Why Don't People Manage Debt Better?
Anyone at a point where they are making monthly payments on multiple credit cards has already lost the debt game. People don&#x27;t manage debt better because they have been marketed to and taught to use debt completely inappropriately.<p>Debt should be used to purchase an asset that will appreciate or otherwise provide an income in excess of the interest payment on the debt. Full stop. That is how businesses use debt and that is the only sensible strategy. As a consumer, a house may be a sensible use of debt. A reliable car needed to get to work may be a sensible use of debt. A student loan might as well. Carrying a balance on a credit card is almost never an appropriate use of debt.<p>Unfortunately, marketers have instead convinced consumers that debt is an easy way to buy things they can&#x27;t afford and pay for it later. This is almost always a losing proposition for the consumer, who invariably ends up paying much more than they would have if they had just saved up and bought the thing in full up front. The way to sensibly manage this is to not fall into the trap in the first place.