Good point, but I have noticed even in middle class areas around here there's definitely a squeeze in spendings. Sure, maybe some have done some poor purchases that are coming to roost in regards to budget, but IMO the inflation on items has gotten to the point where I can see people on budgets, self inflicted or not, racking up debt/eating savings to stay afloat.
Definitely curious too on the long term charts.
Thought I saw one on savings that had it lower than pre-covid but can't verify the accuracy.
Part of it is that consumer over consumed during COVID and now this is reverting to trend.
At my firm we finance myriad consumer lenders and it is nirvana right now. Utilization is up, the rates we charge are up, borrower quality is better than average and delinquencies have not yet picked up. This will all change but it is goldilocks right now.
COVID was actually a shitshow because utilization collapsed. It is hard to make money lending money when no one is borrowing.