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Reader Patricia wins a copy of America, Welcome to the Poorhouse with her comment on my book review earlier this week.
If “we have to get a lot poorer ” means not having a 62 inch plasma tv, or the brand new I-phone (with contract) the day it’s released, or a McMansion with Rooms To Go furniture stuffed in every room and bought on a 5 yr. payment plan, then so be it. It’s about time people stopped with the hedonistic, gluttonous buy-buy-buy EVERYTHING NOW, even when they have to put it on credit, and get back to reality. Don’t buy what you can’t afford. Save (invest) at least 10% of your paycheck for retirement. Live within your means. Maybe this economic meltdown will cause a return to individual fiscal responsibility?
Like Patricia, many readers dismissed government reform in favor of individual responsibility. I agree that it would be great if we all lived within our means and saved so we could retire at a not-so-old age. If we all bought reasonably-priced houses and read the fine print to secure a fair mortgage. If we all practiced self-restraint and paid off our credit card bill in full.
The problem is, as a country, WE ARE VERY IRRESPONSIBLE WITH OUR MONEY. Do I even need to provide proof?
Which is why I think government reform could be the answer, perhaps on an educational level so that individuals are empowered to make savvy financial decisions. How about requiring high school students to take a class in personal finance, retirement planning, or budgeting 101? Teaching the next generation about money will spur financial change. No pun intended!
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
Have you ever wondered WHY it’s not taught in schools??? I have wondered this often. Maybe they don’t want the general public to REALLY understand about money. We are a consumer society -70% of the GDP (WAY too high in my opinion). If we taught people to save and manage our money well, then what would the GDP be made up of???
Managing money well is the road less traveled.
I have often thought why it’s not taught in the home by the Parents. Let’s not delegate home life skills to the school system when quite naturally it should be lived and taught at home.
Let’s see, we are almost 2 trillion dollars in debt and you want the government to teach us about fiscal responsibility?