Americans are burning through the excess savings they accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to a big burst of stimulus money from the federal government and limited spending, according to new research published by the San Francisco Federal Reserve.
More BullSh*t from the liars in charge - just add it to the list
ReplyDeleteI don't believe anything these assholes say anymore and haven't for a long time now.
Deletebut I am seeing more people buy food with credit cards in the store these days
and that can not be a good sign. dave in pa.
That might not be as it seems. I know people who pay all their bills and do all their shopping with a credit card for the reward points, and pay it off in full every month.
DeleteThose awesome 'reward' points, where you are happy to pay THREE percent in credit card 'fees', to get ONE percent back. Boy dang it, I still thank my math teacher in high school every day for teaching me math. (I know math is whacis these days).
DeleteI believe it costs you 3% to use your credit card and you get 1 to 2 % back. You're not getting something for nothing
DeleteBackwoods Okie
I don't know what percentage they're getting back, but around here I pay 3% no matter if I'm using a debit card or credit card - which is why I use cash whenever possible.
DeleteBig box stores have priced that in on the cost of business, so if you are paying cash all you've done is increased the profit margin.
DeleteYup. The merchant pays a per-transaction fee, and a percentage as well on top of that. Especially small merchants get shafted (hard!) by this. But those monies are where all of the "credit card benefits" are coming from. Discover card, for instance, has "processing fees" that are about twice VISA or Mastercard's. Which is how they gave their customers cash for years and years. The interest on cards that don't get paid in time largely goes to pay off the bad loans they also incur.
DeleteYou know you can get fee free cards with cash back cards right? And you know the cost of credit card fees paid by the vendor are included in your prices no matter how you pay right? Walk into a Walmart and check the tags, there's no "credit/cash" proce tags.
Delete@WC, I've been using my credit card as a cash management tool for a couple decades now, including buying groceries. I don't carry more than $50.00 in cash, mostly it's for an emergency where I can't or don't want to use my card. I pay off my bill every month. I've seen a lot people over the years using theirs for what I think is the same thing.
DeleteAnyone that carries a balance on their card doesn't know how to budget and is throwing money into a black hole, IMHO.
Nemo
Wife and I pay it off every month. We have never had a delinquent in 50 years. We don't impulse buy. I've had friends going back 50 years + that were always 5k or more in CC debt.
DeleteDefine excess savings....
ReplyDeleteMoney that the government doesn't have its grubby paws on... yet.
DeleteThat's what they think. I'm not sure how we can have 'excess savings' and record credit card debt at the same time. Maybe its two separate groups of people...
DeleteIt wasn't much money and the price increases ate it all, and more.
ReplyDeleteFor some those 'excessive savings' were likely all the free covid money they got from DC.
ReplyDeleteI buy everything on my credit card groceries included. Pay it off in full each and redeem my points for cash. Last year I earned about $1200.00 by redeeming those points. Better than interest in a savings account.
ReplyDeleteThey believe all of the money should be theirs. Therefore all savings are excessive.
ReplyDeleteThere is a big difference between excess and excessive. Ask Santa for a Webster dictionary!
ReplyDeleteThe people that print and loan a fiat currency think any savings is excessive because the monetary unit used is depreciating, or a poor store of wealth. And they are right.
ReplyDelete