Paying the bills is harder than ever. Are voters supposed to feel joy? By Byron York

[mystery-ak]

Paying the bills is harder than ever. Are voters supposed to feel joy?
By
Byron York
August 13, 2024 1:21 pm
.

PAYING THE BILLS IS HARDER THAN EVER. ARE VOTERS SUPPOSED TO FEEL JOY? On Wednesday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release inflation figures for July. Whatever the numbers turn out to be, this will remain true: Prices are far higher than they were when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office.

Even as the rate of inflation has gone down from its peak in 2022, people have learned an unhappy lesson. When the rate of inflation goes down, prices still go up. They are building upon all the price increases before but at a somewhat slower rate. Yes, very few things go down, but at the same time, others keep rising at a high rate. There’s no relief.

This week, the Wall Street Journal published a striking portrait of how that affects many families. The headline was “Child Care, Rent, Insurance: Where Inflation Hits Hardest Now; Big, fixed costs that are tough to avoid are crushing household budgets.”

“Price increases for lots of items, like cable and shampoo, are indeed cooling,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Prices for vehicles, gasoline, TVs and plane tickets have even dropped over the past year. … But prices for many of the things that are hard to do without are still posting eye-watering increases. Rent and electricity bills are up 10% or more over the past two years, and car insurance costs are up nearly 40%, according to the Labor Department’s index. Shoppers might be able to trade down from prime steak to cheaper cuts of meat at the supermarket, but they can’t really do the same thing with the water bill.”

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3119911/paying-bills-harder-than-ever-voters-supposed-feel-joy/

[DefiantMassRINO]

My bills that are increasing the most ... taxes, energy, food

[LMAO]

My bills that are increasing the most ... taxes, energy, food

There is an easy solution to that. Don’t eat.  Not only will you save money, but they’ll be no risk of weight gain, and you’ll never have to use the toilet

[Free Vulcan]

It's the WEF model - you will own nothing, and you will be happy feel joy.

[berdie]

My bills that are increasing the most ... taxes, energy, food

Mine...Food (stupidly expensive), utilities and insurance of all types.

If I paid rent/mortgage or had a car payment I'd be hurting for certain. As I've said before, I don't know how young folks are making it. Well, yeah I do...credit cards. But at sometime the piper has to be paid.

This was a good article.

[libertybele]

Mine...Food (stupidly expensive), utilities and insurance of all types.

If I paid rent/mortgage or had a car payment I'd be hurting for certain. As I've said before, I don't know how young folks are making it. Well, yeah I do...credit cards. But at sometime the piper has to be paid.

This was a good article.

I hear ya.  I received our home insurance and we have it separated into 4 payments with the first being pretty darn hefty and on top of that yesterday we received our bill for flood insurance.  I think it darn near reached out and choked me.  We are technically not in a flood zone so it really isn't required, but I know if I don't carry flood insurance, we'll flood.

[berdie]

I hear ya.  I received our home insurance and we have it separated into 4 payments with the first being pretty darn hefty and on top of that yesterday we received our bill for flood insurance.  I think it darn near reached out and choked me.  We are technically not in a flood zone so it really isn't required, but I know if I don't carry flood insurance, we'll flood.

I keep thinking that I'm  going to cancel home insurance and self insure. But I know my luck. The minute I do that there will be a horrible catastrophe. Same thing with just carrying only liability on my 10 year old vehicle. Gap health insurance...no cancel...no way.

That's what we get for being responsible and playing The Game Of Life in our youth. At least I'm glad I can still buy insurance. I keep reading about of a lot of states having insurers pulling out of their states.

[bigheadfred]

I don’t know how the average person is able to survive in this economy

Just took my sister out for drinks at our local spot

2 cocktails and a bag of cocaine

$400

Imagine the cost for a whole family!

[jafo2010]

My wife and I routinely dined out 3-4 times a week for dinner.  Now, we eat at home most of the time.  Maybe dining out 1 every other week.  And where we used to enjoy a cocktail with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, we no longer buy drinks of any kind.  Even a non alcohol iced tea will cost $3-5, plus tax and tip ends up being around a total of $5-7.  Well, I go without a drink when we eat out.

So the joy of dining out, and the joy of eating delectable foods like quality caviar, etc have gone out the window.

For folks on a limited budget, and a pack of kids, I honestly do not  know how they get by on anything other than high carb foods like pasta.  I am sure macaroni and cheese is a staple these days.

[The_Reader_David]

Sure the same kind of "joy" VP Harris feels when asked a tough question:  giggle nervously like idiots when faced with something tough.

[Bigun]

https://twitter.com/StephenMoore/status/1823792126724899141