Tag: #debt

  • Short Story Review: “Minimum Payment Due” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

    (The short story “Minimum Payment Due” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh appeared in the November 25th, 2024 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Hannah K. Lee

    If there is one issue that no one talks about, but is shaping the future of America in profound ways; it is debt. Student loans, medical bills, car loans, mortgages, and especially, credit cards. Having debt was unthinkable to my grandparents, as that was a sign of a type of moral failure, as you lacked the ability to live within your means. Now, everyone has some form of debt, and the way it’s going, our collective debt is only going to get bigger. “Minimum Payment Due” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh deals with debt, and the shame and frustration that comes with it. The story also explores the desire for solutions, and faith that resolutions are out there.

    Overly Simple Synopsys: A guy has way too much credit card debt, and can’t get out from under it. He looks for relief in self-help books, therapy, and in the end, an old friend from high school invites him to a “graduation” with an unexpected outcome.

    What really worked for me was the protagonist, and how he found himself in his debt, and how he looked for ways out of it. Oh, the narrator is completely unreliable, as he cannot seem to stop lying to everyone else, including himself, so I see no reason why he would tell us the truth. And I think that plays to the shame that comes with debt. There is also an element that this debt is a form of addiction for the narrator, as he just cannot stop spending money, looking for a purchase that will make him feel better, but only leads him to spend more money. And that’s what I liked most about this story, how it very subtly parallel debt and addiction. I felt that Saïd Sayrafiezadeh was making a very good point that capitalism and consumerism lead to debt addictions in some people, leaving them feeling vacant, thus looking for someone or something to deliver them from their crisis.

    Unfortunately, I had issues with the ending of the piece. It was the whole final section where the narrator goes to his friends “graduation.” I wasn’t sure what point was trying to be made. That debt is just a cycle that repeats over and over again. Or that people in debt have to admit that they are powerless against it, like in AA. Or was the narrator just a cynical person who never had the intention of solving his issues. I feel the point was to be ambiguous, letting the reader decide, but it left me feeling frustrated. Did the narrator learn anything? Does the narrator want to learn anything? Either thought left the story feeling incomplete.

    All in all, I have to say that I did enjoy the piece, with one clear exception. I have said this several times of late when it comes to New Yorker stories, but this one felt like it was the first chapter of a book, or at least a much larger story. I hope that’s what it is, because I would be curious to read that book.

  • Yup, Triggered Myself

    I got to thinking about money, and then working on the family budget, and
    that triggered me.

    I would like to think that I am good with money, but I see that the majority
    of my life I have been in debt, so I think I need to own up that I am not good
    with money. And it makes me really frustrated as I am not a dumb guy, but money
    is not my strong suit.

    With the Holidays coming, we needed to make sure that we can cover all of
    our expenses, and at the same time keep paying down our debt.

    And then it all started feeling so futile. No matter how hard we try, we
    never seem to get ahead of our debt. Even if I was in a position to go out and
    get a fulltime job, I have this dark cloud of a negative thought that keeps
    yelling at me that it wouldn’t matter. Something keeps popping up that pulls us
    back down. Sinking down, getting further and further away from our goals.

    I need to take a breath.

    Remind myself what our goals are.

    Nothing is easy, especially something worth doing.

    I guess what triggers me about this is that I feel like I should know
    better. That I should be learning from my mistakes.

    I might also need to be more aware of what my triggers are, and how to deal
    with them.

    I think I need to go take a walk.

  • Let’s Talk About Debt

    We paid off a credit card today. It was a victory, but it barely made a blip on our daily routine. One reason is that mornings for us are a little crazy with walking a dog, and getting the kid ready, setting up remote school, and then setting up the wife’s remote work. Lots of moving parts. The other thing is that we just paid off one card of seven. So, we still have a long way to go.

    The reason for our debt is wide and varied, and will be the subject for a blog on another day.

    What I want to engage in is just talking about debt. Ever since I can remember, no one talked about their debt. Not my family, and not my friends. Maybe a joke about credit cards, or the ever-enveloping nature of student loans. Outside of an occasional joke, no one talked about the debt that was amassed.

    Debt has always been treated as a moral failure. That any debt is a sign you have failed in some way. That you are bad with money, or frivolous with planning, or just a person who can’t hack being an adult. Shame was placed on having debt.

    But as I have worked professionally, all companies have debt and use it to their advantage. Either in leveraging  it for lines of credit and loans, or using it as a loss for their taxes. Companies buy and sell each other and use the debt to load on the acquired company. I was sort of surprised at how corporations I worked for, had no intention of paying off their debt.

    I have decided that I will not be ashamed of my debt, and at the same time, I will still actively try to pay it off.

    But at the same time, I know if I pay all my debt off and no longer use my cards, then the banks will close the accounts, and then my credit will dry up. Now, if that happens, then I won’t be able to get the home/car/student loans I will need in the future. So, it’s like I have to keep some debt on the books.

    Funny how that works.

  • The Courage to Plan for a Future

    Last night, after we had put our daughter to bed, the wife and I had a discussion about trying to retire our debt, yet again. This time around, we had the conversation while not have a few drinks. It made the conversation more logical, but clearly, less fun.

    Yup, we have credit card debt, and student loans, and a car loan as well. It’s a lot. This weighs on us all the time, and it seems like “debt” always finds a way to work into whatever conversation we are having. 2020 was the year that we were to get on top of it, and in March, it really looked like it was going to happen… And we all know what came next.

    What we were really trying to speak about last night was, did we have the courage to start planning for the future? I still don’t think we are there yet. The debt is a big problem, but so is getting the kid back into school, and even if she does get back into class every day, that doesn’t give me the ability to go out and get a job, as she will be out of class at 2:30, and with no afterschool program for her to be a part of, then I will need to be available for pick up. So, looks like I will be Stay at Home Dad for a while longer.

    And I enjoy being a Stay at Home Dad. I love all the time I get to spend with my daughter; helping her learn, playing with her, discovering things with her, creating things with her. It really is a gift, the best silver lining to come out of this whole mess.

    But…

    But, if I want to give her a good future, and stability, we have to take care of our finances. It’s not insurmountable, and we have been in a worse situation before. It just means that a sacrifice needs to be made.

    Like I said, we need a little courage.

  • It’s the Debt, Stupid

    I like reading David Brooks. Today, I read his opinion piece about how it’s not about the economy anymore. That things seems to be going well with the economy; stock market is up, GDP is up, growth is booming… but somehow no one is happy. He points out the many ills in society right now, especially the report that showed that American life expectancy has decreased due to suicide and drug overdose. He draws his own conclusion on what we should do, but my gut tells me that what he prescribes is just old thinking for new problems; as he put it, policy makers will need to “…figure out how economic levers can have moral, communal and sociological effect.”

    So… Jobs won’t solve these problems, but jobs will solve the problem?

    I have heard that before. Polices have been made around that idea, and yet here we are. A job without dignity, both moral and economic, creates more problems than it solves.

    The thing is that if you don’t earn much money and if you get a minuscule raise, though statistically a significant increase, you still don’t have shit. And if shit keeps increasing in price, you never get ahead.

    Why do people under forty spend more money on “experiences” rather than homes, retirement, or even a savings account? Because that’s all they can afford.

    A dollar value-based society, whose capital is not easily accessed by any economic levels except the top, creates a debt culture, and in the end, will start to eat its tail to survive.