Priorities

I guess you have to have your priorities in life. When it comes to choosing between a place to live and continuing to spend more money than you can afford via credit cards, more and more people appear to be <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOMEOWNERS_CREDIT_CARDS?SITE=MTBIL&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">choosing the credit cards</a>.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Conventional wisdom has it that people will do everything to keep their homes. Not any more.<br />n<br />nThe proliferation of no-money-down home loans over the past few years, coupled with the current housing downturn, is giving rise to a new mentality: People will risk losing their homes while doing everything to keep their credit cards.<br />n<br />n"This is the biggest surprise we're seeing," said Elizabeth Schomburg, senior vice president of the Family Credit Counseling Service in Chicago. "People are actually coming to us with situations where they are current on their credit cards but are in foreclosure."</blockquote><br />n<br />nWhat can I say. I personally see that this is going to come around and bite our economy on the butt. People have their priorities though and more power to them. <br />n<br />nI can remember my Dad going through a real tough time with debt in the 70's with the ranch and it scared the shit out of me. I hate debt and try to avoid it at all costs. The ranch has some, but not much and I stay on top of it, but in my personal life I carry none. I guess maybe that isn't true now, I am making payments to the lawyer but he is not charging me interest so I don't know that it is considered debt.<br />n<br />nAnyway, saving your credit cards while losing your house doesn't seem like a smart move but what do I know, I am just a dumb cowboy.<br />n<br />n<strong>Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart. Alan Alda</strong>