The Most Wonderful Time of the Year... For Credit Card Companies!!

Have you seen the commercials for Sam's Club lately? It shows all these different people with huge, goofy smiles on their faces and huge, often goofy purchases they have recently made. I can't remember what song is playing in the background as the go from one shot to the next. However, the commercial shows a shot of a woman standing on top of a man's back as he lays face down on a massage table. Then there is the shot of the sorority girl in a cheerleader's uniform with a large, pointing-arrow marquee that states, "Don't Mess With Muffy." The last shot shows a couple standing in front of their house with one of those insanely huge, blow-up snowglobes in the front yard. Then comes the big statement:

"Sam's Club now accepts Mastercard."

Mr. Universe and I have had memberships to Sam's Club for just over 4 years now. We really like buying certain things in bulk (hot chocolate!!), and you can get some good deals on other things, too. Previously, Sam's only accepted cash, check, or debit card. Or if you qualified for and got the Sam's Club credit card, you could use that.

It doesn't bother me that they now accept Mastercard. That's great. Whatever. I don't care about that. What I care about is the commercial that essentially says "Hey, we take credit cards now, so why don't you come in here and buy a whole bunch of crazy expensive stuff. You can put it on your credit card, so you can afford it! Sure, you'll just rack up a bunch of debt, but who cares? You'll be happy once you get that giant plasma screen TV, fake fireplace, pool table, and 25 pounds of chocolate chips."

We have a major problem in this county with debt. Most people live beyond their means. My generation does not know how to "make do" with what they've got until they can save up and buy it straight out. When I first got married, I knew a girl that worked at a bank. She was saying one day that her boss said you wouldn't believe how many 25 year olds are coming in to declare bankruptcy. They are coming in after they have bought a nice house, filled with new furniture and a giant TV, and they are driving these huge, expensive SUVs. They don't know how to budget or how to save.

I know that bankruptcy laws have changed, so it is actually harder to declare bankruptcy, and that's great. Too many people bought and bought, then when they couldn't find a way out, they took the "easy" way. I mean, heck. It's only on your credit report a few years, right? And we still get to keep the house, honey! Wo-hoo!

Yes, I'm happy that you can't be so irresponsible anymore. Or at least you can't get out of being irresponsible quite so easily. However, back to the Sam's Club commercial.

I am not a perfect person. Mr. Universe and I have big hopes for our family, but first we need to get out of debt. We have made some stupid decisions (who hasn't??), and we have moved a few too many times. We're kind of stuck right now, but we have a plan and we're working on it.

I am concerned about this commercial only because it encourages the irresponsible use of a credit card! It's ridiculous. The whole "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" bit just doesn't cut it. Sam's should be encouraging their customers with financing adn rewards for paying off big purchases early. That would be more likely to make me shop for the big items. I would still end up paying more for the product throught the interest in financing, but at least I won't have it sitting on my ridiculously high-interest-rate credit card and only paying minimum payments. Then I would only get it paid off after what? 40 years? And I will have paid for the item probably twice by then, but I haven't used or seen that item in at least 30 years.

Please, Sam's Club, let us encourage people to be financially smart, not irresponsible!!