This one simple trick will save more than anything. Just die.

He could get the tent dlc and save on rent. Also doesn't look out of place under a bridge.

American society tries to force debt on you and they try to hook you as soon as you can legally sign a contract. . When you get into college, you are inundated with offers from tons of CC companies with seemingly good terms but they're actually horrible. It'll say something like 12.9% interest rate, but in the fine print it tells you that it jump to 23.9% if you're late on a payment. One brain fart or patch of bad luck and you're fucked for as long as they can keep you under their foot.

If you're fortunate, you had parents who taught you how to avoid the worst of them and to manage debt. But even so, it's not easy because there are so many traps. Worse still, you have to do it. If you don't get a credit card, you will have a very bad credit rating. That means when you go to buy a car or anything else that has to be financed you will get shit terms. It even makes it harder to get an apartment because the manager will check your credit before offering you a lease.

In your over simplified example I still say yes they should. However we both know it's more complex than that. Loans, interest rates, interest types, payoff schedules, taxes, credit cards, other types of financing - to a huge chunk of people it is overwhelming. Most Americans go into buy a car or get financing and don't even ask about interest rates, most only want to know what the monthly payment is.

Youre assuming people put in the effort to know where there money actually goes. A lot of americans have never made a budget. They get to the end of the month/pay period, see how much money they have left, and go spend it.

And like someone else mentioned, its not always consistent. Different months have different needs and income can fluctuate. And they certainly never account for that

Well, economics is a mandated class in my city (not sure about state), so yes, we did the basic "never spend more than what you have" and "calculate plan A vs plan B vs buying something outright" and showing how by-now-pay-later/credit is always worse than just spending what you own, but try to at least get something with low APR when you do have to get loans. Like I looked at whoever had the best APR rates when choosing a credit card for college students, although I always pay the full balance every statement.

But like the other comment said, it's the fact that it's hard to teach an 18 year old not to be impulsive with their money, especially if said 18 year old's parents never really emphasized frugality to their kid. Some people are just crazy and learn only by being burnt, so while I feel negative spending any kind of money outside of bare necessities (gas, lunch), some people max their card out buying Gucci and a PS5 Pro.

We're taught debt is a scary bad thing, but we also need to learn how to turn your life back around when you start going into debt, or when you're deep in. Gen Z is already experiencing far more debt than any previous generation, and we have no idea how to get out.

A poll by Talker Research for Newsweek revealed that Gen Z—born 1997-2012—carries the highest average personal debt when compared to older counterparts. Gen Z carries the highest average personal debt, at $94,101—far above millennials ($59,181) and Gen X ($53,255)

Economic reports, including recent findings from the New York Federal Reserve, confirm that Gen Z is falling behind on debt payments at increasing rates, with more than 90-day delinquencies at their highest level in three years.

Oh you can be approved for a ton of debt that you can't actually afford. Banks take the position that it's your debt and you can do what you want so long as you can make the payments. They don't care if you spend 90% of your income on your debt payments. (Remember they get money from the interest so the worse you are at repaying the better it is for them).

When I got my mortgage they approved us for 2.5 times what we asked for it. It was asinine. We took a much more modest house and have been happy with that.

They’ll approve way more than they should, but also they probably quoted high interest rates to make up for the risk. People need to see high interest rates as a red flag that the bank really doesn’t believe you but are just feeding you rope while you tie your own noose.

Technically there’s a plus in that this is how people with marginal finances get any credit, have access to any car (and yes cars are unfortunately necessary in too many places). But I’m not sure we’re doing them any favors

Because it's probably an 8 year loan which has a six year overlap with the other 8 year loan. This shit makes lenders rich because the interest is all front loaded so 4 years in when the idiot defaults on the second loan they've already gotten like 80% of that amortization and can then just repo the vehicle and do it all over again.

Ah ok, I stand corrected.

This is common with low volume sports cars. Ferrari will sell you a $350,000 car and tell you you can't wrap or paint it.

Ford sued John Cena for trying to sell his GT.

I'm down over 100k. To be fair a lot of that is from extra income I wouldn't have earned if I wasn't so fucked. But then I could've slept more than 3h a night if I didn't have to do that.

I'm just starting my road to recovery, still in a constant battle. She's trying to weaponize our child against me and I'm documenting everything with CPS but in our country only courts can tell her to relinquish custody back to me. CPS has no such power, but they do show up in court to make sure the child's interests are protected.

I hope you're recovering too.

Isn't it amazing how they weaponize money and everything? It's honestly terrifying how meticulously manipulative they are.

Agreed. The closest thing to "new" I've gotten is 2 years old after a lease has expired.

I've purchased two cars new. Still own both of them.

One is a Chevy Sonic that is a reliable little stick-shift hatchback that was inexpensive when I bought it, and have used for over a decade. The design had hardly changed between years and was known to be reliable. It probably didn't drop in value nearly as much as most other cars - I admittedly wouldn't know because I've had no interest in selling it.

The other is a Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid, which essentially didn't exist used when I got it. They continue to be challenging to acquire. I wouldn't be surprised if I could sell it for more than I still owe on it, and I got it on a lease-to-own with zero interest (the dealership wants the opportunity to upsell me when the lease is over).

It's possible to buy new and not get screwed over. It's not common, though.

Basically because the CEO started throwing Nazi salutes at a rally, among other things.

Exactly, except the Cybertruck is after he went mask-off and they still bought it.

You mispronounced fascist. That's what all cybertruck owners are.

America is a country where people drive Lexus and Mercedes home to trailer parks.