Backlash?

Pobby

Having been an avid visitor to this board I have been struck by many of the posters here.debt seems to bring only misery,worry and sometimes worse.How many times have I read ``once I am out of debt I am never going to do it again``.

Martin says ``good debt,bad debt``Can`t see much in the way of good debt with the exception of a mortgage and with the earnings/price ratios that are around these days I would hardly consider that good debt!

How many times have I read here``we are in xxx amount of debt with nothing to show for it``.Why?I know many who consume at a rate which strikes me as bordering on the obscene.Just recently someone said to me``do you like our new telly.I said that i had seen it a few months ago.No they replied,we gave that away?Why I retorted.Ahh,because this one is HD ready.They are loverly people but I doubt that they even knew what limited programs are available.Although they have a very high income they have done little to address there rather large endowment shortfall and in fact have borrowed more.So far,so good but loose that high paying job and they are not going to be able to keep up the payments.

I have been in sales and marketing for over 30 years working both sides of the Atlantic.In the USA 2% of its gross national earnings are spent on advertising.In the States we didn`t sell the product,we sold the sizzle.If you will the ``hidden`` benefits.

The media,I think,has done a great job in making people unhappy.No matter where you turn we are bombarded by images of the rich and the powerful.We are seduced into thinking that if we had something of their life style we would become happier.Decent role models have been replaced by talentless individuals that the media follow around and report on their often dubious activities.

In a recent study,it was found that among high earners in the most developed countries in the world proved to be fragile,depressed individuals.Why?Many reasons but the underlining fact is that in the pursuit of wealth they had become detached from themselves,working long hours and having to watch that they didn`t loose the very important income streams that enabled them to pay back the money they had borrowed to fund this superficial life style.

So are we approaching a time when this will change for many.Are the ``light bulbs`` switching on all over the country.Are we now realising that the new Blue Ray dvd player is not going to bring us happiness?Maybe we are thinking that the 10 year old sofa is actually very comfortable?Could it be that not having the latest car registration plate is not an admission of failure?

I guess for many,trying to live a dream has turned into a living nightmare.

Sorry for the long rant but woul;d be interested in what others have to say.

bank_of_slate

I think that a lot of the advertising works on a subconscious level, there are constant visions of 'the perfect family' bombarded at us on advertisements, the handsome father, slim, attractive wife, 2.4 kids that aren't slinging coco pops at each other across the table and fighting over the free toy like normal kids... all serves to make us feel inferior! We then start 'if only-ising' - meaning "If only I had that product I'd be happy, then when that doesn't work it's the next thing that will make us happy, then the next, then the next and it goes on until we are just the same people with the same problems, only now we're surrounded by stuff!
...Linda xx

mo1_2

i agree with everything you have said,ther is no room in society now for {make do and mend}we seem to be in a mind set that we have to have everthing new or someone will feel bad about us,i have after finding this site,and some sense i hope decided not to be in that club anymore,and feel a lot better.

January20

I agree with all said so far, especially, Pobby, regarding the media bombarding us with images of the rich and famous, but also making us believe we live in a very dangerous world, where there is a rapist/ serial killer at every street corner. All this makes us feel insecure.

mo1, you are right about the make do and mend, it would be so much better for us and the planet, but often the "mend" attitude works out more expensive ie it's often more expensive to get your toaster repaired than buying a new one! mad!

Pobby

My Mum and Dad,aunts and uncles all married around the late 30`s early 40`s.Most bought there own homes.Our house was £500!A nice new semi in a nice area.All of them got their furniture.Money became easier in the 60`s and that was when Dad got his car,1960 I think.A secondhand Ford Pop!The 1954 tv was changed so we could get ITV.Luxury!By the mid 60s there was a change around on the furniture and carpets.Out went the(rather nice)oak furniture and in came the G plan stuff.That was pretty much that until they sadly all passed away in the 90s.

Things like central heating,An odd change of car took place but only,yes only,when the cash had been saved.Never once did I hear bleatings that they were hard done by.They were very grateful that they could live a life style so much better than my grand parents.In fact,compared to others it was a very comfortable existence.

My generation,soon to be retired have by and large had it fairly good.Most of the folk I know have kept more or less to the basic methods of our parents.Yep,there has been some credit taken out but very little to what seems to be the norm now.I had remarkable earnings for a few years and we used some of that to update(and boy did it need it) around the house but most of it was squirreled away as we saw it as a bonus.

OK,I have to admit I get very tempted at times.I said to my wife yesterday that I really fancied a Chrysler 300 which we could pay for in cash but I know if I did I really wouldn`t enjoy it as it would feel like wasted money.So my trusty y reg Omega is still parked outside.It seems the older I get the less I am sucked in by ``things``.

rog2

Pobby wrote: »

It seems the older I get the less I am sucked in by ``things``.

Age is, indeed, a great healer. Nice to see you back, pobby - hope you are keeping well - and a great post, as always.

neverdespairgirl

There is "good" debt sometimes, I think. For example, I paid my tax bill on a 0% BT this year, and the money is sitting in my savings account getting 7% interest until the 0% runs out. That's "good" debt in my book!

rog2

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

There is "good" debt sometimes, I think. For example, I paid my tax bill on a 0% BT this year, and the money is sitting in my savings account getting 7% interest until the 0% runs out. That's "good" debt in my book!

No disputing that, ndg, but, as I see it, the point that pobby is making is that we are continually being bombarded with the 'buy now pay later' culture, which is turning this country into a Nation of 'Debtors'.
That, certainly, is not 'good debt' and it is further compounded by the almost inevitable fact that the bubble will burst one day - might be soon, might not be for many years - and debtors will be unable to service their debts.
What is going to happen then?

neverdespairgirl

Oh and I are lucky, in that we earn a decent amount between us so can afford little extras, holidays, etc.

But we don't shop for fun. It seems really bizarre to me that people enjoy shopping, and even see it as a hobby! I like having nice clothes, but don't enjoy actually buying them.

The other big saving we make is that we couldn't care less about what people think of our stuff. So our car is 1997 (works perfectly, which is the important thing!) and we have a 13 inch TV made in 1990, which also works perfectly.

I am often very puzzled by people posting on the loans board here on MSE, talking about earning £22k a year and getting a £15k loan for a new car. That seems absolutely mad to me, to borrow nearly a year's net income for a depreciating asset.

Broken_hearted

There is no such thing as good debt if your life suddenly changes, most people here arn't trying to live a dream only stay afloat in a world built on credit.

rog2

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Oh and I are lucky, in that we earn a decent amount between us so can afford little extras, holidays, etc.

But we don't shop for fun. It seems really bizarre to me that people enjoy shopping, and even see it as a hobby! I like having nice clothes, but don't enjoy actually buying them.

The other big saving we make is that we couldn't care less about what people think of our stuff. So our car is 1997 (works perfectly, which is the important thing!) and we have a 13 inch TV made in 1990, which also works perfectly.

I am often very puzzled by people posting on the loans board here on MSE, talking about earning £22k a year and getting a £15k loan for a new car. That seems absolutely mad to me, to borrow nearly a year's net income for a depreciating asset.

Your 'attitude' towards spending is excellent, ndg, and, without wishing to hi-jack pobby's excellent thread, it is typical of the attitude that was prevalent in the fifties and early sixties. Of course everyone 'wanted' the finer things in life, but the ordinary 'man/woman in the street' accepted that they were unlikely to afford things like a new car every two years, or new shoes every month, and simply 'made the best' of what they had'.
Many of the posters on DFW, myself included, have been the 'victims' (if that is the right word) and often 'perpetrators' of the 'must have' culture that is thrown at us by the advertisin media. For many of us, that was the original reason to visit/post on this forum.
We, well I certainly, have had to 're-educate' myself back into financial reality.