There’s a reason you’re worried about making ends meet these days. The news this week does not inspire confidence. Inflation is at a 40-year high. Almost two-thirds of us struggle to make ends meet and live paycheck to paycheck.
Those of us who aren’t scraping by are rapidly growing accustomed to the sticker shock that happens when we glance at our grocery receipts and see that the cost of a dozen eggs is somewhere between absurd and stratospheric.
According to the “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report,” published in partnership with LendingClub, “92% of consumers have observed higher product prices, while 74% have seen increases in their monthly expenses.” “Increases in products or bills were detected at the same rate by customers of all income levels, while financially distressed consumers were more likely to evaluate such increases to be widespread and alarming.”
In response, 55% of those questioned have limited spending capacity, 49% have modified their purchasing patterns, and 66% have lowered their expenditure. While petrol prices have somewhat stabilized, the general unhappiness remains huge and distressing.
31% of consumers interviewed used mental health apps, according to the research “Connected Wellness: What’s Next in the Connected Economy.”
According to the research, “the number of consumers using mental health aids like meditation apps and mood boosters is up 32% from November 2021, while their use of wearables like Fitbit and Apple Watch to record vitals has risen by just 17% during a similar period.”
We’ll be the first to admit that a Headspace-guided meditation isn’t as peaceful as, say, sipping a Negroni on the Amalfi Coast. But, at a time when everything from ordering pizza through an aggregator to flying to Naples on Aer Lingus makes us question our life choices, we’ll take whatever break we can get.
