Paying forward

[wtmusic]

Maybe this mess will encourage people to actually save up for things, instead of borrowing. Remember that idea? Seems kind of quaint, but when I was growing up in the sixties that was pretty sound advice. My dad drilled it into me - for him, growing up in the Depression and watching families get kicked out onto the street kinda gave credit a bad name.

Result being, I've always saved up for cars and paid cash. The only money I owe right now is on my mortgage; it's a fixed rate and a good one. I'm paying it off ten years early, because I set aside extra cash each month.

I am not materialistic and I don't own a lot of toys. Every now and then I experience a pang of envy when I see friends with swimming pools (bought with borrowed money), motor homes (borrowed money)...the list goes on, and on.

So it bugs me when I'm asked to cover the people who ran up debt, played with it, took advantage of others. The economy is not tanking - the economy was artificially inflated and it blew up in America's face. We've been living a lie for a long time - and now we're being paid back.

[livetohike]

1. I grew up in the sixties, too and I just had this same

conversation with my m-i-l this afternoon. My husband was taught to save and I was taught to save. We have paid cash for everything we ever owned except for when we bought a house. We lived/worked in CA for thirteen years and this last time, sold our home for a good profit before the market dropped.

Our realtor (who was decades younger), once said, "The difference between my generation and yours is, we don't mind going in debt.". I wonder how that's working out for her now :shrug:.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. The banks and other financial institutions have done all they could to encourage

people to use credit cards and live above their means.
It reminds me of when ATMs first appeared. Remember? They were free. As soon as they were sure that everyone was more or less
dependent on them, the banks instituted charges for the use of ATMs...and then, if you used the ATM of another bank, it was even more.

The financial people made sure that everyone was addicted to credit card living, and then started to raise the interest rates..but by then it was too late for those who were in debt to stop using them. They certainly could not stop paying the bill!! then they would lose everything. The alternative was bankruptcy...but then the financial institutions got the govt to change the rules for bankruptcy.
Even that was no longer an option.

They are like drug pushers getting people hooked on drugs and then forcing them to start selling the drugs to others so as to pay for their own.

[wtmusic]

3. You are absolutely right

and if I had grown up two decades later I would be doing the same thing.

Maybe we need a market crash every seventy years to remind us of the value of cold, hard cash.