3 ms·
Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow
- LinuxBender 3y agos/Spending/Stocking Up/ I suppose the title is apropos. Some of us remember how bad logistics were during the pandemic. It probably won't be much better should bigger events start popping off. A large amount of products are manufactured outside of the US and re-shoring will take a bit of time. I see no issue with stocking up on things that may not be available. My priority has been water storage, freeze dried foods and most notably freeze dried coffee!
- gtk40 3y agoConsidering the article mentions large/"splurge" purchases and travel, I doubt that the majority of this is to be accounted for prepping for an economic collapse.
- LinuxBender 3y agoI doubt that the majority of this is to be accounted for prepping for an economic collapse. I think it can be. People already have all their toilet paper and paper towels. Only half kidding. If something is about to go down they may not be able to buy those splurge items for several years or longer and they certainly would not be able to travel. So getting that out of the way now makes a lot of sense to me. Risky but it makes sense. Risky in that one may be stuck wherever they traveled and may not have access to their money.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Always_Anon 3y agoI took the opposite approach and used the pandemic as a great way to save. No eating out, no going out for drinks, zero travel... I saved a lot, and paid a lot of debt down. I'm continuing some of these trends still. I do not eat out as much as I did pre-pandemic, I haven't traveled much, etc.
- throw9away6 3y agoUnfortunately you still lost 35% of your purchasing power unless you put it in the market
- Always_Anon 3y agoOf course! A large portion of it went into the market, with great returns. Maxed out 401k, IRA, paid off my school loans, etc. Pandemic time was sweet financially, honestly.
- __rito__ 3y agoI started earning during the pandemic and had a sweet life. There was no place to spend money other than buying stuff from Amazon, and streaming subscriptions. I saved a lot and expected my life to be this easy, always. Then came late 2021 and 2022. I wouldn’t understand the hole in my pocket and failed to save even okay amounts. I got in touch with seniors, asked dad, and read up on financial hanits and markets, and I am slowly on the track to becoming a financially responsible adult. In the last 4-5 months, I have saved well. Now I wish I had saved much more during the pandemic years. Life was sweet and easy then. Could save so much even after spending a lot.
- throw9away6 3y agoIf you had negative networth you came out ahead
- 90d 3y agoAnd if you put it into the market today they can help you lose the rest. Better late than never!
- throw9away6 3y agoSpending is what you do in an inflationary environment. There are 2 reasons for that: 1 all the basics cost more 2 any savings will get depreciated quickly though inflation so your ability to save is limited
- tibbydudeza 3y agoIt is a Taylor Swift economy.
- boring_twenties 3y agoWell, with the constant enshittification of literally everything, this might actually be a sound strategy. Buy everything you can today, because the only thing available tomorrow will be way worse.
- mintaka5 3y ago[flagged]
- wwwhatcrack 3y ago[dead]
- mensetmanusman 3y agoFrom earth to handbags and back to earth. Americans play an interesting roll as the global consumer to keep this game of musical chairs going.
- snarkyturtle 3y agoI think climate anxiety has a lot to do with continued spending. People aren't having kids, or having much long-term goals, _because_ they don't know how the society and the world would look like in 50 years. So why not just live in the moment?
- hotpotamus 3y agoI wonder how widespread climate anxiety is. I thought it was pretty fringe (though I think I'm quite afflicted with it myself), but I have seen surveys that show it is actually rather pervasive amongst younger people.
- blamestross 3y agoThere isn't any real value to putting money into a 401k if you don't think the infrastructure to support it will be there when you get to your 60s. I'm moving forward having elective and prophylactic medical procedures in the next few years instead of the next few decades so they can happen while I have access to such high quality healthcare. Lasik and lense replacement seem like an example of what to prioritize bc glasses and contacts have such a long supply chain. It isn't quite "prepper" bad, but my generation isn't planning on the time of plenty lasting.
- jstarfish 3y ago> There isn't any real value to putting money into a 401k if you don't think the infrastructure to support it will be there when you get to your 60s. I thought that way when I was young too...then I learned how funds-matching and compound interest works. Always save for retirement. You don't get a second chance to do it.
- deafpolygon 3y agoTo be fair, at this rate, there probably is no tomorrow...
- sp527 3y agoYou jest but I’ve lately been wondering if the current optimal strategy is to wait out the seemingly 10ish or fewer years to human-supplanting AI living on a tropical island and partying it up, since all the possible outcomes post singularity are extreme (extinction, dystopia, utopia).
- theandrewbailey 3y agohttps://archive.ph/fkNeb https://archive.ph/fkNeb