78% Of Americans Live Paycheck To Paycheck, 71% In Debt, 56% Save $100/Mo

[HANZ 4,380]

what a mess

I am from Mexico and I don't have all that debt and I live pretty well, still live with my parents but I'm OK

meanwhile American is supposed to be nothing but SLAYAGE

[JusKeepBreathin 19,311]

15 hours ago, PartySick said:

It's ridiculous right?

I've been trying to get back into school for a couple years now. I wanted to get financial aid on top of a scholarship 'cause I can't afford thousands of dollars per class but our tax laws are so stupid  Until I'm 24 I'm supposed to use my dad's tax information despite the fact that I've barely lived with him in my life, never actually depended on him, and I haven't even seen the guy in nearly a year

I'm an adult who works two jobs just to get by, why tf do I need my dad's permission to get a higher education?

Which is why it's so important to vote blue up and down in 2018 and 2020

Like Trump said, the economy always does better when a Democrat is in office

You know I live in Miami and it's funny because the rich South Americans with condos in Brickell get financial aid because they are US citizens but there families live abroad. They come to school in amazing cars and live in amazing condos and still get financial aid because they "make no money." Lol life sucks. I had to borrow my way through school. 

[DawnNutella 2,805]

A lot of this is people trying to live outside of their means. Trying to "keep up with the Jones". 

My husband and I both have good jobs with good pay that we have been at for years. We almost had all of our debt paid off other than our house and cars and then our house burned down last year and we were underinsured. We had all of my student loans and credit cards paid off but after the fire had to put some things on credit so now we're back into some debt. We used most of our savings for the down payment on our new home and credit cards for most of the furniture, home goods, clothes and other things we needed (we lost literally everything) I had planned to go back to school this year (I'm a RN but am going back for my Masters Degree) but have put that on hold because we can't afford it right now and I don't want to put us in more debt. If nothing else disastrous happens we should have everything paid off in the next 2 years, other than our house so hopefully I'll be able to go back to school like planned. If we hadn't had good jobs/pay, good credit scores etc I don't know what we would have done. We were so lucky that we were able to get back on our feet. A lot of people aren't so lucky. We were able to live on one of our paychecks a month but right now it is taking both of them to pay our bills/pay off our debt. 

[Economy 52,842]

1 hour ago, Gaga Monster said:

Yes you are right. Here is the US, a lot of people listen to the GOP and the right wing news and believe Single Payer will bankrupt us and lead to communism, waiting days in line for medicine, and extreme rationing. Thankfully people are waking up and the idea is slowly becoming more popular.

Canada has free tuition programs, single payer, yet in America these ideas are seen as far left and unrealistic!

Yeah... i can usually see my family doctor the day i wanna make an appoitment or the day after. Also again anything serious at the hospital and ur seen right away

 

Ive had my share of health misfortunes in my life and x-rays, Ultra Sounds, Cat Scans are all quick even tho i was never on a priority list

 

Also simple things like blood tests or getting ur meds theres typicaly little or no line up

 

What I have had to wait for was an MRI because they had priority patients so i had to wait 6-8 weeks... the specialist for my skin (i had a lot of acne as a teenager) I also had to wait a few weeks to see him, and small non life-threatning things in ER sometimes has a wait too

 

Theres minnor inconviniences for small things in Universal Healthcare that maybe in the US u dont have to deal with as much...

 

But I think its well worth the trade off of having your mind at ease that no matter your current financial condition, Youll never have to stress about how to pay for critical care. You just present your Government Health card and the Government is automatically billed (Usually the Province for most things)

[Economy 52,842]

12 hours ago, Young Pancake said:

I don't know for me this info is hard to accept. Both of my parents have working class jobs, my mom is a housekeeper and my dad is a landscaper, they own a house, two cars, pay bills, and they don't live paycheck to paycheck. They save more than $100 a month and are not in dept. Are Americans overspending? My parents don't have the best paying jobs out there but they are able to stay out of debt yet 71% of Americans are in debt. 

Its like I said... A few ppl genuinly have difficult circumstances...

 

But if your talking almost 4/5 being in trouble, at least a good portion of them just dont know how to handle money

 

You WANT (not need) something you cant afford, learn to say no!

[Economy 52,842]

1 hour ago, Gaga Monster said:

Yes, I agree with that, a lot of people have no idea how to save, spend, and manage income. I think US public schools should have a mandatory money management, tax class that teaches kids how to save money, invest it, and how to do tax returns and how to know when it is the right time to start a family. I think it would really help citizens and educate kids on how to make the right decisions and mistakes people make. 

My friends are all horrible. I think im the only one in my circle of friends that saves

 

Every weekend its drink nights, restaurants and like 2 Vacations a year  

 

I still hang out with them by drinking slower so i buy less drinks, eating sometimes before going to restaurant so that I buy just a side, and I say yes to travelling only sometimes  

[Mast 980]

17 hours ago, Gaga Monster said:

Solutions:

-Single Payer Healthcare, save families thousands of dollars each year

-Tuition Free College, making college an affordable expense not a luxury and making sure every American has an opportunity to go to college

-Increase apprenticeships and skilled job training programs to increase wages and employment and for students who feel college is not right for them

-Investing in high paying, Green Energy new jobs, the future of energy, so coal and fracking country have higher paying, safer jobs of the future

-Eliminate some tax deductions and loopholes that benefit the top 1%, so they don't pay a less tax rate than a middle class American

-Make sure big corporations pay taxes and stop offshoring money so small businesses are not burdened with all the taxes to pay

-Make childcare affordable again, so people have no excuse to not work and increase their wages

-Start expanding investing, money management, and stock classes in public education so all children, regardless of their parents income or their area, have the opportunity to learn about how to save, manage, and make smart choices with their money and when it is right to start a family

This is unnacaptable for the United States and we have to do the people better

Aka the solution is socialism. But Americans would rather stick to the idea that their government *can still work* it just has chosen not to while the reality is that it doesn't work. 

[Economy 52,842]

4 hours ago, Mast said:

Aka the solution is socialism. But Americans would rather stick to the idea that their government *can still work* it just has chosen not to while the reality is that it doesn't work. 

I dont think its just a matter of socialism vs capitalism as theres Countries on both sides of politics that do both well and bad

 

I think the $700 Billion+ that is spent annually on military is the bigger issue tbh

 

The financian and economic drain that causes is tremendous. It hurts prosperity

[OBEY 57,109]

I dont want to generalize but maybe if some people stopped buying cars for nothing, a starbucks coffee every morning and stuff they dont need theyd be better financially

[Gagaloo911 12,959]

8 hours ago, OBEY said:

I dont want to generalize but maybe if some people stopped buying cars for nothing, a starbucks coffee every morning and stuff they dont need theyd be better financially

The Starbucks drink myth/excuse has been debunked on numerous of occasions. The real problem is low and stagnant wages and weak job growth for jobs that actually matter, like quality jobs with benefits and job security.