"Most places promise no money down and no interest until later. Well, how about much much later?!?"
--Some spokeswoman on a commercial for some furniture company

Are we getting stupider? I mean, are we getting more stupid? When did we really get in over our heads. At what moment did we decide the best way to run our economy was to spend much more money than we had and live in perpetual debt.

It's starts at the top. Our government went from billions in projected surplus to the largest deficit in history in just four years time. Somehow, the lives of most Americans didn't get any better by spending all that cash. The dollar is at a seven year low because we keep spending more greenbacks that we can't cover. Fiscal responsibility has become an oxymoron.

It's in the homes of value-oriented families. They have big cars with big payments, they have big houses with 30-year mortgages, they have the fancy furniture with no payments until 2007. Give me the toy now. I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

Even the poor get in on the act. They swarm on Wal-Mart buying everything they desire and come back the next day to return it. Can I have some credit to buy more crap? The crap I bought yesterday didn't make me happy.

Yes, it's a world of credit cards and debt, and 'tis the season to max out all the possibilities. We've got to buy gifts for the office party, gifts for the relatives, gifts for ourselves. After all, we survived another year of this crazy life. We deserve all the crap we want, right? W-R-O-N-G!

When the three wise men bestowed gold, frankincense and myrrh on Jesus at his birth, I don't think they were wise enough to know what would eventually happen. They got him things they figured he would need. They didn't go overboard with their purchases. They each brought one item, and they only gave him the gift once. It's not like Jesus kept getting wise men gifts every year.

Two thousand plus years later, we have people lined up at 5 in the morning the day after Thanksgiving to buy not-so-wise gifts. Think of the bargains! Think of the sales from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Think of all the stuff. No sacrifices, no prisoners, no hair shaving to buy a comb! It's just a little debt that we don't have to pay until 2007!

For all of my sixteen years of lower and higher education, not one class was devoted to personal finance. No one explained to me about interest rates, mortgage rates and my credit history. I had to find out about this stuff all by myself. That means a whole bunch of us had to find out about this stuff by ourselves. Fortunately for me, I have this fundamental theory that I should never spend more than I have in the bank. There are millions who do not subscribe to that concept. Debt is just a number, and cash is just paper in the ATM machine.

I bought a pair of jeans a few weeks ago at Foley's. It was a well fitting Calvin Klein dark blue pair, and they cost me forty-two bucks. The lady asked me if it would be cash or charge, and I pulled out forty-five dollars. She looked flustered, stared at the register, explained she didn't have any ones, and disappeared for five minutes. I waited patiently and realized people don't usually pay cash for goods anymore. The country has gotten so plastic that it doesn't know how to make change. Do you have a Foley's card? Just give me the jeans, and learn how to count.

So 'tis the season of debt, followed swiftly by the season of regret. I have just one thing to say this holiday season: stay financially responsible. It's just Christmas, and it comes every year. If you want it and can afford it, then go for it. If you're broke, people will understand if the big gift does not come.

Remember, the holiday is really about Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards men. How much does that cost these days?

Chris Jungle runs a cash-in-hand cab business.