Every now and then an article surfaces that seems to lump the spending habits of Americans together in a broad stroke, and it never seems to end well. Such is the case with a “Motley Fool” piece published this week by USA Today, which claims that the average American spends almost $18,000 a year (or, $1,497 per month) on “nonessentials” — including dining out, entertainment, ride shares, and personal grooming, among others.
The article, which cites a research study conducted by OnePoll and was commissioned by Ladder life insurance — which is totally not biased, by the way — makes the argument that by being irresponsible with spending habits, Americans are letting other responsibilities fall the wayside, such as retirement saving and paying off credit cards:
The tendency to splurge consistently on nonessentials is causing Americans to skimp on other important items. Case in point: A good 38% of Americans claim they can’t afford to fund a retirement plan because they don’t have enough money. Meanwhile, 35% say they can’t afford a life insurance policy, 28% can’t afford to pay off credit card debt, and 26% can’t afford car repairs.
The piece was also accompanied by a helpful infographic on Twitter, to really drive the point home about how irresponsible wasteful Americans are with their spending.
The average adult in the USA spends $1,497 a month on nonessential items. All told, that's roughly $18,000 a year on things we can all do without. https://t.co/KQ8wxFtduQ pic.twitter.com/bpgVj94SaM
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) May 7, 2019
It didn’t take long for the tweet to go viral and get ratio’ed as heck, as people were quick to point out the flaws with the, uh, logic.
https://twitter.com/clarissag22/status/1125941865931579392
This study was commissioned by a life insurance company, and you'd never guess what they think you should be spending the money on instead. https://t.co/ud2yM14pLo
— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) May 8, 2019
*entire economy is geared to convince people to spend money on things they don't need*
"why are Americans buying things they don't need it's a mystery" https://t.co/nG5f8KgByb
— cara.city elsewhere (@caraesten) May 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/bayouwilson/status/1125932022374051840
Stop writing articles telling people they should "x" out expenses anyone who works should enjoy and start writing articles about why minimum wage should be raise everywhere dead the "cost of living will go up" argument. Cost of living go up every year. Wages haven't in 10 years. https://t.co/gSmHQzjZ5A
— Puffy (@DKMR_) May 8, 2019
A lot of people also had the same observations about what a life insurance company deems “nonessential…”
https://twitter.com/Tom4CongressNY6/status/1126122263651209216
how incredibly extravagant & self-indulgent of ppl to…uh, try to enjoy their life, leave their home, eat, & stay clean https://t.co/2AFueCgDVD
— priscilla page (@BBW_BFF) May 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/1125920430391382016
Food, drink, transit & personal hygiene are all non essential now? Oh. https://t.co/MIX7eDu2pR
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) May 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro/status/1125928126196985856
Others just dunked on the thing with well deserved jokes:
sarah it says *non*essential
— Katie Nolan (probably) (@katienolan) May 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/1125950320193015808
yeah who the fuck needs, uh, "lunch"
— Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) May 8, 2019
USA Today: whY ARe YoU sPEndIgn SO mUch mMonYeY
— find me on Cohost @discodeerdiary (@DiscoDeerDiary) May 8, 2019
Where can I get cable for $91 a month? That's what I wanna know.
— David Mastio (@DavidMastio) May 8, 2019
Do billionaires next https://t.co/pLDu5csmRb
— Bill Baer (@Baer_Bill) May 8, 2019
Tl;dr, never entrust a life insurance company to advise on your personal spending habits.
(Via USA Today)