This is so true...many people spend more than they make and with earnings declining the people make up for it in other ways. I know in the 50-60 it was wrong to have the wife work...then in the 70-80 women took jobs to help make ends meet...now it is common that both the husband and wife work...and if the woman stays home something is wrong...and now there is nowhere to turn for extra money except the credit industry. This is a far bigger problem, and cannot easily be dealt with. Many of the bigger items one could not ever get without credit.