... pushing the average mortgage payment almost 50% to $2,500 from around $1,700 at the start of the year.

But we won't focus on mortgage in this post (we have done so excessively on various previous occasions), especially since in a world where most Americans have been forced to rent (with the average house increasingly unaffordable), having a mortgage became a luxury for the middle class long ago. Instead, we will bring readers' attention to what is no longer a luxury, but with the US savings rate at record lows...

... and with credit card debt soaring every month by record amounts...