Are you deeply struggling right now? If so, I want you to know that you are not alone.
The things that I am about to share with you are not meant to be depressing. Rather, I hope that you will be encouraged to see that there are countless others in the exact same boat. Over the past few years, the cost of living has been rising much faster than paychecks have, and this has put enormous financial pressure on millions of American families. In some cases, families are dealing with extreme financial stress even though both parents are working good jobs. Virtually everything has become substantially more expensive, and so our money is not going nearly as far as it once did.
Unfortunately, the mainstream media keeps telling us that everything is just fine.
They keep telling us that we should stop our whining because we haven’t “officially” entered a recession yet.
But Deutsche Bank says that one is coming. In fact, analysts at the bank are now warning that there is a 100% chance that the U.S. is heading into one…
Odds of a U.S. recession have been hotly debated with the labor market and consumer spending showing resiliency even after some of the most aggressive interest rate hikes in history. But Deutsche Bank sees a 100% probability the U.S. will have one.
If you want someone to blame, Deutsche Bank says that we should blame our policy makers, because they created the “boom-bust cycle” that we are currently experiencing…
“The U.S. is heading for its first genuine policy-led boom-bust cycle in at least four decades,” he writes.
“The inflation we see was induced largely by expansive fiscal and monetary policy, and the aggressive rate hikes needed to tame that have now materialized. Avoiding a hard landing would be historically unprecedented.”
Sadly, many families don’t even want to imagine what harder times might look like, because they are already deeply, deeply suffering right now.
Recently, a very touching Facebook discussion was brought to my attention. In this discussion, people were sharing their financial struggles. I think that giving people an opportunity to vent and read the struggles of others helped them to realize that they are not alone.
So if you are also struggling, I hope that the examples that I pulled out of that discussion will encourage you.
You are not alone, because there are millions of others out there that are just like you…
-“We’re feeling it. It’s embarrassing to admit we’re struggling so much with what we make combined…. but we aren’t spenders, I broke down everything our money is going to & they’re genuinely all necessity things. Maybe I can penny pinch more with groceries and stuff but I’m just completely overwhelmed with the fact that we’re struggling so much for what our incomes are. Definitely feels like another Depression!”
-“We make about 60k a year and with inflation we are falling behind on our bills. We can’t afford mortgage, utilities and car payment AND food. We don’t qualify for any kind of assistance whatsoever. I just got a second job so hopefully that helps but it’s so hard right now”
-“Yes. 5 years ago we could put money aside every month. Now we are pulling from savings every month and we make 20k more now than we did then. We do have a slightly higher mortgage now though and 2 more kids than we did then. It’s rough”
-“I lost my job last year and I had to budget sooo much. I switched to cricket so the phone bill for two phones is $60 compared to like $220-$300 for Verizon. For food, I cook all the time. But I freeze our meat and I try to make multiple meals from that, frozen veggies, freeze the bread so it doesn’t go bad. I buy the Michaelina tv dinners that are like $1.30 for Mac n cheese and fettuccine Alfredo for my two boys(6 and 1). I buy 6 and those last for most of the week.”
-“So happy for summer to not have our school payment. And less laundry. It’s like idk how we are going to survive every month. And then I needed to go to the dentist. And now it’s like I wanna cry”
-“Yes when my husband first got his new job at what the pay he deserved finally for all the experience he has had nearly 15 years in the same field of work and we were like finally we will be able to save money and we were then this insane inflation hit and it’s like we are right back to where we were especially this month because we had to switch insurance plans and that took money out of his pay check and at the same time I was making some money to help out before but I had a surgery and was down for a few weeks and just now able to get back to fully helpful again. Budgeting is keeping us getting by but we also have used the credit cards this past month to get by so now it’s a catch up game and I will be looking to work in some way again.”
-“It’s not just you. Sometimes I have to choose what bill takes priority over another. I live paycheck to paycheck and every penny is for a bill. There’s never anything leftover. I am a single mom BUT I’ve been a single mom on my own for years! I used to have money leftover for my hair and fun things like jump time with the kiddos. But now all our “fun” activities fare free activities. Like nature walks, swimming in ponds, hikes, etc. Cause this momma is broke 😂 Waiting patiently for inflation to go down…”
-“More just to vent…. but is anyone else struggling financially hard right now?! Between my husband & I, we make $100k after taxes… so not bad, not amazing either. We both have pretty good jobs though… and we’re struggling. Hard. We own a house & outside of paying for mortgage, bills, food, the necessities etc, it’s like we have nothing left at the end of our paycheck. 😩 is anyone else in a similar boat?”
I could have included countless more examples, but I will stop right there.
As you can see, even those that are making 100k a year are really struggling.
When I was growing up, I considered anyone that was making 100k a year to be extremely wealthy.
Times sure have changed since then.
Sadly, this is just the beginning.
All of the major economic trends are pointing in the wrong direction, and even the normally optimistic World Bank is warning that much rougher times are ahead…
“Nearly all the economic forces that powered progress and prosperity over the last three decades are fading,” the World Bank warned in a recent analysis. “The result could be a lost decade in the making — not just for some countries or regions as has occurred in the past — but for the whole world.”
A lot has happened between then and now: A global pandemic hit; war erupted in Europe; tensions between the United States and China boiled. And inflation, thought to be safely stored away with disco album collections, returned with a vengeance.
But as the dust has settled, it has suddenly seemed as if almost everything we thought we knew about the world economy was wrong.
Ultimately, we are all in the same boat.
We are all going to have to endure the exceedingly harsh economic environment that is in front of us.
But hopefully you are encouraged by the fact that you are not alone.
Millions of other families are also deeply struggling, and at times like these we are going to need one another more than ever before.
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Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
