Recently, The Economic Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households was released for 2022 and up to May 2023. The report indicates that the number of Americans spending more than they brought home had drastically increased from previous years. This news is not a surprise to many of us and probably no longer comes as a shock to anyone. It's easy to believe. Inflation is a common topic amongst friends and coworkers. Costs are increasing and the cash we once had just doesn't seem to be there. Using more money for the things we buy today can leave little for our future and hopes for tomorrow. It seems like there is little we can do to take matters into our own hands, we're not the source of the inflation. The only things we really control are how much we decide to save and what to use our dollars for. We hope to receive a great rate of return but know that outside factors dictate the market. Making a budget feels restrictive and can feel like we're sacrificing the lifestyle we've worked hard for.
When was the last time that you made a list of priorities? How do you prioritize what you spend your money on? Make an updated list of what you're spending your money on. Begin ranking each item on the list by its importance and urgency. We can control where our money goes. Deciding which item is first and top priority needs to be given more thought than we give. It really does matter. When deciding what to stop spending money on or allocate more money to, you need to know your priority items and why. Are you choosing to spend more money on outings and entertainment rather than protecting your family from risk? We don't control the market, but we control how to prepare for the best and the worst. If you don't tell your money what to do, something else will.
I encourage you to read the report yourself and determine your own thoughts and opinions on what you make of the Federal Reserve's findings.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2023-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2022-executive-summary.htm#:~:text=Results%20from%20the%202022%20Survey,being%20over%20the%20previous%20year.&text=The%20survey%2C%20which%20was%20fielded,the%20lowest%20observed%20since%202016.