I don’t know what I’d do with 4 kids. That just seems impossible to deal with to me.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47273545)

Don't own a car. No debt besides mortgages. Never eat at restaurants or get takeout. Don't pay for streaming services or other GC bullshit.

This sounds like xoxo flame, but it's the reality in 2023 in a Tier 1 city.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47273559)

In practice they cash flow a little -- but not enough to bother including the income or expenses in my calculations / analysis in this thread. (I refinanced both in 2020).

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47273594)

Can't afford childcare when we're not working.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47273731)

Inflation did not go down.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47273572)

1. a lot of these dual income couples in florida or texas or wherever make decent cash. all the shit about how youre top 0.001% for being a doctor is bullshit designed to butter up the faux upper middle class into spending money they dont have, grind, pay taxes, wipe the cum off their chins, etc.

2. a lot of the millennials/genxers with kids dont plan on paying out the ass for college so theyre not shotgunning money at 529 plans. junior can go to florida or florida state the rest is flame.

3. probably a lot of them dont care about saving a ton for retirement because women are consumerists and men realize theyll lose it in the divorce anyways so yolo. they also realize stocks and 401ks and stuff are mostly gc fraud.

4. lots of boomers booming with excess cash.

5. then theres illegals and stuff who dont pay for anything unless they feel like it.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47273793)

US consumers did not rein in their spending this past holiday season, and now have near-record-breaking debt balances to show for it, according to new Federal Reserve data released Monday.

Consumer borrowing spiked by $23.75 billion in November, more than doubling economists’ expectations for a $9 billion increase and sending outstanding credit balances north of the $5 trillion mark for the first time on record, the Fed’s latest Consumer Credit report showed.

The monthly increase during the critical holiday shopping month was driven by higher rates of revolving credit (which includes mostly credit cards), which soared by nearly $19.5 billion — the third-highest monthly increase on records that go back to 1943.

Higher revolving debt balances can be a reflection of population growth and increased card usage, as well as higher rates of economy-powering consumer spending. The report does not show how the credit is being used or whether the outstanding balances are being paid off before interest starts to accrue.

However, the sharp increase in credit balances is starting to be a cause for concern, Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst, told CNN via email.

“Credit card usage and Buy Now, Pay Later usage seemingly surged during the holidays, on top of already hefty debt loads,” Rossman said. Now, delinquencies are at their highest level since 2012.

“That seems to debunk the ‘normalization’ thesis offered by banks and card issuers — as in, delinquencies were artificially low during the pandemic because of stimulus and people spending less, so we knew they would rise back to 2019-ish levels,” he added.

“But now they’ve surpassed that,” he said.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47274208)

56 million Americans have been in credit card debt for at least a year. ‘We are seeing pockets of trouble,’ expert says

How America racked up a $1 trillion credit card bill

Americans are increasingly leaning on their credit cards.

Altogether, card balances now total $1.08 trillion, according to the latest quarterly report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a new record.

“Over the past two years, Americans’ credit card balances have skyrocketed 40%,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.

“While Americans are managing their credit card debt pretty well, all things considered, we are seeing pockets of trouble at the household level,” Rossman said.

More cardholders are carrying debt from month to month and fewer are able to pay off their balances in full, according to a separate report by Bankrate.com.

More from Personal Finance:

Consumers are racking up more ‘phantom debt’

Did you break your New Year’s money resolutions already?

Americans are ‘doom spending’

Nearly half, or 49%, of credit card holders carry debt from month to month on at least one card, up from 46% last year, the report found, and 56 million cardholders have been in debt for at least a year.

“The current environment is tough,” Rossman said. “Although inflation has eased, there’s a cumulative effect there.”

This may also be a consequence of “shifts in lending, overextension, or deeper economic distress associated with higher borrowing costs and price pressures,” Fed researchers noted in a blog post.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47274212)

Have you bought now with plans to pay later this holiday season? The buy now, pay later (BNPL) industry — an installment lending approach that includes companies such as Affirm, Klarna and Afterpay — is enjoying rapid growth on top of rapid growth.

BNPL use was up 47 percent year-over-year on Black Friday and 43 percent on Cyber Monday this year, according to Adobe.

(https://autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5474008&forum_id=2#47274216)