this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2025
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Economics
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Cutting out Uber Eats, restaurants, and bars goes a long way to paying down debt (groceries are so much cheaper). Even the people in giant holes on Caleb Hammer’s show walk away with a budget to kill their debt.
Credit card debt is fucking murder. The interest is worse than many realize. Murder it so it doesn’t murder you.
Ohhhh, just stop buying iPhones and avocado toast, why didn't I think of that? It seems so simple in hindsight!
Depending on how often you buy iPhones, sure. But I think we all know it’s rent, health insurance, and rising food costs that kills most Americans.
Agreed, that is very much a ‘it depends’. A $1000 pro max every year is opulent, a used SE every 5 years isn’t.
No shit? Almost like I was using a common allegory for being out of touch with actual poor people to critique that commentary "advice".
I think you may have a misconception of what the bottom 25% of earners do. Or, maybe I do. I don't know anyone that does that stuff regularly, not even the high earners I know.
I agree. Even "lazy" home cooking (frozen meals, Ramen, frozen pizza) is always cheaper than restaraunts.
One of the best things I ever did for myself, IMO, was making a budgeting spreadsheet. Except for a basic =SUM() tile showing how much I've earned minus what I've spent, it's all manual, nothing is automatically filled in and I have to really reflec and be honest to myself about every purchase I make. Everything gets logged. I don't know how much I was spending/earning before the spreadsheet (obviously) but I just know that I'm budgeting smarter with one.
Or society dangles every kind of temptation in front of people then wags its finger at them when they partake. Your finance bro mentality is neither helpful or wanted.
Don’t carry credit card debt, the interest eviscerates your finances. It is a fact much of America does not take to heart.
When you've got rent to pay and mouths to feed, and paychecks dont arrive for another week (or more), sometimes it's a necessity. And when emergencies arrive (as happens more and more often) people at this financial level generally dont have the "rainy day" fund to lean on.
This is not exclusively a personal issue, it is mainly a systemic one. Sure, many people could do with some better financial literacy and personal responsibility... but that's nowhere near the epidemic of parasitic opportunists eager to squeeze dry every person they can. The desperate being the easiest to exploit, in most cases.
Absolutely. And then when the bill comes in six weeks, pay the balance.
Credit card use is fine, carrying a balance on credit cards is what eviscerates your finances.
And more bills come in to pay in that six weeks. And mouths still need feed and heads still need roofing.
"Just pay the balance" is great advice... if you actually have the money to do so. Most people in these situations don't. Which is why they're in that position in the first place. Suggesting otherwise is exceedingly out of touch with reality.
Good thing you didn't read the post, which defined living paycheck to paycheck as spending 95% of your income on necessities like housing and food. You think these people are blowing money at the bars? Lol. If anything they're getting a bottle of bottom shelf shit and drinking alone in the dark.