Posted on 12/02/2014 2:30:05 PM PST by dennisw
The American middle class has absorbed a steep increase in the cost of health care and other necessities as incomes have stagnated over the past half decade, a squeeze that has forced families to cut back spending on everything from clothing to restaurants.
Health-care spending by middle-income Americans rose 24% between 2007 and 2013, driven by an even larger rise in the cost of buying health insurance, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of detailed consumer-spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That hit has been accompanied by increases in spending on other necessities, including food eaten at home, rent and education, as well as the soaring cost of staying connected digitally via cellphones and home Internet service.
With income growth sluggish, discretionary spending on things like clothing and movies, live shows and amusement parks has given way.
The data—drawn from 14,000 households that either keep diaries on their spending for two weeks or agree to quarterly interviews—helps explain why so many retailers are turning in persistently lackluster results, and why the household-products business has shown virtually no growth for years. It also helps illuminate why the consumer-led U.S. economy has been so slow to rebound from the financial crisis.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
i just picked tracfone as an example. not that there are no other low cost alternatives.
I like to point out to people that a VERY large part your cell phone bill is the money the company spent at auction, acquiring the bandwidth from the government. Basically, they will pay literally ANYTHING for it, because - it doesn’t really matter!
Of course, the bandwidth belongs to YOU in the first place...when the FCC was created, the bandwidth was given (with a tiny, tiny fee) to responsible parties (TV stations, radio stations, and so on) with a yearly license based on “the public good” - do a bad job, lose your license, someone else would just love to have it and do good with it.
Most non-corrupt countries treat cell phone bandwidth this way - a resource belonging to the public to be used to its benefit in an efficient manner - and that’s why many places have $20 cell phone bills with two-way video. Of course, the US is not one of these.
iPad. Lol. Theirs.
Many people with “smart” phones, particularly in the third world, consider that to be their primary computer. This is why 6” phones have become unexpectedly popular, even here.
Keeping the land line and its unlimited long distance, caller ID, call forwarding, etc. for safety reasons. Land line and Internet are with the same very local company for less than $100/month.
Using Consumer Cellular for two very basic cell phones with text, we can up the minutes any time if there is a need. They are just under $39/month.
My problem is having an over abundance of computers.
at my deer lease in San Saba we have no cell service, internet or tv channels. We make it just fine. Reading books is great. I’ve come to appreciate Louis L’amour’s writing and adventure stories of the old West.
I heard on the news there are more neck problems since cell phones, it’s the same as reading a book, funny, I never heard of neck problems from people reading books.
Quick...get to an emergency room. Save your self.
Heh. We abandoned health care insurance on January first and other than $25 to have a cap glued back on, we’ve not spent a cent on health care.
The pork in the McRib is made from the disposable innards of the pig such as tripe (stomach) and heart. These pig scraps are then cooked in water and salt. This process congeals everything together into a rubbery blob which then becomes the pork patty. (Source)
http://villagegreennetwork.com/seeing-youll-never-eat-another-mcdonalds-mcrib/
Yes, there are alternatives. We’ve been using Republic Wireless. You have to buy the phone (great Motorola phones at a good price), but the plans start at 10 bucks a month. My wife’s phone is 25 bucks for unlimited talk and text and at least 5 gig of data a month. Mine is 15 for talk and text, but mine needs wifi for data.
PagePlus Cellular - $80 per year = 2,000 minutes (100 hrs)
LG phone was a leftover from the thieving bastards at Verizon.
PP ported it in for free, keeping my #.
I don't txt .. it's a PHONE, historically used for TALKING to people (or not :)
Proudly Pleistocene
Pig is pig and nothing is disposable.
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/80-standard-pin/
Good deal from page cellular_______ $80 per year
“Property tax went way up, again.”
That you can control. Organize your conservative neighbors and storm the town and county board meetings. Literally scream at those commies and threaten to throw them out of office if taxes aren’t cut by 50%.
If you live in a Home Rule state, you can gather signatures on a petition to make local politicians stand for election at any point during a term of office.
Elect a pro-2nd Amendment, Constitutional sheriff to investigate the local bureaucratic scum for theft, extortion and embezzlement. Rat politicians are robbing local communities blind.
The trouble with conservatives - not pointing at you - is that they’re incredibly myopic, looking only at Washington for a change in political direction, and completely missing the opportunity to create a strong political base in their neighborhoods and destroy the local commies.
My Tracfone is all I need and when its paid, its paid.
I don’t have one of those little phones, never owned one, and don’t want one.
“Many people with “smart” phones, particularly in the third world, consider that to be their primary computer.”
That was the genius of Steve Jobs. It put 24/7 access to the Internet into the hands of 100’s of millions of people who otherwise had limited or no personal access at all.
Definitely the fastest global cultural change ever.
They are leaving out the rise in utility costs, such as higher energy prices due to renewable energy mandates on utility companies, environmental controls with costs passed on to consumers, regulations that increase costs, decreased supply from shutting down coal fire plants, etc. And the increased cost sharing from mandates to provide so many people with food stamps discounted utilities, electric rates are rising constantly above the rate of inflation. The same cost sharing mandates for covering people on food stamps to get cheaper water rates, sewer rates, etc. also raises water bills.
Phone bills are going up due to a digital generation not caring about $20 a month in app fees and $80 for streaming until they wonder where the money went. The growing taxes and fees on the phone bill have impacted everyone, such that these fees add 20% to our bill. Oh, and sales tax - OMG, they tax me on it, too.
Income tax rates haven’t changed, but property taxes haven’t really gone down anywhere in the nation. Depending on where you live, the devalued property won’t see property bills go down, only modest limits on property tax increases when house prices went up. A lot of people pulling out of the stock market and moving into real estate has kept it from crashing and now on the upswing.
And let’s not forget about health insurance and medical costs. Health insurance rates are still growing faster than the rate of inflation, due to added mandated services, and health costs are theoretically lower but still growing faster than the rate of inflation.
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