'I’m making the most money I've ever made, and I’m still living paycheck to paycheck'

“There’s this wild disconnect between what people are experiencing and what economists are experiencing,” says Nikki Cimino, a recruiter in Denver.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    804·
    11 months ago

    Nikki Cimino, a 40-year-old recruiter living in Denver, said she finally saved up enough to buy a condo last year, but missed out on the ultra-low interest rates that had made homeownership more affordable in the early days of the pandemic. Her 5.25% interest rate pushed her monthly payments to $1,650. After a divorce in 2020, she’s shouldering $4,000 in credit card debt.

    It’s the credit card debt…

    Instead of paying that off since 2020, she saved a down payment and bought an expensive condo. She’s wasting a shit ton of money on interest because credit cards are all like 20-30%

    Credit cards are predatory, if you ever carry a balance to the next month, that needs to be your highest priority.

    Do a transfer to get 0% each year if you have to when recovering from emergencies. But paying credit interest for years is insane.

    • kescusay@lemmy.world
      151·
      11 months ago

      Bingo. I never, ever let credit card debt carry over. I’d genuinely rather miss a house payment.

    • QuaternionsRock@lemmy.world
      12·
      11 months ago

      For Denise and Paul Nierzwicki, credit cards are the only way to make ends meet. The couple, ages 69 and 72, respectively, have about $20,000 in debt spread across multiple cards, all with interest rates above 20%.

      The trouble started during the pandemic, when Denise lost her job and a business deal for a bar that they owned in their hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, went bad.

      They applied for Social Security, which helped, and Denise now works 50 hours a week at a restaurant. Still, they’re barely scraping together the minimum payments for their credit card debt.

      Jesus. I don’t see how this gets un-fucked without a massive wave of defaults. And that’ll just lead to a different kind of fucked.