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There’s a narrative floating around right now that if inflation would cool off and if prices would finally come down, Americans would be back on solid financial footing.
I don’t buy it. Not at all.
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth. Even if prices dropped tomorrow, a lot of Americans would still be going broke.
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And it’s not just about the economy.
It’s about our instant gratification behavior.
The Blame Game Is Getting Old
We’ve spent the last few years pointing fingers at:
And yes, prices did go up. A lot.
But at some point, we must take a step back and ask a harder question:
If money is so tight, then why does it look like nobody got the memo?
A Reality Check From Life
I’m not looking at spreadsheets here. I’m looking at what’s actually happening on the ground with my own two eyes.
Recently, I’ve gone out to multiple high-end restaurants, traveled through packed airports, and attended concerts and live shows and here’s what I saw.
Every single one of them was full.
Not half full. Not struggling. Packed.
That’s not the behavior of a scared or worried consumer. That’s the behavior of a consumer who is still very comfortable spending and doesn’t really believe they are going to hit hard times.
The Spending Addiction Nobody Wants to Admit
Here’s where this gets real. We don’t just have an affordability problem in America.
We have a spending discipline problem.
People are still:
And then turning around and saying to themselves, “I can’t get ahead because everything is so expensive and the Government needs to fix the problem.” That’s only part of the story.
We Forgot The Pay Yourself First Rule
The real issue isn’t just rising prices. It’s that, as incomes have gone up even modestly, so have lifestyles and people forgot the cardinal rule of saving money off the top and then spend what’s leftover. We’ve reverse engineered it to spend first and then maybe save if there is something left over.
We’ve normalized premium travel abroad instead of basic trips. We’ve converted to dining out three to four times per week instead of cooking at home. We’ve added convenience like taking Ubers, doing Doordash, or needing access to a club for comfort over cost at every turn of our lives.
And we justify it because “We deserve it, we don’t know if there will be another COVID, or everyone seems to be doing it, so why shouldn’t I do it?”
Maybe we do. But we also must be able to afford it, which is why credit card debt and overall debt is at an all-time high. Our leaders are doing it in Washington, and we are doing it on main street. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
The Credit Card Illusion
Here’s what’s really fueling this disconnect. Debt. The kind of debt that’s like having saturated fat in your diet. You know how they tell you there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol? Well, many Americans are on a bad cholesterol diet of bad debt, and it’s going to lead to a financial windowmaker for families across our country.
Credit cards, buy-now-pay-later, financing everything from vacations to concert tickets.
It creates the illusion that you’re doing fine, you can keep up with your Instagram friends and that the money will somehow work itself out later. But it doesn’t.
It compounds and compounds just like interest always does until you’ve dug a hole too deep to climb out of financially.
Why Lower Prices Won’t Fix This
Let’s say inflation cools. Even deflation. Prices stabilize. Maybe even come down in some areas.
Does that suddenly fix your…
Of course not.
Because those are behavioral problems and not economic ones.
At some point, we must own this:
You can’t out-earn bad spending habits.
And you can’t out-wait them with lower prices.
If your lifestyle consistently exceeds your income, the outcome is predictable no matter what the CPI says.
This is a Wake-Up Call. It’s Not a Lecture
This isn’t about shaming anyone. It’s about seeing what’s happening with your own two eyes.
It’s about recognizing that financial stability isn’t just determined by what things cost.
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It’s determined by being disciplined to do what you choose to do with your money.
Because right now, the evidence is everywhere that restaurants are full, flights are packed and concerts are sold out.
And yet, people are still saying they’re falling behind. Both of those things can’t be true forever.
If prices come down, it might help slow down your leaky financial tire, but it won’t save you from the fundamental problem.
Because the biggest threat to your financial future isn’t inflation. It’s the spending habits you refuse to change.
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