The Cost Of Driving Is As Bad As The Cost Of Housing

We’re only slightly exaggerating when we say that the cost of owning and operating a car in 2024 is as expensive as it was to own or rent and maintain a place to live 10 or 20 years ago. Only slightly exaggerating. And, in some cases, maybe the statement is actually in line with reality. 

When you see the latest data on new and used car payments, you’ll see what we mean. 

We write about the cost of living a lot in The Juice. Because it matters. 

You can’t have or eavesdrop on a conversation lately without the issue of persistently high and ever increasing prices coming up. Even with inflation — apparently — cooling down. 

We tend to focus on housing from a buy perspective, as we did in Pure Insanity: The Housing Crisis Is Only Getting Worse—

As you read this, they’re still at 7% on a 30-year mortgage. Still. Imagine if you had taken on a $4,000 payment well over a year ago just to become a homeowner. If you were stretching it, there’s a good chance you tightened your budget to the point where it negatively impacted your quality of life. 

For the record, we got the $4,000 figure using a $500,000 property with a 10% down payment. So, we’re only talking a hair above the national median. Go to a more expensive metro area and that payment jumps to $5,800 (on a $750,000 home) or $7,700 (on a $1 million home).

And, as you read this, the rate still stands at 7%. So much for ‘marry the house, date the rate.” And, no wonder why mortgages are prohibitively expensive, if not flat out of reach for a growing number of Americans. 

We also tend to focus on housing from a rent perspective, as we did in ‘With The Cost Of Renting Today … There’s Nothing Left Over’—

The median rent across apartment sizes in the top 50 metro areas was $1,732 in May 2024. That’s up $10 from April, but down $24 from the August 2022 high. So, as we say repeatedly in The Juice, the price fluctuations we see in housing — rent or buy — simply don’t add up to affordability.

And in Cities With ‘Plummeting’ Rents And Housing Prices—

For example, the two cities with the largest price decreases on two-bedroom apartments were Jersey City and Oakland. Places that used to be safe and affordable havens for people who could no longer afford New York City or San Francisco. 

In Jersey City, the cost of a two-bedroom dropped 10.9% to $3,530. In Oakland, it went down 7.4% to $2,620. The above-calculated numbers tell you all you need to know.

And, of course, we discuss food in relation to cost of living, as we did in What Do Groceries And Dining Out Cost Where You Live?—

The official inflation data from the federal government shows that restaurant meals are up 4.1% and groceries are up 1.1% year over year. 

We don’t know about you, but things feel a lot more expensive than that. Maybe it’s just that they increased by so much prior to inflation cooling a little that it’s difficult to notice. Or, in the more likely scenario, the people charging these prices still face increased costs to operate their businesses and have yet to pass on any savings they might be realizing to the consumers. Don’t hold your breath that they ever will.

For the record, in that article, we showed that we spent just under $200, in one week, for groceries for two people, after getting as many deals and discounts as possible. 

Anyhow … 

We’re building quite the library here at The Juice. Keeping you informed about the economy, personal finance, investing and more. Commiserating with you over what’s horribly wrong. And staying positive by discussing constructive and accessible solutions. 

Here’s more of what’s wrong, courtesy of Experian’s quarterly automotive trends report: 

• Average new vehicle monthly payment increased $3 year-over-year, reaching $735.
• Average used/vehicle monthly payment only increased $2 to $523 year-over-year.
• Average vehicle interest rates rose to 6.73% for new and 11.91% for used.

The average payment on a new car is $735! The amount of the typical loan actually decreased roughly $481 to $40,634, but, with those interest rates, it doesn’t matter. 

Let’s say you’re paying $150 a month for car insurance (which might be low), $200 a month for gas (also potentially low) and $100 a month for maintenance (ditto!), you’re on the hook for well over $1,000 a month to keep a car on the road. 

Throw in housing and food and, yeah, it’s tough for more than a few people to have money left over at the end of the month. 

The Bottom Line: As we watched that debate the other night, we were honestly sickened. Yes, by Biden’s weak (to put it kindly) performance and Trump’s lies (let’s face it, he plays fast and loose with the truth). But, more so, with the childlike “discussion” around inflation. One guy blaming the other for high prices. 

Do they both think we’re all too stupid a real discussion on what causes/has caused inflation — pandemic spending, general government spending, money printing, etc.? Because, if we started there and politicians took real steps to fix a broken model, instead of pointing fingers at one another, we might find solutions to high prices that go beyond the individual having to do stressful math each month inside their checking accounts.

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