A Boring Dystopia

What about shaving items and deodorant?

....yup done already.

And butter locked up

Also odd to think people can put off eating until they have the proper funds.

First off, I fully agree with you. But how people are lured in is that there is no interest if you pay on time, so it's advertised as interest-free. But obviously the business model is built upon people not paying on time, and as such one should calculate that cost into it…

This is how I feel. Growing up ramen was too expansive. I have no problem going back there.

I worry about my kids but thankfully my sons favorite meals are my home cooked rice and beans and my homemade veggie stromboli that I can get down to ~$2 for a giant Stromboli if I make my own cheese sauce for it.

Credit card debt is a pathway to many abilities some would consider unnatural

My neighbor gets everything delivered, but I have no clue what he or his wife do. If my spouse made the same as I do, we could afford to do all that delivery stuff. But it still makes no sense

People who don't really understand credit cards or have a cognitive disconnect between cost and value when fulfilling their sustenance need.

When people get hangry they don't make good choices.

If you're living paycheck to paycheck, it takes one unexpected expense and suddenly you're hustling to get food on the table. The cycle then repeats itself.

If you are at the point where you are buying grocoeries in installments, who cares about paying it back. What good is a good credit score if you cant afford to buy anything anyways. Just survive any way you can at that point

Cost of living is too high, put it on credit.

Your alternative is starve now.

Either way, this is about to get a lot more bonkers in roughly the next 30 to 60 days as Just In Time delivery... kinda just, stops working, and grocery stores will have to both raise prices and ration items per customer per week to deal with shortages and try to minimize in-store injuries and deaths.

Go look up a compilations of black friday shopping stampedes.

Imagine that, but for groceries, every time a grocery store restocks.... for the forseeable future.

Some people don't have the option, and end up relying on these services. It's similar to the payday loan trap. Being poor is expensive.

Then you've never been poor and living paycheck to paycheck.

There are times when it's either find a loan from someone or not eat for two weeks because something in your house broke and that's unfortunately a reality for many Americans including myself at one time.

What kind of psychopath has three warm meals a day? You cook three times a day? Or do you eat out three times a day? I believe the latter to be more crazy.
I do share the intended sentiment however.

I'm more worried that they know

Those benefits are usually your own money + the money of those who fail to make payments since merchants have to increase their prices to compensate for credit card fees.

They indirectly steal from you, launder the funds and present it back to you as a "benefit", but only if you've been a good boy.

This is a similar principle to modern loyalty programs. In exchange for your personal information and your eyes (advertising), you get to pay slightly above the regular price and accumulate ✨points✨ while other schmos get a jacked up price that pays for your points (or the value of your points is built into the price of the items you purchase).