Letters to the Editor
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Can't say I have much sympathy
I had my own problems with mounting debt several years ago -- I thought I could make it as a freelancer, and it didn't take me long to discover that it wasn't the life for me, either financially or practically. I ran up some modest credit card debt paying for bare essentials -- food, some clothes to wear to interviews, an unexpected car repair -- but I then spent a couple of years with virtually no luxury expenses and plowed every penny back into my debt until my salary increased (the interview clothes paid off) and my debt became manageable (through my hard work and austere lifestyle).
I have now had excellent credit and no debt (aside from a 30-year fixed mortgage) for the past several years. I didn't borrow money from anyone, I did it all myself. But most importantly, I never felt the need to "keep up with the Joneses." This is the real problem for most of the people I know who have significant debt -- they decided they had to have the huge McMansion, and had to have the gas-guzzling SUV, and had to have the designer wardrobe, etc., etc., without ever stopping to think about whether their expenditures were exceeding their their ability to pay.
It wasn't that long ago that credit cards didn't even exist. If you wanted a new couch, you saved money until you could afford to buy a new couch. With credit comes responsibility. If you can't handle that responsibility, you shouldn't have credit.
I can't say I have much sympathy for the author of this piece. As she admits, she knew what she was getting into, but she was too in thrall to the lifestyle and lacked the common sense to head off her debt before it spiralled out of control. I know her story is common, but that's why it's so sad: so many people either aren't smart enough to realize the consequences of their actions, or they just don't care.
How typically American.