Up until recently, most Americans benefited from a few government-supplied safety nets, most notably the large injection of stimulus money, which left many households sitting on a stockpile of cash that enabled some cardholders to keep their credit card balances in check.
But that cash reserve is largely gone after consumers gradually spent down their excess savings from the Covid-19 pandemic years.
It is absolutely insane to me that anyone thinks the stimulus money left households sitting on a stockpile of cash.
As though millions of people on the edge of poverty sat like dragons upon a mountain of wealth.
What I really need right now is yet another article explaining to me how I'm actually better off now than I was a year or two ago, I'm just too stupid or whatever to realize it. Inflation was kicking our ass, and then we had two separate student loans kick in at once, on top of taking on a shitton of debt to take care of some of the broke boomers in our lives.
20% inflation since the start of the pandemic (higher on necessities like food and shelter), stagnant wages, massive wealth concentration and transfer from the poor and middle class to the rich… not surprising at all. Between wealth inequality, climate change, and political unrest, we are heading towards major societal collapse.
I get paid every 2 weeks and I go through and pay down or pay off all my cards every payday.
When I put them back in my wallet, I put the paid off cards in first, and the not paid off cards upside down so I don't unintentionally add more debt to them.
As of last Friday, I have two cards that are not fully paid off. One with a 0% loan on a large electrical project, the 0% deal expires in April, but I expect to pay it off in January.
The other has a brand new $1,000 debt because I just paid my Christmas lights install company.
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