It’s nothing unusual that some people are just barely making it. I was there at one point. Right now, though, a lot more are there because of the crushing inflation with it’s roots in the Chinese coronavirus, for which Biden has done nothing to help, and much to hurt (non-paywalled at Yahoo)
‘Barely making it:’ Americans are getting creative to combat inflation’s devastating costs
A dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to.
Americans are paying higher prices for everything from groceries to gas. The consumer price index, which measures what consumers spend on goods and services, rose 8.3% in August from a year ago.
With wages lagging surging inflation, household budgets are being stretched thinner than a rubber band. More than one-third of Americans said it was somewhat or very difficult to pay for household expenses, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey.
Savings are dwindling and credit card debt is mounting. To get by, people are cutting back on meat for dinner and on nights out. Even kids are going without new shoes or supplies for school.
The USA Today piece provides quite a few stories from Americans, making the point about how tough it is right now. Things like having to un-retire, cooking a lot more beans and rice, growing their own veggies (and the cost to do that has also skyrocketed), having to spend everything on electricity and food with nothing left for any of life’s pleasures, and so much more.
Things that would, again, occur during normal times for some folks, but, now it’s more widespread due to the inflation that Joe’s doing nothing about. The Inflation Reduction Act? Bah. It will raise inflation. Paying tens of thousands for solar panels to save a little in electricity later isn’t the best of ideas. Not that most can afford to do that. Buying an EV? If you can barely afford food, rent, and electricity, how do you double your car payment? Joe doesn’t care. He probably barely knows what’s going on.
(Picture from here, which is for sale. Not mine)
