Advanced Personal Finance

Buy Anything. Own Nothing.

I’ve come to the conclusion that in America today, anyone can buy anything. I don’t mean it’s possible for anyone to buy anything in the sense that anything is available for purchase. I mean anyone, no matter their means, can buy anything, no matter the price. Make no mistake, though, they won’t own the things they buy. They’re just driving them, living in them, or watching them temporarily.

Buy anything. Own nothing.

I came to this conclusion after seeing once too often the fry cook at Popeye’s talking nonstop on the latest cell phone. I saw once too often the young woman getting off her shift working retail at the mall and getting into a BMW to go home. I heard once too often about the municipal bus driver who just bought a $500,000 house.

Americans today are awash in a sea of debt. It is all too common for people to surf a wave of debt for years, even decades. Consolidation loans, cash-out refinances, payday loans, cash advances, auto leasing. It’s possible to move from one debt you can’t afford to an even bigger one. By rolling your old debt into the new debt, you can hide the fact, from yourself and others, that you’re sinking. Only it doesn’t look or feel like you’re sinking. You’re getting a bigger house, a newer car, a more expensive vacation.

One day this house of cards must collapse. I don’t want to be one of those gloom and doom writers, but one day these debts must be repaid. You know the solution - live below your means, save for the future, spend money on things that are truly of value to you. These things aren’t glamorous. These things aren’t hard to understand. They’re not even particularly wise. I try to actually do them.