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The Middle Class Spending Crash Explained
With Black Friday sales plunging and Cyber Monday growth slowing, it appears the chicken of stagnant wages and debt-saturation are coming home to roost for a massacred middle-class America. However, as WSJ reports "we are buying less stuff," because the basic costs of necessities such as healthcare, food eaten at home, rent, education, and cellphones have surged.
As The Wall Street Journal reports,
Consumer spending continues to make up just over two-thirds of the U.S. economy. But where households spend that money has shifted significantly.
To see how it has moved, the Journal analyzed Labor Department data on 2013 out-of-pocket spending for the middle 60% of the population by income—households earning between about $18,000 and $95,000 a year, before taxes.
The data show they are losing ground. Overall spending for the group rose by about 2.3% over the six-year period from 2007, even as inflation totaled about 12%. At the same time, income for the group stagnated, rising less than half a percent.
With health care and other costs rising, these consumers spent less on furniture, entertainment, clothing and even child care, the Journal analysis found.
“Part of the story is that your income growth is slowing,” said Steven Fazzari, an economist and chairman of the sociology department at Washington University in St. Louis. “They’re spending more on necessities, cutting back on other types.”
Inflation much...
The overall cost of health care rose by 21% between 2007 and 2013, according to separate data from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. And employees paid more for workplace insurance, averaging $380 a month for family coverage in 2013, up 39% from 2007, data from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows.
This year, overall health-care spending is expected to continue growing at a modest pace, but government projections suggest U.S. households may spend slightly less, as more people obtain insurance, premium subsidies or Medicaid coverage.
Spending on mobile-phone service, meanwhile, has soared, rising nearly 50% since 2007, the year the iPhone came out and data plans became more commonplace.
Similarly, spending on home Internet service has soared by more than 80%. Last year, it made up about 0.8% of spending for middle income households, up from 0.4% six years earlier.
And this means discretionary spending has collapsed...
To make up the difference, middle income Americans have cut costs where they can. Spending on event admission and fees has fallen 16.5%, while spending for a broad category that includes boats, motor-homes, cameras and party rentals has fallen 31%.
Spending on household textiles, including bath and bed linens, has fallen 26.5%. Spending on care for children and the elderly has fallen 25%.
Simply put, the American Middle-class...
“I buy less stuff for myself,” she said. “We’ve cut a lot out—a lot of extras you used to get, so you can afford food and the electric. And you’re trying to save for retirement.”
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America: where luxuries are cheap and necessities are expensive
I look forward to getting a cancerous bump on my back that won't be treated because I can't afford health insurance or hospital care but I'll at least be able to tweet it via my sweet iPhone 11!
We impoverished some folks...
Food, fuel, and transportation should all be lower next year due to the grain harvest and oil.
Health care will be a disaster for some, but many are either set with good plans or saying fuck it.
The real problem is jobs, one place where the city and rural areas are much the same. It's easy to get a job now, but almost impossible to earn a living wage. WTF?
The bad news is that pets are becoming a luxury. The good news though: that's still a much more affordable one than kids...
But..But.. But... the Affordable health care act was going to lower our premiums & create jobs?
They said so!
What happened???
Spending on alcohol dropped !!?
NO WAY!
Probably people concerend with sky rocketing health care and insurance costs trying to be more health concious . . . go figure, get healthier and pay more for insurance. . . what a scam Obama care is.
Nah, just buying bottom shelf hooch, or making it at home. I just saw, in a big retail circular, a home brew kit for $40.
Homebrew FTMFW!!
We're fucked
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOW5eljyjms
Obamacare forced me off my self-pay BCBS insurance when I stayed healthy 'cause I paid for it out of my own pocket but I culd afford the higher premiums and lower deductibles but I worked hard to stay healthy and avoid both doctors and costs.
NOW, the shit heads forced me into a plan with higher premiums and much higher deductible. I have to say I vow NOT to vote Dem again in my lifetime, even though I'm not a big fan of Repugnicans, they never trashed me the way Barry and his Buds Piglosi and reed have.
Lulz! -1 for ever voting Dem. Serves you right, suckuh!! Not that voting matters anyway...
Being 63... born in early 50's
I have seen about 6 decades of economic swings. In short, The fifties were some of the best times. Men returning from war and wanting to work. Wives quit work to raise a family. Grand parents doing well, helping family and helping with the kids. Good times.
Easy to find work, good pay, profit sharing plans, great retirement benefits. The fifties were an innocent time with an outlook of really living the American Dream.
What Happened Next...
Flash forward sixty years, "really, this is an advanced culture from 6 decades ago"?
No sense mentioning the here and now. We are living it.
The damn thing is I watched it all go by. Fucking amazing.
Few short recalls:
US and Russia came very close to popping nukes at each other.
When you had only one day a week to buy gas. Long lines to get gas.
Had some shorty CD's paying 15%+, car loans at 10%, passbook savings earning 5 1/2%.
Not much foreign stuff to buy, made in USA meant built well and last a long time.
The reason for the change is greed. Good times turned down as some folks wanted more and more. Pretty soon became the norm.
American companies made a MORAL choice to earn more profit by going global. "Yes American boy, work for me today, work hard and live the American Dream.
Then we change the rules. Women should work too. Gotta love it.
No sir you placed in the top 97% but since you are not a minority or female you did not earn an equal opportunity credit of 30%, so you now are number 16 inline for the job.
Still, pretty good times. Lot's of sex, drugs and Vietnam... Tricky Dick. The military draft and lotto numbers to go fight.
Gizmo births. All kinds of new shit to buy. Really cool stuff, fax machines, jet airplanes, Atari PONG, Shelby Cobra Super Snake, Picante sauce, 8 track tapes. Top of the line Baby. Sony the One and Only and so on!
Oh by the way, all of you just joining the labor force, we have the deal for you. It is called the credit card, tastes like MONEY.
Ah sorry employees, management has made the decision to offshore our manufacturing, bye bye. Good news is corporate heads stay flush+. Just think of all the poor people around the world that some day will buy our products and raise their own standard of living.
Hmmm, is this progress? It was and still is, a MORAL choice! For better or worse a choice.
If you and me have a successful growing business, making the bucks big time. Each year we make a choice to distribute excess profits spread over stockholders, management, consumers and employees, or not. Place your bets please.
Greed must be a powerful stimulant, gotta get me some of that, or not.
That's what happened, and also there was Weed. Just Saying.
So the weed killed your taste for greed?
Not so much. I don't like to screw other people just for my own gain.
post WWII was good for US since most other industrialised nations were more or less bankrupt with much war damage.
With no attacks on the mainland US was able to continue manufacturing during the war and then afterwards.
FWIW, I buy less stuff for myself because i don't need or want anything more.
Maybe after world war iii we can go back to the fifties again?
Doubtful, with all the advanced missles and kill efficiency ratings and such
QE does not seem to be helping
going vegetarian is a good thing
the lentil mushroom taco thing is something i would like to try
"Spending on alcohol dropped !!?"
Around these parts: Yes. The Local Bars have about half of the customers they did pre 2008. A few bars have gone out of business. Perhaps people are drinking more at home=, but not at the bars.
People are drinking more at home and drinking cheaper stuff.....
'Aspirational' brands are seeing drop offs as people realize the extra cost cuts down on the amount they can drink - doesn't matter if you're drinking at home if it's Grey Goose or grain.
Just my opinion but I have never seen mid to top shelf liquor cheaper than it is right now.
Serious competition going on right now for your dollars.
The indooor smoking ban im my neck of FEMA region X put nearly all of the remaining taverns out of business. The rest had to get liquor licenses and covered outdoor smoking docks to survive. I personally hate going to a bar full of whiskey-drunk 20-something idiots. These days, I do about 95% of my drinking at home, and most of it is beer/wine that I made.
Some clients and friends that I have have told me that people just don't want to drink out anymore, as the risk of being robbed and jailed by the gun and badge thugs is too high. They are even caging and robbing people with a BAC of 0.0.
The smoking bans are also hurting business, and the related loss of tobacco sales.
Of course the irony is that the thugs have to become more brutal to extract the equivalent in revenue as in the past. That is one reason the thugs have become exponentially more brutal the last few years.
An American, not US subject.
One restaurant/bar owner I know says that a client of his has taken to calling the thugs, via the non-emergency line, before leaving for home. He then asks them to evaluate if he can "legally" drive home. The thugs don't respond anymore, but my client says that it sure was funny to see the thugs put on the spot.
He also says that he has a family friend that owns a bar in another state. This other bar owner is absolutely sure that one of her clients is using a throw away phone to call in emergency calls on the other side of town to make it safer for him to get home. The client pulls out the phone, then a SIM card from his wallet, puts them together, and then disappears into the bathroom and then he leaves. The bar owner eventually put two and two together.
My fault. My liver has been bitchin' and I had to cut back about 95% on the alcohol. Sigh.
Next spending cut is tobacco...
Downgraded to the cheap stuff.
I expect homebrews are increasing....
Possible! I traded in my wine bottle for craft beers. So basically my $50 750ml bottle of Napa morphed into a 48oz 4-pack of fine craft at some ~$12 per. ......and the alcohol content is in the 7.5 to 11 abv level. And the bonus for this switch is that less taxes now go to the state/feds!!! So drink up! :-)
hooch
Government happened.
dont forget mass stupidity
You've been Grubered!
"But..But.. But... the Affordable health care act was going to lower our premiums & create jobs?
They said so!
What happened???"
Obama lied.....the economy died !
I willl be paying an additional 147 dollars a month for my health insurance starting Dec. 15th. No more value for a nearly 50% cost to me increase!
The insurance company said my company was lucky because we fall into one of the categories which reduced our increases. Next year we are fucked though!
I am about sick of these Republican and Democrat ass clowns in DC taking my fucking money!
Same here my friend, 30% increase for 2014, 40% increase for 2015, deductibles and max out of pocket way up. They are out to destroy us.
Glad to see you understand it is both "Republican and Democrat" that are in sway to their contributors from the medical industry.
The US pays more and gets a worse service than almost all other developed countries, basically because of laws that keep costs high, e.g. no drug imports.
Most other developed countries pay about half and have better run services.
Even the Chinese are complaining about the high cost of dog.
Don't think it's legal to eat the kids yet except perhaps in Africa...
The bad news is socialism and central planning don't work and that is what we are trying.
I am buying more gold, guns and food.
Gman, Obamacare isn't socialism (no matter what Fox News tells you). It is old-fashioned capitalism where the health insurance companies and big pharma still control everything. Nothing will change unless we throw out 99% of Congress and get rid of campaign money. And since that won't happen because the politicians are getting rich that way, revolution is starting to look real good to me.
I hope that is true but doubt that anything will be cheaper but gas
Many sellers/distributors/manufacturers of discretionary goods are about to be massacred, and even sellers/distributors/manufacturers of essentials (energy, food, medical, etc.) will see decreasing net margins as the current trend continues.
Big Box Brick & Mortar is TOAST.
Wait until the 10% holding up what's left of the discretionary spending turns into the 5%, which is closer at hand than many believe.
THIS IS WHY FED MUST SUPPORT STAWKS AT ALL COSTS (whether they can do this successfully for much longer for the 1st time in history as this very effort decimates the rest of the economy is up to "efficient investors" to decide upon).
I beleive this is the year you will actually see it bite. I am in global logistics and some of the boxers are our clients. Smart guys moved their inventory earlier, but they have had to compress their merchandise so much to compete with the point and click guys that there is not much to get folks into the stores.
So to keep costs down they are homoginizing their inventories. Which is one more reason for people to say 'screw it'. Why go to the X Mall when the selection is better on the internet. I chat up the young ladies in the office about their shopping habits as most of the youngsters are techies. Several have AMZ prime so they 3P to 3P their gifts to relatives all over the country and never touch it - when you think how expensive the Posties and FedEx is these days that is no small savings - and also means they don't go to the mall either.
The young ladies (who I would guess make up 70% of mall shopping) only go to the mall now for H&M and the other fast fashion deals (they are blissfully unaware of how many Bengalis get fried for those garments...).
In short the top tier malls will be okay for awhile longer, but 2nd and 3rd tier malls will burned at the stake. They can spin it, but they can't hide any longer.
The mall near my old place (Central Valley in California) underwent a big ass upgrade during the recession. It was previously a shit-tier mall, held up by JCP and Sears. I laughed at the fact that they put in an Apple store, Burberry, etc. when everyone was out of work. I guess it's the only way to survive.
If I WERE retail (I'd never be, though), at this juncture I'd want to be in a 5% area serving/selling to the 5% (I would have said 10% just two years ago; look at how quickly it's falling apart).
This would net a better statistical chance at doing relatively better and for a while longer than serving/selling to the 95% at a time when the formerly substantial middle class and even upper-middle class is getting its head handed to it.
Again, this is only if WERE retail (or even manufacturer). I'd never be. Not in a million years. Not in USSA which is rapidly going the way of Banana Republic.
No nation can avoid terminal decline with 5% (or even 10%) of the citizens propping up discretionary spending. In the 1960s, a solid 40% of Americans practiced regular and relatively easy discretionary spending of the casual & wanton sort without self-destruction through debt implosion.
In the late 60s and 70s, the mall was THE place to hang out. No longer. My local mall has become an incredibly dingy and dark place, like a temple of doom. The larger indoor malls will back the trend for a while, but they are going downhill too. Paradoxically, outdoor malls seem to be doing better than ever. And don't even talk to me about Walmart, home of the welfare animals. Amazon will soon be the primary retailer if its not already, with most good distributed directly from automated warehouses.
83% MOAR for internet.
This shows just how badly we are getting RAPED by the phone and cable companies. You would think that with more people than EVER on the net paying subscriptions that the cost would go DOWN.
BUT NOOOOooooooo......fucking bastards want more for less and on top of that.....a lot of that 83% increase comes from BUNDLING your internet with TV and Phone. Sometimes....you can't get the internet by itself. You've got to get a bundle.
And all the while they enjoy 50-100 mbps over wireless in Scandanavia. Fuck our communication companies in America.
Couldn't agree more. Fuck Comcrap and the other telecom gouging parasites - and the government butthole-cleaners who take money from them and suffocate competition. May they all watch their loved ones die horrible, drawn-out deaths ...... before their own, of course. I live in an area where Comcrap basically has a monopoly - they're expensive, service sucks, and they have a super-shitastic attitude - like they're doing YOU a favor for keeping your internet going....
I just got a friendly note from my friends at charter communications saying my internet bill will be going from $55 to $60 next month. This is after the $5 increase last year. And after my $45 promo ended the year before. Since it is pretty obvious they were making money at $45, I am happy for them and their successful business model. I am looking for options, but not finding any great ones. Maybe I just buy stock in the bastards...
Even though internet/e fees are up big it does not matter that much. I pay .4% of my income for DSL. Housing on the other hand ... it is up 26% but since it 30% of my income that really hurts.
I pay roughly $25 a month for DSL, $7 for a prepaid wireless plan, and dont have cable, $20 for a wired phone. Sometimes less is more. Less confusion, less stress. If I want to see an espn game, my local bar has it on, and it costs me $20 in beer/soda/fries to watch it. But this only occurs about once a month, where there is a must see game on ESPN. I do miss the discovery channel. But not $700 dollars a year worth.
Because the 1%ers wanna get richer and they have the power and the monopoly. I heard that recently on NPR. Data plans and internet are three times more expensive than in the rest of the world.
The day is coming that we will go into a full depression and it will last for decades.
The systemic inefficiencies fighting the invisible hand of progress. Despite the technological wonders that surround us, I tend to think that progress is losing.
That chart thing can't be accurate at all. It says spending on alcohol is down... is everyone homebrewing now?
Just a movement by the consumer from top shelf to well.
I dont know how they measure it. At 5,6,7 dollars a beer I dont drink out much any more. Maybe that is why.
well said Shizzmoney! You summed up our popculture worshipping society in 1 simple sentence!!!
I loved the part about the lady whose cell phone bill (not quoted in the ZH article) was over $500 one month!
She goes on to say "I can't tell you the last time we went out to a movie."
You can't make this stuff up...
You can't cure stupid.
Obama is sick?
Like the earliest Christians, Zero,
we live in hope;)
Man, ditch that bitch!
"Obama is sick? [Stupid]"
I am not sure Obama is that stupid
1. He is the President and lives a lifestyle that is equivelent to a modern day Roman Emperor. He golfs almost everyday, Have a Chef prepare every meal, Globetrotts around the world. Its the America voter that stupid. That said the world is full of stupid voters, Germany 1920-1930's, Venzuela (Hugo), France (too many to list), England (Cameron).
What the World needs is a decade long history lesson on Polics and how politicans make rediculous promises in order to get elected. One must always vote for the meek and timid candidate that promises nothing except for a smaller gov't. That would probably make the world a better place (in my opinion)
I agree, but we have a long education process before the masses will possibly vote for candidates embracing Austrian Economics.
I say we start now. We will lose many elections and win some but if the more conservative/libertarian candidates keep saying "I believe the next proposed social program should just be a little smaller than my opponent does", we lose anyway. How about eliminating programs and departments(especially federal), cutting spending, and reducing regulation and taxes for the sake of individual freedom and thus morality.
Oh well, time to buy more guns, food, and gold.
The stock market needs a reset, and has done for 6 years.
Resets are painful.
Hence no politician will do what is necessary.
They will keep kicking the can down the road, building the house of cards higher and higher.
It's been a game of musical chairs, with the party in power desperately hoping the music won't stop on their watch.
DUH what's Austrian Economics??? Whats Economics, Is that a new show thats going on before Dancing with the Stars?.....My Bankster brother in law works Commercial Real Estate and tells me all is FINE! Still lots of projects in the pipe. I tell him thats a horrible misallocation of our Capital as we have over 4X the retail space of our nearest challenger (Sweden) What the Hell 4x of retail space in an economy that can't and won't support it yet the dumbasses keep ginning out MOAR!
Enjoyed the article and agree with lots of good posts, yeah wine and booze at the stores is as cheap as ever relative to other prices. $50 rebates for a case of wine, $50 for a few handles of Bacardi. Read the fine print though as some of them are only used once and cover a boatload of brands. Cashing my $50 rebate for my new HP laptop that I paid $300 less for than the same model I bought 8 years ago.....so yeah deals are available while we rationalize the over supply of many things. My basement looks like an old mom and pop grocery a I have been deploying a lot of capital into food, booze, household supplies, and tools. Tired of the Wall Street Aholes and the Gubmint screwing me out of my investmentst in PM's, Oil and Gas, and other necessary commodities in their efforts to sustain THIER Ponzi. Figure my inventories are not only piece of mind but the tax free way of plaing the inflation game. Nothing for your savings (gain) and higher prices especially for anything we depend on from Ca.. That covers alot of what we stuff our cakeholes with.....Stay alert my friends
100% agree but we have to start with spelling first.
Edit: Not trying to be a Boehner but if you want your point taken by more people then it is important to present it well. You make a great point but the numerous spelling problems do detract from the message.
Edit dos: The reason being that the people who need to understand what is going on are already "educated" even if they can't think for a damn. They will toss out any idea that isn't presented all shiny and perfect like an iCrap.
Like I always say to my kids: A OR B, you can only spend it once, what do you want.
500 bucks on a phone bill... These people need a serious smack on the head. I spend that kind of money on a romantic weekend!
What the hell does she actually get for that 500 bucks?
Live frugal, buy
Gold BitcheZ.....i pick up pennies
"Like I always say to my kids: A OR B, you can only spend it once, what do you want.
500 bucks on a phone bill... These people need a serious smack on the head. I spend that kind of money on a romantic weekend!
What the hell does she actually get for that 500 bucks?"
Probably the only reason she has to live.....namely......gossip.
Talking to the kids, grandkids, and yes, gossip.
Babaloo - How the hell does one spend $500 a month on cell? Is she calling internationally? I have wi-fi at home and gym and use AT&T for $65 a month including taxes.
I do have a $200 cable/very high speed net connection which I need the high speed for business. Have the 70' inch Vizeo TV for $1,500 and Netflix. I drink at home and rarely go to the movies although I just saw Interstellar at movies which was awsome. The HD is very nice but many movies on premier channels are old but between the two of cable and netflix have plenty to watch.
I cook at home which I rather enjoy. It just is too expensive to go out as I save my powder for hard asset investment plus lots of cop tax collectors out there to be concerned about. It helps I have a homebody girlfriend which is 14 years younger and likes X-Box 360.
I'm the type that wouldnt buy X-Box One until I can get one for $200 at the pawn shop and when they have more used games. I drive a used Mercedes that cost be $7,500 in 2011 and stills runs great. As far as income I am in top 10%. I invest in my small business, real-estate and gold. I will probably put some in stocks after a 20% correction I expect in 2015 but prefer real-estate.
You paid $1,500 to watch crap storylines, propaganda, jewish boy-men, advertising and millionaires moving balls around? I couldn't hand over that much cash for an electronic bullshitter without throwing up at the counter. Stop buying their shit amigo, it only encourages them and impoverishes you.
Rabbit ears will get most people 20-30 channels of free HDTV. No need to pay for it. It also helps ween you off watching it. My kids are more productive, I am more productive and so is the wife. I'm not saying this to pat me on the back but to encourage others. It did take some getting use to but we find that we rarely turn it on now just occassionally on the weekends.
Try having pay-as-you-go mobile phones. People look at you like you have the plague when you explain why you aren't texting or tweeting every 3 minutes.
The "un-Affordable non-Care Axe" starting to take its toll.
the answer is more payday/car title/sell your children lenders
new vehicle sales look to be 'good' for november ... courtesy of ever increasing (subprime) auto loans (which are turning sour) and leases ... only a matter of time before blowup
tick tock tick tock tick tock ...
According to the news today..... Zero percent financing.....they are all buying new Cars!
"Incomes are not rising," the expert PhD says. Hand that fellow a Nobel Prize in Economics!
Home internet is up 83%??
I haven't paid any more for mine in 15 years. Same price, it just gets a little speed bump every few years.
Ditto cell phones. I've never paid for a cell phone in my life. 2 year contract, same cost now it was 15 years ago, but with higher speeds and more features. I picked up a Galaxy S4 (one generation back, but plenty for my needs) before Thanksgiving for FREE with a 2 year contract. Given that I'm going to need a cell phone for more than 2 years anyway, I don't see how that's an awful deal.
I have a feeling they made these up to draw attention away from the rise in health insurance (thanks, Obamacare!), which is probably a much larger part of most people's budget than their cell phone or home internet service.
I think this means an 83% increase in home internet total billing, not a 83% price increase. More customers plus a slight price increase.
Look at the decrease in home mortgage payments and the increase in home rental payments. Nobody's mortgage goes down. Just fewer souls willing to support the FSA by paying property taxes.
Hold on, I'm going to go re-read again paying closer attention this time. You might be right.
Yep. You're right. My bad- I read but didn't comprehend, I guess.
Use VOIP apps on your cell phone means no contract. Able to text,call and use data for free forever.Look at freedompop for answers.
Health insurance=eat healthy and stock up on Fish Felx/fish mox. Same antibiotics you go the doctor for like amoxicillin. Stock up it is cheap. One co pay pays for a year supply of antibiotics for a family of 4. Fuck a doctor who sells out to the real drug dealers of this country.
"FREE with a 2 year contract"
I rest my case.
OH but gas prices are down leading to people going out and spending money.......
Let's think about that for a second. If you fill your tank once a week with 20 gallons...or 80 gallons a month and are saving $0.50 cents a gallon...thats a savings of $40.00 per month.
And that's going to make people go out and spend? Really? Save $40....spend $500 on a TV? Sure that makes sense
If people save $40 on gas....then spend it on something else....there is NO increase in spending.
There may be an increase in productivity though.
Yes you're spending the same amount, but perhaps that spending is more effective?
I'm sure people write PhDs on this type of thing...
Still waiting for CNBC to describe as you have on WWExchange. I heard the first part on CNBC, but never the second part. The second part makes the first part completely irrational. I watch CNBC for the ticker symbols and the hot foreign chicks.
Walter Energy down 30% today
the NRF CEO was a hoot ... attributing HORRIBLE black friday weekend sales to improving economy.
when just nov 20th NRF issued a forecast for 140 million shoppers for weekend ... only 133 million showed
Maybe I missed it, but where is the auto/transportation category? Maintenance of a vehicle, old or new, insurance, gas, etc.
That takes a nice chunk of the monthly income.
Or maybe that isn't included for a reason.
Like the $720 I just dropped on my daughter's car for a new thermostat and sensor.
Thanks Audi for burying the thermostat so deep in the engine it takes 2 hours of labor to replace it.
Yep,
BMW same way. To change a head lamp they have to take the entire bumper off. $700 later you have a new light. Is Bernanke working as an auto mechanic these days!!!
Just went through the same thing with my daughter's BMW. Who knew that when the lamp broke, the entire right side light ASSEMBLY had to be replaced? Fuckin' 'luxury' cars..seem cheap till you need absolutely anything replaced. And her bmw breaks down more than my 3 yr old mazda.
edit: oh and total cost for repair was like 2k.
BMW and Audi/VW are insane with that kind of shit. Mercedes isn't that bad in comparison, but I'm completely burned out on luxury car maintenance.
I've noticed BMWs and VW have some really "bad years." '08 and '09 diesel Jettas, for example, are freaking $10K+ time bombs due to fuel pump failures.
People drive around $40k cars and trucks and in So. Cal they are filthy in 4 days, of course they don't wash them and they look no better than my waxed $2.5k clunker.
I pick up pennies and stack a kings ransom
Yeah,
That 04 A4 has been a real PITA. At least I can replace the halogens in it for less than $30 and under 20 minutes.
But the timing belt is another issue. Whole front end has to come off.
Nah. Just did the timing belt on my 05 Jetta TDI. Just took off airbox valve cover, vacuum pump, and used a chain block to lift the engine about 5 inches. No need to pull body parts or suspension.
The hardest part was getting the harmonic balancer off. And getting the turbo plumbing put back together correctly with no missing vacuum lines.
Saved ~$500 in labor, but it did take me 8 solid hours. Since I don't make $500/day the choice was easy for me.
YMMV
ETA: 190k on that car, only failures have been 1 fuel pump, and 1 alternator pulley. I bought it new. 42mpg avg over its life.
I flat out would never own a European car. They totally suck to work on, parts are ridiculously expensive, and for what they cost, they really aren't particularly reliable. Toyota, Honda, Nissan. In about that order, depending on model. Followed by Subaru, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Hyundai in no particular order. After that, maybe Ford. I would be hard pressed to own a non-Japanese/Korean car that isn't 40 years old or more. About the only non-Asian newer vehicle I would ever consider would be a diesel powered pickup.
Just bought a Ram Ecodiesel 1500. averaging about 25mpg and runs really well. Engine is Italian.
I went and bought a 57 Chevy Bel Air. Mileage is horrible, but I make bank on low repair costs and appreciation.
MMMAAANNNNN!!!!! THAT'S ROUGH!!!!!! I hate when I have to pay to have my daughter's luxury car fixed! Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick! How do you get by?
Did you buy your daughter such a ridiculously priced car? My older daughter got our hand me downs. She bitched so much they were breaking down all the time and costing too much money to operate so she bought her own. We high fived each other as to our brilliance. The younger daughter after seeing what happened said no way to that scenario. She saved up 5k, made a financial deal with grandma and we gave her 4k so she could buy a new Mazda outright. She's responsible for its upkeep.
If kids don't have skin in the game they always look to parents to take care of things. If my husband wasn't around to put their car on our flatbed trailer they learned pretty quick how to call a tow truck.
Miffed
User maintainability has plunged, I ended up sacrificing some comfort with my last purchase just so I'd have a car I could fix and reach all the parts.
To me it looks like post-2005 was when the real nosedive in self-service happened. '98-'99 anything is a dream (based on my experience with Jeeps, Hondas, and Toyotas.)
Fixing your own car?!?!? Horrors. The car companies don't want THAT. Cars are now disposable - best to lease for 3 years and turn i for a new one.
There's absolutely NO focus on 'repairabiity'. You no longer have to do valve jobs or rings on your engine but the cascade of small shit will cost you a fortune and force you into a new car you can't afford - but then they'll be nice and rent you one for 3 years at a time.
Where do you stick a thermometer when your kids are sick?
Yep... You plant one in their ass
Why? I don't know but it's the cheapest way to shut them up and they never act sick if they're not sick to skip school.
I found out the other day the difference between a rectal and oral thermometer. Taste.
Be sure not to get their SUV either (or the same one from Porsche, VW, etc.) The idiot team that engineered it put the main battery under the front seat, making it a 4-hr job to replace a freaking $100 battery!
Welcome to 3rd World Amerika. Gonna be interesting
Even FREE CREDIT iS MAx OUT. ROME all over again
Wow, that guys masters degree in journalism is really paying off. Thanks Captain Obvious!
These charts pretty much agree with what I have experienced, so I was glad to see them. It's nice to see that "it's not just me".
oh, its just you.
and then some.
Obamacare increased my health insurance premiums by 50%, increased my maximum out-of-pocket deductible by 50%, and reduced some of my coverages
BUT now I can
get the democrat party's alcohol & drug addict voters treated,
get democrat party's female voters body parts treated,
get democrat party's female voters children treated,
etc etc etc etc
What part of the Constitution authorizes this politician imposed obligation on me to pay for other people's personal expenses ???
Do Supreme Court Justices actually have any knowledge of the Constitution or are they just bribed-for-life politicians with fancy robes ?
yo yo yo thanks for that redistribution bitch. I gotz me my Zerocare now.
90% of people in government have no knowledge of reality and are 100% theory based. when their theories fail they can only assume that they were either sabotaged or they just didn't commit enough to it.
To bad bullshit is not part of the CPI, Inflation would be running at 1000%...oh wait.
Costa Rica or Southern Chile is lookin better amd better every fucking day
Costa Rica is very beautiful but also VERY poor, and an abundance of high-breeding rate peasants, especially pregnant unmarried poor teenagers, who will of course produce lots more poor peasants, not a good trend.
Southern Chile is fabulous, beautiful mountains & forests, plenty of German, Austrian, Swiss generations-old expat comunities. But it is still a Latin American government & culture (self-explanatory), though one of the best. The area has many highly fertile peasants breeding as quickly as they are able, not a good trend. If you are American, you would save a lot of hassles by just going to the Alaska panhandle & hiding out in the still extensive bush - climate is very similar.
Their religion: "Don't wait until you can get a job. Just get married as soon as you can, and start having children. God will provide."
FTS. ..still third world shot holes.....but we are right behind them.
where's the spicy bird that's on the thumb for the vid?
damn clickbait.
This is nothing new. In the 70's I was a poor musician making 13,000 a year.
A poor musician with a pickup, a motorcyle, a rental house and four girl friends. And I had no trouble paying for all of that while saving $5k a year, which gave me my start in investing.
Today I have idiot friends still trying to be professional musicians. The good ones who work very hard make about $20,000 a year.
That's the equivalent of about $5,000 in 1975 dollars.
The bad news has accelerated under Obama though, no doubt about that. Things will look a lot better by 2022-25, due to demographics. Hey, just another 7-10 years.
Young people are so screwed.
I never went along or agreed with this plan.
I'm going down fighting tooth and nail.
I didn't build this consumerist society.
I didn't build this debt.
I didn't build this status quo.
I'm not going along with it.
If there's one thing I love, it's a fight. You'll take my balls before you ever see me on a knee to anyone.
If there's one thing I'll fight for, it's the freedom these sheep have given away for a big screen and a phone.
BS made up numbers.... Food up 12.5%, try 50% or more over 7 years. Healthcare 24.2 percent increase. Try close to triple.....
And education? Haha....who are they kidding?
I graduated college in 1992. Paid $2.8k/year in 1992
Today, the same school's tuition is $11k/year.
Fuck them and their shrines to Negro atheletes.
Food is crazy expensive. In 2008 the wife and I would spend $300 a month. Now, It's $400-$420. We buy the same shit, and both of us have lost weight since then. Organic milk is 8 damn dollars a gallon. It used to be 4!
Group policy just went up 42% and bumped the deductible to 6k. Hardly any increase at all. We are all "winning" now.
Additional rising costs:taxes, fees, fines, cost of compliance with government regulations,
like israel, the USA is finding it harder and harder to feed its people because the government is spending moar and moar to fight terrorism.
could everyone in israel please send $25 donation to the USA so our poor starving masses could eat steak for change? instead of peanut butter and romin noodles?..........please israel? could you help with a small $25 donation so americans can eat steak again?
We do seem to spend a large amount (in $ and %) for Electronic Utilities: Cable, Satellite, Mobile Phones. Certainly compared to other household utilities, which are far more "necessary" in the true sense of the word.
In our case... I'm looking at getting rid of the landline and replacing it with something like Vonage, and getting rid of DirecTV and simplifying down to Netflix, HuluPlus and a TV antenna for Local Channels for local news. Looking to spend less $ and to manage our time better.
And I no longer use the phone line on my cell phone to surf the Net. Instead, if I have to access the internet with my phone, I use its WiFi feature. That way I can downshift to a lesser Data package. And I'm not impressed with AT&T's cell coverage. I have "Verizon envy", but refuse to pay their prices.
Rather than Vonage, look into Obihai for VOIP. Buy the hardware (less than $50) and use Google Voice to make free calls in US and Canada, or worldwide calls at very reasonable per minute rates. No monthly contract and can take hardware with you while traveling/hunkering in bunker.
I admit it, I buy a $289 computer tower every 3 years or so. Porn sites bring the trojans and fuck me royal.
I pick up pennies.
Combofix + MalwareBytes = Free
linux + firefox + adblock + ghostery + noscript
Been pornin' for 17 years. Take my advice.
My sister is a nurse in Cleveland, she was complaining that her health insurance from her employer went from $146 biweekly for just her and her husband, to $369.50 biweekly, deductibles and OOP went up also. Ouch!
With two in college I go without a fourth meal and buy a silver dollar (or two) per week. Man school is a lot more expensive than when I went and could pay tuition with even a paper route
I don't know what you all are complaining about, but I have 22 million dependents and the IRS doesn't allow me a Child Tax Credit for even one.
I'm going to guess - taking a wild stab here - the middle class isn't spending any money because they don't have any fucking money.
Hey, How'd I do?
To prop up the banks and pretend they didn't all go insolvent 6 years ago, we shoved a big cork up the ass of the economy. All the money goes in the one end, but it ain't comin' out the other. This lets the big banks tidy up their balance sheets but it kills the economy. But apparently the shiny intellectual "Serious People" think the balance sheets of the banks and the book value of the index-making corporations are all there is to an economy. From what they've seen of life, that's not an unreasonable assumption. Money just comes to them, along with fringe benefits, perqs, and the like. All their needs are taken care of and the money have left over covers most "wants." They think it's like that for everybody.
But instead, median income has declined in real and top-line terms. The list of things you need keeps growing, and those things keep going up in price. Luxuries are getting cheaper, and the energy market is so gamed by finance utilities are raising fees to give themselves steady cashflow, so cheaper futures prices aren't showing up on the household bills, and despite what most people think, most don't spend so much on gas that lower prices right now make much difference.
Nope, it's the increasing cost of health insurance coming along with less coverage so higher out-of-pocket on top of premiums, food, education, ticky-tack fees at every turn on every transaction, thinner denim and weaker stitching, a 3-pound can of coffee now being 42 oz., a half-gallon of ice cream now being 1.5 qt., and every other which way they get ya. Hell, retailers now make you do your own customer service.
The middle class has just slightly too long of a memory for them to get fucked like this twice in 6 years without anyone noticing. Whether they do anything or not is a different question. I'm guessing things are still going to be just a little too good in the Seat of Imperium for this to be the crack-up that does it. But things might get weird next time.
Who needs money if you have credit?
There's a lot to like in this comment. Thank you...
I;m a coffee stacker. On my shelf sit many large cans of coffee. I see the changes. Condensed timeline
2008 -- Maxwell House -- 39 oz can --$3.99 on sale
2010 -- MH -- 34.5 oz can -- $6.99 on sale
2012 -- MH -- 31.5 oz can -- $7.99 on sale
2013 -- MH -- 27.9 oz can -- $9.99 on sale
2014 -- I buy premium coffee past expiration date at discount grocers. Charbucks, 8 O'clock bean, New England, etc.
$4 for a 10oz bag (retails for about 8).
Even though the blue plastic cans looked the same from 2008 to 2012, the cans themselves were made of ever thinner plastic.
Inflation rears its ugly head and margins are so thin that even reducing the amount of plastic in the injection molded can evidently raise profit. WTF?
When TSHTF I will have coffee. Black Gold, Texas tea!
But the Fed must maintain 2% inflation target or people will start having disposable income and we can't have that!
Doesn't the coffee go stale in a few months?
That's awesome. I stack coffee myself. My wife laughs at me a little, but we're not going to be the first on the block to run low on coffee, toilet paper, paper towels, batteries, light bulbs, or any of the other things I can buy in bulk and keep on shelves. The chest freezer is full too,, and I like canning produce from the garden. I'm not really a "prepper." I just grew up poor on a farm where winters can kill you, so I'm used to the idea that it might be a while before I can get to the store and if I'm housebound for a week or more, I'm not wiping my ass on newspaper or trying to re-use coffee grounds. Any squinty-eyed paranoid freak can stock up on bullets and rainwater, but when they need coffee, we can work some kind of deal.
The 3# can of Kirkland dark roast at Costco is my barometer. A couple years ago it was $8.99. Then $9.99. Last week it was $10.99. It's still a 3# can though. And I have at least a dozen of them, located in a secure location I won't willingly disclose. I rotate stock so we're always using the oldest one.
Hmmm, I didn't see Hookers and Blow....
Or is that .1%'er stuff only?
you get to settle for
the wifey who let herself go and some piss water beer.
Middle class is apparently spending it all on automobiles. Or was there channel stuffing again in November?
The auto think is interesting in social trends. They may motivated to arbitrage down an interest rate, they want better
fuel ecoonomy, $800 tires may an incentive, they are leasing low end cars now affordabley which was never
done before because they didnt hold a residual value ( NADA scheduled depreciation price fixing?).
$100 an hour shop rates and parts prices should be a big motivator.
Another idea along with declining home ownership and increasing rental, transient refugees in their own country,
they may have a subconsious reason to value mobility.