Thoughts on Debt

On some level, I think that we are trying to fool ourselves, or at the very least the government is trying to fool us, about our current financial standing.  I think that the bail out package that just went through was really just a way for our government to save face through these tough financial times, this way when we really do hit rock bottom, they can say we tried.  I think that also George W. really wants to get out of office, before the American public realizes how bad our economic situation truly is due to this war that he has use wrapped in.  In any case, I think that it is time for all of us to come clean.  We need to face the facts that as individuals and as a nation, we have not been financially solid for quite some time.  The availability of credit has allowed all of us to live well above our means for a long time, when in essence we never should be spending more than we have.  If we had stuck to this type of plan, then all this financial nonsense would have little or no effect on us, however, ours is a society of wealth solely based on credit.  The more credit you can attain the wealthier you can become, even without much actual money.  It is interesting at best.

Now in addition to the lies we have been telling ourselves and the ones that our government has been spouting, I am now seeing television ads that are again trying to trick us into spending more money than we have to for things.  For instance, I just saw a commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken last night, and they show a family who is considering buying their complete dinner for 4 people for $9.99.  They go to the grocery store to see if they can buy all the ingredients for making the same meal, and it will actually cost them more than it would to go to KFC, so they just go there instead.  Now listen up, they show these people starting out by buying a $3 bag of flour.  First, it does not take $3 worth of flour to make chicken, secondly, most of us already have flour in our houses, so that cost is over inflated.  Don’t be fooled people, for $9.99 you are getting the drumsticks, which if you are a smart shopper you can get for a song.  Then throw on some instant mashed potatoes, and even some dinner rolls or boxed mac & cheese, or even beans, you can definitely make this meal for about half the price of what they are making it for.  Don’t buy into this type of advertising, they are just trying to get you to spend the money.  Walmart and Food Lion are both trying to do the same thing also, and trying to convince you that buying their premade food is much cheaper than doing it yourself.  Don’t buy it.  Shop the sales, cook ahead, make a meal plan, but don’t give in to buying fast food or prepackaged meals, the ones you make yourself are still more economical and premaking and freezing your own food will save you a lot of money in the long run.  It is time we were honest with ourselves.  We know what we have to do, but are we all too lazy to do it?

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