Debt for Dinner
The dark side of an economy not working for working people
You’re at the grocery store buying essentials — what you need to feed you and your family for the next week.
The total comes back — and it is more than you planned, more than you have readily available.
But then you see the sign for “Pay in 4.” You ask — and it’s simple. Just pay 25% of your grocery bill today and the rest over the next six weeks. Every two weeks, a payment will be drawn on the account you provide.
You think this will help — you can leave with what you need and make a plan for buying less next week.
It’s a classic debt trap.
You probably will need the same or similar groceries next week.
Even if you can pay the full bill for that week’s groceries, you now have a grocery loan payment due. And then two more.
A new report by the Urban Institute uncovers the ubiquity of debt as a tool to buy basic needs — like food.
