mixedsubstance

I agree. I've had come to the point where I've had to voluntarily reposess a car. When i was married, we ended up making a stupid decision of getting a Honda Passport (which later we found out is engineered by Hyundai so it had low value). After my ex had traded in his truck when we got it, we still had negative equity in the Honda. When we got divorced, we still had over 9,000 left to pay on it though it was only worth about 3,500. So I made a sound choice of voluntarily having it reposessed and committing to monthly payments to the bank attorney who took over the loan. That happened in early 2005. I just got it paid off in Sept of this year. But I took that responsibility and slap on my credit report. But it's still better than having it involuntarily reposessed.
Now I do my research and I make thorough decisions before committing to anything financially. In fact- because of this economy, I've been laid off, am going back to school, but doing everything in my (and my boyfriend's) means to cut back spending. We've already managed a way to save an extra $300/month by searching for new auto insurance, taking off extra options on our cell phone services, etc. A little goes a long way. I have a feeling that so many college students and young adults (in their 20's) will screw or have screwed themselves over- not only because of the economy, but because they don't know how to budget or save. And they don't think of the 'what ifs'- like their car breaking down, the economy going to craps like it is now, medical expenses, etc.

P.S. I never believed in owning a credit card just because- but recently I got a low-credit limit credit card for EMERGENCIES only. I am always one to think when wanting to buy something- If I have the money, I can get it. If I don't have the money, I can't get it.

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Well, isn't that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?!?

*Without energy, there would be nothing.*