In Debt We Trust

We watched this video in class. Quite long, but very informative. As you can see, the National debt has grown in the last few years by a few trillion. Most likely it will keep going up.

We discussed how credit card companies push credit on people that they know cannot afford to pay it off. I was shocked to hear how young college students around my age are 15-20 thousand dollars in debt. It baffles me. How can you spend money that you don't have?

I have seen both sides of the coin. Growing up, in my house I knew what the word 'creditor' meant when I was very little. They were the 'bad' people who wanted money that we didn't have. When we got caller id, we learned not to answer when they called.

Talking about money usually makes me very uncomfortable. I hate owing people money, I hate borrowing money from people. I usually don't have a problem lending people money, but I feel bad asking them to repay me.

Understandably, growing up in a household where money was tight, one can go one of two ways- either follow in their parents' footsteps, and spend what they don't have. Or make the smart choice and budget well.

Here's the other side of the coin- my grandparents are very smart with their money. I know that they bought a house straight out. They don't believe in mortgages.

Contrary to what the video portrays, no one was throwing credit cards at me. In fact, I was denied the first few times I applied. The reason- I had no credit. 'Derrrr'. How can I get a credit card to build up credit if no one will give me a credit card because I have no credit?

I do now have one credit card. I pay it off regularly. I don't treat it like fake money. I only use it if I know I can pay it off within the month. I B"H have a nice sum of money in savings. I am proud of myself.

My mother said it is a great thing that I am doing. I don't think so. I think it is just common sense.

Then again, common sense isn't all that common.

With G-d's help, I hope to never know what it is like to be in debt, or, as a classmate put it, to be so 'Po' that I can't even afford the o and r.