Article - Want Better Self Esteem, Saddle Yourself with Mountains of Credit Card Debt

JulieGeorgiana

I just read this article and wanted to discuss...

I personally cannot believe that young people are so blind to the truth that debt of any kind would make them feel better about themselves.

It's scary to think that articles like this are telling us it's okay to be in debt, if it makes us feel good!!

I admit as a young person being able to afford whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted made me feel good, but it took me 8 years to become debt free after that!!

This article should have been published after more research had been completed about the impact of these debts on the young people as they grew up...!

Any thoughts?

Evilm

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

I personally cannot believe that young people are so blind to the truth that debt of any kind would make them feel better about themselves.

only young people are like that? I know lots of older people who are exactly the same. As long as they can keep paying the minimum payments they don't care about the rest of the debt and consider it 'under control'.

A lot of people in this country need a lot of financial education.

Oliver14

People are always promoting people to have debts. Even Martin Lewis has become the Governments mouthpiece to promote for young people to take on student loans.

geordieracer

If young people feel good about themselves and helps their self esteem by being able to spend freely then let them. Debt only becomes a pain in the ar5e when you cant afford to repay them.

What do you think is worse - 20K debt for someone in their 20s or a 200K mortgage for someone in the 30s/40s who may be facing the prospect of losing their home due to not being able to afford it.

FunnySaving

The article isn't recommending people get into debt, just showing that there's a link between people's self esteem and their spending, which is not a huge surprise. If the process of getting into debt was universally awful, then nobody would do it, but having access to money beyond your means is bound to give people a boost at the point of spending. The research isn't recommending debt, just commenting on the surprising psychological effects, but the spin the Daily Mail have put on the results seems to be trying to convince its readers that that's what the study says. The headline certainly doesn't reflect the actual findings of the research, and seems to have misled at least some readers into believing that it is a recommendation rather than a result.

maninthestreet

Nothing like personal bankruptcy to give your self-esteem a boost.