this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2024

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183

In what ways are people today being convinced to spend money beyond their means? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (8 children)

I was talking about groceries with a friend over in England a few nights ago. Apparently my pasta prices are 4x hers. And that's just the store brand dry noodles. If I found the cheapest deal I used to see from various places, it'd still be 2x. I'd need a pound of noodles for $0.49 to even be in the ballpark.

If a simple item like that is casually 4x more expensive, I'm sure everything else is also up there. I've been lucky that my income allows me to be a single family income provider and have money left over to throw around wherever I want, but just finding this out the other day really left a deep impression of just how sorry of a state things are in over here.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Buy now pay later schemes like Klarna.

You can spread the cost of a takeaway over 6 weeks. Wtf? If you can't afford a takeaway make a fucking sandwich.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (2 children)

During the pandemic an old friend of mine and myself reconnected abd played video games together. He told me a couple of times that money is kinda tight and whatever. He worked way different shifts than me so i invited him to eat at my place 4 times a week or so. I love cooking and cooking double doesn't really makes much of a difference. After a few weeks i was at his place for the first time ever and he had two full ass garbage bags full of delivery and fast food on his porch. Motherfucker that's where your money goes. I can coock for the both of us a good healthy meal for a week for what he spends alone in two days. He basically said: well, i can't cook, so there is nothing he can do, really. Wegot out of touch again, aside from talking on discord every bow and then, but i seen him recently and he's almost doubled in size now, so i assume nothing has changed.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

where i live renting a small room is more expensive than all minimum starting salaries i have seen, and you also need to pay two months rent upfront, and the security deposit is equal to 12 months of rent and because of high inflation that means you are literally paying an extra months worth of rent just on the deposit alone (which goes up by inflation).

so people telling me how much life is worth living? cause that's certainly beyond my means.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago (3 children)

security deposit is equal to 12 months of rent

Jeez. Why the hell are landlords asking for a downpayment on a home they are leasing?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Because some tenants will just stop paying and refuse to leave. Some will trash the place and sell everything they can pry off and either disappear or just move on. Trying to go after them is a long legal battle and the end result can be that they have no money and you'll get nothing.

Security deposits are security deposits. 12 months sounds crazy though. That really is enough for a downpayment in many places.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

cause they can, and it's a good source for an interest free loan. i mean who would pass on the opportunity to get an interest free loan where you can arbitrarily deduct the amount you owe?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

Silly, that's a down payment for the next house to turn into a rental.

[–] [email protected] 83 points 9 months ago (8 children)

Cars are a huge one. I know Lemmy is very radically against cars, but they are basically necessary for many (most?) Americans.

What is not necessary is the average price of a new car nearly doubling in 10 years. A $50k car should be a big luxury, not the fucking national average.

In order to afford a car that pricey, most people will have to severely compromise their savings, and/or get a loan that will last as long or longer than the car.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have been thinking of getting a new car, but didn't want to use the dealers finance system, so I went to the bank. Turns out, banks will only give auto loans if you're buying a car that's only 3 years old.

yeah right, since I can barely afford a new car, lemme just buy a BRAND fuckin NEW one. Nah, gimme that 2012 for 30k less thank you.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Cars have also become extremely reliable (in the EU at least) over the last ten years. Car companies have slowly convinced millions of people that leasing is the way to go, and nobody realised they were being sold a car on subscription lol

Then they have to give back a perfectly fine car with at least a decade of life left in it, and get hooked into another subscription

Fucking mugs tbh

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

Be selling them the idea the end of the world is nigh. Who cares about the 30 year mortgage if everything’s going to be gone in 10 years?

That sort of thing. By selling the idea that our existence is short, they encourage near-term thinking.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Subscriptions everywhere. Video, credit, energy bills (subscription for repairs/maintenance), music, news sites, YouTubers, CARS, etc. I can't fucking escape this hell!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I've done pretty well so far. Only subscription I have is for Spotify and 1Password.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Energy bills aren't really subscriptions like the others though. You pay for the energy you use.

Whereas with the others, you're paying the same price every month regardless of how much you use.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

The maintenance plan is in addition to the gas usage

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yours doesn't come with a delivery fee that you'd have to pay every month regardless of any usage?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Oh yeah. Does that count as a subscription too?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Other than energy bills, you'll just have to dodge the rest of the subscriptions as best you can.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

I am doing my okayest.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

"CREDIT"

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