But wait, aren’t you broke⁉️

Being broke in America apparently has a unique meaning … You can spend money on just about anything as long as it’s on sale. So, if you spend less of the money you don’t have to spend, everything is ok? My logical mind is adrift‼️

And if you are unemployed, saving money is important so you wait for a sale on an Xbox game and spend $329 because “you want it.” You are a moron, one of those “stupid” Americans who had the wool pulled over his eyes with Obamacare as we are now being told. Frankly, I think that guy was on to something with that stupid remark.

Exactly where is that struggling middle-class? Out shopping‼️

I just bought something (like with actual money) very expensive that I have wanted since I was age 18, I am now 71. I could have bought this item decades ago if I had shifted priorities a bit away from my retirement, kids college, saving for emergencies, concern over how my children would fare during the recession, etc. I made other choices until I felt the important priorities were taken care of which took me over fifty-years. What a jerk, right?

As I read these news stories about average Americans who supposedly are suffering the degradation of inequality, I feel perhaps I am the one out of touch. Hey, live for today and elect Elizabeth Warren tomorrow. All will be right with the world.

No word on how people are paying for all these necessities… as if we didn’t know. 😏

New York Times 11-28-14

Big retailers, many of whom kicked off sales Thursday evening, reported brisk traffic overnight. Walmart said that 22 million shoppers streamed through stores across the country on Thanksgiving Day, more than the number of people who visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom in an entire year, the retail giant pointed out…

Tablets, TVs, sheets, children’s apparel and video games were the top five categories of the night, and Disney Frozen Snow Glow Elsa dolls was a top-selling toy, Walmart said. Best sellers online were video games, wireless prepaid phones, high-definition TVs and baby items…

Over all, about 140 million people are expected to shop in stores or online this weekend. That is more people than voted in the midterms earlier this month…

Mr. Brefka, who works for the Department of Public Health, said he did most of his shopping online. But he showed up around midnight Thursday in hopes of landing a 50-inch Panasonic LED HDTV for $200 – a deal available only in store…

Target said its best-selling goods in store were the Element 40” TV, the Xbox One, iPads and Nikon’s L330 camera. In the first hour of stores opening, Target sold 1,800 TVs per minute and 2,000 video games per minute, the retailer said in a release. Keurig’s K40 brewer and Dyson’s DC50 vacuum were other top sellers, Target said.

In Manchester, Iowa, Russell Marriott enlisted a babysitter and grandmother to watch his two children as he and his wife — both unemployed — trekked to Walmart at 3 a.m. He spent most of the day perched at the back corner of the store waiting for the $329 Xbox One Halo The Master Chief Collection Bundle; she waited in a separate line for an Xbox controller.

Saving money is important for them, he said, and his wife wanted the game.

“It makes a difference,” Mr. Marriott said…

Yes Mr Marriott, setting your financial priorities does make a difference. I wonder if the people paying your unemployment benefits have an Xbox?

Now read this:

“But income is only one side of the story. The cost of being in the middle class—and of maintaining a middle-class standard of living—is rising fast too. For fundamental needs such as child care and health care, costs have risen dramatically over the past few decades, taking up larger shares of family budgets. The reality is that the middle class is being squeezed. As this report will show, for a married couple with two children, the costs of key elements of middle-class security—child care, higher education, health care, housing, and retirement—rose by more than $10,000 in the 12 years from 2000 to 2012, at a time when this family’s income was stagnant.” Source: Center for Americans Progress Sept. 2014

Really, then how is all the above, plus this possible? I’m beginning to wonder if all these statistics being thrown around have anything to do with how people actually live. It may just be that making the right choices and how we set financial priorities are more important that more wealth transfer.

Retailers were swamped with Black Friday crowds after an unprecedented day of shopping on Thanksgiving.

On what’s traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year, millions of consumers flocked to stores and retail websites.

Through late afternoon, online sales were up 8% over Black Friday 2013. Thanksgiving Day website sales jumped 14.3% over 2013, according to IBM Digital Analytics. Sales and traffic were driven by mobile phones and tablet use, which accounted for 46% of all Black Friday online traffic.

Walmart racked up more than 500 million Thanksgiving page views, surpassed only by the retailer’s Cyber Monday traffic last year. ChannelAdvisor, which tracks retail data, said Amazon also was a big winner, with sales up 26% from last year. Electronics retailer Best Buy’s website crashed for about an hour Friday morning due to a “concentrated spike in mobile traffic,” said spokesman Jeff Shelman. Source USA TODAY 11-28-14

And also read this:
via You should feel broke, because you are | TheHill.

And if think this is bad, read this:

Poor People Spend 9% Of Income On Lottery Tickets
By Ben Popken May 26, 2010

A recent study found that poor folks – households earning under $13,000 per year – spend about 9% of all their income on lottery tickets.