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Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford Print
Saturday, 29th July 2006 (by J.D.)This article is about Basics, Debt, Funny Money
Live from New York! It’s Saturday night!
Okay, it’s really live from Portland, but here’s a skit from Saturday Night Live that features excellent personal finance advice. The best personal finance advice. You can watch the clip for free at Salon, or you can just read the script below:
Scene: a typical American kitchen. A husband (Steve Martin) and wife (Amy Poehler) are puzzling over their finances.
Wife: Oh, I just can’t get these numbers to add up
Husband: Like we’re never going to get out of this hole.
Wife: Credit card debt, does it ever end?
Salesman: [entering from who-knows-where] Maybe I can help.
Husband: We sure could use it.
Wife: We’ve tried debt consolidation companies.
Husband: We’ve even taken out loans to help make payments.
Salesman: Well, you’re not the only one. Did you know that millions of Americans live with debt they can not control? That’s why I developed this unique new program for managing your debt. [Holds up book] It’s called, “Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford”
Wife: Let me see that. [Reading from book] If you don’t have any money, you should not buy anything. Hmmm … sounds interesting.
Husband: Sounds confusing.
Wife: I don’t know honey, this makes a lot of sense. There’s a whole section here on how to buy expensive things using money you’ve “saved”.
Husband: Give me that. And where do you get this “saved” money?
Salesman: I tell you where and how in Chapter 3.
Wife: OK, what if I want something but I don’t have any money?
Salesman: You don’t buy it.
Husband: Let’s say, I don’t have enough money to buy something. Should I buy it anyway?
Salesman: No.
Husband: Now I’m really confused.
Salesman: It’s a little confusing at first.
Wife: What if you have the money, can you buy something?
Salesman: Yes.
Wife: Now, take the money away. Same story?
Salesman: Nope. You shouldn’t buy stuff when you don’t have the money.
Husband: I think I’ve got it. I buy something I want, then hope that I can pay for it. Right?
Salesman: No. You make sure you have money, then you buy it.
Husband: Oh, then you buy it! But shouldn’t you buy it before you have the money?
Salesman: No.
Wife: Why not?
Salesman: It’s in the book. It’s only one page long. The advice is priceless and the book is free.
Wife: Wow. I like the sound of that.
Husband: Yeah, we can put it on our credit card.
Announcer: So, get out of debt now. Write for your free copy of “Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford”. And, if you order now, you’ll also receive, “Seriously, If You Don’t Have the Money, Don’t Buy It” along with a twelve month subscription to “Stop Buying Stuff” Magazine. Order today.
[Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford — Do try this at home.]
July 29th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
*snort* I can just picture Steve Martin in that one.
July 30th, 2006 at 12:39 am
At the time it came out i thought this was a pretty crude and mean-spirited skit. 45% of Americans have credit card debt and there are some very real policy changes that could reduce that number (and identity theft). Credit should not be so easy to get, disclosures should be more straightforward, banks shouldn’t have members of congress in their pocket, bankruptcy reform shouldn’t have been written by mastercard, etc.
Ridiculing the poorest half of the population as complete morons is one answer I guess. Ha, ha, ha.
SNL used to do some decent political comedy but I get the feeling that their current test audience doesn’t even know how many branches of government there are.
Besides, if a good fraction of American’s were not in debt they wouldn’t be willing to work 16 hour days and multiple jobs. Productivity would go down, the dow jones would collapse, currency would be devalued, and everyone would be bartering with homegrown tomatoes and wearing burlap overalls.
July 30th, 2006 at 1:30 am
Wow. That commenter feels strongly about this. I guess I do, too. I have been on both sides of this coin. I once had a ton of credit card debt and couldn’t pay it. I still suffer on my credit report because of it.
Had I even made a halfhearted attempt at living within my means, I would never have had that problem.
I’m afraid that I’m of the opinion (reached through empirical means) that much of the debt this country has was unneccesary and in many cases stupid. It isn’t just poor people in a ton of debt… people can live above their means in any stratum of society.
And also… J.D.. you seem to have disappeared!
July 31st, 2006 at 8:18 am
Not saying people aren’t stupid with credit cards.
I have relatives with good jobs that carry credit card debt and also have a significant “savings” account at Wells Fargo earning 1 or 2%. They have an AOL account that they don’t use and rented storage with a few pieces of crap in it. Out of sight, out of mind. People obviously could do better.
I didn’t like the skit largely because it came out while the congress was debating several relevant proposals — including: limiting credit lines to students, more prominent warnings with bills discussing the risks of only paying the minimum, placing credit card debt ahead of child support in bankruptcy proceedings, tightening of lax credit industry practices that lead to identity theft, free national credit freezes, etc.. I didn’t like all the proposals, but the senators from MBNA won on all them.
I guess the libertarian view is simply buyer be ware. But I believe you have to draw the line between fair and constructive business practices and scams aimed at suckering people in. You could also argue that elderly that fall for funeral service insurance scams and folks that regularly use 100% interest pay day loan services get what they deserve.
December 20th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
This is old, but I just found it and had to comment…
Anything funny sounds cruel to someone. Back in the 80’s, my grandfather thought it was the “Where’s the beef?” ad presented an undeserving portrayal of senior citizens. Meanwhile, my grandmother thought it was great.
The skit is right on the money. I have friends (at various economic “strata”, as Beverly said above) who act completely comfortable with amounts of credit card debt that would make me franticly sell my car to pay off ASAP. Meanwhile, I know one such couple who’s taking a trip to Cancun in a few days!?!?!?!?! Another has owned three ipods since I first bought mine.
People need to understand:
Credit Cards = excellent method of payment
Credit Cards = horrible source of loan
If you don’t pay the entire balance each month, the charged money no longer is a form of payment, it becomes a loan. At crazy rates! If you’re buying anything that isn’t worth a trip to the bank to compare loan rates, then YOU SHOULDN’T BORROW TO BUY IT!
Just my 2 cents…
March 5th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
[...] Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot AffordProbably the best advice you can give someone who keeps running themself into debt. [...]
March 11th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
The mindset of thinking credit is a scam by evil corporations to rob people of money is part of the problem. No one forces you to skip reading and understanding the terms, open credit accounts, buy things without being able to afford them and then not pay the balance every month.
Just don’t buy things if you don’t have the money. Christ on a Cracker! Yet we want to add all this regulation and legislation to try an fix the “problem”.
Common sense should tell you that if you couldn’t save $2,000 for an HDTV in a reasonable time, you’re not going to be able to pay it off in a reasonable time if you put it on a credit card.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I realize this post and the skit it includes are supposed to be humorous, but I am commenting on a larger issue that this relates to and reminds me of.
Why is it so often assumed that debt comes from “shopping” and buying luxury items or buying items beyond one’s budget unnecessarily?
What about all the debt people accumulate because they don’t have enough for groceries that month or because they don’t have the money to repair the car that allows them to get to work and support their family?
What about the debt that accumulates due to necessary but very expensive medical procedures? The kind that one racks up as a result of serious emergencies that are costly, unexpected, and devastating to the finances, even when one has an emergency fund, savings, and insurance in place?
It seems that, especially among those who did get into trouble buy spending unnecessarily themselves and have now changed their ways, debt is very often viewed as people living the high life, buying expensive new cars, and going out to eat and on trips, living in a house that is too big, and buying lots of material goods for themselves when they can’t afford it.
This scenario is obviously the case for some people, but for many others it is not even close to explaining why they are in debt. Yet on so many pf blogs, that “overspending on luxuries” scenario is often the only one considered or referred to when discussion about being in debt, or getting and staying out debt are discussed. And the answer to staying out of debt is always, like this skit’s message, don’t spend more than you have. That’s fine for excess spending, but not for necessities that keep the family alive, healthy, and able to continue working and providing.
Is it really that hard to believe that many people exist who despite not overspending (or really spending at all) on “fun” items and experiences, still manage to accumulate debt due to one or a series of experiences that are difficult to overcome on the average budget and income–often even when one has set aside saving, emergency funds, and the like in advance?
And, I am not referring to this blog when I say this, just making a general point.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I know that it can seem insensitive when someone makes a skit like this. However, I understand the idea of ridiculous unforeseen emergencies causing debt. The important distinction is THIS IS NOT THE NORM.
People generally are largely responsible for their debt. The people in this country who are under the poverty line generally have cable, a significant portion have two cars, and many think nothing of buying a pair of Jordan’s at around 200 dollars a pair for their children. (I should know, I volunteer as a tutor on my weekends)
It is a mindset that people take up that leads to their debt. The proof is in a family like mine, where one is an immigrant who came here with nothing, and one is only from the Virgin Islands, and came here with nothing. People are doing nothing to live their lives responsibly, and so they are unprepared for emergencies, and unprepared for contingencies.
You can live cheaply. Emergencies might throw the possibility of “Getting Rich” even “Slowly” out of the window. But if you plan, and you’re careful, especially if you’re making the average salary of someone in the US, you should be more than fine, you should prosper.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Inspired by this skit, we created a new online community to celebrate those parts of our lives untouched by corporate greed. Instead of thinking about not buying things as a deprivation, we think it’s a celebration. Check us out at http://www.stopbuyingstuffmagazine.com/about.html