It's Been Awhile

I know I haven't made an entry in a while. Well, things have been crazy around here. Work has been about the same but, we are in the process of buying a house. Our first home. We ran around last weekend with our realtor and made an offer shortly thereafter. There are some financial and legal issues surrounding the house we want, so we may not even get it. All that means, we have to keep looking.

Now, this post may be long as it is a response to an article I came across online. You all know, I read a lot. Mainly books and news articles that pertain to finances. I've learned quite a bit and have disagreed with a bit too. So let's get started.

Drowning In Debt
First, there was an article on MSN a couple of days ago, Why young Americans are drowning in debt. The article initially recounts the stories of a college kid who has maxed out her cards and are is longer able to buy books for class. She doesn't make enough money to pay her bills so she's just trying to get by.

Just below her story, the article posted a couple of alarming trends that I am aware of, but some people just haven't been paying attention.

• College costs have increased dramatically.
• Credit cards are marketed aggressively to college students.
• Housing prices have increased faster than inflation.
  

It's no wonder the first major financial decisions most college graduates make is to declare bankruptcy (between the ages of 25 and 34).

Free t-shirt
Most college kids sign up for credit cards on the first day of class. Most don't even know what kind of interest rate their getting much less that benefits. All they know is that they're getting a free t-shirt. Whoopteedoo! Hey, I understand the FREE thing. I used to be a college student.

If you're a college kid, or headed to college soon, make sure you take a look at what you're getting into. That free t-shirt will cost 100 times more than it's worth.

The Lesson
The article closed on an excellent note. "Every high school student in America should have to take some kind of financial-strategy class to learn about everything from banking, credit cards, savings, loans and protection from identity theft..." Now, we just have to find a financial-strategy class that kids will understand and participate in. We don't have to look far.

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Coming next.....Response to the Putting money in its place article by Kevin Eigelbach (Kentucky/Cincinnati Post) about Christian financial planning. Kevin doesn't get it.