What Would People Do?

Our current session of Financial Peace University has been going for five weeks now. We are hoping for some major life changes once again. There are 61 people in our class. About half are married couples. The total debt for the class (not including mortgages) is over $1 million!! Yes, I said $1,000,000. And, again, does not include mortgages. That's an average of $22,000/household of student loans, car payments, credit card debt, furniture payments, home equity loan, etc. What a heavy chain to be carrying around.

I started reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey so I could use it to supplement what we were studying in class. I'm already finished. It gives real examples of people who have been in financial bondage and were able to break the chains of debt and are now living financially free. I think I need to go on a crusade to get this stuff taught in every junior high and high school in the country to rid everyone from their sick entitlement mentality.

Anyway, something to ponder for the weekend that is an excerpt from the book...

"What would people do if they didn't have any payments? They would save and they would spend, not support banks. Spending by debt-free people would support and prosper the economy. The economy would be much more stable without the tidal waves caused by "consumer confidence" or the lack thereof. (Consumer confidence is that thing economists use to measure how much you will overspend due to your being giddy about how great the economy is, never taking into consideration that you are going deeply into debt. If the consumer were out of debt and living within his means, the confidence he would have would be well founded.)

Saving and investing would cause wealth to be built at an unprecedented level, which would create more stability and spending. Giving would increase, and many social problems would be privatized; thus, the government could get out of the welfare business. Then taxes could come down, and we would have even more wealth. Those who are worried about polarization, the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, need not look to government to solve the problem; just call for a national Total Money Makeover."