Keeping up with the Jones

The expression, "Keeping up with the Joneses" a very common quote that, Juliet Schor, used in her work, The New Politics of Consumption, could not fit a society more.

The average household debt excluding mortgage is estimated fifteen thousand dollars, eight thousand of that debt comes from credit cards. (Paul Bannister, bankrate.com) Credit cards are becoming a huge problem in our society that it is affecting more than just consumerism. It's affecting the way we live.

Everywhere public place you go it is hard not to run in to the idea of the credit card. You will see credit card logos on the front of every business. Every department store you go in has it's own version of a credit card from Target to Macy's. The Diner's Club Card that originally was only for businessmen to eat lunch at 27 different restaurants. Now it is accepted almost everywhere. And for everything else there's Mastercard......(or Visa, Discover Card orAmerican Express.

Currently there are 1.2 billion active credit cards used in the United States. A typical purchase on a credit card cost more than 112% then a purchase paid for by cash. Americans are not only purchasing items on their credit cards as they go on shopping sprees. They are now paying their rent, tuition, utilities, car payments, and anything else they can think of. 9 in 10 credit cards users say that their credit card debt is nothing they worry about, but 47% of these people refused to tell a friend exactly how much they owe. (Paul Bannister, bankrate.com).

Initially when people receive a credit card they state that it is for "emergency purposes only". However, that does not seem to be the case. For some, keeping up with the Joneses is an emergency. Heaven forbid, a sale at the GAP. Fewer people are saving money. Instead they rely on the plastic. However, the average credit card holder pays $1200 just in credit card interest. You would think that those individual would figure this out and start putting that $1200 into saving for "emergency purposes only".

It seems odd that so many people say that they their credit card debt is nothing they worry about. When people have been filing bankruptcy more and more. In 1991, the rate of 25 years and under that filed for as rose to 50%. Maybe this has to do with so many Universities and Colleges allowing banks and credit card companies to hound financial uneducated students