By Heather, CPA (Balance With Purpose)
My opinion? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
In a time of recession the federal government has attempted to stimulate the economy with the following:
- Economic Stimulus Payment
- Incentive for Americans to purchase autos, like the famous “Cash for Clunkers”
- First-time home buyers rebate
- Lower interest rates
If consumers were over-extended in the first place, is it a good thing to encourage the same consumers to spend any amount they receive from the Federal government? Possibly even encourage over-spending just to stimulate the economy?
Wasn’t it irresponsible spending and consumer decisions that got many into trouble in the first place? (Okay, we could actually argue the many, many, many reasons our economy is in the state it is in, but we won’t. Not today, anyway.) My goal with this article is to get consumers to think about their spending habits in order to save themselves, not all Americans.
In the early part of this decade, savings rates among Americans was negative, credit card balances were at an all-time high and far too many Americans were using their homes as ATMs.
Now, finally, in a time of recession, Americans are attempting to save more and debit card, not credit card, usage is soaring. Good decisions being made by consumers, themselves, with no decision-making help from the government.
That’s good, right? Absolutely!
Want to know the biggest reason that I do not think we should overspend or live beyond our means in order to help our troubled economy? Because I don’t believe anyone in the federal government is going to bail us out of our personal debt or help us out when our bank account is depressed.
Case in point: Today on the Today Show, Lisa Myers reported that many banks that were bailed out by the federal government (read: taxpayers), have doubled interest rates on existing credit card balances. This comes three months before the bill signed into law by President Obama this past May goes into effect – a bill that would have placed a ceiling on all consumer interest rates. Why did Congress give banks so much time? Good question and one that was scheduled to be addressed by Congress today.
What does this mean to consumers? If you are trying your best to pay off your credit card debt, don’t count on the banks to be your friend and help you out.
There is a lot of finger-pointing going on as to how our economy got so bad, but I believe our patriotic duty is to make smart decisions, individually, whether it affects the country as a whole or not. Definitely don’t count on banks or the Federal government to bail you out.
Heather Sunseri is a Christian, wife and mother of two young children. She has worked as a CPA for the past 15 years for thoroughbred horse farms and in public accounting in Central Kentucky. She spends her free time as an inspirational writer and enjoys the little things in life from long bike rides in the country to homemade pizza and family game night.