The State of Consumer Finance

The state of consumer finance in the United States has continued to deteriorate over the last decade. Consumers addicted to spending continue to pile on more and more credit card debt as if the payment will never come due. And with interest rates being at historic lows fueling a housing boom throughout the country many if not the majority have tapped precious home equity for must have luxuries of today all at the expense of their overall financial health now and in the future. Consumer spending has become like an unchecked sexual appetite that will no doubt consume all the time, talents, and abilities of the creature thus leaving it in ruin. The best of us are giving in to the animality of our natures. We are disregarding our best judgment in pursuit of ever more tangible goods. And with each and every purchase we experience diminishing returns, thus fueling more purchases to achieve that euphoric high of shopping. At best it is comparable to the drug addict who after each high drops lower and lower until he is consuming drugs simply to feel normal. A vicious cycle where nobody wins.

It is no surprise that the state of consumer finance is near disaster. From the moment we can understand what Santa Clause is until we are 18 and receive that first credit card application we have been raised in a culture that continually promotes "Instant Gratification." It is always buy now...Pay later. Why wait? Why delay? Why sacrifice? It is the principle of sacrifice and delayed gratification that have gone largely untaught in America's modern society. The line between needs and wants has become ever so blurred in our modern day society. Savvy advertising has convinced us that wants are needs, and to go without is simply starving ourselves of a life sustaining substance. The idea of saving money to buy the next toy has given way to charging it to the only credit card not maxed out. In short...If you are to take control of your finances you must begin to seriously distinguish between needs and wants, and learn to sacrifice the unnecessary wants of today for the healthier financial and emotional future of tomorrow. I say emotional because our current state of financial affairs tends to directly effect our overall emotional health. I would like to strongly say at this point that our financial decisions create this unpleasant state of affairs and not the fact that we do not make enough money.

The "Wiser Money" blog is being published to provide practical advice to consumers on how take control of their spending and begin to achieve total finanical health through wise and practical decisions. It will also provide links to sources and companies that are deemed to provide practical advice and great bargains to consumers.

Our first link is a related article pulished at CnnFn. The link is: http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/02/markets/consumerbubble/

The article is short and informing and worth the quick read.

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