The pressure on household expenses is evident in the flow of funds. Each dot represents the sum of household savings vs total debt expense each month (labeled quarterly), colored by year. -Dots moving right and left indicate more/less savings. -Dots moving up and down indicate more/less debt costs. In 🔴2022 we see savings flows plummet (dots move left) then debt costs rising later in the year (dots rise), representing the early 2022 inflation shock paid for by dissaving, and debt service increasing as the Fed begins to hike. Note how 2023-2025 (🔵🟢🟡) have seen dots rising year over year, but staying relatively flat on the X-axis. This represents rising all-in cost of debt servicing for households *without* much change in the flow to savings. What this means is that the marginal new dollar earned by increased wages is being eaten up by a split between consumption+borrowing, and NOT becoming an increased flow into savings. I wager this dynamic could pose an issue if the historic low job growth eventually cracks into outright labor contraction (as suggested by direction of travel in private data since the blackout).