Can You Get Out of Debt Without Giving Up Your Daily Latte?

Some personal finance experts who shall remain nameless have made a career out of telling young, working adults that they could get out of debt simply by brewing their own coffee at home instead of stopping at a coffee shop on the way to work. Yes, the price of coffee shop beverages is astronomical, especially in California. Dave Ramsey estimates that if you buy a coffee at Starbucks once per workday, you will spend more than $700 per year, and no one disagrees. Young people increasingly disagree with one of his assertions, though, namely that they can easily pay off their debts simply by eliminating small incidental expenses such as their daily latte habit. 

Small adjustments to one’s budget only work for paying off small debts. The financial problems facing Millennials and Generation Z run much deeper. If giving up your coffee habit and living on instant ramen noodles would not be enough to make a dent in your debts, even though you have one or more jobs, contact an Oakland Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer.

You Did the Math, and the Starbucks Budget of Your Entire Graduating Class Would Not Be Enough to Pay Off Your Debts

The “give up your daily latte” advice is based on a few increasingly outdated assumptions. It assumes that the debtor has a stable income, and it implies that the debt is a credit card balance related to a few early career splurges, such as stylish work clothes and a few celebratory dinners where the debtor treated her friends to expensive meals because she felt that she could afford to. It assumes that the borrower is not financially supporting other people, and her other expenses are relatively low; perhaps she lives with housemates. The money could either go to leisurely spending or to debt repayment.

This does not describe the financial situation of most people in their 20s and 30s today. Even if they live with their families, they financially support their children and their parents, and perhaps they also send remittances to support family members in their parent’s country of origin. A frugal grocery budget is also a near impossibility; a week’s worth of instant noodles costs nearly as much today as a steak dinner cost 10 years ago. People need buy now pay later (BNPL) for groceries. Medical debt does not easily disappear if, instead of today’s Starbucks, you buy a jar of Nescafe that lasts a month.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy can grant you relief from debts that would not go away even if it were possible to eliminate your grocery budget entirely by placing your digestive system in standby mode while sending your brain to work. If your income has increased but old debts are following you around, a debt consolidation loan could also be a feasible solution.

Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare About Filing for Personal Bankruptcy

A debt relief lawyer can help you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy if you work constantly but can’t make a dent in your debts. Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare in Oakland, California, or call (510)255-4646 for a free case evaluation.