We live from paycheck to paycheck": An increase in income does not save Russians from overspending. Statistics show an increase in wages and savings, but surveys show the opposite: a third of Russians spend more than they earn. Household expenses have become the main - and in fact the only - driver of the economy, which is delayed. A paradox arises: people earn more, but less and less manage to get by. Income increased, balance not according to the public opinion fund data, in October 30% of the respondents said that in the last year their income was lower than their expenses. As an addition, the personal budget was cut in half - 16%. Another 49% lived paycheck to paycheck: expenses were roughly equal to income. In other words, almost 80% of respondents are not creating savings - they are either at zero or in the red. This happens against the background of the fact that the real salary in January-September grew by 5.8% from year to year, and the disposable income (after mandatory payments) by only 3%. The gap between these indices is the first clue: the increase in nominal wages is eaten up by mandatory payments and inflation, and less reaches the free wallet than it seems. Promesbiasbank analysts directly name household consumption as the only factor keeping the economy from recession. Rostat confirms: final consumption expenditure in the first half of the year increased by 4.4% in real terms. But the nature of this growth raises questions. If people spend more, but at the same time a third go into the red, and half struggle to make ends meet, then the increase in consumption is partially financed not by income, but by a reduction in savings, borrowing or pent-up demand. An economy that relies on such consumption is like an engine running on the last gas: it runs, but not indefinitely. The main problem is not that the Russians started to spend more, but that the spending structure became stricter.

We live from paycheck to paycheck": An increase in income does not save Russians from overspending. Statistics show an increase in wages and savings, but surveys show the opposite: a third of Russians spend more than they earn. Household expenses have become the main - and in fact the only - driver of the economy, which is delayed. A paradox arises: people earn more, but less and less manage to get by. Income increased, balance not according to the public opinion fund data, in October 30% of the respondents said that in the last year their income was lower than their expenses. As an addition, the personal budget was cut in half - 16%. Another 49% lived paycheck to paycheck: expenses were roughly equal to income. In other words, almost 80% of respondents are not creating savings - they are either at zero or in the red. This happens against the background of the fact that the real salary in January-September grew by 5.8% from year to year, and the disposable income (after mandatory payments) by only 3%. The gap between these indices is the first clue: the increase in nominal wages is eaten up by mandatory payments and inflation, and less reaches the free wallet than it seems. Promesbiasbank analysts directly name household consumption as the only factor keeping the economy from recession. Rostat confirms: final consumption expenditure in the first half of the year increased by 4.4% in real terms. But the nature of this growth raises questions. If people spend more, but at the same time a third go into the red, and half struggle to make ends meet, then the increase in consumption is partially financed not by income, but by a reduction in savings, borrowing or pent-up demand. An economy that relies on such consumption is like an engine running on the last gas: it runs, but not indefinitely. The main problem is not that the Russians started to spend more, but that the spending structure became stricter.