The American Financial Trap- I have nothing good to say about it. We are programmed to buy. We buy things just to buy them! The buying puts us in debt, which works out great for them; now we’re not just buying crap we don’t need, we’re paying interest on it too! Pretty soon, all your income goes to paying for stuff you bought 6 months ago and the stuff you’re buying now you will pay interest on for the next 6 months (or longer). I sound like a whiner, but I’m pissed! Mostly at myself for falling for it all, but I’m pissed at the system too. You know that if we were all to pay off our debt tomorrow we would completely trash our financial system in this country? “They” need us to be in debt; they depend on it. Do you think that this country is working for us, or are we working for it? For them? It’s the scam of the century! And we buy into one Starbuck’s Soy Mocha at a time.

Here I am (not unlike many American’s) up to my eyeballs in debt because when I was younger I bought into the “more more more” scam and so did my husband at the time. Everything from school loans to mortgages and car payments only exacerbate my situation… well, that and divorce. I take full responsibility for buying into the whole scheme, and I am where I am today as a result of the choices I made. This isn’t about “Poor me”. What gets under my skin is the fact that once you’ve fallen into the trap, it’s designed to keep you there. I have a good job, make decent money and yet it all goes to pay my bills. I am running to stand still, literally. It’s like trying to climb out of a pit with walls made of dirt and every time you start climbing out, the walls cave in just a little bit more. It’s not as if I go on a shopping spree every month (or any month for that matter), and I’m a responsible bill payer. I pay everything on time, but if anything happens in a month’s time… say car trouble or an emergency trip to the dentist, the credit card comes out and I put whatever I just paid off right back on my card. I have my very own perpetual motion machine… Sweeeeeet.

Let’s not forget that if you are to come to your senses- if only for a moment- you are quickly bombarded with ads and media and mail to convince you that you’ll be fine if you just buy more! More is better. More will solve your problems. More will make you feel better about your life. I’ve already won that battle and I know now that more is certainly not better! More is pointless to my end-goal in life, and if anything it’s detrimental to it.

Our financial “set up” here is all about the system winning and the people losing. They want you to spend, they want you to be in debt, and they don’t want you to figure it out! They… Them. I’m being awfully vague, but I don’t know who specifically to nail for it all! It’s a conglomerate, really. Comprised of government, media, financial institutions, and manufacturers who are all winning as long as we buy into the plan.

I may sound horribly negative, but in my heart it is really motivation and passion to get out. I want out and I want out for good. I’m gonna lay brick along the walls… good and sturdy. I’m gonna climb out and then I’m gonna fill that $*%# hole up with concrete so that neither I nor anyone else can fall in it again.

In my previous post about being your own financial adviser there are some handy links for blogs and websites that detail how to successfully dig out of debt if you find yourself to be in this situation. Keep on diggin’…

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