Personal Economy

It's easy to blame big-wigs for the financial mess we're currently in.  Back in the day, Rod and I needed 20 percent of the cost of a house for a bank to loan us money.  Now, people get themselves into serious debt with no money down.  If they put nothing down, they have nothing to lose so they can simply walk away from their debt.  Yet it's just a tip of the iceberg that has been quietly hammering the hull of our ship, so to speak.

Look through any fashion magazine and you'll see handbags advertised for upwards of 1500 dollars.  Women want them.  As a result, they feel as though buying a bag for only 300 dollars is a deal.  True for shoes too.  THere is no end to the money spending that goes on.  And, it happens to people who can not afford to make these purchases.  

I think that the economy is shit because we all wanted a piece of the pie and banks let us do so by offering ungodly sums of credit with little care for what that does to the soul of a person.  Students are well into debt because of student loans.  People easily get themselves in debt because their credit limit is so high.  Those with little discipline just spend, spend, spend.  Sure, on paper the economy looked like it was growing, but it was only getting itself in debt.

I've had my share of spending issues, but I realize that I have always been scared of poverty so I've listened to the little angel on my shoulder saying, don't give in.  Credit card debt at this house is zero and has been for a while.  But I don't think the economy can grow the way it was...it was a false growth.  Inflated house prices were great to those who were selling, but they needed to buy something bigger so they bought inflated big houses.  What has that done?  If people listened to the inner voice from the beginning, we wouldn't be in this mess now.  Perhaps we need to get back to the scrimp and save mode our grandparents were teaching us all those years ago.

See what happens when you don't learn from history?