I haven’t done this in awhile, but I found this in today’s Patriot Post and thought it worth sharing. It coincides with my feelings about “stuff” and its purpose in life. The author is Rich Galen, who does a “cyber-column” called “Mullings“.
“Every American believes it is their constitutional right to own anything they want the second they decide they want it. Save up for something? Hah. Order online before 5 PM today and have it delivered to your doorstep by noon tomorrow. Lay-away? I’ll bet you can’t find three people in the country under the age of fifty who have ever heard of it or, having had it explained to them, would understand why it ever existed… Ohhhh [and] credit cards. Free money. The bottomless ATM machine. Put $2,000 on your credit card at 18% interest, pay the minimum every month and it will take 30 years to pay it off. But, no matter. If you max out on one card, just return the pre-printed form you got in the mail yesterday and another $2,500 to $5,000 in free money becomes available today for you to buy whatever decide you want tomorrow… The problem with Americans is we expect our reach, should it exceed our grasp (thus creating an expectation gap), to be met by our government; not by a hand up, but by a handout.”
I’m sure that when the word gets out that I’m a homeowner again that I’ll see umpteen pieces of junk mail a month telling me seductively that I can use the power of my home equity to get all the things I want, and it’s all tax deductible. I already get half a dozen credit solicitations and who knows how many telemarketer calls (caller ID is a wonderful invention.) Oh yes, and all those people who would LOVE to put siding, windows, roofing, etc. on my house. Been there done that, and I’m STILL paying for it, two credit card transfers later after starting out with that nice 15.9% interest rate on the original loan.
I know that the American economy runs on people buying stuff, but wouldn’t saving some money for a rainy day be a good idea?
