The American People Seem to Want...

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To live beyond their means but when it catches up to our country the way it has, they want to fuss and fume. I'm a notary and I can tell you that over the past ten years I've notarized two or three hundred loan docs and most of the people who were signing the papers didn't even fully understand the part I explained much less the details of those loan papers. And, most of them couldn't possibly have afforded to borrow and pay back what they were borrowing. Our country has become a den of thieves because you know what you can realistically afford and what you can't and I'd be willing to bet that most people in this country who are overloaded with credit card debt and car loans and mortgages they can't pay knew they couldn't really pay it when they signed the papers. For some reason, people think it is below their standards to save money and buy later. I see it in the neighborhood where I live. I live in a low income neighborhood (for now) in a building full of people who have fairly nice cars but live in this ill kept place. Some of them have children and their children have plenty of toys and the latest gadgets. They also seem to have enough money to pay for satellite TV, which I'm amazed at since I've priced satellite TV. It's out of my current budget so I use broadcast. I can't see it as well but at least I'm not stressing every month when the bill comes in. Instead, I use Netflix, the one at a time plan, because that I can afford. What really amazes me are the people who have children and a nice car but live in a place where many of the rooms are currently infested with bed bugs. How can a parent in good conscience make car payments instead of making sure their child is safe? But I've gotten off the subject. Everyone is blaming everyone for the current economic crisis in this nation but if you want to get right down to it, many of the American people have no one to blame but themselves. I'm not saying that the financial institutions and real estate companies don't share in the blame. They did things that were wrong and mislead people but when it comes right down to the wire, the people who have gotten in over their heads have done so because they were looking for something that is unrealistic. They deceived themselves into believing something that was too good to be true and it was too good to be true. I see it even in my co-worker who got a letter in the mail a couple of weeks ago offering her a sum of money when she deposited their check. It was a scam! She is a paralegal and a former financial planner and she was about to participate in something that could have sent her to jail. If I hadn't been there to tell her what it was, who knows if she would have checked out its legitimacy. There are so many scams and "too good to be true" deals on the internet, through banks, real estate agents and developers and people let greed or their desire to have the latest in technology or a gadget or something else they are willing to save up for draw them into situations that hurt them over time. Wake up, people! There are no free rides in this world! If you want something, work, save then buy. That's what people did for hundreds of years and even though they didn't have the shiniest new toy first, they had sound, secure financial lives. Stop trying to get everything overnight. It will cost you a lot more in the long run!