We've borrowed a lot. According to American Consumer Credit Counseling, we carry over $680 billion dollars in revolving credit and over 1.7 trillion dollars in total debt. That comes out to about an $10,700 per household with only about half of individual credit card holders paying their balance in full each month. This is bad by itself, but factoring in high interest rates and the inability to afford more than the monthly payment—while the desire to spend doesn't decrease at all—this turns out to be a huge problem. It's particularly hard to get rid of debt when the desire to spend doesn't go away. It's always there because we are constantly receiving messages to want more and more things that we can't afford.
How Manipulative Advertising Works (and What to Do About It)
There are all kinds of ads, but in general they all aim to keep you from thinking and, instead, make your buying choices based on an emotional response. Here's a look at some of the tactics and what you can do to counteract them.
