Lately, “I’m doing fine” is the mantra we keep repeating on autopilot just to get through the month. But in our heads, we all have a calculator running 24/7 to see if our next paycheck will be enough. The American middle class is clearly struggling, and a Reddit thread that blew up this week on r/povertyfinance proves it.
The thread was written by a car rental employee who named the post “Everybody is Broke,” and who says their job has made the state of people’s finances impossible to ignore.
“I work at a car rental company and my role has really opened my eyes into how bad the finances are of so many different people,” shares the Redditor. “Many rental cars are paid for by insurance companies for people getting their cars repaired through insurance claims. Since the rental has already been paid for we just collect a $50 deposit for incidentals and to ensure the rental is returned.”
The Redditor went on to explain that “Every week there are countless people that are unable to put down a deposit. Surprisingly, there are even clean cut, professionally dressed people who have to return home to grab a different card or wait for their credit card to finish processing a payment because they have reached their card limit and have no way of using a card with $50 on it.”
The post struck a nerve almost right away. In less than 24 hours, it picked up more than 14,000 upvotes and over 300 comments, with many people saying they found themselves in similar situations.
“Yesterday I had to pick up a rental car because I was rear ended and didn’t know I had to pay a $50 deposit. I barely had enough money for it. I was almost one of those people,” reads one comment.
Others said the same financial strain shows up far beyond car rental counters. One commenter who works with retirement accounts described constant early withdrawals from people who should still be saving.
“You have no idea how bad it is,” the commenter wrote. “I work with retirement accounts and 80% of my day is people aged 25–45 begging for withdrawals every time there is a paycheck contribution. Another 10 percent are women over 60 that work in healthcare and have to withdraw everything each time they have a paycheck. The $100 between contribution and match is necessary just to try and survive.”
The discussion echoes ongoing research on how the affordability crisis is affecting the middle class and how being alive has become increasingly expensive. A lot of Americans are running on thin liquidity, and the strain doesn’t always show up in bankruptcy filings or foreclosure notices, but in friction fees, prescription costs, or hours cut at work — small amounts that reveal whether there’s any air left in the system.
Roughly 24% of U.S. households are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a Bank of America Institute analysis released in November 2025. A separate survey by the Federal Reserve shows that about 37% of U.S. adults would not be able to cover a $400 unexpected expense.
People in the Reddit thread show what those statistics look like in real life, with many saying the average salary is simply not cutting it.
“Having an average salary of $50k, then paying out taxes and insurance premiums, quickly turns that into a $35k–$40k salary before it even hits your bank account. Then add on groceries, copays, medication costs, rent, auto insurance, etc., and you’re in the hole,” one Redditor wrote.
Another broke down their own numbers: “Last year’s numbers for me were a $45k salary. Between insurance and taxes, 42% of my check was gone before I ever saw it. So on paper I made $45k. In reality, I took home about $26k. I have a spouse and one child. It’s rough out there.”
This is exactly it,” says another. “I make a certain amount on paper. 20-30% is gone right away from taxes. Everything else goes to bills and groceries. We can’t afford to get married. Our cards are maxed because we both got sick with no paid time off. So sick we were sent home but force. “
Your job title — or how put-together you look — no longer signals that you’re actually doing fine.
“I have a respectable job in a clinic, clean-cut, well dressed, highly educated. I do the debt dance every week and have been to the soup kitchen more and more recently because I choose rent over food almost every month,” one Redditor wrote.
Moral of the story: We are not doing fine.
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