> I never understood buying things that I can't afford. I think even if you choose not to use debt as a mechanism, you should understand why it's used as a mec

> I never understood buying things that I can't afford. I think even if you choose not to use debt as a mechanism, you should understand why it's used as a mechanism, much like the parent comment has. Debt as a mechanism is not a bad thing - there's ample proof out there that availability of credit is an extremely strong indicator of future economic activity at the macro level.