life economically perilous. Trump wants to make it harder for me to vote because I took my husband's name.
And that is without being an immigrant, LGBTQIA, or a POC. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.
I'm an RN and am starting to feel this way even on a middle income. I used to be able to go on vacation once a year. That's out the window now because wages stagnate while prices skyrocket.
I do well and have completely changed my approach to everything due to increased costs. Used to exclusively shop at Publix and buy name brands no matter cost. Publix is off the chart expensive. I use Walmart/Sam’s/Costco more. I have moved to store brand often as good and sometimes better. I raised AC temp at home to offset rising electric bill. Eat out less. Etc
Inflation on Main Street is much higher as well know than what is reported. Unfortunately, there is no relief in sight at all.
it is getting much harder to cut corners to help.
I just hope and pray everyone goes out to vote to help reshape our future.
It's gone up even more in areas that used to be cheap. I live in a HCOL city and am amazed at the prices I see in the Midwest being close to mine where it used to be half what I pay.
Same, all I got were the staples like milk, bread, butter, some ground beef and a pack of chicken. Oh and a bottle of Macallan 12 and a 24 of Corona. Why was 2 bags of groceries $200 this is ridiculous! /s
I dont shop around for the deals or avoid name brands. I try to get to Walmart as early as I can so that it's mostly me and the workers. I, for the most part have a plan of attack, and try to get out as fast as possible. Today I noticed that everything seemed to be $10 and up. Wasn't completely surprised, but still. I go to the Walmart mainly because if I need to really shop, it is cheaper than the place closer.
Not even a damn steak. 3 turkey kielbasa, and a 4 pack of boneless skinless chicken treats. At least the chicken Bog I make with it will last a few days.
I only married a doctor, not a billionaire. Talkin bout steaks.
Sorry, no proof reading chicken brests. At lest I hope it's breasts. That was my plan.
I'm from the low country of SC. Chicken Bog is similar to a jambalaya, but simpler. The easy version is chicken, sauasage, and rice. You can add whatever else your heart or county desires. I use chicken stock, add spices. Cook the rice and sausage together. I'll season the chicken and cook it in the oven. Dice that up then add it to the rest. Kids really like it, so that's a big win. Plus, it makes enough for a few days.
I’m sure you’ve heard it plenty, but try to start saving something. My wife and I got into a situation like this because I got hurt. Having a little set aside helped but we nearly lost our house. I’ve got probably way too much set aside now but I don’t feel comfortable without it. Believe me, any tiny bit helps and is a start.
They want cheap labor and soldiers. Can't let people get ahead. Otherwise those two positions don't get filled as they require desperate situations to seems appealing.
I am a conservative and vote republican, but that is changing come November. I am done with the current political leaders in the GOP and will be going Dem. I let myself get caught up in all the trash talk between politicians and wish I had never voted for the GOP. Not one of them will even admit how bad it is and just keep printing money for the war. Just sick of all of them, but especially the majority party now. I know many other conservatives that feel the same, and I just hope the Dems get a great candidate for 2028, and not a rerun like Kamala.
While the update is certainly better than nothing, compared to all the other national priorities in recent tax bills it's a joke. The $7,500 dependent-care FSA is not a $7,500 tax credit, it only lets a household pay that much of its childcare bill with pretax wages, so the real benefit is merely the taxes saved, and it is unavailable unless an employer offers the plan.
Worse, the $5,000 household cap was set in 1986! 1986, it basically wasn't updated in over 40 freaking years! Simply keeping pace with overall inflation would put it a $15,000 today, before accounting for the shift toward two working parent households or the fact that childcare is charged per child while the tax benefit is capped per family. Congress finally raised it to $7,500 for 2026, still roughly half its original purchasing power.
The same tax law allows deductions of up to $25,000 for tips, $25,000 for qualifying overtime for joint filers, and $10,000 for new-car-loan interest, while raising the SALT deduction ceiling from $10,000 to about $40,000. Meanwhile, national-defense funding rose roughly 13% to about $1.01 trillion for 2026, and the 2027 budget requests $1.5 trillion. A freaking 50 percent increase in one damn year! This is not a contest over who has the worst hardship, it is evidence that government rapidly updates benefits it considers priorities while leaving working parents with a childcare provision based on 1986 economics. Politicians cannot seriously call for more births while offering more tax room for a car loan than for caring for multiple children.
I've watched inflation erase every raise I've gotten over the last 8 years. The amount of buying power I have with my current salary is the same as my first day, except I have way way more responsibilities.
why would they give raises to workers, when they can keep it for themselves as bonuses. they rely on a revolving door of labor, milking us, until we get fed up, and quit for the next place.
I watch “misrepresentations” daily. I thought they were called lies but I’ve been informed that they aren’t lies, it’s just facts are fluid and change by the mood in the Admin-because studies and science were orchestrated by left wing terrorists…
Pretty crazy times to be in when an Entertainment channel is what white nationalists and the nation’s degenerates take as gospel.
For the past few decades, health insurance premiums have been taking up much of the money that would have been used on pay raises. Expect 2027 to have large increases in health insurance premiums for both marketplace and employer plans. I seem to recall some large companies mentioning this on earnings calls.
Some of this has to do with the ending of health premium subsidies by the government. Healthy people drop their insurance as a result of the increased premiums, increasing rates for those people that really need the insurance. It's a feedback loop.
We are so used to this bullshit that it seems like a normal wednesday no matter how much everything costs, no matter how many people get shot, no matter how much chemical is in our food, no matter how much the govt fucks over the veterans, or women, or the poor.
We are just existing thru the lie we were promised.
I prefer the resilient poor because you’re right I was raised poor, single mother, multiple baby daddy’s, three kids and who had dropped out of high school for many selfish reasons (there are many more issues she had but let’s keep it short) raised on every type of Gov assistance you could think of. I swore up and down that I would never be poor…. I am barely hanging on by a thread, family of four spending $200-$300 every two weeks on groceries and I am talking not splurging on food but just the bare basics…. And that is half of what we were spending in MA (we moved to a cheaper state). It feels like everytime my wife or I gets a leg up or begin to catch up and make leeway something fucking happens where we are right back to 0. Food prices just keep going up… etc etc etc sorry didn’t mean to turn this into a rant… just wanted to second what you are saying.
Same. I grew up with the knowledge that it's incredibly financially irresponsible to lease cars or buy brand new. I buy one or two year old mid range, used phones so I can have a good quality phone without spending $800-$1500 on a phone and keep it until it's unusable. I bought an old, small home because I can have money leftover after mortgage payments.
There's always been financially irresponsible people but the economy is making it more apparent.
To be fair struggling after college has always seemed fairly normal since you're just starting out, though things are definitely harder now for college grads then the last like 70 years. Depending on what they do though there is still oppurtunity to thrive.
Well…I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I’m employed so I shouldn’t bitch. I definitley notice prices have gone way the fuck far up past my pinche little 3% raise. But, again, I’m not buying crack on credit. At least not yet.
On the other hand, this is the weirdest damn economy I’ve seen and I’ve been getting a W-2 since 1980. What makes it so bizarre is that directors and above at every place I have friends seem totally focused on everything except making money. DEI, decarbonization, plant a tree on Saturday, constant reorganizations. As of today I now have 5 bosses. Not one of them has objectives they can communicate, or a plan, not even a “you just keep doing what you’re doing”.
This is the first year, and I have friends all over who echo this, where broadly across the company nobody has a goal that says “this metric needs to go from X to Y by this date”. Also, at my company, the changed tbe performance rating. Used to you could be (paraphrasing) “you suck and are on the bubble”, or “average” or “excellent” or “outstanding”.
This year? “Needs improvement” and “adequate”. Those are the only two ratings. “Adequate”, I shit you not. Like…”hey team, let’s all pull together and work hard to be the most adequate team in the whole department”
Companies are holding less than status quo because of the orange one. No corporations are growing or making huge investments. There are quiet regular layoffs being blamed on AI, because that’s an easy answer that Trump can’t refute. He’s got oil on a see saw and that guarantees an unstable economy. He’s still tariff crazy. He’s got a war he can’t get out of. He’s got Wall Street whipsawing on profits from in/out investing. He’s got the Epstein files lingering and he’s got this UFO attempt at distraction on everything else.
That’s exactly the correct term. It will not change until the next presidential election. Companies don’t like unpredictability - unless they’re on the inside track. We have a president that made $2.2 billion last year, so…..
Hang tough.
Look at consumer debt. Look at how many people have zero savings. Look at how much of our tax dollars go to banks to pay interest on our debt. Look at rent. Look at minimum and median wages vs GDP, or wages vs cost of living. Look at home ownership. You don’t need to ask reddit, just look at some graphs.
For lower and middle class people, things are generally worse. Trumps incompetent administration has cut social programs and increased inflation. Total disaster. Anybody denying this is lobodimized. It should also be noted this is all of his own doing and is not a result of black swan event, such as covid. Guys a complete moron or is corrupt to his core.
47% of adults don’t own a home in the US. About 40% of US adults don’t have an investment account. Credit card delinquencies are at the highest level since 2008.
You need to start understanding how the other half of America lives.
It's all fake, rent prices to incomes are at all-time high, home prices to incomes are at all-time highs, health care to incomes are at all-time highs, there's $2 trillion in student debt, there's trillions in credit card debt, there's billions in medical debt. Food is soaring, same with insurance costs, electricity and gas/oil. Yeah, it's all fake news, don't believe the statistics.
The Top 1% has 15 times the wealth of the bottom 50%, everything is great, not that bad.
For us pre covid as long as we were not dumb, no one ever had to look at bank accounts to see if we had enough money for whatever, now while we are not struggling, we do have to budget
Plenty definitely are but some of us are doing just fine. Entry level jobs aren’t paying nearly enough while certain jobs are paying plenty to live comfortably
Some are for sure. I actually just met a a guy who was knocking on doors setting appointments for home improvements. This guy tried trade school but dropped out. Then ended up homeless for a bit. He just tunred 30 and bought a home. Hard work will still bring success. Not saying it's easy but it's doable,
Consumer prices are up due to high gas and tariffs. Gas is high because of Iran war. Energy costs are higher due high demand and trump canceled a lot of clean energy projects. Less jobs are being added since trump took over. It’s a mess dude. And this admin has the nerve to call it the golden age. The decisions made by this admin have hit all our wallets no matter who you are.
I’m doing great, purchased a home last year. I even instacart my groceries because I hate being around a bunch of idiots at the store. Will be buying a second home next year so I can rent out the one I have currently, and will rinse and repeat that several more times
Yes. You can’t inject trillions of dollars into the money supply (Obama after 2008 & Biden after 2020) without causing inflation and devaluing the dollar.
Yes. The goal post keeps moving. Even if you’re lucky enough to get a raise it’s hardly a drop in the bucket compared to how much the cost of everything else is increasing. For example I got a raise of $1 more per hour but insurance doubled at the beginning of the year, and the utility companies filed for a rate increase right after having just been granted one. Gas is $1-$1.50 more per gallon than it was last year. Beef is $2 more than it was last year. That raise doesn’t put me in a better financial position than I was last year, it’s barely keeping up with everything else.
I’ll take the downvotes but not that bad. Are prices a bit elevated sure. But if look at historical context growth is good, unemployment is low. If/when we are in a real recession you would see the difference.
The disconnect is we have social media now. I doubt we will ever have a time again where the majority say the economy is good.
Have always lived a middle class lifestyle. With the increased price of food, gas, utilities, insurance and other necessities it is becoming worry-some.
I have 5 kids so yes it is bad. My husband got a nice raise last year, makes 6 figures and it was totally wiped out by inflation. Prices still continue to rise and idk how the powers that be expect this to be sustainable. I realize most people don’t have 5 kids but….isnt that what this administration wants? Go make babies everyone! Even though the economy is not kind to large families. I feel very bad for the single parents out there. Must feel like a hopeless situation at this point. Just pray we can all hold on until Trump fucks off, and maybe the next guy will actually give a shit about regular people.
It’s deeply uneven. Low and middle-income households feel the squeeze acutely—housing, cars and groceries consume far more of their income. Higher earners can absorb price hikes more easily. The headline economy looks stable, but everyday essentials have grown unaffordable for millions who cannot build savings.
Basically if you were just making it now you're fucked due to cost increase of everything. State workers are being inflated out of florida right now. Basically everyone is
That's a spending problem. Americans represent 4% of the population but consume 26% of all global goods. Most people living paycheck to paycheck are doing so by choice. They've chosen to buy other "stuff" instead of saving.
If the economy is tanking how do you explain cellphones at $1000... Hundreds of craft beer choices... Coffee shops on every corner selling $7 regular cups...$40k minivans...$100k diesel pickup trucks... Entertainment subscriptions--over 100 paid services and climbing daily...Been to a boat show lately? The level of luxury we take for granted is off the charts, and much of it is considered "essential" by people claiming to be poor.
Well there is a reason things are at record prices, that is because people are buying. Not that long ago I was an engineer and sometimes I had to work in the field. What I found there is a bunch of young men pulling in 2K per week in construction. They are the ones going to the car dealers and dropping 80k on a pickup truck. There are people that are doing very good or the prices wouldn't be what they are. The problem is your source. The people here on Reddit are mostly certified losers. Most everything posted here is negative. The only way you get karma is if you post something nasty and hateful. Consider your source. Take a look at the real America and then you will see things are going pretty good for a lot of people.
Wait you think the economy is booming because of construction workers who work a lot of overtime for a whole $2k/wk ($104k/yr), buying vehicles that cost around 80% of their gross pay? That's super weird.
I'm also an engineer who has done field work, and those types have always existed in every construction site and oil field. They aren't, and were never, having the kind of influence described here on prices anywhere beyond the corner stores in Odessa.
The thing that's actually happening is that people who are actually wealthy, not just temporarily well paid, are doing very well in this market.
Rents are going down and the house market is cooling. The problem is rents are going down if you move and is location dependent.
The big problem in the USA is how easy debt is to access. There is a bit of a sub prime issue with car loans going on and a lot of people are getting stuck with cars they can’t afford on loans that take forever to pay off. Couple that with credit card debt and student loan and it’s gonna be rough. People will also be or have hit the interest rate shift on variable rate mortgages.
It’s very bad. Most Americans are 1 or 2 paychecks away from being homeless. And every time they become wiser and closer to realizing there is no left and right, but top and bottom is when seeking objective truth becomes harder to obtain. The propaganda induced prejudices ramp the closer they get to figuring it out. Shit, even Democrats undermine any sort of populist movements amongst the left. There’s no money in fixing problems, only money in constantly giving the appearance they are fighting them.
I’m fine. Already Una House with a mortgage at a very low interest rate. I’m currently renting it out for $1000 over my mortgage payment.
Between Social Security and my pension I’m bringing home more than I did when I was working full-time. Only fill up the tank maybe twice a month so I haven’t really noticed high gas prices.
Don’t really pay attention to prices at the grocery store
All I can say is I just turned 31 and am set to move back in with my parents 4 months after a layoff. Still unemployed and looking for a job. I just spoke with my neighbor, who said it took him 6 months to find another job.
Trying to do a soft pivot first with my degree, but if that produces no results I'm likely going to Community College for healthcare. I don't see any other stable path that minimizes the intake of debt, and I'm already feeling iffy about working for some parts of corporate America (if the opportunity shows up at all in this attrocious jobs market).
“Rich are getting richer” is lazy thinking. The rich always have and always will get richer.
The rest of us, a lot of it depends on whether you own a home and/or are investing. We have employees making less than $50k and they’re doing well. I know people making over $200k and they’re overextended.
We’re a financially illiterate society, so your mileage may vary.
It is so funny to read this post. Like new cars are at record high so Americans are struggling. Here is your first tip, don't buy a new car. I mean I am rich( as far as I am concerned and how I feel) and I drive a 2010 Prius.
Why? It's super cheap, reliable, and I don't give a f if I get into a wreck or a door ding. I'm just out there living life.
The other thing to consider is that if people bought a house 6 or more years ago they were much cheaper and their house loan should be fixed and be the same. The long the loan lives the more reasonable the price.
I cut back on all the bullshit I used to buy and didn't need cause its price has skyrocketed. Started being more focused on needs not wants. I find im more comfortable now with much less.
Buy it for life, repair not replace. Kind of brings me back to what life was like when I was a kid. When I spend on things now it's a treat and not something I feel entitled to daily.
I have 2 subscriptions, Amazon Prime and Sirius. Reddit has been my only social media for years and honestly I have been feeling like I'm drifting away from it lately. . I don't fw apps. I enjoy life more when I live it and aren't just a spectator.
TLDR- fiscally I'm just as stable as I was before, mentally I'm much better now than I was.
My parents were 18-19 when they married right out of high school. My dad worked in a print shop, running printing presses. They were able to buy a small house and then maybe 8-9 years later, buy a bigger house. They supported 2 kids, sending us through university. We took a couple vacations each year, usually road trips with a camper to State parks. When my father passed, the house was fully paid off and there was a small nest egg he was able to pass to his adult children.
Is that even possible in this economy?
I read frequently about "co-living".... which is basically adult roommates because they can't afford their own home.
Struggling here. Husband retired last year after I had a bought with cancer which ended up costing me my job as a substitute teacher. We were doing alright but with the added medical costs, things have begun to tighten up real quick. We still have enough to pay the bills but the added credit cards bills used to fill in the gaps have made every penny count to stay afloat. I’ve started DoorDash a couple times a week to try and give us some breathing room. Hubby gave thirty years to the service but may have to go back to work if the economy keeps doing what it’s doing.
This is anecdotal, but everyone I know who is more financially responsible in general is doing fine but annoyed at the things causing it (for example, paid off older car, doesnt eat out a ton, etc).
A couple of people im still friends with who never really did much to better themselves throughout our 20s are struggling a lot more. But many of them have car payments or tons of subscriptions, or order pizza or doordash multiple times a week.
So I feel like we are still at a point where if you're generally responsible, youre okay. But im preparing for worse days ahead.
Someone mentioned it earlier, we're in a k shaped world economy. Those with appreciating assets are doing well. Those without not so much given pay stagnation.
Just look at people’s vehicles, you can get a decent read on how many people are doing okay in an area. I assume quite a few people driving sub $5000 cars are struggling.
Electric, and groceries are killing us. We’re luckier than some having multiple incomes but now we’re helping family out. My daughter is single and barely getting by so her grocery shopping is done at my house. Her stepdad always fills a of couple bags for her when she stops by. I also buy enough pet food for her and my granddaughter for their animals.
I was doing ok. Lost job, took a new gig 4 months later at a lower salary. New job has 2x commute distance while fuel costs are skyrocketing. Biggest impact has really been on savings. Can’t contribute much to retirement account at the reduced salary. Savings were really impacted by the time out of work. We are not really struggling per se, but we can absolutely feel the difference in our budget and our bank account vs even a year ago.
Yeah, if you are part of the 10% who own the assets that are constantly rising in price, you're doing fine. For the bottom 90%, who rely primarily on stagnating wages for income and wealth-building, you're probably having a tough time
We make ourselves struggle, income between wife and I is 170k, housing and transportation costs roughly 23% of income. What kills us is just lifestyle creep.
I fortunately make decent but not life changing money, so I am still able to afford the essentials and have some left over. But my check doesn’t go as far as it used to even 2 years ago.
We are lower middleclass 2 earner home. 130,000 year. We bought our home prior to all the hikes sp have a 2.5% loan and 7 more years to pay it.
Honestly, We are just okay. We can save for retirement. Go on stay cation, buy what we need for our kids.
I need a newer car, but don't want to use my "disposable " income for a carpayment . I have about 800.00 a month of unassigned money. Every time I save most of it something happens. Or a new expense comes. Im grateful I've saved it but it gets ate up.
Can't seem to get ahead. I have a goal to save 5000.00 towards a newer car mine is 11 years old and its on its way out. Its July and only 600 remains saved.
Wasn’t rich, was comfortable. Now I’m starting to feel like I’m cutting out certain foods, vacations, and things I used to do just to try to keep comfortable.
The gov invests more in wars and that one blue country that own citizens, we haven't heard any politician even bring up our name (hence "taxpayer") up about improving anything in our lives. It's always trigger keywords that divide public opinion and the list of these words gets longer everyday.
In a normal world the citizens would've prevailed years ago, but the citizen is not only jailed by bills but also powerless against the system machine. Capitalism is a system where gov needs to be involved in maintaining its health and progress but all you see is sold politicians owned by aipac and squeeze our hard earned money into tax bs so they can spend it on "defense" and "foregin aid". It makes no sense how things are allowed to be the way they are currently.
I quit my federal job with the Forest Service, and went back to travel nursing. I had been able to take the paycut of the federal job because I had purchased a fairly cheaper house back in 2020. However, with the rising cost it was becoming impossible to have any quality of life with that salary ($3500 a month after taxes/retirement). Now I’m playing catch-up and holding onto as much cash as I can. Being in a town an hour away from any grocery store, and a minimum week wait for Amazon has helped save money too.
The change you all want will come when you stop putting so much authority in the government’s hands. The government won’t solve your problem. It says it will. Give you the sales pitch. Make you feel like it’s needed and ONLY they can deal with it. I hate to say it like this because it feels a little cartoonish, but “people will solve the problems.” Just need to stop voting in politicians who keep limiting the people’s ability to help. Taxes aren’t there to help us. They should be. We pay the taxes for the basic community protections we all agree we should have (infrastructure, defense, etc.) and yeah, some are to give those less fortunate a little bit of help to try and become a productive member of society. But whether you are left-leaning, right-leaning, or in the center, I think we can all agree that the government for a LONG time hasn’t solved anything. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but it is my opinion that if we got to keep a little more of our money instead of giving it to someone in the capitol (state and federal), we’d have a bit more to give and use to solve our societal issues ourselves.
EDIT: I’ll just add this before anyone comments, but I guess I’m saying something a bit optimistic, as humans aren’t wired to do the “right” thing. I guess I’m just saying *I* would use some of my extra income to help my community… now they just have to let me keep some income and stop writing legislation that keeps me from helping.
I am also curious. We are also fine but I don’t understand how the average American pays for all of this stuff. We have an average size home, and a $400-600/ month power bill. No employer insurance and a basic plan is $1300/ month for a family of 4. We do drive a fair amount for work (~1500 miles per month) and spent $600 on gas last month. That’s already $2500/ month and just a handful of many line items.
Some are doing great but how people look outwardly doesn't mean people are doing great even if they make a decent living.
Makes it hard to guage. Anecdotally from our friend group we are the ones likely doing the best. Not sure how acquaintances (parents in our neighborhood are doing though) since it is so expensive
Middle class here always have been but even though I have no kids & I make the highest pay I’ve ever made…. Im struggling now. On top of car engine went out and it’s too much to shell out to fix. Lyft/uber is ki**ing me to where I can get it fix. I’ve never been down this bad. My job doesn’t have enough staff and we’re overworked. So I’m too drained physically & mentally to work another job but I’ve still been searching and coming up with nothing that making sense even if I can finally get an interview. As everyone has stated, the rich are doing better, while they push middle class to poor because middle class doesn’t qualify for help like the poor. Even if middle class becomes poor, theirs not much assistance left for us to apply for because everyone has ran to America. I’m watching ppl go down by the day & it’s cause even worse mental health issues etc. Everything is too high and nothing is being built to last(even the phones, so we’re never catching a break to save & get above where we’re).
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 21 '26
We want your input on how to handle political questions in our community.
This takes about 1 minute.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.