Embracing my culture

I read the news, ok? I like to be in know. I sit right beside a huge plasma that plays nothing but CNN all day. I feel like I know now what's going on in the world more than I ever have. I find it empowering, and understand why people read the paper cover to cover. It's nice to know what's going on. Occasionally I will read something that just hits me in a strange way. I'm hearing that the glorious and wonderful Whitehouse is going to be airing commercials about helping people who are about to foreclose on their homes. Lovely, right? Of course it is if you're about to foreclose on your home. But what does this do? What does this teach? As a culture we are notoriously bad with money-we get ourselves into the largest amounts of debt that we cannot pay...we struggle...we spend way beyond our means...and we waste so much. Luckily...I would like to think in some ways this is changing perhaps. BUT what else could be done?? I hear the buzz about these potential rebate checks people will be getting and how there is concern that people will apply them to debt instead of spending...DUH!!!!!! Every so often I hear the government is dropping the interest rates for homeowners or some shit like that...and I'm stunned to hear that it's only by like a half a percentage point or something. When I hear interest rate cut I'm thinking at least an entire digit, right? Yeah...sure. Well the problem I have is the internal conflict siding with anyone on this--except continuing to be angry with "the system." Should we be angry with the banks or lenders who lend to high risk people...and actually offer them INTEREST ONLY home loans? WHO would do such a thing? OR should the people who are paying the interest only loans or who have gotten in over their heads the ones to blame? I don't know but it's depressing either way. Where is the education about this? Why are people still spending beyond their means? Now I desperately would LOVE to have a house...or actually OWN a nice apartment here in the city. It would be insane for me to consider doing something like that right now. Yet I can see how it would be appealing if I wanted it to say..."hey I can get this...and it will take me 30 years to pay it off...but ya know I'll pay it off eventually...at least I'll have a nice home." Of course I would be paying probably thousands each month on interest only...LOSING so much. So is the bank to blame or am I because of my poor spending habits/lack of financial education to blame? This is one I'll be thinking of for a while...now on the topic of money...CREDIT CARDS should just be beaten by the government. These people need to be bitch slapped and hung to dry for days in my opinion. Allow me to candidly explain...
I will admit until recently I haven't been good with money...I've overspent and have lived...well...like the typical American. At one point my credit was so high I was approved for every card I applied for-having at least 14 different store and credit cards. WAY too many for a 20 something. Of course I only used about 7 of them. I had identity theft occur to me 3 times. The first was my first year in grad. school. This person opened 3 cards in my name...this had been going on for quite a while and they stopped making payments. Of course no one REALLY knows what one should do when this happens. I call and report the fraud...they take everything off and prove it's not me...however...this bullshit is STILL on my credit report...THREE years later. Allright so...the identity theft happens two more times. Let me tell you...the SAME person. Allright...so this is all still being sorted and fixed...lawyers have been involved, etc, etc. Of course my credit rating is shot right now and it's all being fixed. Now my interest rates on my cards were around 4-9%...when the fraud hit my credit report and looked like I was a terrible consumer my rates went up as fucking high as 35%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you FUCKING serious?!?! BUT what amazes me is how FAST the credit bureaus post NEGATIVE things and how MOTHER-FUCKING LONG it takes to put something POSITIVE and reverse things on your credit report. My car loan has been paid off now for about 7 months...have they reported that? NO! ALL FUCKING THREE!! :-)
In the end the message is...
if you don't have the money to buy something outright...then don't buy it. USE cash for everything..and FUCK credit cards.