Reply #94: Please define "credit."

[Nevernose]

Do I have a mortgage? Yes, but comparatively small, due to an inheritance, and roughly comparable to what rent would be, and certainly not a McMansion.

Do I have credit card debt? None. On the rare occasions I use a credit card, I scrimp on something else to pay it off promptly.

My car? Used, and paid for outright.

Do I have unpaid medical bills and a student loan? Hell yes. Sometimes painfully so.

Do I buy too much shit? Probably. But I'm still not buying rims for my car or chains for my neckor new furniture or remodeling the house; my idea of "splurging" is not buying generic food.

Do I buy as much as most people I know? No.

The COLA in my town last year? 300%.
My raise? 1.65%

I worked my way through school, and it took me a while, but I graduated, and am on my way to getting that master's degree, which gives me a raise but also costs a heck of a lot of money.

I'm not asking for much. "A hard day's work for a hard day's pay" is ultimately all I expect.

And God knows I'm better off than I ever have been before; I'm not stealing diapers and food anymore, or living in the back of my truck, for instance. Why don't I deserve cable TV or that yearly weekend at Disneyland? I've done everything I was supposed to, and still can't seem to save a penny or get ahead in any way.

You seem to be arguing for "personal responsibility" -- and that's a fair argument. I know a lot of folks who aren't thinking ahead and living a lifestyle beyond their means. But perhaps if the wealth were more evenly distributed, and that Madison Avenue could make a profit without selling us shit that we don't need, that wouldn't be the case.