Living within your means: Try it -- you might like it

Kudos to Larry Jones of Banksville for his letter "Living Within Your Means Must Be the Message" (Feb. 26). His opening sentence about common sense speaks volumes. Allow me to offer my opinion of what has happened to common sense and living within one's means.

Those life-guiding values have been replaced with an overinflated sense of entitlement and instant gratification on the part of many in today's society who feel they should enjoy all the luxuries that life has to offer but don't accept the fact that those things come with a price. If you can't afford the six-figure house or the high-priced vehicles you would like to drive or the expensive vacations you enjoy bragging about, what gives you the right to expect these things to be available to you just because you want them?

When you max out your credit cards, knowing you probably will never be able to pay for what you've charged, or purchase a house or vehicle by committing to payments that you know far exceed your income, only you are to blame when your world falls apart and you are asked to pay what you owe.

How about giving common sense and living within your means a chance? It may not be as bad as you think!

 

MARY BETH PARRIS
Green Tree City