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Give Until it Hurts, The 12 Days of
Debtmas
Saturday December 3, 2005 7:15 pm ET
Will credit addicted shoppers exceed
last years record $108 billion
Christmas shopping season? “Credit
cards are the crack cocaine of the
credit industry," author Jon Hanson
writes. Hanson says the merchants of
debt are ready to "hook-up" plastic
addicts. Registers rang sales at
$43,000 per second last year from
Black Friday to Christmas.
(Gooddebt.com)
Columbus, Ohio. December 3, 2005 --
“It’s hard to give your heart to
Jesus, when your butt belongs to
MasterCard.” writes Jon Hanson, in
Good Debt, Bad Debt. Lost in the
frenetic marketing is what Christmas
is really about, to give with
meaning—and to give within your
means. Should you buy Christmas
gifts for others, when you are
broke? The answer could depend on
who you ask. The merchants of debt
have created a culture of spend,
spend, SPEND, promoting “giving” as
the laudable and altruistic thing to
do; and usually it is. However,
accruing debt just so you can pass
out trinkets and baubles for
Christmas is like intentionally
ingesting bad cholesterol. Perhaps
it won’t have an immediate effect,
but the long term health (or
financial) consequences can be
disastrous.
“Ultimately, we can give more when
we take care of ourselves and our
families first. If we don’t, we may
not be around financially to help
others.” says Hanson.
Example: the flight attendant
announces, “In case of a loss of
cabin pressure, a mask like this
will drop down. Place it over your
head like this, (as he/she
demonstrates). Be sure to place the
mask over your face and breath
normally first, before assisting
others.”
Implicit in the flight attendant’s
directions are: “You may not be
conscious to help others if you do
not take care of yourself first.”
The flight attendant is giving
directions you should be hearing
from your financial planner. If you
are in a Debtabetic Coma what good
are you to yourself or loved ones?
Are you still paying for anything
from any Christmas’ past? Recall
Lexus’ December to Remember? Many
have 49 more months to remember.
Should we take joy in receiving a
gift that we know the giver will be
paying payments to MasterCard or
another merchant of debt for months
or years to come?
Black Friday last year consumers
engaged in a 29 day (November 26th
to December 25th) spending orgy
leaving many gasping for financial
breath. For a sarcastic look at the
12 Daze of Debtmas (flash
presentation) go to
www.debtmas.com you may also
download the 12 Days of Debtmas
audio free of charge from this link.
The 12 Daze of Debtmas, is taped
royalty free content, offered free
of charge as a PSA. It may be
downloaded from the audio link
above.
2004 29 Day Frenzy:
$108 billion dollars
$3.7 billion per day
$155 million per hour
$2.5 million per minute
$43,000 per second
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