US workers in debt to buy groceries - 'I had to downgrade my life'
www.bbc.com
Americans are taking loans to afford basic necessities - as groceries prices have surged by 25%.

…

Ms Ellis works full-time as a nurse’s assistant and has a second part-time job.

But she needs to economise. She has switched stores, cut out brand-name items like Dove soap and Stroehmann bread, and all but said goodbye to her favourite Chick-fil-A sandwich.

Still, Ms Ellis has sometimes turned to risky payday loans (short-term borrowing with high interest rates) as she grapples with grocery prices that have surged 25% since Mr Biden entered office in January 2021.

“Prior to inflation,” she says, “I didn’t have any debt, I didn’t have any credit cards, never applied for like a payday loan or any of those things. But since inflation, I needed to do all those things…I’ve had to downgrade my life completely.”

The leap in grocery prices has outpaced the historic 20% rise in living costs that followed the pandemic, squeezing households around the country and fuelling widespread economic and political discontent.

  • Zron@lemmy.world
    23·
    5 months ago

    The signup bonuses can be pretty large depending on your placement exam.

    When I was a young dumb 18 year old that wanted to be a doctor, I thought the army would be a good way to do that debt free.

    They offered me something like 25 grand if I signed up that day.

    That’sa lot of cash for an 18 year old.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
      142·
      5 months ago

      25k for enlisted is insane…

      When I was in, they didn’t even give that much to nuclear engineers to do 6 years…

      Was it like Sept 15th 2001 or something when you signed up?

      • Zron@lemmy.world
        22·
        5 months ago

        Oh I didn’t sign.

        Someone offers you a sack full of cash to do something, you better start finding a dentist to look at that gift horse.

        • Wrench@lemmy.world
          1·
          5 months ago

          A friend went through the army program starting at med school around 20 years ago. She just got her Oncology surgeon cert, which is ridiculously deep in the medical doctor qualifications.

          Seems like the program was effective to me. She had to move around quite a bit, but she also got access to the best hospital programs.

          I definitely was dubious about the entire idea of signing with the army, but it worked for her.