Extravagance

Elevated stress is draining young Americans’ wallets as “doom spending” becomes their go-to coping mechanism.

According to a recent study from Intuit Credit Karma, 60% of Americans are feeling anxious about the state of the world, particularly over the cost of living and inflation. With these concerns taking a toll on mental health, 27% of Americans admit they’re “doom spending” — spending more money despite financial worries. This trend is especially popular among Gen Z (37%) and millennials (39%), with one in four sharing that spending helps them cope with anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.

What’s behind the current spike in this trend? Constant online negativity. More than half of Gen Z (53%) and millennials (49%) say the steady stream of bad news on social media drives them to spend more to relieve stress.

Nearly half (44%) of Americans reported feeling pessimistic about their financial future, and a substantial portion of young people are forgoing savings entirely. This has left many young adults seeing core financial goals, like paying off debt or saving to upgrade their living situation, as far out of reach.

For Christians, financial expert Art Rainer suggests that reprioritizing money is a key place to start:

So, where do we get it wrong? We’re putting our hope for security, our hope for a better future, a hope for a sense of satisfaction and contentment on money. And it gets us into a lot of financial trouble. We get into cycles of discontentment and dissatisfaction. And then of course, we continue to try to get more. And it just never works out. Money in and of itself is not a bad thing. We can use those things for God’s purpose and for His glory.

Fine dining typically means splurging a little for high-quality meat or fresh seafood. But what if money were truly no object?

Restaurant owners and chefs around the world create original dining experiences for those who want unique experiences. You know, like spending nearly $10,000 on a pizza or $1,000 on an ice cream sundae.

Here are a few of the world’s most expensive meals:

• Masa — New York. Dinner Omakase menu per person: $750 sushi-eating experience.

• SubliMotion —Dubai. Dinner per person: around $2,000. That’s more than the average family will spend for an entire month on food.

• De Daltons – The Netherlands. The Golden Boy Burger: $5,532.79. Chef Robbert Jan de Veen’s “The Golden Boy” is made with 100% Wagyu A5 meat, as well as Beluga caviar, king crab, Spanish Paleta Ibérico, white truffle, and English cheddar.

• Renato Viola — Salerno, Italy. Louis XIII Pizza: $9,184.32. Pizza toppings include: mozzarella di bufala, lobster, and caviar all flown in from all different parts of the world.

• The Fortress Resort and Spa — Sri Lanka. The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence Dessert: $14,500. The dessert features Italian cassata flavored with Irish cream with a pomegranate and mango compote. The base is adorned with an 80-carat aquamarine stone.

Possible Preaching Angles:

(1) Salvation and The Lord's Supper—They're both offered free of charge (although Jesus paid the price that we could never have paid), and the Lord's Supper is better than anything on this list. (2) Social Justice—While millions of people are malnourished, a few people can afford outrageously expensive, luxurious meals. (3) Simplicity; Provision—God promised to provide daily bread, not daily slice of "Louis XIII" pizza. (4) Hospitality—Hospitality is more about love and openness than about trying to offer a "world's best meal." Encourage people to keep it simple.

A beautiful wedding does not a wonderful marriage make. We know that and yet many couples get drawn into the business of weddings and the price tag can create a burden and stress for years. According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding in 2022 was $30,000, including the ceremony and reception.

Just for reference, warehouse workers, nursing assistants and shuttle drivers make less than $36,000 a year on average. You also could buy a new car for $30,000 or pay for the cost of tuition, housing, and meal plan at a major university for the same price. There is also a massive cost burden for attendees. According to The Balance it costs individual members of a bridal party more than $700 to attend a wedding, including travel, accommodations, and clothing.

But, hey, you can always read up on the dozens of articles highlighting how to save money when planning a wedding … such as “open a new savings account earmarked just for the wedding.” Is that what we have allowed the industry to push us toward? Opening a new savings account just to finance a wedding?

Possible Preaching Angle:

Maybe it is time for us all to rethink our cultural obsession with elaborate weddings – and the staggering financial behemoth it has created.

Pets these days are living more luxurious lives than ever as humans increasingly pour money into making their properties fetching for nonhuman family members. For instance, Robbie Timmers went all-out adding a contemporary-style house on his property in Thailand. White with chic black trim, the two-story, air-conditioned abode has security cameras, smart lighting, and a sliding door to the porch. Mr. Timmers would have added a swimming pool, too, but his wife objected. Her reasoning? It seemed unnecessary for the home’s intended occupants: the couple’s five dogs.

Mr. Timmers love his dogs’ house, but he adds, “I have to be honest, my dogs never set foot in the house,” says Mr. Timmers, who spent about $10,000 on it. The mini-house mostly sits empty. “It has everything,” he adds. “Just no dogs.”

Then there’s Doug the Pug, a lovable pooch whose penchant for wearing elaborate costumes has earned him over one billion viewers across social-media platforms. At the Nashville, Tennessee home Doug shares with his owners, the pug has his own 15-foot closet for his outfits, including tiny cowboy hats, cashmere sweaters, a rainbow of sunglasses, custom harnesses from London, and a Boda Skins leather jacket.

Among other perks, Doug also only drinks purified water at home and routinely sees a canine herbalist and acupuncturist.

Possible Preaching Angles:

This is extreme, but are we excessively spending on the things that don’t ultimately matter?

Out of curiosity Ben Kirby started watching worship songs on YouTube and identified many of the leaders and preachers as wearing sneakers worth from $800 to $1200. Others wore designer outfits worth thousands. He started an Instagram account posting the preachers and the price tags. In the first month he had 100,000 followers.

In an interview for The Washington Post he questioned the blatant extravagance of someone preaching about Jesus: “I began asking, how much is too much? Is it okay to get rich off of preaching about Jesus? Is it okay to be making twice as much as the median income of your congregation?”

One report noted:

Practice what you preach. We expect our leaders—no matter who they are—to maintain certain standards of decency and to uphold the same values they profess to support. ... Kirby continues to show the dissonance between what preachers, pastors, and priests say and what the details of their clothing reveal about their actual lifestyles.

Just a few examples of what religious leaders have been photographed wearing:

• Gucci Slippers: $1,100

• Jordan 1 Retro High Dior Sneakers: $7,210

• Supreme X Louis V Jacquard Denim Parka: $9,625

• Christian Louboutin Belt Bag: $1,250

• Stefano Ricci Belt: $2,541

A suburban Chicago woman was left stunned over the summer when one of her patrons left a combined tip of over 1,000%. Nicole Thompson, a teacher who worked a second job as a bartender to help pay the bills, received two separate tips by the same person - one for $500, and a second for $1,000. "I said, 'I can't take this,' and he said, 'Yes, you can," she related. The generous man, the boss of a friend of Thompson's, simply said he had heard that she worked two jobs and thought she deserved it. "The rest of the day I felt like different," said Thompson, "like, what just happened here. I never anticipated that." The owner of the restaurant publicly thanked the man, saying, "Although I have never met you - your act of kindness is inspiring." The surprising generosity of one man has made national news, and has likely impacted one woman's life significantly. Perhaps a good question to be asked, then, is why we don't hear more news stories about the overwhelming generosity of Christians?

Ever wonder how to spend a $1 billion on a wedding? Hint: include Jennifer Lopez. A couple in Moscow took [the] notion of a lavish wedding ceremony to a whole new level—and to add to the sticker shock, both the newly-married husband and wife are in their twenties.

Khadija Uzhakhova is a 20-year-old college student, and Said Gutseriev is a 28-year-old Russian elite and son of oil and media tycoon Mikhail Gutseriev, who is worth $6.2 billion. The wedding was held at Safisa, a luxury restaurant and banqueting venue that the couple transformed into a fairy-tale setting with walls of freshly-cut flowers and furniture sourced from Paris.

And forget buffet food. The 600 guests at this wedding were served sushi and feasted on a full European meal, which ended with the presentation of a cake taller than the couple. Elie Saab designed the bride's 28-pound custom gown, which is estimated to cost nearly $25,000. And as for entertainment at the ceremony, the couple enlisted Sting and Enrique Iglesias to warm up the stage for none other than Jennifer Lopez (yes, J. Lo!)—who put on a full show for the bride, groom and other lucky attendees.

Still not impressed? The wedding party traveled in a fleet of Rolls Royces, and guests of the ceremony left with their own elaborate jewelry boxes. An official price tag for the wedding isn't available, but Harper's Bazaar estimates it falls within the $1 billion range. We just hope there's a thank you letter to Dad in the mail.

Possible Preaching Angles: 1) This earthly wedding is extravagant, but it is nothing compared the wedding feast of Jesus and his bride the church. 2) The bride of Christ will share in the inheritance of Christ because of his great love for her. 3) The wealthy live in temporary extravagance but one day it will all quickly pass away if they are not rich toward God.

Even in the midst of an economic crisis, the average couple spends $3,215 on an engagement ring and $2,036 on wedding bands. Author Laura Vanderkam uses these numbers and other statistics to show how we tend to stress the wedding event over marriage:

The $5,251 the average couple spends on rings could be viewed as 105 nights of paying $50 to a babysitter so you can have uninterrupted conversation or neck in your car like teenagers. The average $11,000-plus wedding reception bill could cover a cleaning service for the five sticky years many two-kid couples spend in [the] babystage—when children spill milk just to see what will happen. The $1,240 brides spend on average to buy (and preserve) their dress and veil and shoes could cover 48 weeks of a laundry service …. The average $1,276 flower bill could be doled out as 127 $10 thinking-of-you bouquets offered once-a-month [for a decade].

Ronald Warwick, captain of the luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II, questioned a passenger who paid full fare for his dog to join them on an around-the-world cruise. (Accommodations range from $25,000 to $150,000.) "Wouldn't it have cost less to leave him at home?"

"Oh no," the man said. "When we are away a long time, the dog's psychiatrist fees are so high, it's less expensive to bring him along."

Regarding the latest multimillion-dollar sports contracts. ... It is amazing to me how screwed up the priorities in this country have become. Think of what all that money could mean to people who truly need it--the poor, the sick, and others in unfortunate circumstances. On the other hand, I guess if I could find someone stupid enough to pay me megabucks to play a game, I'd take the money and run. ...