Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think we should have classes on managing money, debt, loans, budgeting, etc in high school to prepare young people for the world. Also checking accounts and how NOT to handle them. You'd be surprised at how many people do not balance their checkbooks!!! I have a friend who is a banker and she says she hears the same stories every time people come in to complain about NSF's.
I had that class in high school. It was called personal finance and it was a requirement for graduation. We had to budget for food, clothing, rent, car basically manage our lives. It was eye opening.
Of course I graduated from high school in 1990 so that class may have long since been cut.
I had that class in high school. It was called personal finance and it was a requirement for graduation. We had to budget for food, clothing, rent, car basically manage our lives. It was eye opening.
Of course I graduated from high school in 1990 so that class may have long since been cut.
We had a very similar class (we received fake checks, had to make a budget etc etc) but most people treated it simply as arithmetic and busywork. Not many actually learned from the class, but rather treated it as their English or History classes.
At least, that's how I treated it. Of course, I had extensive budgeting experience from my 4H years. We had to submit a budget to our club leader before the start of our projects and that entailed everything from projected price of feed to the projected weight gain per price of that feed you expected and how much profit you would make based on the average market price when the livestock was sold. It was pretty in depth for a 9 year old
I'm really lucky I learned all that, but very sad that many just don't pay attention to budgeting and money flow.
I've watched the show, but I think it follows the same formula that makes Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman so popular. The show's focus is on people that represent the lowest common denominator of personal finance and accountability. This makes it easy for Gail to give advice, preach and assign tasks that make for good television at the sacrifice of the couple's dignity. I think Gail's assignments sometimes push the boundaries of what would be considered relevant and germane to personal finance.
But it's an eye opener that a good majority of the people featured on the show are dual income professionals that are still in debt. It's madness!
I guess what I am trying to say is the situations featured on the show are indeed the norm, but I don't need to see it on tee vee! I would venture to guess that the people watching the show are not the ones who would benefit most from the advice.
Have any of you seen "Till Debt Do Us Part" on CNBC?
It follows the same formula every week. Every episode features a clueless couple that is overspending ridiculously and has no idea how to manage their money. This woman Gayle steps in and analyzes their spending, tells them how much their debt will be if they keep going, and shows them how to straighten out.
It's a little scary to watch this show. It seems a metaphor for what is happening to our society. We seem to be a bunch of clueless people who are spending ourselves into oblivion, and our government is simply a reflection of that. We have to change to survive.
Last night had a couple with teenagers and the mother kept taking the daughter shopping because she didn't like to say 'no.' The kids refused to do any chores. It makes the families who appear on the show look directionless and headed by children. By extension, much of our society seems that way.
I hope we can straighten ourselves out.
Hi dazzleman,
Its great individual advice. Unfortunately the system requires debt. We cannot all collectively remove debt. When people like this borrow they create the money that the rest of us use.
We are actually removing debt. All this does is cascade more insolvency as the money supply shrinks.
Consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 4-3/4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate
of 13 percent, and nonrevolving credit was unchanged on net. In December,
consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3/4 percent.
Yea I just found out one of my friend's is a DBA (a technical IT position) making at least 70-80K and pays the minimum balance on her credit card. Plus all her credit is maxed out. She's like 'I just saw it said pay the minimum balance, so I just pay the minimum!'
So weird that people have no clue.
One of my credit cards just started showing this little chart on my monthly statement. It tells me that if I made no further charges to my account and paid the minimum every month, the balance will be paid off in 21 YEARS. If I pay X per month, the balance will be paid off in 3 years. I have my own get-out-of-debt plan--it will be paid off in ten months.
Maybe they should put that little chart on all cc statements.
Last night had a couple with teenagers and the mother kept taking the daughter shopping because she didn't like to say 'no.' The kids refused to do any chores. It makes the families who appear on the show look directionless and headed by children. By extension, much of our society seems that way.
I hope we can straighten ourselves out.
I've never seen it but I don't watch television for more than one or two hours a week.
Most Americans who are alive today have never really seen "hard times". We remember back to the recession of 1980 thinking that was hard times but it really wasn't.
People went hungry but nobody really starved to death in the streets.
Government was functioning. Clueless as usual but functioning.
In the meantime things will continue on as they are until they can no longer continue on.
One of my credit cards just started showing this little chart on my monthly statement. It tells me that if I made no further charges to my account and paid the minimum every month, the balance will be paid off in 21 YEARS. If I pay X per month, the balance will be paid off in 3 years. I have my own get-out-of-debt plan--it will be paid off in ten months.
Maybe they should put that little chart on all cc statements.
Anyone can get out of debt simply but cutting back and all of us have room to cut back.
At my house I am amazed by how much we spend every month on cell phones, cable television, internet service and land-line phone. It is insane.
We really don't need any of this but we view it as some sort of a must have. Without internet you wouldn't die. You might feel like you are but you won't.
What I find ironic is the cluelessness of posters on this board who don't realize that these "reality" shows are scripted, and these debtridden people are playing roles.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
