VISA Replaces Monopoly Money

Being a Conservative not only means being socially conservative, but also being fiscally conservative. Most days, from 1-4 PM Central time, I am listening to Dave Ramsey, and yesterday, as I was listening I was alerted of the greatest marketing scheme in business history.

VISA Cards Replace Monopoly Money
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A British version of the classic Monopoly board game released this week substitutes a Visa-imprinted debit card for the stacks of yellow, blue and purple play money long hoarded by children worldwide.
...First offered in 1935, Monopoly offered players a form of financial escapism during the country's worst financial depression. Players become pretend real estate magnates who compete for fictitious property named after real places in Atlantic City, N.J. A British version released that same year featured London neighborhoods.
In the new British version of Monopoly Here & Now, players type amounts into a palm-sized scanner and swipe their debit cards to seal the deal.
... "That is the here and now," she said. "That's what we do. For a $3 purchase, I use my debit card."

60 years ago, the thought of buying something now, and paying for it later was so outrageous, that no one would even consider it. "Buying something is what cash is for, not plastic." But now Visa, Mastercard and American Excess (as Dave calls it) have been so engrained into our minds, that we feel like if our teenagers don't have plastic money, we're weird.

This is a "NORMAL" family.

• Average annual income: $47,211
• Average mortgage: $87,000 @ 8.24% with 28 years 4 months remaining
• Average home equity: $5,000 @ 9.6%
• Average auto debt: $12,750
• Average unsecured debt: $3,330

That's a yearly income of $47k, with a debt of about $108,000.
"But I NEEEEEEEED my credit card!!!!" NO YOU DON'T!
Listen to this man and think about one thing. Would you be willing to give up that $350 per month credit card bill? What could you do if you didnt have to pay $300, $400, or even $500 per month for your H2 for the next few years. Or how about that $1,000 a month house payment? Think about what you could do with that money.

Listen to Dave Ramsey, and learn how to be fiscally conservative at home.