Should Americans Allow Debt To Control Their Lives?

American society has gotten into some serious financial trouble because there is a constant need of trying to keep up with the latest fashion and drive the nicest cars and with that most live well outside their means. Many people doubt the severity of how bad the debt situation is for Americans that’s why I am here to tell you that 44% have encountered a bad debt that has gotten out of hand and a great example to use is credit card debt. Not all debt is considered to be bad but actually good debt such as student loan payments and mortgage payments because these actually benefit you because ther used for educational purposes or building equity in your house but not everyone look at these examples as reasons why they have there debt because those high interest rates and hidden fees are very unforgiving and don’t just disappear.

More and more Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, not saving for retirement or a rainy day, and living far beyond their means. But it might surprise you to know that the American economy itself really encourages this type of behavior. Why is this so?

Because in America, economic growth is seen as key to a healthy economy. And what is economic growth? You guessed it. Yes, it means more and better jobs, more people working, and making more money, but it also means more people buying more things. In fact, a large part of economic growth is based on how much we spend every year. And guess what? This number (how much we spend every year) is not split up between how much of that is debt and how much of that is actually money of our own that we earned. It simply says we spent X amount of dollars to shop. That’s right. It means that a large part of that number could actually be you going into debt to buy those goods, but it actually looks like “growth.” In fact, this is a fake measure of how healthy our economy is, because your own personal economy is certainly not healthy if you’re in debt to get things you don’t need and that will not give you a positive return in the long run, such as an education would.

Developing a picture in regard to how financially healthy or sick the American economy is can be highly regarded as a selfless mirror in regard to the way the economy spends money and manages a budget and with that our budget shows overall.

With the national deficit being in excess of 12 trillion dollars Americans more than ever have less of of a role model on how to manage a budget. All be it the country could stand to go on a budget diet and so should you.

In the meantime, what can you do to rein in your own spending, if you need to? That’s right. Put yourself on a budget, and if you’re in debt, get out. This means swapping lattes at the corner shop for homemade coffee, putting a moratorium on buying new clothes until you’ve actually worn what you have in your closet, and paying off your present car and driving it for a few years instead of trading in for a new one every couple of years “just because”. Of course, if you’re rolling in dough, you don’t have to do these things. But the fact is, most Americans aren’t rolling in dough and to have to cut back on spending. So figure out what your basic needs are, take care of those, and cut back on the rest of your spending until you’ve got credit cards and other “frivolous debt” paid off.

Who knows? We just might provide a good example for the government if we all do our part as American citizens to be good role models.

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