It's Expensive Out There America

 It’s Expensive Out There America  

As of this writing, the average American has $7,297 (per Lending Tree, as of December 2022) in credit card debt, $7,297! According to the same report, nearly 46% of cardholders say it would take them more than a year to pay off their balance, while 65% say they carry a balance at least some of the time. Normally I’d say a majority of that is ripe with things purchased over time that I’d file in the “want” vs. “need” category; however, given how expensive everything is at the moment, I think more and more people are using credit cards or any other access to credit simply to survive. 

Hopefully you would have already read my other article (You Left a Six Figure Job To Do What? Are You Nuts?) so you know that I’ve recently left a lucrative job and career for the unknown abyss of freelance writing. As I’ve already mentioned, this is both terrifying and exciting. The most terrifying aspect has to do with finances. What was once a very comfortable life that afforded my wife and I the ability to do just about anything (within reason) has turned into a budget crunching, stressful, worrisome time where I’m simply attempting to keep us within the budget I’ve laid out for success. 

We had planned for me to leave my job for years…yes, years. Aside from small improvements to the house and a couple of larger ticket items, we shied away from expensive vacations, purchasing new cars and spending our money on needless items like clothes and the like. This allowed us to pay off all outstanding debt while placing enough money in savings where we were comfortable making the transition to a one income household for the foreseeable future. Having said that, I’m also a worrier by nature and never think there’s enough in the bank. I’m pretty sure I’d be this way even if I were Elon Musk, concerned that my stock price or total portfolio may waver by a billion here or there as I nervously sip champagne on my yacht. 

Although financial worries can be somewhat stressful, I also consider it to be a good thing. It’s allowed me to place myself in the shoes of many other Americans facing similar budget crunching scenarios. It’s also allowing me to view the world from a different lens, one I haven’t looked through in awhile. When life is comfortable financially, you simply choose not to buy something but in the back of your mind always feel good knowing that you can. There’s a comfort in knowing and that it is indeed a choice, not one that's being made for you. You’re making the wise decision for you and your family’s future. Not everyone has this luxury and it’s extremely easy to forget the feeling. Getting it back gives you an instant connection with those who may be struggling, providing empathy while making you appreciative for the things you have. 

You also begin to notice things like never before, for instance, the price of cereal being $7 a box (when did that happen)!? The price of gas fluctuating on a daily/weekly basis and flank steak all of a sudden priced as though it were filet mignon by some retailers. Corned beef? This used to be a cheap cut of meat, I’ve seen some reach as high as $40. Perhaps it’s simply me getting old, but I don’t think so, everything is most definitely out of whack price wise. 

How about cars? I recently received my Car and Driver Top 25 Cars Worth Waiting For issue. I’ve gotten C&D for 25+ years and this is my favorite issue aside from their 10 Best Cars list. This year was a bit of a dud for me. Most of the cars featured, aside from a few, are completely unaffordable. When did cars become $80-100K? Did you realize the average price of a car is now over $45K? Keep in mind, the average American household income is a bit over $70K, something’s not adding up here. No wonder most Americans are in debt, who can afford such things? Even when I had a full time job I wouldn’t have wanted to spend another $50K on a car (we bought my wife a Honda Pilot in 2018, which was a shade below that, and it hurt me to do it). You can buy a used car of course, but as we all know, these are overpriced as well. 

Something has to give here, life is way too expensive. I read an article the other day that the average home price went from $392K in 2020 to a whopping $544K in 2022, wow! Again, if you’re a first time home buyer, how are you possibly affording that? Answer, you’re not, which is why so many millennials are either putting off homeownership, living in their parents basement or both. The lucky ones among us were able to buy a house after the Great Recession, when prices were rock bottom. Rarely do prices come back down once they’ve gone up, what are average American’s to do? And please spare me the political argument of this party or that party, whatever. Figure it out and let’s fix this, all of it. Here in the real world, we’re tired of overpaying for just about everything. Put aside identity politics for a few minutes, stop arguing on Twitter and fix the financial issues impacting our lives on a daily basis. 

I recently did a personal inventory asking myself, “what more do you need?” Aside from your basic essentials (food, soap products, etc) there wasn’t a whole lot that I needed to buy for myself in the foreseeable future. There are always things I’d like to buy, but do I really need them? Similar to having a savings cushion to fall back on, it’s also comforting to know you’re good for a while, there’s nothing you truly need to survive. My kids may be a different story, but we’ll tackle that as it comes. 

Perhaps our stressed economy is a good thing for all of us. Maybe more Americans will take a look in the mirror and make better choices, who knows? On second thought, forget what I said about Twitter. It may be a good idea to befriend Elon Musk so we can worry along with him on that yacht of his, ya know, in case our savings don’t come through in the end.