WASHINGTON (AP) -- Debt isn't stressing people as much as it had been, but consumers remain gun-shy about embarking on a big holiday spending spree.
An Associated Press-GfK Poll also suggests Americans are more disciplined about using their credit cards. Deep into a stubbornly harsh economic downturn, more people than last year say they pay off their balances right away, and fewer say they make credit card purchases if they lack enough money at the time.
"I use it as cash in my pocket," Richard Kirby, 64, a retiree from Palm Harbor, Fla., said of his card. "We're all tempted. I can buy this, I can buy that, but then you realize you have to pay for it."
Fifty-nine percent said they feel little or no stress from their family's debt from mortgages, credit cards and other loans. That's an improvement from when 49 percent said so a year ago, with women and city residents reporting significantly less tension than last year.
In addition, 52 percent said they seldom or never worry about their financial liabilities, about the same as last year but the first time more than half said so since an AP poll first asked that question in 2004.
"People are essentially adapting to their circumstances," said Joseph Sirgy, a marketing professor at Virginia Tech who studies consumer behavior. He said the change appears to be a combination of people revamping their financial behavior and getting mentally used to tough times.
Some, though, face deeper problems. About 1 in 8 expressed worry about ever getting out of debt, 1 in 5 acknowledged brooding about IOUs all or most of the time and 1 in 10 predicted his or her debts will be a major problem for the next five years.
Federal Reserve data show that total household debt has dipped by 3 percent since its peak in early 2008, as the recession was starting. That reflects both defaults and people paying down their IOUs, analysts say.
Another measure of debt-related anxiety tied to the AP-GfK Poll, the debt stress index, fell to 25, the lowest level since the AP began taking the measurement in 2004. The figure means people are feeling relatively little angst about the money they owe.
Paul J. Lavrakas, a research psychologist and AP consultant who analyzed the AP-GfK survey, said the least worried include people earning more than $75,000 a year, those without children in their households and retired people under age 60. Those most disturbed by their debt include the lowest earning, the better educated and residents of the Northeast.
Just 9 percent in the AP-GfK Poll said they plan to spend more this year on holiday purchases than they did a year ago. Thirty-seven percent said they plan to spend less, down from the 53 percent who said in 2008 that they'd cut holiday spending, while just over half plan to spend the same amount.
"Unfortunately, you have to be disciplined," said letter carrier Shelton Rhodes of Aurora, Colo., who plans to keep his holiday spending at last year's levels. "Otherwise, you get sticker shock when January comes by" and the credit card statements appear.
Consumer spending has grown at its fastest rate in four years but still so modestly that it is having little impact on economic growth or the near-10 percent unemployment rate. Consumer spending is crucial because it powers 70 percent of the country's economic activity, and holiday shopping can be as much as 40 percent of many retailers' revenues and profits.
The poll offered several clues that people are curbing credit card use:
--About 7 in 10 said they have paid off last month's credit card bill or will when it arrives, up from roughly 6 in 10 expressing such plans last year.
--More than 8 in 10 planning to use credit cards for holiday gifts said they expect to pay off those bills when they get the statement, up from two-thirds who said so two years ago.
--Thirteen percent said they buy things with credit cards even when they lack money to pay for it at that time, down from 21 percent a year ago.
"I'm maxed out," said Karen Pellegrin, 36, a web designer from Centennial, Colo., who said she's near her card's $2,000 ceiling despite trying to limit credit card purchases to emergencies. With her husband recently finding a job, she said, "the future looks bright, but it's been a long struggle."
Those in the survey with credit cards typically owed $800, meaning half said they owed more than that and half said less. That compares with $900 last May and $1,000 last year.
According to a report this year by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, there were 610 million credit cards in the U.S. in 2008, the latest figures available. That meant an average of 2.7 cards per adult and 3.5 cards per cardholder.
The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Nov. 3-8 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. It included interviews with 730 people who have credit cards, for whom the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.8 points.
AP Polling Director Trevor Tompson, AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa contributed to this report.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Monday, 22 November 2010
How Serious is Teen Depression?
Teen depression is not different from adult depression. It is not just a mere act of rebellion or an exaggeration of sad emotions. Like the one affecting adults, this type of depression can also be a serious psychological condition which can bring about severe consequences in their lives. Teenage years are the time for exploring and identifying one’s personality. With depression, it makes it harder for them to decide who and what they want to become in their lives.
A lot of factors can cause teen depression. The most common reason is peer pressure. This happens when they cannot achieve what is expected of their peers from them or when they face consequences in life for following after their peers. Failure in their academic responsibilities or the pressure they feel when their parents tell them they should excel can also make them feel depressed. With the influence of media and celebrities, body figure and the way they perceive themselves can also put them at risk for this condition. Depression can be hereditary. When they have a family member who has undergone or is suffering from depression, they may also experience it. Traumatic events such as accidents, abuse or loss of a loved one can make them feel depressed.
Depression can have a grave effect in teens. Others may result to alcohol and drug abuse, thinking that alcohol and drugs can make them forget about their depression. Some result to hurting themselves, like cutting their skin and even commit suicide. Depressed teens can isolate themselves from their family, causing misunderstanding and their society, making it hard for them to reach out to others.
In order to cope with depression, parents and family members must be active in the treatment of the teen. Learn about depression, what causes it, how it can be prevented and ways it can be treated. Show the teen that you are ready to support and stick with them throughout the healing process. Parents need to talk to their child. A good relationship between parents and children can help a lot in making the teen feel that he or she is not alone and is not left behind. Let your teen talk to a psychologist or a counselor. It is important that the teen can talk to a professional about his or her feelings, concerns, fears and emotions. The professionals know how to ask the right questions and have the answers to the possible questions that the teen might ask regarding their condition. Prevent them from isolating themselves by personally inviting them to join in family activities and get-togethers. Even just by eating dinner together as a family can already make them feel better. Since most of them are attracted to drugs and alcohol, steer them away from these dangerous substances. Drugs and alcohol may relieve them from depression temporarily, but an abuse of these can just worsen the way they are feeling. Allow them to rest, from pressures and stress that they may feel from their environment. Give them time for themselves so that they can also contemplate and heal on their own.
Teen depression is not something that can be taken for granted, thinking that it is not at all serious. Depression is not part o being a teenager. Teenagers must be allowed to explore and express without harming themselves.
A lot of factors can cause teen depression. The most common reason is peer pressure. This happens when they cannot achieve what is expected of their peers from them or when they face consequences in life for following after their peers. Failure in their academic responsibilities or the pressure they feel when their parents tell them they should excel can also make them feel depressed. With the influence of media and celebrities, body figure and the way they perceive themselves can also put them at risk for this condition. Depression can be hereditary. When they have a family member who has undergone or is suffering from depression, they may also experience it. Traumatic events such as accidents, abuse or loss of a loved one can make them feel depressed.
Depression can have a grave effect in teens. Others may result to alcohol and drug abuse, thinking that alcohol and drugs can make them forget about their depression. Some result to hurting themselves, like cutting their skin and even commit suicide. Depressed teens can isolate themselves from their family, causing misunderstanding and their society, making it hard for them to reach out to others.
In order to cope with depression, parents and family members must be active in the treatment of the teen. Learn about depression, what causes it, how it can be prevented and ways it can be treated. Show the teen that you are ready to support and stick with them throughout the healing process. Parents need to talk to their child. A good relationship between parents and children can help a lot in making the teen feel that he or she is not alone and is not left behind. Let your teen talk to a psychologist or a counselor. It is important that the teen can talk to a professional about his or her feelings, concerns, fears and emotions. The professionals know how to ask the right questions and have the answers to the possible questions that the teen might ask regarding their condition. Prevent them from isolating themselves by personally inviting them to join in family activities and get-togethers. Even just by eating dinner together as a family can already make them feel better. Since most of them are attracted to drugs and alcohol, steer them away from these dangerous substances. Drugs and alcohol may relieve them from depression temporarily, but an abuse of these can just worsen the way they are feeling. Allow them to rest, from pressures and stress that they may feel from their environment. Give them time for themselves so that they can also contemplate and heal on their own.
Teen depression is not something that can be taken for granted, thinking that it is not at all serious. Depression is not part o being a teenager. Teenagers must be allowed to explore and express without harming themselves.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Watch Football Online - Including the World Cup
Are you a big live football fan? Are you looking for a way to be able to watch live football at all hours of the day and maybe even the night? Well, there is a fabulous new way to watch all the channels you want, whenever you want. Are you wondering what you need for this? Well, it isn't much. All that is required is an internet connection and a computer. That's it!
By using SatelliteDirect you can turn your computer into a television. You will be able to watch channels from all over the world, for one price, which you pay up front and never have to pay again. Imagine being able to watch all the live football games you can think of, for less than what you pay for a month of service through your cable or satellite provider. This really is an amazing deal! You will be able to watch over three thousand channels right from your computer at home. That would be how many live football games? You won't have enough time to watch them all!
No live football games going on in your country? Alright, check out live football games in another country. There are plenty countries to choose from. This is because with SatelliteDirect you will be getting the television channels from 96 countries! Sounds simply amazing, doesn't it? With 96 countries' channels to choose from you'll be sure to find a live football game going on somewhere any time you want to watch the game.
Guess what is even better? All the channels are in HD! You can watch you live football from any of those 96 countries, for one fee of less than your cable bill, and they are in HD! You may never want to leave your computer screen! This is beyond imagination!
Besides the live football sports channels you will also get local channels, news channels, movie channels, music channels, business channels, and of course entertainment channels. Granted, the live football is what you are interested in for sure, but there are channels available to interest everyone in your house. This might need to be set up on multiple computers to avoid your children arguing over what they get to watch. This may in turn interfere with you watching your live football. If you have kids, or a spouse, it may just be best to get DirectSatellite onto more than one computer to begin with.
You will absolutely be satisfied with DirectSatellite for all your viewing needs. You'll be able to watch live football from anywhere you can go with a laptop, which will include hotels, internet cafes, your friend's house and even the library. While your children are doing some work on a report for school, you can be sitting back with headphones on watching a live football game! Talk about making the trip to the library that much more pleasurable for you! DirectSatellite has everything you could possibly want and then some. You will never have trouble finding something to watch on television again. Every time you turn on your computer you will have the option of watching live football, a movie, the news and more. This is such an amazing deal and what better way to watch all the live football you can imagine than with DirectSatellite?
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