Americans’ total credit card debt hit $1.29 trillion in the three months that ended in September — a rise of $22 billion over that period, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest quarterly report on household debt and credit. That’s 67% higher compared with the first quarter of 2021, when pandemic restrictions limited spending on things like travel and dining out.
Total household debt, which includes mortgages, student and auto loans, credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other borrowing, rose by $334 billion in the third quarter to $19.1 trillion. That’s $5 trillion more than at the end of 2019, just before the pandemic-driven recession.
I haven’t went in McDo for a few years, but on a recent trip we stopped in a McDo for 2 coffee and 2 hashbrown, it cost $10 I was like WTF‽‽‽ In my head a coffee was 99¢ and same for a hasbrown. A bag of hashbrown in wal-mart is like $4 for a full bag, not one!
As someone who eats our far too much, my dineout costs are up $400 this last month or two and I’ve been eating less than ever lol. Spending about $300 - $400 extra per month on groceries compared to a year ago.
Everything is up at least 2x what it was under Biden for me. And I effectively got a deduction at work because companies don’t give inflation raises because they know how to screw people over for profit better than any individual ever could.
WE’RE SO GREAT AGAIN
McDonalds has absolutely raised prices, but sadly its not just a McDonalds thing. Fast food and fast casual have all had multiple double digit percent increases in the past year or two.
I personally eat out for lunch frequently (as a third space) and have seen a large decline in the population in dining rooms. What was full at lunchtime just a year ago is hard pressed to even be 20% full today from my personal observation. I’m even lunching in a moderately affluent middle cost of living area largely untouched by large employment or housing swings the rest of the country experiences. To me this lack of attendence is a huge recession indicator.
They’ve not only raised prices, they’ve drastically reduced food quality.
We take regular road trips and routinely use to stop by McDonalds for a burger and fries. After years of mediocre but edible food, the cheeseburgers started to be missing toppings and cheese, or be so salty they were inedible, or be full of gristle and bone, or completely cold. The fries would often be cold or way over-salted too.
Of course by time we realized the food McDonalds sold us was utter crap we were back on the freeway and miles away. We stopped going for a long time and then every once in a while would try it again, only to have another truly lousy experience,
We’ve now reached a tipping point - We’ve had so many bad McDonalds experiences we don’t even consider going there anymore.