[Bookie]

One problem is that people don't look at the total cost. They focus on immediate cash flow. As long as they make their payments, all is well, and they are free to spend as usual. Any bobble in that cash flow, and they find out they're performing without a net.

Story - I was shopping for a cell phone this spring. I asked each sales rep to give me the total baseline cost of the various contract options. Not one of them could do it. I was told by one vendor that nobody had ever asked for that number.

So people are signing contracts without ever computing what they can expect to spend? No wonder debt is out of control.