Why is this witty?
'Living beyond your means' is an expression used to say that you are spending more money than you have. People who eat out at expensive restaurants, drive expensive cars, go on fancy holidays, buy designer clothes, but have modest salaries, little savings and no other sources of income, tend to live beyond their means.
Example: 'They bought that house beyond their means'
Definition: Referring to a belief that they cannot afford the house - that they can't meet the mortgage payments
Extract from The New York Times Opinion Pages 'Living Beyond Your Means'
First, the expansion of consumer credit in the United States has allowed middle class and poor Americans to live beyond their means, masking their lack of wealth by increasing their debt. We might think that people who have "zero net worth” have nothing. But in fact, having zero net worth increasingly means owning a lot (cars, televisions, even houses) – but also owing a lot. As a result people with zero net worth, and even negative net worth, can still feel that they are living the American dream, doing “better” than their parents did while keeping up with the Joneses.
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