What's Da Buzz?

Let me clarify the title. Not all Western ideas are good to copy. There is a lot of wisdom in the Filipino lifestyle we should maintain. One of them is our being conservative on the money side especially when it comes to “utang”.

If many are reading the news, the USA is going through an economic downturn for many reasons. One of the primary reasons is both as a nation and as individuals; Americans have let their debts owed climb far past what they can pay. This is due to a combination of things which I will touch on a few.

First, Americans are bombarded with advertisers and a culture of spending money. The businesses look to profit and the only way they can is if their customers spend the money. The medical costs are zooming up for many reasons, cost of food is going up, gas went up quickly since I moved here and many factors together eat away at that national wage average of $30,000. (OO cost of living dito is super HIGH!)

It is not uncommon for a couple to have a home loan, a car loan or two, sometimes a boat loan, one or student loans from college, and debt on the credit card. All of these are charged interest so the banks continue to profit. Except now with the increases in medical, gas and food, there isn’t enough income to pay all the debts. So people who should not have purchased a house are losing them.

Here is a simple rule many do not get here. You do not own a home until you do not owe anyone money for it. If you do not pay the mortgage, the house is then taken or foreclosed on. A few years ago, banks and lending companies borrowed money to people at low interest rates so the couples could buy a house. But many of those people did not read the fine print and saw their mortgage and interest payments quadruple to a level they had no chance to pay. Now those homes are being taken by the banks. The construction industry is hurting and the US government is panicking.

Add to this credit card debt which many Americans have and it is killing their chances to get back to $0 or owing no one. Because there isn’t enough money to go around, a fair number have stopped paying their credit card bills. To keep up with the income, the credit card companies increase the interest rates on their better paying clients.

If you live in the USA or are moving here, beware of the traps the banks will try to put you in. As for those still in the Philippines, this is one thing we do not need to copy of the West.

A n a

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