Cutting the Roots of Debt: Becoming Slaves to Finances and Surviving

Back in the good ol' trailer park days of the '90s, my wife and I toook evening walks together through our neighborhood. On one particular night, we noticed a few things about our neighbors, the ones who often complained about how they'd always be stuck in the trailer park. From the road, you could see giant, big-screen TVs through almost every window. Brand-new Mustangs sat gleaming in several driveways, with 35-foot Sea Ray boats alongside 48-foot mobile homes.

We both agreed that many of our neighbors, who often made fun of my old '88 Chevy Celebrity wagon (A.K.A. "The Dragon Wagon") that was four different colors (including rust), had basically doomed themselves to permanent residency in their oversized sardine cans. They bitched constantly about how they were never gonna get out of Grand Oaks, yet they had financed themselves up to their eyeballs just so they could have nicer toys than everyone else.

The most-heavily marketed consumer product in America is debt. The average American has more than $10,000 in consumer debt annually, and some families are in as deep as $100,000. According to a recent USA Today article, 78% of Baby Boomers have mortgage debt, 59% have credit card debt, and 56% have car payments too big for their budget. That is the reason so many Americans have no emergency fund, and are two paychecks away from foreclosure. This fiscal irresponsibility is but a symptom of a much deeper problem among American households.

The Root Causes of Excessive Debt

Lack of discipline is a serious problem among Americans. The concept of "delayed gratification" totally escapes them. Like spoiled children, when they see something they want, they have to have it right away, even if they end up paying for it three times over, thanks to credit card interest rates that can only be described as usury. Half the time, the things they wanted so badly in the beginning become old, broken, or obsolete years before they are even paid off.