Wednesday, January 25, 2006
And I thought financial institutions were our friends
Haha, basically big business in America does not care about you. This should not come as a surprise. Now I'm not advocating a Fight Club solution here, just mind your P's & Q's when it comes to your finances. Check out a couple of starter articles and let those search engines have it!
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Managedebt/P125779.asp?GT1=7623 http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P98888.asp http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P41957.asp
I'm lucky enough to have a built in loathing for the owing of money, but admittedly owe a couple hundred on one of my credit cards right now. But there is something bigger nipping at my heals - my student loan. Currently sitting at around $10,000 its not that bad comparatively, but for me its like having a zombie chasing after me and not having any weapons to use against it. And I won't even go into the way our personal information is not personal. I still haven't bought into that false American dream (maybe because I still don't have a real job). Sure I went to college and racked up a nice little bit of debt - creditors 1, consumer 0. Here's where I start to get a little defiant.
I've diverged a little from the standard path which is
1) Go to college, amass student loan debt
2) Graduate from college, get a job, be a good little worker bee
3) Save up a little bit of money and buy a new car = student loan + car loan
4) Continue being a good little worker bee, maybe get a promotion and some kids
5) Save up a little more money and buy a house = student loan + car loan + home loan
6) Congratulations! You are now in debt for the rest of your life. Let's just hope that there will be some kind of social security programs out there when you retire to help maintain a standard of living...any standard.
I don't have a real job (which also means no savings, no retirement plans, generally not much), I still drive the car that my dad pulled out of a salvage yard and fixed up 7 years ago, and as for buying a house? Maybe if people would stop throwing money around like there will never be another house for sale again, I'll think about it...after I get my wings. Buzz buzz.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Managedebt/P125779.asp?GT1=7623 http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P98888.asp http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P41957.asp
I'm lucky enough to have a built in loathing for the owing of money, but admittedly owe a couple hundred on one of my credit cards right now. But there is something bigger nipping at my heals - my student loan. Currently sitting at around $10,000 its not that bad comparatively, but for me its like having a zombie chasing after me and not having any weapons to use against it. And I won't even go into the way our personal information is not personal. I still haven't bought into that false American dream (maybe because I still don't have a real job). Sure I went to college and racked up a nice little bit of debt - creditors 1, consumer 0. Here's where I start to get a little defiant.
I've diverged a little from the standard path which is
1) Go to college, amass student loan debt
2) Graduate from college, get a job, be a good little worker bee
3) Save up a little bit of money and buy a new car = student loan + car loan
4) Continue being a good little worker bee, maybe get a promotion and some kids
5) Save up a little more money and buy a house = student loan + car loan + home loan
6) Congratulations! You are now in debt for the rest of your life. Let's just hope that there will be some kind of social security programs out there when you retire to help maintain a standard of living...any standard.
I don't have a real job (which also means no savings, no retirement plans, generally not much), I still drive the car that my dad pulled out of a salvage yard and fixed up 7 years ago, and as for buying a house? Maybe if people would stop throwing money around like there will never be another house for sale again, I'll think about it...after I get my wings. Buzz buzz.
# posted by John @ 1/25/2006 03:28:00 AM 
