What does it look like to be mastered by money? I think we all know what it feels like. We’ve all had times when we felt like our money (or lack of it) was calling the shots.
When I think about what it looks and feels like to be mastered by money, I think about three things.
First, we respond to culture. Before I explain what I mean by this, let’s look at a few statistics that paint a picture of where our culture currently is when it comes to money.
- Americans today hold $1.75 trillion in student loans, and the average student loan is $28,950.
- The average car loan is just under $34,635, and the average monthly payment is $575/month. Nearly 15% of people who financed a vehicle are paying more than $1000/month in loan payments.
- The average credit card balance is $5,947. And for the first time ever, Americans’ total credit card debt has topped $1 trillion.
- 58% of American households describe themselves as living paycheck to paycheck.
- Less than half (45%) of Americans would be able to cover a $1000 emergency without turning to credit card debt. And 22% have nothing saved for an emergency.
- 43% of Americans are regularly saving for retirement.
- The national poverty rate is 12.8%. For kids it’s 16.9%. It’s worse in Memphis. It’s 22.6% here, and for kids it’s 32.7%.
- 12 million Americans use payday loans every year. The average loan is $375, with an average of $520 in fees. Texas has the highest APR: 662%. 27% of payday loan borrowers make less than $15,000/yr.
This is a quick snapshot of our culture’s current relationship with money. It’s not great. It’s actually pretty scary. But it’s normal. That’s they key. And so it’s easy to just fall in line with everyone else.
Here’s the second thing…Responding to culture then leads to a life that is marked by consumerism.
Consumerism is the religion of the day. And it’s not an accident. It’s been part of our country’s marketing strategy for a long time.
When responding to culture becomes the norm, then so too does falling prey to consumerism. We all know what it feels like when we see that our neighbor or co-worker has a new car/gadget/______. It used to be that we had to physically see or hear about the latest purchase. Now we simply have to see it on our Facebook feed.
And if we decide to research that item for even a minute, now all we see in our Facebook feed are ads for that item. Accident? Absolutely not. It’s very intentional marketing and technology.
Every minute of our day culture is preaching a message about money. It tells us that if we have _____, then we will be happy. People will like us more. We’ll even like ourselves more. But is it true? Does the message deliver on its promise. Most of the time we fail to ask that question. We just click the “Buy Now” button.
Here’s what Liz Thames writes in her book Meet the Frugalwoods.
We were spending more and more money in increasingly desperate attempts to mitigate the frustration and discontent we felt over our jobs. We were working for the weekends and spending the money we’d worked so hard to earn in an effort to make ourselves feel better about how hard we worked. It was a vicious cycle.
“Vicious cycle” seems like an appropriate phrase for this.
What does consumerism lead to? Is it fulfillment? Not normally. Instead, it’s discontentment. We can have something nice, but then we see a friend have something nicer, and we now want that.
What does it feel like to be mastered by money?
First, we respond to culture. This then leads to a life marked by consumerism. Finally, the fruit of all of this is an anxious heart.
- Living paycheck to paycheck = Anxiety
- Having large student loans and credit card debt = Anxiety
- Having no financial margin and then an emergency happens = Anxiety
We all know this anxiety. And it so often feels like when one thing goes wrong, then several other things do. Our car needs new tires, our water heater goes out, and the promotion we thought was going to happen doesn’t. That’s tough. And it brings stress.
I know this is a bit of a depressing blog post. I promise the next one will be more uplifting. For now, let me share one last thing.
How do I know when I’m being mastered my money?
I think about it all of the time, and it dictates all of my decisions.