A loan, originally, was a scheme designed to let people buy something outside of their means, such as a home or a car. Now, though, people in the US are taking out buy now, pay later loans for essential groceries. When people can't even afford to feed themselves, it's a worrisome sign for the economy.
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A 2025 survey by LendingTree has found that 25% of buy now, pay later users are using the service to buy groceries. This is a huge leap from the previous year's 14%. Even more concerning, they also found that 41% of people using BNPL for groceries were late with their payments.
People using buy now, pay later for luxury items such as consumer electronics is not an issue. If someone wants to put themselves in debt for nonessential items, then that's their mistake to make. But groceries are not luxury items. Without food, people starve. If a population has to finance its food, it's one step away from being destitute.
Buy Now, Pay Later Groceries Are A Glaring Recession Indicator
Few things scream a country in trouble like a population unable to afford essential groceries without having to go into debt. Speaking about the survey, LendingTree's consumer finance analyst, Matt Schulz, voiced his concerns. "A lot of people are struggling and looking for ways to extend their budget," he said.
The reasons for the growing number of people slipping into debt to feed themselves are numerous. "Inflation is still a problem. Interest rates are still really high. There's a lot of uncertainty around tariffs and other economic issues, and it's all going to add up to a lot of people looking for ways to extend their budget however they can," he said. Using buy now, pay later for groceries has become a last-ditch effort for many.
The US is a land of plenty. There are millions of acres of farmland producing enough food to feed more than enough people. People in the US throw away around 40% of the country's food supply as waste. There are sixteen million empty homes across the country. That is enough to house the 771,000 homeless many times over.
The problem isn't scarcity, it's a growing disparity between a small number of rich hoarding wealth and the growing numbers of poor being left with nothing.
There is little sign of the US's economic woes slowing anytime soon. At present, most people are scared to even say the word, let alone actually make efforts to repair the damage. Until something is done, the number of people left homeless and forced into buy now, pay later debt for simple necessities like groceries will grow day by day.
