By "need," I don't necessarily mean need. Make sense? Every month or so, you'll hear people talk about something they need. But, these things may not always be necessities. Sometimes needs are really wants. There's nothing wrong with buying needs (wants) so long as you have the money to pay for them. Rather than buying these "needs" today on credit, it is important to save up and purchase them outright. And, by waiting to buy these "needs," you may realize they're just wants and you don't want them as much as you thought. It's important to get into this frame of mind at a young age. We live in a time when you can have whatever you want, whenever you want (within reason). But, it'll cost you.

Stop and think about these "needs". You're only fooling yourself.

Young people these days face many credit obstacles. Take for instance, a college student goes away to school, takes out a few credit cards, runs up the balances and then graduates. This student then has a difficult time finding a stable job and his student loans become due. Not being able to make ends meet, the student misses a few payments on the credit cards and things begin to get out of control. Now this student applies for a job and everything is looking promising, but the potential employer runs a background check which includes a credit check. Background check comes back fine, but credit check does not. The student is not offered the position.

This is a scary prospect for many young people these days. We get into a little credit trouble here and there and hope to get back on our feet and fix some of our wrongs, but it's exceedingly difficult when an employer looks at our credit.

It's crucial that young people especially learn how credit mistakes can affect them for a very long time. It can be a vicious cycle; get credit, lose job, miss payments, find job, lose job because of bad credit. Now what?

Don't get caught in this cycle - Promote credit education!

I've heard of this documentary before, but never had the opportunity to watch it. I ran across it on Google videos and have to say it's worth watching. There is a lack of accountability portrayed on this film, but my post is not concerned with this. People make mistakes. Being in credit card debt, I can definitely sympathize with many in this documentary. Credit card debt is something you can overcome! My wife and I have made considerable progress in the past year. We have lived on as little as possible and put as much as we can toward our credit card debt. I'm happy to say that we will hopefully be credit card debt free in a few months. This has been an incredible burden hanging over us for a couple of years and I'm starting to see the light!

Watch this documentary; show (or send) it to your friends and family. If you have teenagers and/or college students, show them this video. Explain the many pitfalls of credit cards. But above all else, tell these people everything can be fixed no matter how far in debt you are. The "fix" may not be quick or easy, but is excessive credit card debt a reason to take your life? The answer should be clear to many, but alas many people feel as though it's their only way out.

Promote credit education.