I was astonished to hear on the radio this morning that the average outstanding balance on a credit card in the US in 2006 was US$9,659! (In 1990, it was US $3,000). Note that this is the average figure! Given that there are those (like me) who hold several credit cards but rarely use them and pay the outstanding amount promptly at the end of each month to avoid paying interest, this suggests that the distribution is skewed to the right. In other words, there are those who owed the credit card companies much more than the average US$ 9,659!
Haystack for the winter
Proverbs for the Day (21:20)
...
"In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has."
.
This proverb is about saving for the future. It's about examining our life-styles and spending patterns.
.
Simply, the wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets. Easy credit has many people living on the edge of bankruptcy. The desire to keep up and to accumulate more pushes them to spend every penny they earn, and they stretch their credit to the limit. But anyone who spends all he has is spending more than he can afford (LAB; 1104).
.
A wise person puts money aside for when he or she may have less. God approves of foresight and restraint. Afterall, He has placed in our brain the frontal lobe (c.f. my previous posting on Phineas).
