To Charge, Or NOT To Charge - That Is The Question

It's a sad fact that Americans live in a society where people desire bigger, better things. The concept of simple life is looked down upon. People want a new car, a bigger house, 500 channels on TV, high speed internet, clothing, jewelry, grande cafe lates, any time, all the time. The simple life doesn't imply depriving yourself of these wonderful things, but accepting the lifestyle within your means.

People think it's normal to buy things that they can't afford - 'let's charge the credit card and worry about it later.' After all, credit card is a loan that you can pay back now or later. Very few people who I speak with on a regular basis buy things that they can afford. The majority of people purchase things while not having money in their banks. They are not even thinking of 'money in the bank' when they pull out their credit card.

'Do you really need that big screen TV?' 'Of course I do! How am I going to watch all those shows in high definition? Plus, all my buddies have one.' They charge the TV on the credit card; meanwhile, an insurance bill comes due, and all the money from the bank went to pay part of the TV payment. So, they are forced to charge the insurance on the same credit card. Plus, the groceries are bought using the same credit card.

Who benefits from all these purchases? The credit card companies, of course. The credit card companies figured out a way to get money from consumers, through interest, because consumers can't say NO to purchasing that big screen TV. I do have a lot of respect for these companies. After all, they can sit back, relax and watch the consumer get into a bigger debt.

After all, it is entirely consumer's fault for getting into debt. Who bought that big screen TV? The consumer. Did the credit card company 'make' the consumer buy the TV? No. Could the consumer afford the TV? No. When will the consumer learn their lesson and buy things they can afford? After filing for Chapter 11/bankruptcy? Probably not.

There are a few problems that I would like to address here. First, we are living in a society where having possessions makes you seem popular, i.e. rich. And second, people have the means to 'be popular', i.e. having lots of possession that they can't afford, by having credit cards. Should there be a law not allowing people to charge up their credit card(s) to the unbelievable limits? Absolutely! Unfortunately, while the credit card companies are making money on consumers who can't say No, such law will never come into effect. And why should it? The credit companies say that this is a free country and people should be allowed to do whatever they want, including getting into 30 thousand dollars debt.

It's sad to know that so many people will never learn to live within their means. They will forever buy things that they can't afford, get into a bigger debt, pay interest to the credit card companies, buy more things, etc. It's an endless cycle. And it's sad how many people live inside this cycle and never get out.