Are you spending too much money?

     This article talks about how much money Americans spend; how much they are overspending. The thing that I wanted to talk about was the questions that this article asked. "Are you personally living beyond your means? Are you spending more than you can afford? Are you spending more than you want to? Are you spending more than you realize?"
     Even though I am still a college student and don't have too much to pay for yet, I just don't understand how people are spending more than they are making. I would think that people would want to keep the debt down and save as much money as they can for a rainy day. Maybe I am the only one who thinks like this. I certainly do not spend more money than I make and I certainly do not spend money on things that I don't need. This reminded me of the video that we watched in class, "The Overpent American." It reminds me of when the people are talking about their debt. I canunderstand if people have kidsandthey needtopay for college and what-not but I can't imagine people getting themselves into that much deabt just to make their lives for luxury. I wouldn't think people would get the basics and be happy with that.

What is your opinion about these questions?

In response to Andrew's "Marketing Trouble"

     That is really a tough one. I lived in a dorm for two out of my three years at college (only one of those years at Keene state). When every my RA told me about something that he was going to do for the hall or for the floor, I tuned out right away because I didn't care. I usually wasn't interested in going no matter what the event was.
     The only thing that I can think of is that you have to think about what college kids want. The first think that comes to mind is maybe a Call Of Duty tournement where the winner wins a free pizza. College guys like playing COD like it's their job and who doesn't like a free pizza. If I saw a poster that said COD tournement, I would be interested in going to play/watch.

"The Overspent American"

     This movies was a real eye opener. Americans work the most hours than anywhere else. We have started to work more and more hours since the 19980's and the 1990's. People use to just want a small house with a white picket fence and two kids in the house. Now it has turned into people wanting mansions and getting massive amounts of property and more kids. Things in the our eyes are getting more expensive and we need more of it.
     This is why we work so much. Working more hours means we are going to get a hire income which then relates to spending more money on all of the things that we want then relates into working more to make more money. People are trying to make their lives full of luxuries and things they don't necessarily need. People are so wrapped up in getting more and more things that the credit card deabt is increasing among Americans. They don't have enough money to pay for the things that they want so they just swipe their card. Debt is incresing while personal savings are decreasing. The saying use to be, "Keeping up with the Jones." Now it's, "Keeping up with the Gates."
     This is very tough to break because people are competing with each other. It is very hard to stop spending money, especially if you are addicted to it and you think that you need everything that you want and everything that your friends have. Some people aren't going to be able to stop. I don't think people are going to be able to stop because they are so caught up in competing with everyone else that they are going to spend it all to make it to the top.

What is your opinion on this matter? Are Americans doomed to continue spending all of their money?