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Why do Americans pretend they're not broke when most Americans are in debt? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I used to be comfortably poor with no debt. My income, expenses and living standards were low.

Now earning a little over minimum wage and fucking hell life is easy, but largely because I was poor and just got used to not having things. I continue that now.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Once you learn how to live on very little money out of necessity, living comfortably within your means as your wages increase doesn't feel like such a bad thing.

    And anyone who has been without a safety net understands that keeping a buffer in their bank account feels way better than splurging on impulsive luxuries.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    My buffer started at treat £2k as zero. As my wages went up I quickly started going over £5k and then £10k, didn't even know how to spend it. So I didn't spend it.

    Within a few years of saving like £5-10k a year I had enough for a pretty good deposit on a house, like 15% or so. The house we got wasn't even at the higher end of what we could borrow. I don't want to min/max wealth, I want to live comfortably, and there are allotments across the road from us.

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