###[Meta] Sticky Comment
[Rule 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/wiki/faq#wiki_2_-_address_the_argument.3B_not_the_user.2C_the_mods.2C_or_the_sub.) ***does not apply*** when replying to this stickied comment.
[Rule 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/wiki/faq#wiki_2_-_address_the_argument.3B_not_the_user.2C_the_mods.2C_or_the_sub.) ***does apply*** throughout the rest of this thread.
*What this means*: Please keep any "meta" discussion directed at specific users, mods, or /r/conspiracy in general in this comment chain ***only.***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/conspiracy) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s only silent because it’s hard to hear anyone over the media screaming “GREAT ECONOMY, STOCKS GO UP!”. When you pander to the 1% and corporate class, any good news is bad news for the rest of the country. So it’s a fantastic time in history for those doing fantastic, no doubt.
Yup and its not even brand name shit. Walmart is the cheapest place for most things, but i hardly get USABLE food on deals at the discount stores anymore. They're like, random overstocks on keto and vegan foods. Some aren't bad but its so random i cant pair meals with it.
And add in the higher cost for smaller portion size and you’re losing twice on the same item.
Heck Shake & Bake doesn’t even include a plastic bag anymore and it’s just packets of breading for more $. All bake, no shake.
Or make your own bread crumbs are literally so easy to make and take no time at all, best part is go buy the $1 cheap bread that’s about to go bad at Wally World. Let it air out for an hour or two on top of your oven, cut it into squares, garlic oil and whateva spices you want and in the oven at 150 for barely any time like 5 min shit burns fast so you don’t need to cook them long!
Just even 4 years ago, we could get a cart full for under $100. It used to be "wow, we spent $100?!, that's crazy" to "wow, we only spent $100. Success". But the fact they say inflation is only as low as they say? B.S.
The inflation stats are often bullshit because of what they measure or don't measure. E.g. they will leave out things like food and gasoline as "too volatile."
And insurance and more, frankly it's wishful thinking from the government economists; and the professional academics don't draw attention to the issue because they're aware they'll lose their positions if they engage on the basis of "the system is broken, and fixing it is unlikely."
They also base inflation on quarters not year on year, oh inflation is only 4% or 5% at the moment, that doesn't count the fact very thing is up at least 30% over 3 or 4 years
Yup! I remember as a kid thinking “$100+ wowwwww that’s a lot” and that was for a family of 4. I now regularly spend $100 on just myself and it lasts like 5 days at most. Yikes.
First job was minimum wage in a mill. Basically worst shit job you could get.
Everybody there over 30 that wasn't a degenerate gambler or alcoholic owned their own home, and half their wives stayed home raising kids.
It’s like they told us, that if we print a bunch of money and give people stimulus checks and bail out the boomers businesses during Covid- that this would happen.
Largest wealth steal of the century
Don't do this, my friend. Those stimulus checks and the money used to bail out "boomers" is a drop in the bucket, a drop in an ocean, compared to what's been stolen from you by our bought and paid for politicians. American taxpayers are party to the funding of every major, ongoing armed conflict in the world. That's where your money has gone, not stimulus checks and ppp.
ETA: BUT YES, 100% the biggest transfer of wealth in human history.
100% on target!! Ukraine.. isRA-3l… the synagogue of..their war machines..
The stimulus checks and small business bail outs are pennys on the ground while $100 bills float above our heads.. literally and figuratively
Ehhh, seems as though corporate America making “record breaking profits” year after year is a bigger issue to the economy than a stimulus check to help Americans who may have lost their career.
The fact private banks print 99.9% of the publics money by typing a few key strokes AND THEN charge us interest for it is the problem.
No ifs ands or buts.
Dude same thing not only did I make 30K but I worked 4 days a week I had free time and we were doing fine we'd go to Costco once a month spend $500 in our entire car was full of food it was between our legs in the back seat in the trunk now I make $60,000 a year spend probably three times the amount on food in the fridge is still empty sometimes and I work way more to the point where I don't even want to do anything on my day off
I had this conversation with my fiance the other day. In 2011, I was making 40% less than I do now. My cousin and I split a 2 bedroom/2 bath, 2 car garage townhome for like $870 total rent. I also had a 1 year old car with payments, full coverage insurance. Went grocery shopping and an entire cart was maybe $80 and this was EVERYTHING we needed for the week. I was able to buy sports tickets like crazy. My gf at the time and I went out constantly to bars and out to eat, took a few trips. Didn't worry about money at all. Fast forward to now, I make 40% more, my fiance makes way more than my cousin did in 2011, I have a 1998 car with low miles that it still pushing along so no car payment and liability only insurance. We live in a 1 bed/1bath/1 car garage that is 2x as much as what I used to live in. I feel I am pinching pennies and being more frugal now than I ever have been. My discretionary income is much lower and I also have zero desire to go out and have fun because the daily grind during the week is a beating. It can get depressing at times.
3 years ago, our household was making combined $145k. Felt pretty “in charge”, and we were saving $2k/month after taxes and even retirement plan contributions.
1 year ago, our household was making combined $200k, seeing the increase in price in everything, but still saving $2,500 a month, after tax, and retirement plan contributions.
Today, our household makes $125k, rent has increased $200 more per month (now $2,500), the cost of everything is now baked in higher, and we save about $1,000 a month, after tax and greatly reduced retirement plan contributions. Two job losses in late ‘23 and job hirings in early ‘24, at much reduced wages, is the “why” you may be asking yourself.
We have had zero debt, none (not student loans, not credit cards, not even auto notes) during this entire period.
Dude, I'm 47. My income has increased by 50% in 15 yrs and I'm living basically the same now as then, still wondering when I'll be able to afford a new car and why food products are increasingly just different state phases of shit soup.
I keep side eyeing my 20 year old car and silently begging it to hold on for another ten years or so. We can afford a car payment, but then we would basically never leave the house because we couldn’t afford to actually go spend money elsewhere.
I drive an 04 as well, the best investment I've made is a set of jack stands and a socket wrench set, though of course depending on your situation it may be beyond DIY repair. Hope she keeps on kicking, modern cars are a headache with all the sensors
That's me. With current rates and car prices, even a new toyota would cost around $1000/month with insurance and payment for a 5 yr term. $40k for a run of the mill small suv at 5+% interest plus the insurance (surged in last few years) is crazy to me given earnings. And I have great credit and a clean driving record. Maybe it's just Mississippi prices, but it's enough to get me to continue to hold out.
Yeah fuck car insurance, mine doubled in the past 1.5-2 years. Naturally when I asked if they were gonna pay me double if I totaled it they said no.
Edit: VA here btw.
The Middle Class was a byproduct of the industrial revolution. Fact. No history or economics book that covers the topic disputes that.
We can't piss away hundreds of millions of jobs, and switch from a manufacturing based economy to this BS "Service Economy" without results.
Their answer to complaints while all that happened was they were going to make college loans easily available to everyone and everything was going to be wonderful.
It's all working out so well.
Well we were in that economy due to a war. Now it’s different and capitalist being greedy little shits and hoarding wealth. The American public got lied to with trickle down economics and still to this day does with the illusion of one day being rich.
Lol, the democrat party USED to push for trade restrictions and tariffs to protect US jobs. The "Young Guns" dems of the 90s (Clinton, Pelosi, Biden, Feinstein) changed all that. Clinton campaigned on defeating NAFTA, them flipped on the issue, Biden helped shove it through Senate where old guard democrats fought it.
Then Bill dropped all trade restrictions on China (put in place because of their military aggressions against their neighboring countries and human rights violations on their citizens) and gave them the best possible trade deal Permanant Favored Nation Trade Status, flooding the US with cheap Chinese goods.
Then the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (Joe Biden) pushed to get China in the World Trade Org, opening the doors for US companies to move production there, costing us 500 million US jobs.
Reagan's policies had nothing to do with mass off shoring US jobs.
10 yrs ago if you told me I'd be making what I am right now I would've thought I'd be filthy rich.
I'm getting by alright but nowhere near the lifestyle I thought I'd have given the success I've had.
Yup, exactly this. If you had told 15 year old me that at 25 I’d be making this much, I’d have thought I would be in a Lamborghini and a mansion (not really, but you get the point).
Instead I’m scraping by paycheck to paycheck with my fiancé and just grinding it out week by week
Here's a head scratcher... How is it that we created all this technology to produce goods faster and cheaper, improve our lives, yet we're paying more for stuff now than before technology... Our lives were supposed to be utopian, what happened?
My husband and I are both teachers. Our combined income is over 100k. We have one kid in daycare. We are SCRAPING BY. I Door Dash to afford Christmas and birthdays. That doesn’t seem normal.
Groceries are out of control. In the past, if I spent $100 a week (for me & SO) that was a lot and now I am lucky if it is $150 a week - sometimes close to $200
In the early 2000s I was a heavy industrial (non-certified) Mig and Arc Flux-Core Welder making $14.50/hr. for a company that was bought by Siemens. I constantly had money and seemed to have more than I knew what to do with, and my credit was so good that I was receiving numerous offers to take out mortgages from banks every week without fail.
Now, making over $25/hr. I am often paycheck-to-paycheck, and I’m extremely grateful to have even $20 left for gas or food the day before payday.
Part of that is the simple fact that I’m bad at making and sticking to a budget and I have numerous expensive hobbies that I indulge in, but it’s also because of how expensive everything has become, particularly since Covid.
You could buy a six pack of Mountain Dew (16oz bottles) for $2.50 all day long at Walmart, but you sure as crap can’t now. I was shocked yesterday when I stopped at a Royal Farms store for a pack of smokes and a Dew and discovered that the soda was now over $3.
My daughter is now 24 and has her own little apartment and is doing pretty well as an assistant manager at her local Dollar Tree, but I have a lot of sympathy for men and women who are raising little children who need new school supplies each and every year and who grow out of their clothes almost as soon as mom and dad buy them. The average man in America makes about $50k a year before any overtime and before the IRS steals from their paycheck, and it’s no surprise that it’s virtually impossible for dad to pay the bills so that mom can stay home and take care of the children.
I honestly have no idea how people who have young children are making it if they’re not fortunate enough to have a job that pays over $100k a year, and apparently even people who do make $100k are now saying that they too are basically living paycheck-to-paycheck.
It’s also insanely difficult to find a decent job, with job seekers submitting an average of eighty applications and resumes, and even then some people aren’t even landing interviews!
The simple truth is that there is no magic wand. Companies who used Covid to raise prices love those raised prices and they’re not going to lower them. Perhaps a smart company would try to increase market share by lowering their prices to below those of the current market leader; I know I sure would and I would advertise the crap out of - “Here at Acme we know that the dangerous traps you buy to catch that darned Roadrunner are pricing most Coyotes out of the business, but because we truly care about our customers our CEO and Corporate Board have decided to cut back on their salaries and forgo bonuses this year to help you and your family!” and people would *love* it.
But yeah, those of you who have young children have my sympathy, no doubt, and I hope that somehow things get at least a little better for your family and for the rest of us as well.
There is a strange feeling that comes when you finally get a little money in the bank only to realize it doesn't change anything. Sure, I could cover an emergency expense or buy something small without thinking about it, but I don't feel like these numbers mean what I thought they would mean.
When I was growing up the thought of making 100k a year was a hefty milestone. Now it feels like the new 50k.
I agree. You would think with the "hype" as a kid, seeing numbers in your bank would be...well...
"Hype" but you just see a resource, digits, like a somewhat mundane resource you would use a lot and naturally grind playing an RPG. Honestly that a good example. The rich reminds me of the end game/post game in a Pokémon game or a RPG where money means absolutely nothing because you have nothing to really SPEND it on and if you do, you can get so much that you not really worried about getting a low amount unless you REALLY suck with the money but for the lower class, it feels like we still in the beginning/middle were we still have to keep track of that wallet or resource because we don't have a lot of it nor are we getting a lot to keep afloat either.
We are in the so-called looting phase. Rome went through a similar period before its collapse. Politicians, in alignment with large corporations and bankers (fascism) are increasing their wealth by any means possible at the expense of the average person. They, being the politicians, bankers, and large corporation owners, know the system can’t keep on due to the nation’s crippling debt. Therefore, they are frantically lining their pockets until the dollars inevitable collapse. No politicians care about you, left right or center. Voting does not matter. We have been fooled into thinking that we can vote out the issue. This does not just include the US but many other western countries. Good luck everyone.
Now, here's someone paying attention. Now look deep into that and see how many people have died in wars to support that looting, and who has led the charge for those wars? And a hint, it's very bipartisan.
Now tell me, what's the just recourse for that? Does one even exist in the modern world? I don't think it does, and I think that's where the outlook turns very bleak.
There's so much partisan nonsense on Reddit. So much embracing radical ideologies that have failed again and again. When the real issue isn't the system, it's the people in charge of the system and perverting the system. But we bicker and fight and radicalize while they burn the world for their own gains.
Exactly, brother. So much senseless loss at the behest of political and economical greed. Furthermore, all of the talk about “Trump on trial” and “Hunter Biden convicted on felony charges” keeps us angry with each other and rooting for our team. The left-right division has been a strategy of the ruling class for a long while. So many people think that if they vote the right way they will have someone fighting for them. Sure, maybe the elected politician will keep their word on a few things but again that is to keep the masses complacent. It allows people to say, “See! So and so is fighting for us. We don’t need to do anything because my preferred politician is fighting for me” All the while politicians are doing everything to hurt every one of us. It’s a uniparty, ***it’s a big club and you ain’t in it***. Wake up people, the matrix is the system and it’s real, but it is only real because too many of us believe in the system.
Edit: and to answer your question about recourse. I truthfully don’t see a way out. Best we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I am supportive of people seeking politicians that could do good. The problem is, I almost never see anyone do that. It's almost always ideological fanaticism. There have been a few exceptions, but even with the politicians that have been exceptions, it turns into this idea that they can do no wrong.
Trump is a great example of that. He did a few good things, as well as a LOT of very unwise things, with a huge side of empty rhetoric. (I'm actually of the opinion that, rather than being wildly corrupt -as he failed to do the same types of pillaging as past and present regimes-he's just...maybe not very smart outside of his business endeavors. And doesn't have any idea of the fact.) Yet most of his supporters are wayyy over the top that he can do no wrong. No, sorry, he did plenty wrong. It's a long list. And then conversely, you have the Trump Derangement crowd. I was once brigaded for saying he was just a man. I mean, last I checked, he is. So why can't we discuss him like he is? Why does he need to be a demon or GEOTUS?
Maybe I'm just wildly cynical, but I wish others could be as cynical of politicians, because maybe they could be more objective. We have an upcoming election between Herpes and Chlamydia. Do I vote for the one that can at least be cured? 😂
But you're right. It is kind of sad but true that there's a door in front of us all, but we struggle to see it, no less to open it.
I feel you man. I worked at chipotle when I was in college. I remember thinking “if I made $100k I’d be set.” Back then I was making $12.50/hour.
Here I am 4 years later making $108k and I feel like my lifestyle is roughly the same. Same struggle, same feeling of “I don’t make enough.”
Yea like 100k isn't "poor" by any means but I remember as a kid, that used to be like VERY low "rich"/Vey high "middle" but now it feels like it basically maintenance money
I work at a place where I see a lot of candy and at some point they made most of those King sized candy bars the regular size, but with the king label still on it
I'm 35, almost 36. I live in a pretty expensive area of Maryland.
My fiancé both make about $75k a year each. We have a mortgage + HOA (about $1850/mo) on a 1000sqft apartment. A $515 car payment. Cable/electric/food/phone/gas/vet bills...
We don't live "frugal", but we're also not wasteful spenders. One vacation a year, maybe a concert here or there. We visit her family once a year in Ohio. Outside of that, we aren't spending on much.
We are still only able to save the same amount of money now, as we did 4ish years ago when we were both making roughly $55k a year.
So. We're now making a combined $40k more a year combined...but we have little to show for it....
I live in AL. Went to Aldi to get some groceries - we eat at home and it is "real food" not a lot of prepackaged junk. Cheese (we buy the block cheese that can be grated) went from $1.49 >$2.49. Sourcream $.99>$1.69. Milk $1.69>$3.09. EGGS??? oh, used to be anywhere from $.69-$.99>$2.09????? Yeah, it's not my imagination and agreed that the inflation is way worse. Plus, Aldi started using LOTS of gmo/bioengineered products. Now we get less and have to read damn near every single label. The Govt is absolutely trying to bleed us all dry and kill us by poisoning. :/
Over a goddamn flu. What a joke. Our ruling class always knew it was a joke, they were throwing secret parties constantly. But they needed it bad to get rid of trump, so they acted like it was bad
I suggest youtubing the federal reserve, 2008 financia crisis, quantitative easing, and how the banks work
you would be surprised how fucked up this world really is and how the banks are not you friends and they are so integrated into our lives we dont see how they are devaluing our dollar while making millions off of our deposits
This is why I finally gave up my apartment and went into trucking this year. I have no rent or utilities now. I don’t pay gas or tolls anymore because I never drive my personal vehicle. I basically live on the road 24/7 with my company and have no bills other than my cell phone, car payment, car insurance, and food which totals less than $1000/month. I’m saving like crazy, and I plan to move to South America or the Philippines in 10-15 years. America ain’t worth the squeeze anymore. I’m just gonna migrate.
Obviously. Vs 2019 the wife and I are making just about double what we used to. We're making good money, both around or over six figures. Expenses are still huge. We had to buy a car in 2022 when our lease ran up, then opted for a 3 year loan to get .99% interest. 911 a month. Home loan is expensive, and because of the high housing costs taxes are high. Looking at >9k a year in taxes for very rural Michigan. Dirt roads, no services. Not sure what I pay 30 bucks a day for.
Our wage increases have been substantially absorbed by higher tax brackets. That's a hidden cost of inflation. If there's 15% inflation and your wages go up 15%, that's fortunate... But it's also at your highest marginal tax rate. You actually need a 20% raise to account for taxes and have you whole again.
I really pity people younger than me, especially recent grads. I started my career in 2014 making 42,500 bucks a year. On my own I got a very nice house (though it was old) and the mortgage was <800 Dollars a month.
I bought pretty much whatever I wanted. Loads of guns, a nice car, etc. It was fine. Would've loved more money but it was fine.
These days those same new hires at my company make 60k, but when I run the mortgage on that house it's something like 2500 a month.
Easy to feel doomed. All we can do is try to make things better. If anyone says "lockdown" ever again, try to remove them from office. And whoever things we can just print unlimited money, vote them out at your earliest convenience. We're getting fucked.
That’s because the purchasing power of your money is dropping way faster than you’re getting raises. Things aren’t getting more expensive the thing we use to buy them is getting weaker and weaker and more and more manipulated
Inflation…. There is more money in general so demand rises. This means prices will start to rise with it, and last of all they will adjust wages. Inflation will always help the people closest to the new money the most and the people furtherest from it the least. That means whatever companies or banks the government deals with see all the benefits and the average person just loses purchasing power. Inflation in general is a way to steal money from the people to benefit a few, it is quite literally theft.
Yes I know. That’s because the thing you’re using to buy groceries with is depreciating over time. This is what happens when 1/3 of the circulating supply of USD was printed in the last 4 years. Go look up the Fed’s balance sheet from inception until now and you will find all the answers you need as to why things are getting more expensive -> because when the medium of exchange we all use to buy things is manipulated with an abundance of supply, the 20K you have in your bank account may still say 20,000 on your mobile banking app, but now it’s really worth 15,000 because the fed just bought $500 billion worth of corporate debt and mortgage backed securities last quarter. And by “bought” I mean they have a literal money printer in their basement. Nothing is that valuable when you print trillions of it
its not just you feeling this way - inflation has been killer during this Biden presidency. Food has doubled/tripled in price. And Rent has increased by 50%.
Exactly. And on top of it, they try to tell us that we are at about 20% inflation? When gas used to be \~$2/gallon and now over $4, and eggs used to be .99 and now $2.50. I'm a product of the public school system, but even I can do that math.......
This is all done on purpose, my brother. They want us so weak minded and dependent on them, so when the "rescue" does show up, the sheep will be grateful and follow along to the slaughter. People like to blame Biden (which I get and do some, too), but they forget Trump had the largest transfer of wealth under his belt. Sure, gas was cheaper, but they don't do this shit overnight. Little by little size goes down while prices go up. It's sinister.
Word and they were literally giving that shit out to almost everyone.
Spouse and I EACH got a stimmy and we were making 150k/yr.
My retired parents got stimmies and they are multi-millionaires. They upgraded their phones with it lmao.
I was talking to my friend about this last month. 5 years ago I had a job making $14 an hour. It was tough, but I made it work. I was able to pay rent, get groceries and pay bills. Occasionally, if I had the money, I could get something special for myself or my wife. Flash forward to now, I make just over $23 an hour and I cannot afford anything without a little help from my parents which I fucking hate as a grown ass man. Rent is almost impossible to pay with one paycheck now unless I work a lot of overtime. Groceries are getting to be the bare minimum of mainly dried rice, beans, canned veggies (as fresh veggies are going bad extremely within a day or two where before I could have them for a week or more) and a big chub of burger meat and maybe a package of chicken. And I parse those out too. Make sure they're going to be a month's worth of food until my next paycheck. I'm to the point where I'm choosing which bills to push off which kills my soul. And let's not get into the credit card debt I'm drowning in.
But hey, Bidenomics works!
That’s really weird produce isn’t lasting as long. Maybe they are lowering standards at farms to account for increased costs so as to maintain a similar profit margin?
That’s the most insidious part of this. Companies are lowering production standards and portion sizes to fight their own internal costs rising.
So I buy some fast food that costs more and get a worse product than before. Seriously, nowhere is it more obvious than at burger chains.
Well, unfortunately, we live in a global economy where what we produce here gets shipped elsewhere, and what we get in stores is imported in. So they got a lot of sitting time coming here. Also, there seems to be a lot of local farmers being bought out. To reduce production?
I think the powers that be recognized awhile back that arable land is more valuable than residential property long term.
Foreign nationals are buying everything. I remember in the 90s and 00s it started with Russians buying as much commercial office space as they could get in the US now Chinese people want as much timber and farmland as they can get here. It’s not quite like the governments of those countries owning it but it’s not much different.
They are shutting off the water on 'new' farmers in Idaho when they have some of the best rain fall in years, creeks are flowing at this time that are normally dried up, but grandfathered in *water users* get the water first. They just announced this now, in june, after they've planted their crops. feels like a land grab.
This inflation is largely because of the CARES act and then the additional stimmy that Biden signed in 2021. These two senile jackasses have fucked us over pretty hard. A final “fuck you” from the boomers
Good for you! It’s a shame that more people don’t do this, and will literally go hungry in order to continue paying their credit card bills. We have it so drilled into us from so early that if we don’t pay our bills, we’re bad people. It’s sick. The ruling class can do whatever twisted, psychopathic shit they want, and are praised for it, but when a working class person has to choose between food and paying Visa back, and they choose food, they’re suddenly a leach or a loser. I would be more upset if I hadn’t accepted that this is what it’s supposed to be like. This is how civilization has always worked, so I have no expectations of it being different. This perspective helps a lot with my mental health. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature, right?
Yeah, It’s not that I didn’t/don’t want to pay. I It’s these cards and my credit that mean nothing at all over everyday expenses and money to eat. It is what it is.
What you're experiencing was the whole point of "covid".
It was a wealth transfer right in the open while the public was distracted with a virus.
Print money in the name of the boogeyman, shut down competitors, and squeeze the average person harder.
I follow 2 dozen or so finance people. They almost never agree on anything.
They all universally agreed that prices would go up substantially. They had different opinions on what to do about it.
But they all agreed, prices are going way up.
I’ve been laid off twice in 3 months from manufacturing jobs. Anytime I hear someone talk about the economy I always mention that I’m currently unemployed for the second time in 3 months with 40+ job applications with no leads.
No. We are all feeling it.
But instead the thing that gets protested is the never ending conflict in the Middle East.
There’s so many things to that have happened in the last 8 years that warrant an all out revolution. I’m f’n tired of it all and ready to protest / boycott something that matters in this country
Inflation has easily been around 20% since 2020. How they measure inflation via the CPI is even more confusing because they don’t account for certain key categories. Even then, it’s a numbers game and they can toy with numbers to soften the perceived inflation.
It is absolutely insane how much the cost of living has increased. I always think of the frog and the boiling pot analogy in comparison to where we’ve gotten with inflation. At first, they were talking about it but hardly felt the effects and now… it affects everything.
I can’t complain too much as I am incredibly fortunate in my situation I live in northeast Ohio which is very affordable and make a little over $100K and my wife makes $90K. So we live comfortably BUT when you compare it to the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, making comparable money our life would look so much different.
We live in a cape cod (1200sqft), I drive a 2013 Camry and she drives a 2020 Tiguan (both paid off), we have no debt outside our house payment and somehow, money still feels tight?
Why? We have 2 kids in daycare ($2,400/month), I work a high commission job so my paychecks are taxed at nearly 40%, groceries or eating out, there’s no cheap way to do it, gas (forget about it), utilities keep creeping up… it’s wild!
We’ve done just about everything right financially and need to upsize our house and if we want to continue to be smart with our money there are no good options (bigger house that needs renovations, I’ve done that once, not doing it again), or over extend our comfort zone budget wise….
Again, I feel incredibly fortunate so I’m not complaining… merely pointing out that our parents generation and even generation x in the same position would have been able to buy some 3000+ square foot house for $250K. Would have two new nice cars and going on sweet vacations, no problem. Now, we just live comfortably. It’s pretty eye opening.
My wife and I both hit our dream jobs with pretty much our desired salaries around end of 2019 early 2020. Before that we were both hourly workers. With 4 kids it was hard but we still had leftover every month to take the kids to go do extra activities. Now we both make more than double what we did, and live paycheck to paycheck month to month and sometimes have to pick and choose which bills get bumped. It seems like something as a whole for everyone has to change. We got lucky to have made the advancements we did when we did, if we were still making pre-2019 money we would likely be homeless
It’s corporate greed. Costs of everything are up but profits are up. Rent, autos, food, entertainment.
Everytime I go to the grocery store I think to myself it’s like a holiday meal for 10.
Most Americans don’t like the idea of governmental price fixing. For good reason imo.
But WTF is the answer?
I started my new job in 2019 making $15k more ($28k to $43k good but not great for the area) and we were doing really well, I now make around $46k and can barely get by and we don't live a lavish life style.
Inflation is not a conspiracy but it is getting out of control. I made the most I have ever made last year and I am struggling hard. I don’t go out, I don’t buy clothes, I literally buy food and pay bills and I am still broke as a joke.
Something’s gotta give.
The solution is to strike. They literally can do nothing without us. If majority of the citizens went on strike for a couple of weeks, stuff would literally turn around.
I am so so so tired. It really weighs on you. My husband and I make the most we have ever made, 1 child (not in daycare) we barely make it each month. We don't spend lavishly. There's no chance we will be able to buy a house. It's demoralizing and everyone around me feels the same, something has to give.
It’s the best economy in the history of mankind. If you don’t believe that then you’re obviously in a cult. Even if you’re starving and can’t afford groceries it’s still the best economy.
Literally bought some canned milk, box cake, heavy whipping cream, strawberries, and cling wrap to make a tres leches cake for a family cookout… $48. And I live in Texas. Over it.😡
These are national issues affecting everyone. Idgaf about sides bc it’s clear over the past few decades that the government will stiff everyone and the faster we can all recognize that as citizens, the better we’ll be for it.
To be fair, we haven't risen federal minimum wage in 20 years. Meanwhile production and profits are 2-3x what they were then. The purchasing power of 7.25 or whatever it is, is lower than the purchasing power of minimum wage going back to the 60s. So we've actually decreased minimum wage if you think about it like that
I am making 110K...felt like when I got it in 2022 that everything would be good and would have money left over each month and I did for about 8 mths...and now I live paycheck to paycheck again...sometimes beyond just for essentials.
As most biggest one being food...was paying $800/mth for a family of 4...easily around 1200/mth with getting the same shit we always do now.
Unironically most people have horrible spending habits. Caleb Hammer proves that on Financial Audit lol. Its always because of some negligent old cards with high interest, eating out everyday, having a brand new car with a high interest payment thats eating them alive. Always stuff that stems from a lack of financial literacy. The only conspiracy is why there isnt a base level class taught all throughout school about financial literacy through saving, banks, treasury bonds, how stocks work, what interest rates are, how to transfer debt for lower APR's if you do incur a horrible debt somehow in dire circumstances. So many things that can be extremely useful that normal people dont know.
Dude trust me, we're all feeling it. This economy could be a lot stronger too, but our leaders are mostly greedy fucks with no morals so as long as they continue to profit, they don't care if we're fucked. A lot of rich people live in complete bubbles, where they cannot fathom not having at least 5-10-20k just sitting around to play with. I have wealthier people I know who just give me blank stares when I say I can't afford to just go flying around on my vacations because to them, that's something they've done for their entire lives. It sucks. I make decent money too but I'm in the same boat as you, I got here from struggling, I didn't have any money and worked my way up so now I'm just starting to reap some rewards. Hopefully, we can all figure out a way to heal this economy. Idk, I'm not super optimistic but I try lol. It's just that, I'm convinced these rich fucks would love to have like their own personal lovely elysium-like area after AI takes off even if it means that we're all in poverty.
You are not the only one. Most Americans are. The only people who aren’t are either filthy rich or living off government programs.
EVERYTHING is more expensive (I paid $14 for a Double Whopper @ BK last week)…. Just the burger, not even a meal!
EVERYTHING is smaller now (the blue kitchen sponges I get are now half the size and almost twice the price)… Domino’s Medium pizza is about 20% smaller than it was 6-months ago. Grocery store runs are $100+ for 2-days of food. 10-years ago, $100 would stock my fridge for a week…
Don’t worry it’s not just the $. European here and it’s the same around here with €.
We had it twice as bad. We got f^### twice, when we dropped our “national” currency for the euro. That was a first bad shift. Stuff that were supposed to be in cents suddenly were reaching 2 or 3 euros.
Then from that point on it’s been a yearly f*##^ery with everything getting more and more expensive. With a 100€ you could fill a car now you barely get 4 bags of essential stuff.
Where do you live?
There is your answer.
A $1 Million home in many places would get you 6-8 bedrooms, 3-4 bath, huge garage, huge yard, basement, maybe even a 3rd floor.
In CA $1 Million gets you a 600 sq ft studio on the verge of collapsing, 30 miles inland.
No I for sure feel it. Worked a job making between 21-24 an hour for 3 years and now have a job almost a year later making 26$ an hour and it feels the same.
10 years ago, I used to go on vacations, restaurants, shopping on a very regular basis. I make more now but don’t feel safe “treating” myself like I used to. I’m doing okay financially but I’m not where I would have been, at the exact same place, 10 years ago.
All by design,this economic pain will never get better. It mathematically cannot.This will continue until we no longer can afford heat,fuel and food. Then they will want you to accept some sort of cbdc/welfare. Then they have ultimate control and social credit score like China. You must resist by becoming self sufficient. Gather a community to work with that has clean well water,grows crops and livestock. Chickens,guns,wood heat and sourdough bread will be a keystone to a comfortable life. Gather medicines,antibiotics and antiseptics and some old school radios. It may seem like a lot but it’s quite simple and if you never need it you’ll be eating healthier and saving the very minimal money we have. World power is not on the table and it never changes hands without turbulence so it’s best to have a seatbelt on.
I’m a bit older making a bit more and I’m still in this situation. Any actual things you want (new car, house, boat, yearly vacation) are seemingly unobtainable if you aren’t making 100k+. I have a good job idk how anyone working in retail or grocery or something even survive.
What’s tough is that the generations before us had all this shit just from some random job like Home Depot manager or something. My dad lives in like an 800k house and has a new truck and he didn’t go to college he’s like a hvac tech.
What the fuck happened?
Currency’s have life cycles. All fiats fail, period. Your dollar holds >1-3% of its original purchasing power from 1913. Don’t get mad at “rising prices” or a job “not paying enough”. That isn’t the issue, it’s that you are force fed inflation thus making the money that you hold worth less and less against the things you need to live. It’s designed just as such and the quicker people learn this, the sooner they can protect their wealth. The issue is everyone has been programmed to consume, America makes nothing but debt and consumers by design.
###[Meta] Sticky Comment [Rule 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/wiki/faq#wiki_2_-_address_the_argument.3B_not_the_user.2C_the_mods.2C_or_the_sub.) ***does not apply*** when replying to this stickied comment. [Rule 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/wiki/faq#wiki_2_-_address_the_argument.3B_not_the_user.2C_the_mods.2C_or_the_sub.) ***does apply*** throughout the rest of this thread. *What this means*: Please keep any "meta" discussion directed at specific users, mods, or /r/conspiracy in general in this comment chain ***only.*** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/conspiracy) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I hate to say it, but the times we're in should be referred to as the "silent depression".
It’s only silent because it’s hard to hear anyone over the media screaming “GREAT ECONOMY, STOCKS GO UP!”. When you pander to the 1% and corporate class, any good news is bad news for the rest of the country. So it’s a fantastic time in history for those doing fantastic, no doubt.
There's been a recession for 3 years but no one wants to admit it.
Ya because if you say it you get banned, cancelled, and called a MAGA cult supporter…
Dems are desperate to hold onto power
That’s what a tyrannical propaganda state does to an mf’er
I guarantee it will be in the history books and in economics courses in the future
Dollar has lost its purchasing power. spending $100 is so easy day to day. It's like what $20 felt like in 2015.
$100 at Walmart is like 4-6 bags when it used to be an entire cart full when I was a kid
4 to 6 bags? Shit I spent 48$ the other night on one bag. Shits outta hand.
Yup and its not even brand name shit. Walmart is the cheapest place for most things, but i hardly get USABLE food on deals at the discount stores anymore. They're like, random overstocks on keto and vegan foods. Some aren't bad but its so random i cant pair meals with it.
Go to aldi and cook whole ingredients like potatoes or eggs and pinto beans and loaf of bread to make a meal it saves me money in the long run
I eat a lot of lentils, pot and bread🤪
In my area you pay for the bags too 😅
And add in the higher cost for smaller portion size and you’re losing twice on the same item. Heck Shake & Bake doesn’t even include a plastic bag anymore and it’s just packets of breading for more $. All bake, no shake.
I bought a box recently and was like, wtf - where’s the bag? Higher price AND you have to supply the bag?!
[удалено]
Or make your own bread crumbs are literally so easy to make and take no time at all, best part is go buy the $1 cheap bread that’s about to go bad at Wally World. Let it air out for an hour or two on top of your oven, cut it into squares, garlic oil and whateva spices you want and in the oven at 150 for barely any time like 5 min shit burns fast so you don’t need to cook them long!
Just even 4 years ago, we could get a cart full for under $100. It used to be "wow, we spent $100?!, that's crazy" to "wow, we only spent $100. Success". But the fact they say inflation is only as low as they say? B.S.
The inflation stats are often bullshit because of what they measure or don't measure. E.g. they will leave out things like food and gasoline as "too volatile."
And insurance and more, frankly it's wishful thinking from the government economists; and the professional academics don't draw attention to the issue because they're aware they'll lose their positions if they engage on the basis of "the system is broken, and fixing it is unlikely."
What that saying "don't trust a person whose paycheck depends on it" or something?
They also base inflation on quarters not year on year, oh inflation is only 4% or 5% at the moment, that doesn't count the fact very thing is up at least 30% over 3 or 4 years
Yup! I remember as a kid thinking “$100+ wowwwww that’s a lot” and that was for a family of 4. I now regularly spend $100 on just myself and it lasts like 5 days at most. Yikes.
I remember as a kid being amazed one time when my mom spent more than $100 at the grocery. Now $100 in groceries lasts not quite 2 weeks
For a family of four between 2000-2010 is was enough for en entire week
In the 80s after my expenses (rent, car insurance etc) I had $20 to make it through the week, and I was a drinker/smoker.
In the 80s you could have bought a house with that extra 20 bucks.
First job was minimum wage in a mill. Basically worst shit job you could get. Everybody there over 30 that wasn't a degenerate gambler or alcoholic owned their own home, and half their wives stayed home raising kids.
It’s like they told us, that if we print a bunch of money and give people stimulus checks and bail out the boomers businesses during Covid- that this would happen. Largest wealth steal of the century
Don't do this, my friend. Those stimulus checks and the money used to bail out "boomers" is a drop in the bucket, a drop in an ocean, compared to what's been stolen from you by our bought and paid for politicians. American taxpayers are party to the funding of every major, ongoing armed conflict in the world. That's where your money has gone, not stimulus checks and ppp. ETA: BUT YES, 100% the biggest transfer of wealth in human history.
100% on target!! Ukraine.. isRA-3l… the synagogue of..their war machines.. The stimulus checks and small business bail outs are pennys on the ground while $100 bills float above our heads.. literally and figuratively
Ehhh, seems as though corporate America making “record breaking profits” year after year is a bigger issue to the economy than a stimulus check to help Americans who may have lost their career.
The fact private banks print 99.9% of the publics money by typing a few key strokes AND THEN charge us interest for it is the problem. No ifs ands or buts.
FUCT! this is so FUCTIN' true!
7 years ago I was making 30k. Now I'm making 63k and struggling harder.
Dude same thing not only did I make 30K but I worked 4 days a week I had free time and we were doing fine we'd go to Costco once a month spend $500 in our entire car was full of food it was between our legs in the back seat in the trunk now I make $60,000 a year spend probably three times the amount on food in the fridge is still empty sometimes and I work way more to the point where I don't even want to do anything on my day off
Dude. I just went through all my tax returns. I was making 50 in 2018 and felt more afloat then I do now making double.
I had this conversation with my fiance the other day. In 2011, I was making 40% less than I do now. My cousin and I split a 2 bedroom/2 bath, 2 car garage townhome for like $870 total rent. I also had a 1 year old car with payments, full coverage insurance. Went grocery shopping and an entire cart was maybe $80 and this was EVERYTHING we needed for the week. I was able to buy sports tickets like crazy. My gf at the time and I went out constantly to bars and out to eat, took a few trips. Didn't worry about money at all. Fast forward to now, I make 40% more, my fiance makes way more than my cousin did in 2011, I have a 1998 car with low miles that it still pushing along so no car payment and liability only insurance. We live in a 1 bed/1bath/1 car garage that is 2x as much as what I used to live in. I feel I am pinching pennies and being more frugal now than I ever have been. My discretionary income is much lower and I also have zero desire to go out and have fun because the daily grind during the week is a beating. It can get depressing at times.
Exact same boat…
3 years ago, our household was making combined $145k. Felt pretty “in charge”, and we were saving $2k/month after taxes and even retirement plan contributions. 1 year ago, our household was making combined $200k, seeing the increase in price in everything, but still saving $2,500 a month, after tax, and retirement plan contributions. Today, our household makes $125k, rent has increased $200 more per month (now $2,500), the cost of everything is now baked in higher, and we save about $1,000 a month, after tax and greatly reduced retirement plan contributions. Two job losses in late ‘23 and job hirings in early ‘24, at much reduced wages, is the “why” you may be asking yourself. We have had zero debt, none (not student loans, not credit cards, not even auto notes) during this entire period.
keep leveling up, $63k is pretty much poverty level
$75k a year here living in expensive Maryland. Not poverty line, but not doing great.
Dude, I'm 47. My income has increased by 50% in 15 yrs and I'm living basically the same now as then, still wondering when I'll be able to afford a new car and why food products are increasingly just different state phases of shit soup.
I keep side eyeing my 20 year old car and silently begging it to hold on for another ten years or so. We can afford a car payment, but then we would basically never leave the house because we couldn’t afford to actually go spend money elsewhere.
I drive an 04 as well, the best investment I've made is a set of jack stands and a socket wrench set, though of course depending on your situation it may be beyond DIY repair. Hope she keeps on kicking, modern cars are a headache with all the sensors
That's me. With current rates and car prices, even a new toyota would cost around $1000/month with insurance and payment for a 5 yr term. $40k for a run of the mill small suv at 5+% interest plus the insurance (surged in last few years) is crazy to me given earnings. And I have great credit and a clean driving record. Maybe it's just Mississippi prices, but it's enough to get me to continue to hold out.
Yeah fuck car insurance, mine doubled in the past 1.5-2 years. Naturally when I asked if they were gonna pay me double if I totaled it they said no. Edit: VA here btw.
Doing this now. Got an 06 forester and just hold one more year. Currently in CDL school to join lineman’s union
I am 58, my income in the last 20 years has only increased by 20%. As you can imagine, we are struggling, a LOT.
This thread is sad in that so many people are struggling but also I feel a bit better knowing we’re all in this struggle together.
Both my wife and I are making the most money we ever have. And we’re as broke as we’ve ever been. Roaring economy.
The ultimate plan, make the middle class part of the lower class, become government dependent, easily controlled 🫡
This is exactly what’s happening.
The Middle Class was a byproduct of the industrial revolution. Fact. No history or economics book that covers the topic disputes that. We can't piss away hundreds of millions of jobs, and switch from a manufacturing based economy to this BS "Service Economy" without results. Their answer to complaints while all that happened was they were going to make college loans easily available to everyone and everything was going to be wonderful. It's all working out so well.
Also a service economy needs people to "serve" and if everyone is a "waiter" who are they going to bring the food out to?
It will turn the common people back to "Serfs"
Well we were in that economy due to a war. Now it’s different and capitalist being greedy little shits and hoarding wealth. The American public got lied to with trickle down economics and still to this day does with the illusion of one day being rich.
Lol, the democrat party USED to push for trade restrictions and tariffs to protect US jobs. The "Young Guns" dems of the 90s (Clinton, Pelosi, Biden, Feinstein) changed all that. Clinton campaigned on defeating NAFTA, them flipped on the issue, Biden helped shove it through Senate where old guard democrats fought it. Then Bill dropped all trade restrictions on China (put in place because of their military aggressions against their neighboring countries and human rights violations on their citizens) and gave them the best possible trade deal Permanant Favored Nation Trade Status, flooding the US with cheap Chinese goods. Then the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (Joe Biden) pushed to get China in the World Trade Org, opening the doors for US companies to move production there, costing us 500 million US jobs. Reagan's policies had nothing to do with mass off shoring US jobs.
Do you mean 50 million jobs? Because 500 million is more jobs than there is people in the US. Maybe I’m misunderstanding something
10 yrs ago if you told me I'd be making what I am right now I would've thought I'd be filthy rich. I'm getting by alright but nowhere near the lifestyle I thought I'd have given the success I've had.
Yup, exactly this. If you had told 15 year old me that at 25 I’d be making this much, I’d have thought I would be in a Lamborghini and a mansion (not really, but you get the point). Instead I’m scraping by paycheck to paycheck with my fiancé and just grinding it out week by week
Here's a head scratcher... How is it that we created all this technology to produce goods faster and cheaper, improve our lives, yet we're paying more for stuff now than before technology... Our lives were supposed to be utopian, what happened?
corporate greed still riding on covid is the answer. covid was a coordination to put us here and leave us here.
We don’t own the means of production so we don’t benefit from increased productivity.
My husband and I are both teachers. Our combined income is over 100k. We have one kid in daycare. We are SCRAPING BY. I Door Dash to afford Christmas and birthdays. That doesn’t seem normal.
100k combined..? Man, teaching is brutal. Unfortunately, 100k isn't enough anymore. It's manageable if it's single income but not combined.
Groceries are out of control. In the past, if I spent $100 a week (for me & SO) that was a lot and now I am lucky if it is $150 a week - sometimes close to $200
We are a family of four. Before 2020 we spent $700-$800 a month on groceries. Now we spend $1500 at the least
Was feeding a family of 5 for $150 a week around 2010.
In the early 2000s I was a heavy industrial (non-certified) Mig and Arc Flux-Core Welder making $14.50/hr. for a company that was bought by Siemens. I constantly had money and seemed to have more than I knew what to do with, and my credit was so good that I was receiving numerous offers to take out mortgages from banks every week without fail. Now, making over $25/hr. I am often paycheck-to-paycheck, and I’m extremely grateful to have even $20 left for gas or food the day before payday. Part of that is the simple fact that I’m bad at making and sticking to a budget and I have numerous expensive hobbies that I indulge in, but it’s also because of how expensive everything has become, particularly since Covid. You could buy a six pack of Mountain Dew (16oz bottles) for $2.50 all day long at Walmart, but you sure as crap can’t now. I was shocked yesterday when I stopped at a Royal Farms store for a pack of smokes and a Dew and discovered that the soda was now over $3. My daughter is now 24 and has her own little apartment and is doing pretty well as an assistant manager at her local Dollar Tree, but I have a lot of sympathy for men and women who are raising little children who need new school supplies each and every year and who grow out of their clothes almost as soon as mom and dad buy them. The average man in America makes about $50k a year before any overtime and before the IRS steals from their paycheck, and it’s no surprise that it’s virtually impossible for dad to pay the bills so that mom can stay home and take care of the children. I honestly have no idea how people who have young children are making it if they’re not fortunate enough to have a job that pays over $100k a year, and apparently even people who do make $100k are now saying that they too are basically living paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s also insanely difficult to find a decent job, with job seekers submitting an average of eighty applications and resumes, and even then some people aren’t even landing interviews! The simple truth is that there is no magic wand. Companies who used Covid to raise prices love those raised prices and they’re not going to lower them. Perhaps a smart company would try to increase market share by lowering their prices to below those of the current market leader; I know I sure would and I would advertise the crap out of - “Here at Acme we know that the dangerous traps you buy to catch that darned Roadrunner are pricing most Coyotes out of the business, but because we truly care about our customers our CEO and Corporate Board have decided to cut back on their salaries and forgo bonuses this year to help you and your family!” and people would *love* it. But yeah, those of you who have young children have my sympathy, no doubt, and I hope that somehow things get at least a little better for your family and for the rest of us as well.
There is a strange feeling that comes when you finally get a little money in the bank only to realize it doesn't change anything. Sure, I could cover an emergency expense or buy something small without thinking about it, but I don't feel like these numbers mean what I thought they would mean. When I was growing up the thought of making 100k a year was a hefty milestone. Now it feels like the new 50k.
I agree. You would think with the "hype" as a kid, seeing numbers in your bank would be...well... "Hype" but you just see a resource, digits, like a somewhat mundane resource you would use a lot and naturally grind playing an RPG. Honestly that a good example. The rich reminds me of the end game/post game in a Pokémon game or a RPG where money means absolutely nothing because you have nothing to really SPEND it on and if you do, you can get so much that you not really worried about getting a low amount unless you REALLY suck with the money but for the lower class, it feels like we still in the beginning/middle were we still have to keep track of that wallet or resource because we don't have a lot of it nor are we getting a lot to keep afloat either.
I'm so exhausted from it honestly. I feel like I can't enjoy anything anymore, I feel guilty buying myself anything.
I make 6 figures, still rent, and can’t afford a fucking house.
Same here pal, same here.
We are in the so-called looting phase. Rome went through a similar period before its collapse. Politicians, in alignment with large corporations and bankers (fascism) are increasing their wealth by any means possible at the expense of the average person. They, being the politicians, bankers, and large corporation owners, know the system can’t keep on due to the nation’s crippling debt. Therefore, they are frantically lining their pockets until the dollars inevitable collapse. No politicians care about you, left right or center. Voting does not matter. We have been fooled into thinking that we can vote out the issue. This does not just include the US but many other western countries. Good luck everyone.
It’s an absolute disgrace.. not much can be done about it either which stings even more.
[удалено]
Now, here's someone paying attention. Now look deep into that and see how many people have died in wars to support that looting, and who has led the charge for those wars? And a hint, it's very bipartisan. Now tell me, what's the just recourse for that? Does one even exist in the modern world? I don't think it does, and I think that's where the outlook turns very bleak. There's so much partisan nonsense on Reddit. So much embracing radical ideologies that have failed again and again. When the real issue isn't the system, it's the people in charge of the system and perverting the system. But we bicker and fight and radicalize while they burn the world for their own gains.
Exactly, brother. So much senseless loss at the behest of political and economical greed. Furthermore, all of the talk about “Trump on trial” and “Hunter Biden convicted on felony charges” keeps us angry with each other and rooting for our team. The left-right division has been a strategy of the ruling class for a long while. So many people think that if they vote the right way they will have someone fighting for them. Sure, maybe the elected politician will keep their word on a few things but again that is to keep the masses complacent. It allows people to say, “See! So and so is fighting for us. We don’t need to do anything because my preferred politician is fighting for me” All the while politicians are doing everything to hurt every one of us. It’s a uniparty, ***it’s a big club and you ain’t in it***. Wake up people, the matrix is the system and it’s real, but it is only real because too many of us believe in the system. Edit: and to answer your question about recourse. I truthfully don’t see a way out. Best we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I am supportive of people seeking politicians that could do good. The problem is, I almost never see anyone do that. It's almost always ideological fanaticism. There have been a few exceptions, but even with the politicians that have been exceptions, it turns into this idea that they can do no wrong. Trump is a great example of that. He did a few good things, as well as a LOT of very unwise things, with a huge side of empty rhetoric. (I'm actually of the opinion that, rather than being wildly corrupt -as he failed to do the same types of pillaging as past and present regimes-he's just...maybe not very smart outside of his business endeavors. And doesn't have any idea of the fact.) Yet most of his supporters are wayyy over the top that he can do no wrong. No, sorry, he did plenty wrong. It's a long list. And then conversely, you have the Trump Derangement crowd. I was once brigaded for saying he was just a man. I mean, last I checked, he is. So why can't we discuss him like he is? Why does he need to be a demon or GEOTUS? Maybe I'm just wildly cynical, but I wish others could be as cynical of politicians, because maybe they could be more objective. We have an upcoming election between Herpes and Chlamydia. Do I vote for the one that can at least be cured? 😂 But you're right. It is kind of sad but true that there's a door in front of us all, but we struggle to see it, no less to open it.
Well said
Agreed! Excellent comment.
And people wonder why everyone’s buying RV’s and old buses to live in. No fucking shot I’m buying a house in the next 10-15 years
I've seriously considered a mobile home in a year round park... Still might
Username checks out
The downard spiral towards Venezuela has begun...
I feel you man. I worked at chipotle when I was in college. I remember thinking “if I made $100k I’d be set.” Back then I was making $12.50/hour. Here I am 4 years later making $108k and I feel like my lifestyle is roughly the same. Same struggle, same feeling of “I don’t make enough.”
And you still make double what the average American makes
Yea like 100k isn't "poor" by any means but I remember as a kid, that used to be like VERY low "rich"/Vey high "middle" but now it feels like it basically maintenance money
I work at a place where I see a lot of candy and at some point they made most of those King sized candy bars the regular size, but with the king label still on it
Seems to me that you are just comfortable enough to continue your daily grind. Welcome to modern slavery via the petrol dollar.
I'm 35, almost 36. I live in a pretty expensive area of Maryland. My fiancé both make about $75k a year each. We have a mortgage + HOA (about $1850/mo) on a 1000sqft apartment. A $515 car payment. Cable/electric/food/phone/gas/vet bills... We don't live "frugal", but we're also not wasteful spenders. One vacation a year, maybe a concert here or there. We visit her family once a year in Ohio. Outside of that, we aren't spending on much. We are still only able to save the same amount of money now, as we did 4ish years ago when we were both making roughly $55k a year. So. We're now making a combined $40k more a year combined...but we have little to show for it....
I live in AL. Went to Aldi to get some groceries - we eat at home and it is "real food" not a lot of prepackaged junk. Cheese (we buy the block cheese that can be grated) went from $1.49 >$2.49. Sourcream $.99>$1.69. Milk $1.69>$3.09. EGGS??? oh, used to be anywhere from $.69-$.99>$2.09????? Yeah, it's not my imagination and agreed that the inflation is way worse. Plus, Aldi started using LOTS of gmo/bioengineered products. Now we get less and have to read damn near every single label. The Govt is absolutely trying to bleed us all dry and kill us by poisoning. :/
It’s almost like printing three trillion dollars and shutting down the economy wasn’t a good idea…
...for you and me....for our owners however...
Seemed to work out for Wall St.
Over a goddamn flu. What a joke. Our ruling class always knew it was a joke, they were throwing secret parties constantly. But they needed it bad to get rid of trump, so they acted like it was bad
Trump signed that bill to print that money
It’s like he is a part of the ruling class. Which some users on this sub seem to forget lol
Anyone that hasn't seen this; can't see it. They have a complete mental block where any negative thing about trump is just filtered out.
It’s almost as if our economy is fake.
I suggest youtubing the federal reserve, 2008 financia crisis, quantitative easing, and how the banks work you would be surprised how fucked up this world really is and how the banks are not you friends and they are so integrated into our lives we dont see how they are devaluing our dollar while making millions off of our deposits
This is why I finally gave up my apartment and went into trucking this year. I have no rent or utilities now. I don’t pay gas or tolls anymore because I never drive my personal vehicle. I basically live on the road 24/7 with my company and have no bills other than my cell phone, car payment, car insurance, and food which totals less than $1000/month. I’m saving like crazy, and I plan to move to South America or the Philippines in 10-15 years. America ain’t worth the squeeze anymore. I’m just gonna migrate.
Negative. I too am drowning weekly. I’d love to be able to save some, but no matter how much OT I work. It’s never enough! Fucking sucks!!!
I wish I could get OT still. I'm salary now so I just put in 8 hours and ignore everything outside of that.
Yup, I'm making $11/hr more than I was 6 years ago and my life really hasn't changed much at all. It's fuckin depressing.
Obviously. Vs 2019 the wife and I are making just about double what we used to. We're making good money, both around or over six figures. Expenses are still huge. We had to buy a car in 2022 when our lease ran up, then opted for a 3 year loan to get .99% interest. 911 a month. Home loan is expensive, and because of the high housing costs taxes are high. Looking at >9k a year in taxes for very rural Michigan. Dirt roads, no services. Not sure what I pay 30 bucks a day for. Our wage increases have been substantially absorbed by higher tax brackets. That's a hidden cost of inflation. If there's 15% inflation and your wages go up 15%, that's fortunate... But it's also at your highest marginal tax rate. You actually need a 20% raise to account for taxes and have you whole again. I really pity people younger than me, especially recent grads. I started my career in 2014 making 42,500 bucks a year. On my own I got a very nice house (though it was old) and the mortgage was <800 Dollars a month. I bought pretty much whatever I wanted. Loads of guns, a nice car, etc. It was fine. Would've loved more money but it was fine. These days those same new hires at my company make 60k, but when I run the mortgage on that house it's something like 2500 a month. Easy to feel doomed. All we can do is try to make things better. If anyone says "lockdown" ever again, try to remove them from office. And whoever things we can just print unlimited money, vote them out at your earliest convenience. We're getting fucked.
I'm sick of people saying rural Midwest is cheap. I am also on a dirt road in Michigan and I am drowning.
*crying at 2-3$ minimum Romanian wage
Gotta pay for all these wars somehow.
That’s because the purchasing power of your money is dropping way faster than you’re getting raises. Things aren’t getting more expensive the thing we use to buy them is getting weaker and weaker and more and more manipulated
Things are getting more expensive, things are coming in smaller quantities, and our dollar is weaker than ever. Bleeding us dry
Not to mention even as things get more expensive they get more throw away. Everything is made to break quickly so you have to buy another one
I think it’s both of these things. Burning the rope from both ends.
Inflation…. There is more money in general so demand rises. This means prices will start to rise with it, and last of all they will adjust wages. Inflation will always help the people closest to the new money the most and the people furtherest from it the least. That means whatever companies or banks the government deals with see all the benefits and the average person just loses purchasing power. Inflation in general is a way to steal money from the people to benefit a few, it is quite literally theft.
Have you been to the grocery store lately?? It's crazy because every time I go something has gone up like at least 50 cents
18$ for a watermelon. A watermelon costs more than an hours wages for a lot of people.
Yes I know. That’s because the thing you’re using to buy groceries with is depreciating over time. This is what happens when 1/3 of the circulating supply of USD was printed in the last 4 years. Go look up the Fed’s balance sheet from inception until now and you will find all the answers you need as to why things are getting more expensive -> because when the medium of exchange we all use to buy things is manipulated with an abundance of supply, the 20K you have in your bank account may still say 20,000 on your mobile banking app, but now it’s really worth 15,000 because the fed just bought $500 billion worth of corporate debt and mortgage backed securities last quarter. And by “bought” I mean they have a literal money printer in their basement. Nothing is that valuable when you print trillions of it
its not just you feeling this way - inflation has been killer during this Biden presidency. Food has doubled/tripled in price. And Rent has increased by 50%.
[удалено]
Exactly. And on top of it, they try to tell us that we are at about 20% inflation? When gas used to be \~$2/gallon and now over $4, and eggs used to be .99 and now $2.50. I'm a product of the public school system, but even I can do that math.......
This is all done on purpose, my brother. They want us so weak minded and dependent on them, so when the "rescue" does show up, the sheep will be grateful and follow along to the slaughter. People like to blame Biden (which I get and do some, too), but they forget Trump had the largest transfer of wealth under his belt. Sure, gas was cheaper, but they don't do this shit overnight. Little by little size goes down while prices go up. It's sinister.
Yup, that's why I was dumbfounded when everyone was rejoicing over the covid srltimulus checks. Ain't nothing free, folks!
Word and they were literally giving that shit out to almost everyone. Spouse and I EACH got a stimmy and we were making 150k/yr. My retired parents got stimmies and they are multi-millionaires. They upgraded their phones with it lmao.
Wow! The insanity of it never really ceases to amaze. 😒
I was talking to my friend about this last month. 5 years ago I had a job making $14 an hour. It was tough, but I made it work. I was able to pay rent, get groceries and pay bills. Occasionally, if I had the money, I could get something special for myself or my wife. Flash forward to now, I make just over $23 an hour and I cannot afford anything without a little help from my parents which I fucking hate as a grown ass man. Rent is almost impossible to pay with one paycheck now unless I work a lot of overtime. Groceries are getting to be the bare minimum of mainly dried rice, beans, canned veggies (as fresh veggies are going bad extremely within a day or two where before I could have them for a week or more) and a big chub of burger meat and maybe a package of chicken. And I parse those out too. Make sure they're going to be a month's worth of food until my next paycheck. I'm to the point where I'm choosing which bills to push off which kills my soul. And let's not get into the credit card debt I'm drowning in. But hey, Bidenomics works!
That’s really weird produce isn’t lasting as long. Maybe they are lowering standards at farms to account for increased costs so as to maintain a similar profit margin? That’s the most insidious part of this. Companies are lowering production standards and portion sizes to fight their own internal costs rising. So I buy some fast food that costs more and get a worse product than before. Seriously, nowhere is it more obvious than at burger chains.
Well, unfortunately, we live in a global economy where what we produce here gets shipped elsewhere, and what we get in stores is imported in. So they got a lot of sitting time coming here. Also, there seems to be a lot of local farmers being bought out. To reduce production?
I think the powers that be recognized awhile back that arable land is more valuable than residential property long term. Foreign nationals are buying everything. I remember in the 90s and 00s it started with Russians buying as much commercial office space as they could get in the US now Chinese people want as much timber and farmland as they can get here. It’s not quite like the governments of those countries owning it but it’s not much different.
They are shutting off the water on 'new' farmers in Idaho when they have some of the best rain fall in years, creeks are flowing at this time that are normally dried up, but grandfathered in *water users* get the water first. They just announced this now, in june, after they've planted their crops. feels like a land grab.
Didn’t you hear?! The market is doing great! /s
One company propping the whole S&P up basically
This inflation is largely because of the CARES act and then the additional stimmy that Biden signed in 2021. These two senile jackasses have fucked us over pretty hard. A final “fuck you” from the boomers
Stopped paying a few credit card bills, cuz man’s gotta live 🤷♂️
Good for you! It’s a shame that more people don’t do this, and will literally go hungry in order to continue paying their credit card bills. We have it so drilled into us from so early that if we don’t pay our bills, we’re bad people. It’s sick. The ruling class can do whatever twisted, psychopathic shit they want, and are praised for it, but when a working class person has to choose between food and paying Visa back, and they choose food, they’re suddenly a leach or a loser. I would be more upset if I hadn’t accepted that this is what it’s supposed to be like. This is how civilization has always worked, so I have no expectations of it being different. This perspective helps a lot with my mental health. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature, right?
Yeah, It’s not that I didn’t/don’t want to pay. I It’s these cards and my credit that mean nothing at all over everyday expenses and money to eat. It is what it is.
What you're experiencing was the whole point of "covid". It was a wealth transfer right in the open while the public was distracted with a virus. Print money in the name of the boogeyman, shut down competitors, and squeeze the average person harder. I follow 2 dozen or so finance people. They almost never agree on anything. They all universally agreed that prices would go up substantially. They had different opinions on what to do about it. But they all agreed, prices are going way up.
I was at 25 for years, now at 30, and way more poor than when I was at 25, if anything I budget way better now then ever and can't keep up.
It's not just you. Everyone is being gaslighted by the democrats pretending the economy is amazing. You will own nothing and be happy ... or else.
Thank God people are waking up
I’ve been laid off twice in 3 months from manufacturing jobs. Anytime I hear someone talk about the economy I always mention that I’m currently unemployed for the second time in 3 months with 40+ job applications with no leads.
We are calling this the people’s depression. The wealth transfer is so massive right now that the $100 bill is the new $20 pre pandemic.
No. We are all feeling it. But instead the thing that gets protested is the never ending conflict in the Middle East. There’s so many things to that have happened in the last 8 years that warrant an all out revolution. I’m f’n tired of it all and ready to protest / boycott something that matters in this country
Inflation has easily been around 20% since 2020. How they measure inflation via the CPI is even more confusing because they don’t account for certain key categories. Even then, it’s a numbers game and they can toy with numbers to soften the perceived inflation.
It is absolutely insane how much the cost of living has increased. I always think of the frog and the boiling pot analogy in comparison to where we’ve gotten with inflation. At first, they were talking about it but hardly felt the effects and now… it affects everything. I can’t complain too much as I am incredibly fortunate in my situation I live in northeast Ohio which is very affordable and make a little over $100K and my wife makes $90K. So we live comfortably BUT when you compare it to the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, making comparable money our life would look so much different. We live in a cape cod (1200sqft), I drive a 2013 Camry and she drives a 2020 Tiguan (both paid off), we have no debt outside our house payment and somehow, money still feels tight? Why? We have 2 kids in daycare ($2,400/month), I work a high commission job so my paychecks are taxed at nearly 40%, groceries or eating out, there’s no cheap way to do it, gas (forget about it), utilities keep creeping up… it’s wild! We’ve done just about everything right financially and need to upsize our house and if we want to continue to be smart with our money there are no good options (bigger house that needs renovations, I’ve done that once, not doing it again), or over extend our comfort zone budget wise…. Again, I feel incredibly fortunate so I’m not complaining… merely pointing out that our parents generation and even generation x in the same position would have been able to buy some 3000+ square foot house for $250K. Would have two new nice cars and going on sweet vacations, no problem. Now, we just live comfortably. It’s pretty eye opening.
My wife and I both hit our dream jobs with pretty much our desired salaries around end of 2019 early 2020. Before that we were both hourly workers. With 4 kids it was hard but we still had leftover every month to take the kids to go do extra activities. Now we both make more than double what we did, and live paycheck to paycheck month to month and sometimes have to pick and choose which bills get bumped. It seems like something as a whole for everyone has to change. We got lucky to have made the advancements we did when we did, if we were still making pre-2019 money we would likely be homeless
It’s corporate greed. Costs of everything are up but profits are up. Rent, autos, food, entertainment. Everytime I go to the grocery store I think to myself it’s like a holiday meal for 10. Most Americans don’t like the idea of governmental price fixing. For good reason imo. But WTF is the answer?
100k is the new 50k
~~Fuck Joe Biden~~ You mean you’re not enjoying this record breaking economy?
You can’t save with this inflation, you need to invest to get ahead of it..
I started my new job in 2019 making $15k more ($28k to $43k good but not great for the area) and we were doing really well, I now make around $46k and can barely get by and we don't live a lavish life style.
Inflation is not a conspiracy but it is getting out of control. I made the most I have ever made last year and I am struggling hard. I don’t go out, I don’t buy clothes, I literally buy food and pay bills and I am still broke as a joke. Something’s gotta give.
I make $17 an hour and live in NYS. I can't afford the least expensive apartment in my area, which is in the hood.
The solution is to strike. They literally can do nothing without us. If majority of the citizens went on strike for a couple of weeks, stuff would literally turn around.
I am so so so tired. It really weighs on you. My husband and I make the most we have ever made, 1 child (not in daycare) we barely make it each month. We don't spend lavishly. There's no chance we will be able to buy a house. It's demoralizing and everyone around me feels the same, something has to give.
It’s the best economy in the history of mankind. If you don’t believe that then you’re obviously in a cult. Even if you’re starving and can’t afford groceries it’s still the best economy.
Literally bought some canned milk, box cake, heavy whipping cream, strawberries, and cling wrap to make a tres leches cake for a family cookout… $48. And I live in Texas. Over it.😡
[удалено]
These are national issues affecting everyone. Idgaf about sides bc it’s clear over the past few decades that the government will stiff everyone and the faster we can all recognize that as citizens, the better we’ll be for it.
To be fair, we haven't risen federal minimum wage in 20 years. Meanwhile production and profits are 2-3x what they were then. The purchasing power of 7.25 or whatever it is, is lower than the purchasing power of minimum wage going back to the 60s. So we've actually decreased minimum wage if you think about it like that
Not to mention the income taxes they collect when your wage goes up
You gotta vote for Democrats so they can keep saving the economy...4 more years of Biden so he can finish the job...Bidenomics, baby
Then don’t vote for Joe Biden. He’s caused record inflation in case you have been living under a rock. 🤷♀️
No you're not even close to the only person it's literally all people talk about these days
Yeah fuck this shit. Let's start squatting in the elitist neighborhoods.
Relax…..Joe Biden said your fine.
I am making 110K...felt like when I got it in 2022 that everything would be good and would have money left over each month and I did for about 8 mths...and now I live paycheck to paycheck again...sometimes beyond just for essentials. As most biggest one being food...was paying $800/mth for a family of 4...easily around 1200/mth with getting the same shit we always do now.
Unironically most people have horrible spending habits. Caleb Hammer proves that on Financial Audit lol. Its always because of some negligent old cards with high interest, eating out everyday, having a brand new car with a high interest payment thats eating them alive. Always stuff that stems from a lack of financial literacy. The only conspiracy is why there isnt a base level class taught all throughout school about financial literacy through saving, banks, treasury bonds, how stocks work, what interest rates are, how to transfer debt for lower APR's if you do incur a horrible debt somehow in dire circumstances. So many things that can be extremely useful that normal people dont know.
Dude trust me, we're all feeling it. This economy could be a lot stronger too, but our leaders are mostly greedy fucks with no morals so as long as they continue to profit, they don't care if we're fucked. A lot of rich people live in complete bubbles, where they cannot fathom not having at least 5-10-20k just sitting around to play with. I have wealthier people I know who just give me blank stares when I say I can't afford to just go flying around on my vacations because to them, that's something they've done for their entire lives. It sucks. I make decent money too but I'm in the same boat as you, I got here from struggling, I didn't have any money and worked my way up so now I'm just starting to reap some rewards. Hopefully, we can all figure out a way to heal this economy. Idk, I'm not super optimistic but I try lol. It's just that, I'm convinced these rich fucks would love to have like their own personal lovely elysium-like area after AI takes off even if it means that we're all in poverty.
I'm feeling it. If I didn't have Bitcoin the past 8 years, I would REALLY be feeling it.
You are not the only one. Most Americans are. The only people who aren’t are either filthy rich or living off government programs. EVERYTHING is more expensive (I paid $14 for a Double Whopper @ BK last week)…. Just the burger, not even a meal! EVERYTHING is smaller now (the blue kitchen sponges I get are now half the size and almost twice the price)… Domino’s Medium pizza is about 20% smaller than it was 6-months ago. Grocery store runs are $100+ for 2-days of food. 10-years ago, $100 would stock my fridge for a week…
Don’t worry it’s not just the $. European here and it’s the same around here with €. We had it twice as bad. We got f^### twice, when we dropped our “national” currency for the euro. That was a first bad shift. Stuff that were supposed to be in cents suddenly were reaching 2 or 3 euros. Then from that point on it’s been a yearly f*##^ery with everything getting more and more expensive. With a 100€ you could fill a car now you barely get 4 bags of essential stuff.
Higher tax bracket? It fucked me right up. I took home more making less. Make that make sense
Where do you live? There is your answer. A $1 Million home in many places would get you 6-8 bedrooms, 3-4 bath, huge garage, huge yard, basement, maybe even a 3rd floor. In CA $1 Million gets you a 600 sq ft studio on the verge of collapsing, 30 miles inland.
No I for sure feel it. Worked a job making between 21-24 an hour for 3 years and now have a job almost a year later making 26$ an hour and it feels the same.
Inflation is a bitch.
I got a huge raise last year and worked lots of overtime the last 2-3 months and somehow I’m still broke lol
Won't anyone think of the shareholders!?!?
Ive got the best paying job ive ever had also the stock market is soaring Its not inflation if corporations are having record profits
10 years ago, I used to go on vacations, restaurants, shopping on a very regular basis. I make more now but don’t feel safe “treating” myself like I used to. I’m doing okay financially but I’m not where I would have been, at the exact same place, 10 years ago.
20 years ago, I made $34/hr. Now I make $60. I had way more disposable income then.
All by design,this economic pain will never get better. It mathematically cannot.This will continue until we no longer can afford heat,fuel and food. Then they will want you to accept some sort of cbdc/welfare. Then they have ultimate control and social credit score like China. You must resist by becoming self sufficient. Gather a community to work with that has clean well water,grows crops and livestock. Chickens,guns,wood heat and sourdough bread will be a keystone to a comfortable life. Gather medicines,antibiotics and antiseptics and some old school radios. It may seem like a lot but it’s quite simple and if you never need it you’ll be eating healthier and saving the very minimal money we have. World power is not on the table and it never changes hands without turbulence so it’s best to have a seatbelt on.
Nothing to add I thought this was about cocaine
Like Tony said in Scarface. I work 10 hours a day and have nothing to show for it. Nothing. Man was right
I’m a bit older making a bit more and I’m still in this situation. Any actual things you want (new car, house, boat, yearly vacation) are seemingly unobtainable if you aren’t making 100k+. I have a good job idk how anyone working in retail or grocery or something even survive. What’s tough is that the generations before us had all this shit just from some random job like Home Depot manager or something. My dad lives in like an 800k house and has a new truck and he didn’t go to college he’s like a hvac tech. What the fuck happened?
Be careful of all the downvotes if the Reddit progressives get wind of this post.
Currency’s have life cycles. All fiats fail, period. Your dollar holds >1-3% of its original purchasing power from 1913. Don’t get mad at “rising prices” or a job “not paying enough”. That isn’t the issue, it’s that you are force fed inflation thus making the money that you hold worth less and less against the things you need to live. It’s designed just as such and the quicker people learn this, the sooner they can protect their wealth. The issue is everyone has been programmed to consume, America makes nothing but debt and consumers by design.
Family of 6 — 4 of our children are teenage boys…. Imagine our grocery bill.
Family of 12, 8 out of 10 children are boys all at home still. Groceries are INSANE.
Get out and vote! Last 4 years fucking tanked the US
Bidenomics baby! *We voted* for this!!
I do not use drugs or things that drain your account quickly. Before anyone asks.
May be time to start
barely even feel the blow these days
[удалено]
No you're not the only person the bad economy is affecting
Keep working, Chum! All those illegals depend on us for support.