Debt?

Don't buy stuff you can't afford!

A big problem with America is citizens today is getting into debt by buying things they can't afford.

Now I don't think that the consumer is entirely at fault here either. The media plays a key role by advertising commercials that make people think that they need this product for one reason or another. "Gotta have the new toy, car, technology, and etc..." It's ridiculous, because we truly don't need half of the stuff that advertised to us.

Truth of the matter is we need to learn how to budget and to not be afraid to be thrifty. I personally feel that public schools should teach students how to budget. I know that I still do not have a full sense of paying bills and trying to make sure that I am staying out of debt. I do my best to restrict myself from buying "stuff" when I have extra cash. Also, every time I get $1000 in my checking account, I move $500 to my savings. Sadly this has not happened yet since I have not been able to get to that amount, due to gas, car repairs, other needs, and a few wants. Yes I have bought stuff for myself from time to time. I might have to adjust that to a lower target amount so I'm actually putting money into my savings.

There are several things that are ok to go into debt for: education, car, and house. These are all investments for us individually. Education helps us get better jobs and thus (hopefully) make more money. A car, which loses value soon as you drive it off the lot, has become a need to get us from point A to point B. Also, the house which can be an investment for you since it's value is suppose to increase over time. Of course taking care of it and fixing it up over time helps too.

It seems to me that our country is now living on debt as it's life source. As of 10/22/2008, the total Public Debt Outstanding is......


drum roll please....


$10,495,669,391,439.70

Man I wonder how many times you could buy Disney, Microsoft, and Wal-mart with that much money. Of course that $700 billion stimulate for the economy only looks like a small dent in comparison.

To conclude on this: budget, don't be afraid to be thrifty, and avoid debt as much as possible. I know that these things won't solve everyone's financial problem, but we have more control over these areas than the others.