{"id":80172,"date":"2023-09-09T01:15:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-09T08:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=80172"},"modified":"2023-09-12T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T00:10:59","slug":"black-coffee-9-sep-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id80172-black-coffee-9-sep-2023.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Something for Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"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

I hope everybody had an enjoyable week. Without further ado, let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Proverbs 22:3<\/strong><\/p>\n

The economy of imaginary wealth is being inevitably replaced by the economy of real and hard assets.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Vladimir Putin<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A new dating trend has been popping up, where men send money requests to women asking for their share of first-date expenses after they decline a second date. If that ain’t bad enough, some men are even daring to ask women for reimbursement of the entire<\/strong><\/em> first-date bill since the men didn’t get a return on their “investment.” No, really<\/a>. Then again, when it comes to date night fails, I guess it could be a lot worse …<\/p>\n

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\"\"\"\"Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, in case you haven’t noticed, oil prices have been rising<\/a> steadily over the past month. That’s bad news for those hoping to see inflation tamped into submission. It’s really hard to believe the US was actually energy-independent just three short years ago. At some point you’d think somebody would realize that you can print all the funny money you want – but what you can’t<\/b><\/i> print is oil (and its valuable energy byproducts).<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, the latest marketing data shows that while teens who are earning up to $20 per hour working entry-level low-skill jobs still appear to be buying pricey Abercrombie & Fitch clothes, their parents are moving down<\/a>, opting to buy clothes at Marshall’s instead of Macy’s, and shopping for pasta, rice and homemade soup that can be stretched over multiple meals as opposed to single-serve cans of soup, in a bid to save some cash. As for ice cream, well … apparently there’s a flavor for that. Assuming you can still afford it:<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In light of all this news, it shouldn’t be surprising that 61% of all Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck<\/a>. That includes 44% of people earning $100,000 or more annually. At the same time, just 12% of Americans have more than $5000 in their emergency fund. That’s because the majority of the remaining 88% find themselves on a malodorous pile of personal debt. Not unlike another smelly mountain from long ago \u2014 albeit one that actually benefitted<\/strong><\/em> society:<\/p>\n