I read that half of Americans couldn’t cover an unexpected $1,000 expense. This sounds crazy to me. I understand that poverty exists, but the idea that an adult with a job doesn’t even have that amount saved up seems really strange.

What’s your relationship or philosophy with money? What do you credit for your financial success, or alternatively, what do you blame for your failures?

For the extra brave ones: how much savings do you have, and what are you planning to do with them?

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    It comes down to if you rent.

    If you have a fixed mortgage, shit gets easier fast. If you rent, any wage increases is often offset by rent increases.

    Less people are able to save, because they never get out of those “tough first years” of a mortgage

    • Altima NEO@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      Renting is such bullshit these days. The payments they ask for rivals mortgage payments from just 15 years ago.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Less than that, especially in areas that used to be cheap.

        It took less than 5 years for my decent sized house on almost an acre in a middle sized city to be less than a 2/2 apartment.

        It’s fucking insane.

    • dingus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Idk it’s pricy to own a home nowadays unfortunately. I bought only last year and my mortgage payments are a bit higher per month than people seem to pay for rent on a similar type of unit. It’s not that I got a “bad deal” on the residence either. Home prices just don’t make sense nowadays.

      I will say that around 2931, rent prices in my area skyrocketed up a whopping $400-600 in one year, but they have since seemed to stabilize.

      While your fixed rate mortgage costs don’t go up every year, your property taxes, insurance, and HOA fees will. So with the above in mind, it doesn’t really seem as economical anymore to own a home.

    • Wes4Humanity@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      School and medical debt as well… The more you make, the more they take… Always keeping you at barely scraping by