Seasonal greetings and all those other corporate curse words, at least until the bills start rolling in during the New Year. It has become commonplace to see most Americans overspending during the holiday season and this year was no different. It’s hard not to when we are bombarded with TV, newspaper and radio commercials for sharing amazing deals that are not available at any other time of year. Corporate America does a good job of enticing Americans to buy things they can’t afford. If it weren’t for the credit cards, they wouldn’t have any games to play. Most Americans these days are bankrupt or close to that. If all of your creditors had to pay today, almost all of them would file for bankruptcy.

Since the economic recession of 2007, the United States has not seen any kind of recovery that the mainstream media continues to report. The numbers just don’t add up. The Fed continues to print $ 85 billion a month with quantitative easing to keep interest rates for US companies at 0%. Main St., America is not benefiting from any of these Fed policies, only from the big banks and financial institutions. The rich get richer and the poor prepare to file for bankruptcy. It has become a major divide between rich and poor with the middle class almost completely evaporated into thin air. Jobs go away and don’t come back. The real estate market has seen a boost recently, but when you look at the actual numbers for first-time buyers and people financing their homes, you’ll see that most of the homes sold went to investors and cash buyers.

A recent study came out saying that all Americans are three weeks away from filing for bankruptcy. The way they came up with this statistic was by looking at the average debt ratios and the cost of living. The average American has $ 16,000 in credit card debt and only earns $ 35,000 a year. Just add your living expenses and this person will be three weeks away from filing for bankruptcy. It’s sad, but it makes sense. What happened to the old days when it was more about the thought than the cost of a gift? People used to spend time looking for the perfect gift that was within their budget and that would excite their family member on Christmas morning. Now it’s about cubic dollars, if it doesn’t cost a lot it can’t be good, at least that’s what American companies want you to believe. And that is why many Americans will call back a bankruptcy attorney as their New Years resolution. I think people in this situation shouldn’t feel bad about filing for bankruptcy. In today’s media-driven world, it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in the buy now, pay later lifestyle. There is also culpability for these creditors. I am not saying that people should not pay their bills, but they are not solely responsible for the debt situation they have gotten themselves into. As the government continues to crack down on legislation that benefits big banks and corporations, people must take advantage of our bankruptcy laws before they are no longer available to them.