Debt and why we should be aware of our finances
It is estimated that by the grand old age of 18, over half of the UK’s youngsters are in some sort of debt, be it store cards, overdrafts or store cards... Ok! I really dislike store cards, but I understand the pressures young people face to keep up to date with their peers debts. You understand too, as you’re statistically in it... up to the eyeballs!
Young women in particular are regularly chronicled in the papers as spending far beyond their means. There are even cases of young women being declared bankrupt before they even graduate. Cries of “we never did that in our day” fall on deaf ears, not out of disrespect, mainly because she who should be paying attention is already 50 ft ahead of you listening to her newly purchased mp3 player (on a store card), on her way to buy the latest, shiniest, cropped, frilled, marzipan, magic, celebrity designed (’as if’) wares (on a store card). It’s not really her fault though, for the money keeps on coming...
£1,318 billion was the latest figure (March 2007) produced by financial officials, indicating how obscene our borrowing behaviour has become. An increase of 10.5% since last year alone, that’s £116 billion in one year. Can you really even comprehend that? I certainly can’t and what is worse, I can pretty much guarantee that your average 20 something (male OR female) is not concerned with this figure, in fact they simply don’t care!
With on average, 62% of UK graduates leaving university with over £10’000 worth of debt, debt has become one of those annoying ’30 something’ words. “Everyone has debt!” somehow justifies our frivolous spending and soothes the stab of reality when a store card statement lies poisonously below the letterbox. As £5K swipes up to £10K, we loose track and dismiss the problem. We think we are ok, we think that extreme borrowing like this can continue, yet sadly we all know deep down this isn’t true!
Debt solutions, forward thinking, careful spending, living within your means, all seem ludicrous to the unwise young. The dream of eventually becoming free from debt is something very few people actually achieve in life and due mainly to our frivolous, disposable existence, the sanctity of being debt-free will rapidly become a memory in the financially bleak future.
