Bankruptcy Reader

I don’t know how many of you watch Oprah (Winfrey), but I am a regular. I cannot do without my daily dose of Oprah and when I’m forced to miss her program, I ensure I have it taped. I’m sure there are quite a few of you who think you’ve clicked into an Oprah fan’s blog. Well, don’t worry, this is the credit card blog and yes we are still discussing credit cards and not Oprah’s hairstyle or clothes or where she’s off to next. So, let be get back to where I was: I was watching some of my taped programs and I found one of Oprah interviewing Maria Shriver (Arnold Schwarznegger’s wife). She was talking about how she managed her two daughters and how she refused to give in to all their demands.

One of the demands was that the girls wanted their own phone lines and that they wanted television sets in their own rooms. Well, not too much to ask for a teen, right? Well, so the fact that Maria refused was interesting. It seems she didn’t want the children to all be in their own rooms watching their own programs and not talking to each other. And the phone line, well she wanted to keep a watchful eye on her teens.

Whatever her reason, it got me thinking — there are so many of us who take these things for granted. I mean, things like a second phone line was something I took for granted. What we don’t realize is that it’s these small things that add up to create a huge debt. That extra TV, those lovely pairs and pairs of shoes to match every dress, every mood, those clothes… the list is endless. If a person like Maria, who could have everything money could buy, refuses to toe the line, we too can. A little self-control, a little restraint and we would be happier people. As Oprah said later in the show, the things you own don’t make you happy, it’s the relationships you maintain.