The old adage about watching the pennies so that the dollars take care of themselves has been proven by the recent economic recession. So many individuals made bad decisions about their personal finances with regard to credit and mortgages which were then compounded, or even encouraged by, financial institutions that it just snowballed its way upward until the entire country and then the world had to face the consequences.
Financial responsibility has to begin at the individual level. It is hypocritical to call lawmakers and corporations to task when individuals aren’t willing to act responsibly. A good place to start is by treating home ownership as a privilege rather than a right.
Purchasing a home is a major investment. Buyers should fully understand the terms of their mortgage and the consequences of failing to live up to their end of the agreement. They should make use of Mortgage Calculators to determine how much of a mortgage they can realistically afford instead of guestimating figures or worse, manipulating them to turn out the way they want. The idea that they can stretch their money in order to afford the house they want is what led to so many foreclosures in the recent housing crisis.
This idea of making a realistic housing budget and sticking to it can then be applied to other parts of life. Food, car, retirement, entertainment, schooling — people need to be cognizant of how much things really cost and how much money they really have. Then and only then will they be able to make responsible choices about what to buy.