"Owning a house is not seen as something you achieve (by saving a lot and then waiting for the right bargain), it's seen as something you have a right to (price doesn't matter, it'll go up anyways!). That's dangerous."
If you mention the idea of "saving up" to buy something, people tend look at you as if you were out of touch with reality. The idea today is that you use other people's money so that you can get what you want - now - and worry about paying for it later. That is when the problem comes in - later. Eventually later comes around. Then, when they find themselves in deep it's everyone else's fault, the bank, the government, the credit card companies, etc.
Here is another scary scenario. I have had people actually say to me, "We doing pretty good, we are making the minimum payments on all our cards and we still have enough credit to buy that new ....... we want.
First off, I cannot believe people think of their credit capacity as an asset rather than a pending debt.
Secondly, I received this month's Visa bill. Hidden on the last page (and required now by law), is the statement "if you only make the minimum payment it will take you 37 years to pay the amount owing". And my Visa bill was for only $1,770.
