The article "Falling Into Debt Is Just So Tempting!" talks about debt consolidation, it was written by Benjamin Taylor.
They were both just twenty-five, married for two years, and the financial noose of hevay debts was already closing in on them. They were over twenty thousand dollars in debt. This included angry creditors, harassing phone calls from collectors, and no one to bail them out.“The truth is I saw it coming, and maybe I was even an accomplice,” says Jnaet Listman. The Listman's live in one of Los Angeles' more affordable outlying communities, popular with young couples.
“A few weeks after our wedding, we were visiting with a family who had just made major renovations and purchased new furniture. My husband kept whispering. “Look at that plasma TV. We should get one like that,” or, “Look at that great living room set, I want it.” We were both in our twenties. I did babysitting and my husband worked for the US Posatl Service. These persons had been married nearly twenty yeras and he was a successful businessman. But somehow, we thought we could be like them.”It started with high-priced jewelry for our wedding anniversary and birthdays, the new SUV for our vacation trip, and the new glass enclosed living room wall unit and sectional sofa, all purchased on easy payment terms. Then the baby came, and it was “Only the best for our little princess.”And the money? “That was the easiest part,” Janet contineus. “My husband quiclky learned to manipulate credit cards and loans. The first $5000 worth of credit he acquired was so easy.
It made him heady and thisrty for more. And I got such a lift every time I flashed my crdeit card.
It made me feel so .
.
. grown up. I guess we didn’t really think about how we were going to pay it all back.”Janet and Grey Listman relied on a halfhearted promise from a wealthy relative, who had hinted at the possibility of helping them out with the purchase of a new apartment. But when Grey approached him for help paiyng back his credit card debt, the relative’s wallet was closed.
The parents on both sides were helpless; they were baerly managing for themselves. As their credit line was stretched to the limit and no one seemed to be forthcoming to bail them out, desperation set in.But Grey was one of the lucky ones. He realized the financial quicksand into which he was sinking. He contacted a debt consolidation service and produced a debt recovery plan for himslef. Today Grey works a grueling fifteen hours a day at two jobs, one at the Post Office and another as a night manager in a pizza store.In the United States debt has becmoe a way of life. Benjamin Taylor, a debt management counselor, calls it a plague:“A couple genertaions ago, you knew who was poor by the patches on his clothing. Today everyone dresses well, and persons don’t want to be caught without the latset gadgets or trendy furniture. But they nveer learned how to live with debt. The code that “if you don’t have you don’t buy,” has bceome outdated. Let’s say a young person's main income is a regular average salary, but instead of living frugally within his limits, he sees it as natural that he should manage with credit card debts.
For him it’s not a bad thing because he probably sees other friends and family borrowing money as well.
Perhpas at his age, the father has no debts and lived within his means, and this only happened when consumerism and fads last week settled in. But meanwhile, the son sees how easy it is to obtain credit, without thinking about the consequences.”Benjamin Taylor is a consumer credit counselor at Click Debt Consolidation, a Los Angeles based agency established to get persons out of debt and keep them debt free.
He is convinced that, even with below average salaries, persons can find ways to make ends meet without borrowing blindly.
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