[fabsroman]

Duffy,

The way you are doing it is the way it is supposed to be. Credit cards and other credit are one of the worst things that have happened. I can remember 25 years ago when it was almost impossible to get a credit card. Nowadays, I get 5 credit card offers in the mail every day.

Because of the easy granting of credit, people are just not used to saving before buying something. They buy stuff where there is no payment for 3 years. Usually, that is all fine and good if they have the money 3 years later, but what happens if they don't. Then, after 3 years, it is truly painful to pay for something that is obsolete or worn out.

Sometimes, I just don't understand some people. My brother was carrying a $5,000 credit card balance at 15% while he had $25,000 in the bank earning 3%. I asked him why he hadn't paid off the credit card, and he told me that it just hurt way too much to write that large of a check. Then, he went and financed the purchase of a vehicle even though he had the money in the bank to pay for the entire thing. Mind you, he was also paying interest on the loan for the vehicle. When I asked him why he didn't pay for the entire car when he bought it, he replied that he had followed that advice from me on the last car that he bought and it took him years to get his savings account back to where it was. I was about to ask him if it took 5 or 6 years, because that is essentially how long he was going to make payments for, but I decided to let the entire thing go.

There are just way too many material things nowadays for people to want. If you get a Playstation 2, in a year or two they will have the Playstation 3. Speaking of the Playstation 3, I cannot believe that it is $700. That is more than what a personal computer costs nowadays and the personal computer allows us to be productive if used correctly. A lot of people spend money on things that they really don't need to. I'm almost guilty of that too. I almost bought a new Benelli SBE2 because it had a new grip, larger trigger guard for gloves, and a new recoil reduction system. Then, I came to my senses and held on to the $1,400. Almost talked myself into a Benelli Sport II because I liked the carbon fiber finish on the stock and forearm and I wanted to be able to compare a recoil operated clays gun to my Beretta Teknys. Then, I cam to my senses again since I was shooting in the 90%+ with the Teknys and I wasn't shooting clays as often anymore.

People replace cars, digital cameras, camcorders, computers, TV's, entertainment centers, etc. every two years because there is something newer out there. However, how much better can the newer stuff be?