Easy Payments

Most everyone knows that Sherry and I were married at 17 & 18 yrs old.  Two happy kids living off my USMC pay for a PFC.  No extra money to speak of.  We lived in a 26x8 trailer in a government trailer park. For some reason we were in a store downtown J-ville, NC and saw a mixer for sale. You know, the one that will do every thing, two or three mixing bowls and its own little metal table.

          

I don’t know what we planned to mix, but the salesman said it is $25. I can let you have it on the easy payment plan. I don’t remember the  plan we took $12 a month for 3 months or $6 a month for 6 months.  Which ever one it was, we learned there are NO EASY PAYMENTS.

I was noticing a used car lot the other day, no longer did it tout Easy payments, but “EASY CREDIT”. No mention of payments. (Probably some deep  psychological reasoning).  Either way the person getting the EASY CREDIT will learn soon enough, it ain’t easy.

It is very hard to explain,  saving to buy what you want, is much smarter than paying someone interest, especially a Credit Card at 12-18%.

Our biggest problem in today’s world is we humans want it all, and want it now. So we are willing to pay twice the price to have it, now.

It is not uneducated folk. I have a friend with a doctorate. I did not build his house but I was at his new house making a few repairs.  He confided to me that he had arranged a great deal on his financing. He was  paying interest (only) for the first 8 years, then start on the principal. WHAT? “Sam that can’t be a good deal.”

“Oh yes, they explained all the interest is tax deductible!”

“BUT YOU ARE STILL PAYING IT OUT!”

This high school drop out isn’t smart enough to explain that to a Doctor of Education.

Then a year of so later Dr. V. another friend who was a college professor, asked me to look at a job at his daughters house. I told him I was too busy to do the job but I would give her a price so she would know what to expect. Turns out she also has a doctorate in something, and is a career counselor.

After taking a morning measuring and figuring I handed her the form with totals she could expect, no charge. ….At the time we had a son & his wife who needed some financial counseling. I asked her if she ever did that on the side.

“Lord no Jack, I can’t even balance my check book.”

I left shaking my head.

I wish I had a better education. I have studied, attended a couple community colleges taking courses, never  enough credits for a degree.

Institutions of higher learning cannot teach common sense. Financial management is common sense (MY VIEW):

1. You should never owe more than your assets.

2. You cannot borrow yourself out of debt.

3. You cannot spend more than you earn.

4. There WILL be emergencies, you need to save something to cover that.

SO SIMPLE, yet the educated men who run our country HAVE NEVER LEARNED THAT, so the USA owes TRILLIONS.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

I am the sort of guy who would rather OWN a TRAILER, than a mansion, on which I made payments.

There are still kids today who know they can buy a fixer-upper, and own it in 6 years. And not be under a 30 year mortgage. (I wish there were more)

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Mercury's were famous for a great custom job. 1951 here.