{"id":87335,"date":"2025-05-03T01:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=87335"},"modified":"2025-05-09T09:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T16:14:15","slug":"black-coffee-3-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id87335-black-coffee-3-may-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: It’s Almost Tuesday"},"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’ve got another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— J. Wellington Wimpy<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A new survey has found that 1 in 4 people<\/a> are now using buy-now pay-later (BNPL) for groceries. Not surprisingly, BNPL is a practice that is much more popular with the younger crowd; 64% of adults between age 18 to 28 have used BNPL, compared to 29% of those aged 60 and 79. And when it comes to groceries specifically, a whopping 33% of Gen Zers say they’ve used BNPL to finance their food bill. On the bright side …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Sadly, rise of BNPL loans are just another sign<\/a> that an increasing number of Americans’ are struggling to maintain a standard of living that used to be taken for granted. The same survey also found that nearly half of all<\/strong><\/em> respondents have used a BNPL loan – regardless of age – with 11% saying they’ve used them six or more times. Even more alarming, 23% of those survey say they\u2019ve had three or more BNPL loans running simultaneously<\/strong><\/em>. Yikes. Hopefully you can forgive us for openly wondering just how many of those<\/strong><\/em> people are making monthly BNPL payments to KFC, Taco Bell and<\/strong><\/em> McDonald’s.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, according to the latest government data, airfare fell 5.3% in March<\/a> from last year. Adding to pressure is slower-than-expected growth from corporate and government travel. Business travel is key to major carriers because those customers are less price-sensitive and often book last minute when tickets are likely to be more expensive. As a result, the overhang of seats in the domestic skies is forcing airlines to cut seat prices to fill their planes – at least for those who aren’t afraid of flying …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Don\u2019t tell stock market investors about potential signs of declining consumer enthusiasm because the stock market had its second positive week in a row. For the week, the S&P 500 added 2.9%, the Dow posted a 3% advance, and the Nasdaq added 3.4%. But wait; the good news doesn’t stop there. After being down nearly 20%, with this week’s gains the S&P 500 has now recovered all of its losses<\/a> since April 2. That being said, there are still more than a few people out there who aren’t impressed with the recent upswing in stocks …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, back on Main Street, Americans now need an annual income of $166,000<\/a> to afford the median-priced home at $433,100. And yet the actual median household income is just $78,538. Uh huh. And I’m sure I’m not the only<\/strong><\/em> one who can see what’s wrong with this picture. The truth is … there’s always<\/strong><\/em> someone:<\/p>\n