> That's it. Full stop. You bought a car without having a stable job. You bought a house way outside your earning ability. You bought fancy clothes and gadgets

> That's it. Full stop. You bought a car without having a stable job. You bought a house way outside your earning ability. You bought fancy clothes and gadgets without having the cash to pay for them. Don't blame credit, you did this to yourself. Your conclusion assumes that marketing doesn't work. (It does.) The people who get consumers to do those things are more sophisticated and organized than most consumers. Many people do need to use more discretion with spending, but that isn't the whole story. Another thing to consider is that it's very difficult to improve one's situation when you don't have modern things that save time: transportation (car), housing that isn't too far from work, and other things that save enough time to allow one to invest time into increasing total assets. Making money often requires investing money. People who do have sufficient money don't think about the small things that give them enough free time to make more money.