The Payment Trap

It seems that the average American's hunger for goods and services can only be satiated by the aquisition of more stuff. With the continual bombardment of images telling us that we can only be happy if we purchase the newest hot ticket item, it's no wonder that many of us are falling victim to our presumed desires. We've bought into the message that we need that newest techno gadget. As compulsive desire overides reason, we can't be satisfied until we obtain the item. But shortly after making the purchase, in the span of just a few days or weeks, the novelty begins to wear off, and we find ourselves on yet another quest to buy something. We are caught in a vicious cycle.



In addition to the dazzling array of gadgets and services comes a fairly recent phenomenon, the credit card. I'm not talking about having a credit card in the sense that it's used for convenience and then paid off at the end of each month, what I'm troubled by is the ever increasing balances on these cards by folks who just can't seem to pay them off.



To understand what's happening, let's look back just a few short decades. During the late 1960's and early 1970's, America's space program created a technological revolution, unprecidented in our history. With this revolution came an array of goods and services that had never existed prior to this period. Cable TV, Microwaves, and Tephlon coated pans, just to name a few. And, that was just the beginning. Added to this list during the 1980's was the personal computer and home gaming systems. It's now 2008 and the list of stuff that we "need" to be happy includes, cell phones, LCD flat screen TV's, a GPS, IPOD's, etc. Today, we're adding add goods and services at an accelerating rate, with no end in sight. In addition to our mortgages and utility costs, our basic expenses include cable, internet, and cell phone plans etc. And, with forced obsolescence, much of the stuff on our growing list of "needs" has to be replaced every couple of years.

Unlike the ever increasing list of gotta have stuff however, our incomes are finite.
It's no wonder that most of us can't afford to fund our increasing lifestyles with our current incomes. In efforts to subsidize our lifestyles, we borrow money. As most of us have little to nothing saved, the focus has shifted from "What is the cost of the item?", to "How much is the payment?". But, as we continue to accumulate debt in the form of additional payments, we threaten the very foundation of our family's financial well-being.