[Music] all right you guys as we approach the holidays we all just need to prepare our hearts a little bit mhm because you're going to picture you know all the who's and hville just holding hands circled up around the Christmas tree just singing and happy like that's the vibe that we're going to be seeing soon in the world yeah because we're approaching the holidays which isn't all bad but it also can take us into a spiral of thinking that we're doing something wrong cuz we may not feel very who like all the time and that's okay so we're going to talk about why trying to look rich will actually make you broke but before we jump in be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a future episode all right I want to offer just a little friendly reminder that what you see isn't always the whole picture so we are going to get here in the holidays lots of pictures in social media right and some of them may be true maybe that person really is laughing as they're with their children and the fall leaves or the Christmas tree you know which is great like I'm not bashing that but you have to remember always you guys always always always you are not seeing the full picture of someone's life you are seeing a quick snapshot and what they are choosing to put out into the world which again I don't blame them when my kids are cray cray and I'm going cray I'm not putting that up there because I don't have time to grab my phone and film everything right so like I'm not like being like Oh my gosh everything you know online is a lie it's not always a lie but also the truth is you are not seeing that whole person's life and everyone everyone in the world struggles okay everyone has a story everyone is dealing with different things and different stresses like just know that that is the emotional side of that picture that you're seeing and also what you may be seeing whether it's the vacation or the car or like the new bag like fill in whatever level of consumerism that you're seeing in that picture that again sometimes what you see isn't always What You Get There is a truth behind that a lot of Americans are still living paycheck to paycheck and debt is at an all-time high specifically credit card debt so as of August of 2024 Americans owe a record $1.14 trillion to credit card companies and that is according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York so again I feel like sometimes we can like all get Numb by like the national debt and trillions and trillions but just let that number seek in okay every people charging $1.14 trillion you guys and some of that is charging to to keep the lights on and to keep food on the table and some of that is a lifestyle that has exceeded what that they are earning so again when debt is in the picture it allows people to look better than they actually are financially and I'm not even just talking about the social media influencers or like the big celebrities or something I mean these could just be your friends honestly and if you don't know the context of their world completely you may know nothing about their financial situation so maybe it's neighbors friends people in your small group people that you work with and you're seeing these pictures and these Lifestyles but the truth is when we look at the data that there is a good chance that a lot of people are living with debt so I don't want you to get in this spiral of thinking oh my gosh everyone is winning and I am losing especially if you are living a budget friendly lifestyle okay so don't be comparing yourself against what other people have and what they're doing because again also I want to remind you that people are not thinking about you as much as you think they're thinking about you as well so you're like oh my gosh you know if you're worried about a level of am I am I fitting in you know am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing or wearing what I should be wearing like any of that just take that out the window throw that out the window now our understanding of money and wealth it can be so skewed because what can happen is that what we have is is a measuring stick to who we are and the truth is you have to separate those things like the income you make the lifestyle you live that is not who you are and so making sure that your net worth is not your selfworth so let's get a little level set going here when it comes to specifically spending habits all right before I share some shocking numbers with you I want to tell you about one of our sponsors Christian Healthcare Ministries so when you go against what Society thinks is quote normal like avoiding debt for example it might seem weird at first first and that is totally okay we want you to be weird that means you're doing things intentionally including how you spend your Healthcare dollars and one way to be intentional is with Christian healthc Care Ministries chm isn't health insurance they're a health cost sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families like yours take care of health care costs without sacrificing their freedom Program start as low as $98 a month so find out more and join at chministries.org budget that's chministries.org budgets all right now it's time to run some numbers so you can kind of get an idea of where people stand in America when it comes to their money and debt because if you get in that spiral that everyone else is you know doing well financially let's just level set with some actual numbers okay the average car payment in America let's look at car payments here as of May of 2024 customers were paying on average $760 a month in new car loans according to Moody's Analytics so it's also worth noting that 17% of people are paying over ,000 a month all right so if you pull up and you see that nice SUV that that mom's driving or that nice car that guy has like whatever it is again on average they are dragging a $700 a month car payment behind it on average so it is wild to think about that again anyone can go get a loan like the truth is now that's a lot of money per month that's going out but they may not own the whole car but they you know own a little bit of it as they pay payments so remember that all right let's look at the median salary of Americans so as early as 2024 the median salary was around $59,000 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics now I tell you that because again I think it can get this idea that maybe people are making a ton or they're not making a lot like whatever it is but at least comparing your salary to the average is always helpful to be like okay where am I running in the pack it's just always good to know so in 2024 that was the median at salary all right the average student loan debt that is owed in 2024 borrowers had an average of $37,800 in federal student loan debt and $4,688 in private student loan debt overall the student loan debt has reached 1.74 trillion doar according to the Federal Reserve so student loans y'all they are still still so so real and I actually just read an article today from CNBC and they're saying that 88% of people that have student loans are saying that it wasn't worth the college degree so again I am awful College this is not bashing college but it is getting in perspective of what is actually going on in America today and people are taking out loans at 18 years old of you know 50 60 70 $30,000 tens of thousands of dollarss to get a degree where if you have add this mindset which is kind of what this whole video is about about living on less than you make then it may mean that there's going to have to be other Alternatives there right going to a community college taking a gap year applying for more scholarships and grants getting a job like there's going to be other ways to do this but the key here is to live below your means even even with a college degree which again will look different but man not having that payment every month be so helpful all right let's look at the average credit card debt so again collectively it's one $ 1.14 trillion but Gen X has the highest credit card debt on average and they are owing around $99,000 per person so when you look at credit card debt in America credit cards man they are like the cigarette of the financial industry because it's like oh yeah it's like this habit and it's no big deal I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine until you're not and so many people rack up so much credit card debt by just living month-to month and so again understanding that what you're seeing isn't always the picture of reality and the reality is credit card debt has become a huge issue for Americans today so here's the deal you guys a lot of people feel like that they can afford a lifestyle a certain level of Lifestyle because they can afford the debt payments but those are two totally different things because yeah you can scrape by life and survive on payment after payment after payment but that's not the best way to take control of your money it's just not the idea of saying actually I'm going to flip that and instead of giving the car companies and the banks my money I'm going to keep my money and I'm going to invest it and make my money work for me and not for everyone else by getting out of debt which means you'll be living below your means which again means you'll probably have to adjust your lifestyle and adjust expectations of life but there is so much more peace and living that way control of your money having that control of your money versus your money controlling you and one of the best ways to do this you guys just starting out as a monthly budget and every dollar has been an absolute Lifeline for so many people who are in a tight season financially to get them on the right path and give them something tactical that can help with the reality of their life and including me this is an app that I use and it is fantastic so make sure to click the link in the description to get started right away for free all right you guys listen I am not saying to be looking at all your friends and neighbors if they drive a nice car they're going on a great vacation or they have cute clothes and be like debt debt debt that's not the point cuz honestly I've gotten to a point that you don't even you don't even need to know you don't even need to know maybe they have car payment maybe they don't I don't know and I don't care because it's not your business right but what's important is how it starts affecting you and you have to take ownership of that okay you have to be the one to say yeah I'm not going to police Sarah Kate a church about her new Mercedes that's not my job no your job is taking care of yourself my job is taking care of me my parents would say that all the time growing up it's a full-time job Rachel taking care of yourself cuz knowing may I was trying to take care of other people well not my job so taking care of yourself so regardless of what anyone else is doing and how they're doing it how are you affected by looking at them looking at their pictures on social media looking at their life in real life whatever it is your contentment your happiness where you place your value is what's important and that's what you can control and so yes is it important to have data like this just to know the reality of what's going on in the world absolutely cuz I think it can help for sure to know that yeah you're not losing but if you are living below your means you are on more of a budget friendly lifestyle you're investing money into retirement you're doing these things that are wise for you in your future to give you peace that my friends is priceless no Louis Vuitton bag is going to give you that it's not so be working hard stay in control be happy for others celebrate what they're doing no need to judge but focus on you and your family all right if this was an encouragement to you when it comes to comparison culture and money make sure to share it maybe with a good friend that you have share share the info share the love and if you want more info on how to actually build wealth and not just look like it make sure to check out my episode called what is stealth wealth and do you have it I will put a link below and if you're listening on podcast make sure to click the link in the show notes all right you guys remember to take control of your money and create a life you love
