“There’s no doubt that there’s pressure in terms of affordability in this country,” said Marshall Lux, a visiting fellow with the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. However, “like everything else, it’s complicated.”
With grocery purchases mixed in with other credit card spending, it’s difficult to pinpoint what’s causing some consumers to fall behind on their payments, he said: “It’s hard to draw a straight line.”
A more “perennial” problem is the increased use of buy now, pay later for everyday expenses, Lux said.
Nearly 1 in 10 adults used buy now, pay later to pay for groceries; and among those who relied on installment payments, about 35% missed a BNPL payment, according to the Urban Institute. Generally, missed BNPL payments incur late fees, deferred interest or other penalties, depending on the lender.
A separate March survey from LendingTree of more than 2,000 adults found that 29% of buy now, pay later users said they’ve used these short-term loans to buy groceries — up from 14% two years ago.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/05/affordability-grocery-prices.html
One of the saddest economic indicators in America isn’t on CNBC.
It’s the number of senior citizens working overnight shifts.
People who worked for 40 or 50 years.
Raised families. Paid taxes. Did everything they were supposed to do.
And they’re stocking shelves at 3 AM because retirement didn’t work out.
We can argue about GDP and the stock market all day.
I want an economy where a 75-year-old can sleep at 3 AM.
That seems like a reasonable benchmark for civilization.
One of the saddest economic indicators in America isn't on CNBC.
It's the number of senior citizens working overnight shifts.
People who worked for 40 or 50 years.
Raised families. Paid taxes. Did everything they were supposed to do.
And they're stocking shelves at 3 AM…
— middleclassparty (@middle_class_us) August 11, 2026