One of the best things about visiting a foreign land, is that you realize America is selling you sh!t on a platter. Granted we have many luxuries in the U.S that may not be so easily obtained elsewhere, I am pretty sure 75% of us could get over it.
We are having a crisis here that I am doubtful we are going to be able to change. What we need is a change in the American mentality of how we view money. Credit, Loans, the concept of making money off money, are all things we need to adjust.
In Ghana, CASH RULES. Credit! PFFt! YEA Right. Yea you can get it. Yea you can take a loan. But its going to be a 42% interest rate and by the way that's 42% monthly. Can't no one afford that! So everyone lives within their means. Everyone has a strong entrepreneurial spirit. From selling extensions cords on Spintex Road ( a Road in Accra, Ghana), To running kiosks in the dark African night with one lit candle. People are doing what they can do to get CASH.
One of the key differences that stood out the most to me is building a house. There is not a concept of mortgage, therefore no concept of foreclosures. When one wants to build a house, it takes years. Why? Cus you pay what you to got and build up to how much you can afford. A neighbor in Ghana has taken 8 years and she is still not complete. When money comes, she builds.
I wonder if Americans, now suffering through this recession in which credit and loans are largely to blame , would be able to take this approach? I am not that smart to figure out how we would transition, so skip that part in your response. Just ask yourself, could you live by cash only?
3 comments:
More people need to see this. Oh, so true. But DAM! 42% interest rate! My Word! That's crazy! LOL. I can live by cash only. I've seen it done before. Americans live off that plastic, and well above their means...smh
i take that route now..i dont have any credit cars..only a car loan right now
paying cash for everything has showed me how to live within my means..and I dont regret it
Well in this foreign land I live in called South Korea ANYONE can get a credit card. I know so many Koreans that open their wallets and there are at LEAST 10 credit cards! These people definitely do not live within their means. I got a card here simply in case I need to get an emergency flight home. And getting the card was so EASY it was like that's it??? It has never been used.
But my only debt now is my student loan and one credit card (which will be paid off by December). I use my Amex to stretch me and of course that must be paid every month. So I guess I am not cash only.
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