Tell me how you avoided debt

By Patricia Hunt
Published: August 1, 2008

I have seen story after story in the media about people who are deeply in debt. Such people are not hard to find. According to the Federal Reserve, the average household has mortgage debt of $84,911; auto and tuition loans of $14,414; credit card debt of $8,565; home equity loans of $10,062. The average savings each year has declined to $392.
When I see personal finance stories in magazines or on “Oprah,” the families always have incomes of $60,000 or more. They can balance their budget by getting rid of the Land Rover. Suze Orman’s only advice to a family of four with an income of $35,000 is to make more money. At least half the people I know with adult children are helping them: money, child care, health insurance, etc. 
The stories I am trying to find are of people under 65 whose personal debts are limited to a home mortgage, auto loan, and student tuition loans and have a household income of under $40,000. I would like also to include renters. (Debts for your business don’t count.) Does this describe you? If so, I want to know how you are managing to live on your rather modest income when most Americans are mired in debt.  Where are you cutting corners? How do you provide yourself with transportation and a roof? What do you eat? What are you doing about health and dental care? Do you have a pet? If so, do you take Fido to the vet? 
Do you have children? How are you providing the things they need? If they have mastered the art of begging, badgering and guilt tripping you, how are you saying no?
Have you had unexpected expenses that threw you for a loop? Are there family members who are helping you in some way (money, cast-off car, children’s clothes)? 
Do you grow some of your own food or rely on venison from hunting season? Have friends helped you with remodeling projects, auto or plumbing repairs or do you barter? 
If you could testify before Congress or meet with the president, is there anything you could suggest to help people like you? Suddenly, after years of encouraging debt, we are being told to act like you. But who are you? How are you doing? I will use your name only with your permission, but I want to know, and I want readers (and elected officials) to know what your life is really like. You may send me a message at between now and Friday, Aug. 8. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you can write me at Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, Va., 24401.
I have lived on a modest income for most of my working life, but I always had backup from family if anything went terribly wrong. I knew that, and it makes all the difference. For years I got cast-off cars, and I have given three cars away to people who needed them when I acquired newer cars.
I can remember a time when every breakfast was the store brand oatmeal purchased in a big bag, and the only snack food was popcorn. Compared to young people today, I think I had it easy. I graduated from college without debt. I got a job with a living wage when I graduated; it wasn’t a lot, but I could make it on my salary. I didn’t have to buy a car because my parents had given me one while I was a student. I got the down payment for a house when I inherited some money. Had I had none of these advantages, I don’t know how I would have managed.
Western prospectors used to get a grubstake to finance their search for precious metals. It was essentially venture capital. If the prospector made money, the supplier of the grubstake got a cut, often 50 percent. If the prospector came up empty handed, both lost their investment. 
The tuition system would be fairer if the lender got a percentage of the graduate’s salary, and grubstake systems have been proposed from time to time. Many young people have no one to help them get started in life.
What we have now amounts to the mining industry’s company store or agriculture’s sharecropping. The system does not work for a lot of Americans no matter how hard they work or how frugal they may be. They do not make enough to provide themselves with the essentials of life. Instead of being bound to the land with little chance of escape or owing your “soul to the company store,” you owe Visa or Mastercard or some lender you can’t even find should you need to communicate about your loan.
I look forward to hearing from some of you. Your stories need to be told. 
Patricia Hunt, of Staunton, is a chaplain at Mary Baldwin College.