Episode: 398 - If Everyone Is Broke, Why Are We Still Spending So Much?
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It feels like everybody is saying the same thing right now:
“I’m broke.”
“Groceries are insane.”
“My electric bill keeps going up.”
“I can’t afford anything anymore.”
And to be fair, life has gotten more expensive.
Since 2019, the prices of everyday necessities like food, gas, housing, utilities, and other basic expenses have climbed significantly. In many cases, those costs have risen faster than people feel their paychecks have.
So if your grocery bill suddenly makes you wonder whether you accidentally bought half the store, you are definitely not imagining it.
But there’s another side of this conversation that’s a little less comfortable.
If everyone is broke...
why are we still spending so much?
Yes, Inflation Is Real
Before we go any further, this is not one of those “just stop buying coffee and you’ll be rich” conversations.
Higher prices matter.
Housing costs more. Food costs more. Insurance costs more. Utilities cost more. Gas costs more.
There are plenty of households that genuinely have an income problem.
But blaming everything on inflation can also stop us from looking at the part we actually have some control over.
Because while life became more expensive, many of us also made our lifestyles more expensive.
Convenience Became Normal
Food delivery.
Grocery delivery.
Streaming services.
Subscriptions.
Upgrading phones every couple of years.
Financing cars we probably don't need.
Buy Now Pay Later on purchases we once would have waited to afford.
We've become incredibly good at making spending easy.
You can be sitting on the couch scrolling social media, see something you want and have it ordered within minutes.
And if you don't have the money?
No problem.
Split it into four payments.
That's convenient.
But convenience is rarely free.
Buy Now Pay Later alone has exploded in popularity. In the episode, we discussed how the industry grew from roughly $2 billion in 2019 to nearly $80 billion by 2025. We also talked about how 16% of U.S. adults used Buy Now Pay Later in 2025 and about a quarter of those users reported paying late.
The easier spending becomes, the less time we have to stop and ask:
Do I actually need this?
Social Media Makes It Worse
We also have a front-row seat to everybody else's lifestyle.
Someone got a new car.
Someone went on vacation.
Someone renovated their kitchen.
Someone bought the newest phone.
Someone is eating at a restaurant you suddenly feel like you're missing out on.
The problem is that social media shows us what people are buying.
It doesn't show us their credit card balance.
It doesn't show us the car payment.
It doesn't show us the argument happening over bills.
It doesn't show us the stress when the next payment comes due.
A lifestyle can look incredible online while the person living it is completely overwhelmed financially.
That is why comparing your real financial life to someone else's highlight reel is such a dangerous game.
The “What's the Point?” Spending Mentality
There is another mindset that has become more common:
“Everything is screwed anyway.”
“I'll never afford a house.”
“Retirement feels impossible.”
“Who knows what the world is going to look like in 20 years?”
“So I might as well enjoy my money now.”
That kind of thinking can easily turn into doom spending.
And we get it.
When things feel uncertain, spending money on something enjoyable right now can give you a temporary boost.
The problem is...
tomorrow usually shows up anyway.
If you're still here five, ten or twenty years from now, the financial decisions you're making today are going to matter.
You don't need to solve your entire financial future this month.
You just need to start making it a little better.
Stop Looking at the Entire Mountain
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to improve their finances is looking at everything at once.
You add up all your debt.
You look at how much you need for retirement.
You think about buying a house.
You realize you need an emergency fund.
And suddenly the number is so overwhelming that doing nothing feels easier.
Don't do that.
Start smaller.
What if you paid off one credit card?
Then another?
What if you saved your first $500?
Then $1,000?
What if you cut one expense and redirected that money toward your next goal?
Small wins create momentum.
And momentum changes everything.
Katie talked in the episode about once believing she would never be able to save $1,000. After changing her habits, she has paid off more than $269,000 in debt over roughly eight years on a single income.
That didn't happen in one giant move.
It happened through thousands of smaller decisions.
Look at What We've Normalized
One of the most interesting questions from the episode was:
What expenses have become normal that are actually kind of ridiculous?
Food delivery was a big one.
You aren't just paying for the food.
You may be paying marked-up menu prices, service fees, delivery fees and tips.
A meal that might have cost $15 can suddenly cost significantly more just because you didn't want to leave the house.
Then there are cars.
Huge monthly car payments have become so common that many people don't even question them anymore.
Same with phones.
When $1,000+ phones exist beside $1,500 or $2,000 phones, suddenly a thousand-dollar phone starts feeling like the “reasonable” option.
That's how lifestyle inflation works.
Expensive things slowly become normal.
And once they're normal, they start feeling necessary.
Subscriptions Are Another Money Leak
One subscription doesn't seem like much.
$8 here.
$12 there.
$17 somewhere else.
Then you've got music, streaming, apps, cloud storage, memberships, boxes, software and services automatically renewing every month.
In the episode, we discussed survey data showing U.S. adults reported spending an average of about $111 per month on subscriptions in 2026.
That's more than $1,300 per year.
And the scary part is that many people don't even remember everything they're subscribed to.
One simple habit can help tremendously:
Put every recurring expense in your budget.
Then before it renews, ask:
Am I actually using this?
If not, cancel it.
You can always sign up again later.
Income Problem or Spending Problem?
Sometimes the answer really is:
You need more income.
If you've cut expenses to the bone and necessities still exceed what you're earning, there may not be another subscription to cancel or grocery hack that fixes the math.
But many people have never actually checked.
That's the important part.
Before deciding that nothing can change, look at your numbers.
Go back through the last three to six months of spending.
Categorize everything.
Housing.
Groceries.
Eating out.
Gas.
Shopping.
Subscriptions.
Car expenses.
Entertainment.
Delivery.
Personal care.
Everything.
Then ask three questions:
Do I need this?
Can I pay less for this?
Can I get rid of this entirely?
You may genuinely discover an income problem.
You may discover a spending problem.
Most people will probably find some combination of both.
Focus on What You Can Control
You can't decide what gas costs tomorrow.
You can't control interest rates.
You can't personally lower grocery prices.
You can't change the housing market.
But you can decide:
How often you drive.
How often you eat out.
Which subscriptions you keep.
How expensive of a vehicle you own.
Whether you finance another purchase.
Whether you upgrade your phone.
Whether you hit “Buy Now.”
Whether you give yourself 24 hours before making an impulse purchase.
Those choices may not fix the economy.
But they can dramatically change your economy.
And that's the point.
You don't need everything around you to become cheaper before you start improving your finances.
You need to take control of the things you actually have the power to change.
Because even when everything feels expensive, small decisions still add up.
And sometimes the first step isn't making more money.
It's figuring out where the money you're already making is going.
