Okay, I am on a roll trashing stupid commercials. I think maybe it is the result of too much time stuck in hotel rooms while on the road. This is the newest one that pisses me off: Chase Bank, those good ol’ credit card people! Here is the commercial: A couple decides they need a new TV. He rushes to the electronic store and surrounds himself with big screen plasma television sets. Background music: I Want It All And I Want It Now. THAT IS A CLUE to why I have a problem! He grabs his cell phone and dials a number to check his available credit to see how much he can charge. The voice over says something to the effect that you can find out how much of the good life you can buy with a simple phone call encouraging him to max out his card to indulge himself and his wife.Chase should be ashamed. Promoting that I Want It All And I Want It Now mentality and then telling you to max out your entire credit balance on a big screen television. People SHOULD be smart enough to see through this stuff, but sadly they aren’t. People will stupidly watch this and think, “How cool! I should totally go get whatever I want because I deserve it and I can just charge it.” Do you need it? Who cares? Can you afford it? Why does that matter? Is it a good idea? Beats me! I just want it!!!!!!!That is the problem with the government’s new economic stimulus package as well: stupidity. We (the US Government) are going to borrow money from China (because we spent all our money on a stupid war) to give people some money they didn’t earn so they can go buy stuff made in China that they don’t need. Looks to me the economy that gets the most stimulus is China’s. Add to that the issue that most people will look at the money they get as a downpayment and won’t spend just what they are given but will spend much more. Why are we rewarding bad behavior and irresponsibility in people? Do people really need help spending? Isn’t that the basic problem anyway? Why don’t we reward things like saving and investing and putting away for healthcare and for a college fund? That makes more sense to me. I just don’t believe in rewarding spending and encouraging more spending.If you get some of that free government money (I won’t) I hope you don’t do what the government wants you to do. They want you to help retailers and the economy by spending the money at the mall. I want you to pay off those high interest credit cards you have. If you don’t have any high interest credit card debt, then save or invest the money. Be smarter than our government.Until next time.EXTRA EXTRA!!!!!!!!! Just got an email from a Chase executive. I admire them for making contact with me. That alone deserves some respect. They acknowledged to me that perhaps their true message was not clear enough. That the goal was to teach people NOT to buy the biggest but to buy more what they could afford. Sorry I missed it - I think Queen screaming out I want it all and I want it NOW!!!!!!! while flashing a credit card drowned out their meaning - at least to me. Again, I respect Chase for making contact with me. They were very respectful of me and what I do so I give them CREDIT for that. I appreciate any effort to teach people to spend responsibly. In their words, “We are trying to establish a responsibility message (see www.chaseclearandsimple.com, which offers people a number of tools to help them pay on time and know theimpact of only making minimum payments.” I applaud any effort to help people do just that! I have said for years that credit card companies are NOT at fault for being in a credit card mess. People sign the contract and then don’t live according to the document they signed. I do not believe predatory lending runs rampant as many would lead you to believe. I believe big boys and girls sign papers and agree to payment plans and then don’t keep their words. Then when there are consequences, they cry ‘Foul!”This is full disclosure between me and you, them and me and now all of us. I think it is refreshing to see people COMMUNICATE their differences and talk things out openly.Larry
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1: Take Responsibility
February 14th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Larry you “ROCK”. I have seen that commercial too and if you notice that while hes checking his credit card balance hes sitting in a large recliner and in front of a huge t.v.. When they cut back to his house where we see him watching the new t.v., its no where near the size of the one he was relaxing in front of. To me that says alot about the state of peoples finances, our wants and needs are bigger then our wallets, but “we want it all”! I miss Big Spender, and can’t wait for a new season.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Larry,
You you hit the nail on the head when you observed we borrow money from China because we’re spending our own and our kids’ and grandkids’ money on a stupid war and I could add to the list… , because we people didn’t Earn the money to buy stuff we don’t need from China -which in the 2nd half of this century will be the most powerful country in the world once enough of the the 1.1 plus billion Chinese climb up to middle class status. I add that because China holds A LOT of US government debt. If China wanted to cash in its US government bonds today, the party would be over! Those people who live on credit would suddenly find themselves with ZERO credit as the money flowed to China. I’ll come back to this below. Then lots more people will really need your book, Larry! Maybe the next president of the US should make you his or her Budget Czar.
I only wish your book had been available earlier.
I’m an American living in Japan where credit cards are a relatively less common. Personal checks are non-existent. Pre-paid debit cards are widely available. Some people can get debit cards where you pay either with only your available balance or pay the entire balance (like American Express) on the payment due date. It’s quite common to do a direct bank account to bank account transfer to pay for purchases. That’s how I pay my rent. That ’s how people buy concert tickets. I have a visa debit card for emergencies but I pay cash. I burned myself in the US on credit.
The US government needs to 1., stop spending money it doesn’t have and 2., start rewarding people for saving money and stop encouraging people spend money on stuff we don’t need and have no space for. Are these people really happy is another question. When you borrow money from someone else you give them control over your life. The US used to be the banker to the world, one reason the US became the most powerful country in the world. Now the US is the largest borrower in the world. Money in the bank = Power. Americans are giving up control of their future so they can have the “good” life today. Look what the Chinese government does to it’s own people. Do you want them calling the financial shots in Washington and your state capitals like Washington has done to state and local governments historically? I don’t. Save your money. Pay as you go. As a country we’ll be in control of our economic future (assuming none of the other problems we have don’t get us first).
Keep up the good work Larry!
March 5th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Great trash, Larry! So when does the new season for Big Spender begin? I check every week and am disappointed that even the reruns are not on. All of us fans at the Big Spender discussion board at A&E are anxiously awaiting.
L.
August 21st, 2009 at 8:38 am
bahiwebid…
Free Worksheets On Similes And Metaphors …