How the Hell Do You Get Out of Debt If You're Not a CEO Raking in Millions?

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Joshua Holland

How the Hell Do You Get Out of Debt If You're Not a CEO Raking in Millions?
Americans want to get out of debt, but the working majority are tapped out and having real problems making ends meet.

June 27, 2011 |


Americans are doing everything they can to pay down their debts, but with prices rising and wages stagnating, they just can't dig themselves out of the red.

“Since early 2010 we’ve been seeing a consistent focus on cutting debt as part of an overall strategy to improve family finances and embrace frugal living,” said Scott Spiker, CEO of First Command Financial Services, Inc. According to a monthly survey of consumer attitudes conducted by his firm, "Eight out of 10 respondents said that paying down debt is currently their No. 1 priority.”

They're working hard – and sacrificing – to make that happen. According to the survey of 1,000 middle-class households, more than half or respondents say they're cutting back on everyday expenses, four out of 10 say they're “using all of their extra income” to pay down debt and 15 percent are even taking second jobs or working extra shifts to dig themselves out of the hole.

As the shock of the financial crash took hold, these efforts looked like they were paying off. According to Federal Reserve Data, American households lopped 4 percent off of their consumer debts in 2009. They kept it up through the first three quarters of 2010 – paying down consumer debt to the tune of about 3 more percent. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/151448/how_the_hell_do_you_get_out_of_debt_if_youre_not_a_ceo_raking_in_millions

[rfranklin]

1. It's exactly the way the rentiers want it...

Classic Country, Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford Lyrics

Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store

[txlibdem]

2. Never more fitting than right now - thanks

:hi:

[awoke_in_2003]

8. I work for a major flight training center...

and we have a store at our center where we sell shirts, hats, coffee cups, etc, with our logo on it. They took a bunch of suggestions on a name, and settled on "The Company Store". Being 2 generations separated from Appalachian poverty (of which a lot of my extended family are still trapped in), I raised my objections and explained why. I get we don't have a lot of Pennsylvanians, Ohioans, or West Virginians at our center, because nobody seemed to get it.

[ixion]

3. You don't. This is by design.

Welcome to the Neo-Feudal Age.

[dkf]

4. Whoa we have six times the retail space per capita than any other nation?

From a link in the article:

If I am correct, my bearishness for retailers (non-grocery, non-essential) will last much longer than those who run up said stocks on "early cycle" thesis, as they will do repeatedly in 2009 (as they have done prematurely multiple times in 2008). We are overbuilt in America - in almost everything; "right sizing" will be a long, painful process and those who dream this all gets solved in "6 months" due to easy money need to look back at our history. Remember, our country has SIX times more retail space, per capita than any other nation. If we take $800 Billion to $1 Trillion of spending (8 to 10% savings rate returns) out of the economy and into personal savings on a permanent basis - what do you think happens to a lot of that space? Will we approve 2 year, $800 Billion stimulus plans every 24 months to offset this? (kick the can forever?)


http://seekingalpha.com/article/112604-what-will-happen-if-america-returns-to-an-historical-savings-rate

[Larry Ogg]

5. Our financial system is what is called "debt based economy". And it is a fraud...

This fraud is designed by predators (world elites) to literately rob workers who turn natural resources into wealth.

And in order for it to work, the predators must give the worker a fraction of what they produce, but not enough to survive. So in order to survive the worker must borrow from the predator, and thus the worker becomes a debt slave to the predator who produces nothing for the benefit of society. Eventually the predators own all the resources as well as everything that the workers produced.

In addition, in order for this fraudulent financial system to work in the best interest of the predators, it must have the full backing of the law. And when the law is owned and operated by the predators, the workers, out of instinct, trust the authority of the law.

Unfortunately, as a matter of culture, most debt slaves are to busy working their asses off, and don't have the time or psychological skills to learn and understand how inimical to their interest this corrupt system is. Furthermore, they grow so accustom to being screwed on a regular bases that they accept this fraud as if it was an act of nature, so they never question it, and they never question the venal politicians who never make an issue of it.

[jwirr]

6. Until they are homeless. I had been homeless for many years before

I realized that the payment on debt from credit I should never have been given was what was keeping me homeless (living with family and friends as long as they would have me). I have defaulted and now share an apartment with a younger family member. They harass me but I do not get my SSA check direct deposited so they cannot get it. I am sorry for any damage I have done to our economy by defaulting but that is all I could do. I couldn't even go bankrupt because I did not have the money for it.

There is a warning that should go with this story - I have no credit whatsoever left. However, Citibank is still offering me credit cards - can you believe it?

[damntexdem]

7. Who says you can? Getting out of debt is no longer meant for second-class citizens.

And the only first-class citizens are the super rich, whether or not CEOs raking in BILLIONS.