{"id":79645,"date":"2023-07-29T01:15:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T08:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=79645"},"modified":"2023-07-31T08:45:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T15:45:33","slug":"black-coffee-29-july-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id79645-black-coffee-29-july-2023.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Living on Borrowed Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hurricane-flags\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Another busy week is crossed off the list. So without further ado, let’s get right to the commentary …<\/p>\n

No man’s credit is as good as his money.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– John Dewey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Financial services company Synchrony Financial says it’s seeing signs of growing consumer stress, thanks to an inflation storm that has seen real wages fall for 24 straight months. In short, a growing number of households are draining personal savings and over-utilizing credit cards to either maintain their standard of living, if not make ends meet. As a result, CFO Brian Wenzel says, “What we’re seeing is significant (credit) score deterioration<\/a>; 680 or a 690 going to a 620.” Imagine that.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Needless to say, consumers with lower credit scores will have increasing trouble qualifying for new credit lines. For many this risks cutting off their lifelines. With that in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising that there has been a surge in Google searches for “pawn shop near me<\/a>” as consumers pawn off items for quick loans – which makes me wonder how much somebody could get for this<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n