This was one of the predictions from a few weeks ago:

I predict that if you stop living off credit you will reduce your worry over paying bills, and will be better off financially.

So let’s take a deeper look into this prediction.
Working in retail banking requires that I keep informed as to market conditions and interest rates. I regularly read the business section of at least two papers following the top stories and I consider how they relate to my job.

One of the stories coming out of the news over the past few weeks is that the banks aren’t lending people money. I find this funny for several reasons. First, we are lending money to qualified individuals and businesses. Second, it’s the desire to borrow money to purchase things we can’t afford, aka living on credit, that has helped put us in this financial mess.

What’s that? You thought it was the greed of the big banks that started this off? Well your partially right, but individuals who borrowed money to buy things they couldn’t afford with cash are also partially to blame. If you’re having a tough time with accepting some of this responsibility read this post.

Now let’s go back to my prediction. I predicted that if you stopped living off of credit, you would worry less about the bills you have to pay. Why is that? Because you won’t have a credit card bill if you aren’t using your credit card.

The media loves to target the banks and accuse them of not lending to consumers. What the media should be doing is targeting the consumers and pointing out that irresponsible use of credit is not in any one’s best interest. The problem is the media can’t do this because they would then alienate their audience. Instead they urge the continuance of irresponsible spending and chastise the banks for not bailing the consumer out.

That’s my take on things. I stand by my prediction that if you stop using credit you’ll live a stress free life and you’ll have more money saved up. Less interest paid to the banks or credit card companies is more money in your account and that’s the way it should be. So next time you need to buy something, pay in full with cash. If you can’t afford to do that, ask yourself if you really need the new TV, blu-ray player, Wii, or whatever else your neighbour has that you want.