no longer eating more expensive proteins<\/a> like salmon and steak and instead buying in bulk from Costco or eating more beans and chicken.<\/p>\n\u201cIf I don’t have to go out for work or anything, I stay home. The majority of the time, I cook my food \u200aI literally had to be, like, penny-pinching, like literally, in order to save,\u201d said Edwards, who is in school for childhood education.<\/p>\n
Devin said she never takes Ubers and when her subway line stops running, she often asks fellow passengers whether they want to split a ride.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s a ton of people on the platform, I will literally say, like, “Hey, is anybody else going to Williamsburg? Was anyone else going there?” she said.<\/p>\n
Banking barriers<\/p>\n
While most participants said they had bank accounts, many were frustrated with bank fees, which can add up. Instead, many relied on credit unions, which don\u2019t have fees or balance minimums and offered personal attention.<\/p>\n
Participants said talking to a person at a banking institution was helpful for getting fees waived, fraud issues resolved or better understanding their financial options.<\/p>\n
Many reported using \u201cbuy now, pay later\u201d apps like Afterpay and Klarna for bigger unbudgeted expenses like contact lenses or a prom dress or credit building apps like Credit Karma and Experian. But those apps also raised concerns about hidden fees and privacy \u2014 and the lack of a clear person to speak to if an issue arises.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI’ve used it for medications that my insurance won’t cover,\u201d said Devin. \u201c\u200aThe food delivery apps will now take Klarna, and that’s crazy. People are ordering food or getting their groceries and having to split it up into all these payments because no one can afford to just outright pay for things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, apps like Zelle, Venmo and Cash App were very popular to send money to family and friends, or hold grocery money or automate a child\u2019s allowance.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aOur participants are describing an increasingly complicated marketplace where it’s not always easy to understand what a product costs, what protections apply, or where to go when there’s a problem,\u201d said Swaner.<\/p>\n
She said policy makers should ensure there are strong consumer protections around these buy now, pay later and financial planning apps and financial literacy workshops should be updated to reflect their increased use.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinancial education should give people more power in the systems they’re navigating, not simply teach them how to manage scarcity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michelle Edwards, 50, doesn\u2019t have Netflix. That\u2019s because she only uses cash \u2014 a trick to help her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-335053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}