Re: OT: AARP

I totally agree with you. I know housing prices are growing by leaps and bounds, but if young people would save money for a bigger down payment, their mortgages would be much smaller. Every city I'm acquainted with has more than one kind of housing, so the job market would be immaterial if one's job was within driving distance. Save housing? Any place one lives can prove unsafe. Obviously no one wants to live in the worst part of town, but if they can't afford the best without going into unfathomable debt, they need to review what is available that they can afford.

This has become a world of "wants", and to tell you the truth, some people don't even know the difference between "want" and "need".

There are many people who don't have a credit card and they get by nicely because what they save to pay for their needs or wants doesn't come with an 18% interest rate attached so they actually have more money to spend. I think many people don't understand the concept of buying what they can afford. They buy what they've been brainwashed into believe is a need when it is only a want. I love to see people try rationalize what they have on their credit cards. Most are not needs.

Judity wrote:

Janice, you could be right about many of this generation. I can only judge by the ones I know personally. Cannot save? I don't believe this for a minute. My first job I made $40 a week, rented for $10 a week, and still managed to save. Granted, it was only a small amount, but each month it added up.

These people now spend and spend, running up large balances on credit cards for things they want but don't need. They then pay only the minimum balance each month.

Instead of spending, what?, three dollars a day for a Starbuck coffee, why not put it aside in a bank account? The kids need an IPod? What do they cost? No, they want an IPod, and the adults want a plasma TV or, insert some other new expensive bigger-and-better article here. I admit I love my new toys, but I only buy what I can afford each month.

Large mortgages? Do they need these large fancy homes in expensive neighborhoods? By buying homes they can't afford, they're the ones driving up the housing market for others. Then, they cry when the banks foreclose on them because they can't afford the payments.

My present car is 19 years old, and I'd love to own one of those gorgeous new SUVs such as the Cadillac Escalade. When it's shown on TV, I practically salivate over it. However, my hatchback Dodge Colt DL runs well, and the Escalade is a want and not a need.

I've owned two homes and three cars in my lifetime and knew my limits in what I could afford. I can't say the same for younger friends and family members. I'm sorry, but I don't have much sympathy for people who spend beyond their ability to pay. Perhaps recent events color my attitude, but it is mine and I'm sticking to it.

Judith
Come drop by Walker's mansion
http://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/1022028
The Home of the Red Fox
http://Writing.Com/authors/judity




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