By Mark Lundersenn

The global economy is a big foul-up right now, and all the credit (or blame) can be placed squarely on the shoulders of irresponsible borrowers everywhere. Borrowing intelligently is really an art form, and the large majority of credit users are doing it as stupidly as anyone ever could. What we're bringing in in the form of income doesn't come close to what we're sending out in the form of borrowed spending, and we seem to have given up entirely on putting money away for a rainy day - that's right - nobody saves anymore.

The biggest indicator of how poorly we've borrowed over the last few years is the housing market; let's face it - you can't afford a $300,000 home when you earn less than $60,000 per year. It's simple math, and it's not the government's fault you can't pay your mortgage. Now the responsible members of society will pay the bills of the irresponsible in the form of tax-funded bailouts.

We have to do better next time, and doing better means using credit intelligently. Most of the time borrowing wisely means not borrowing at all, including avoiding personal signature loans and other quick cash borrowing tools. Stay away from them no matter what - even if it means taking a part time job to get by in the meantime.

Why am being so harsh on this issue? Because short term loans (whose term is a few weeks or less) are going to carry awful interest rates almost without exception. Do you like the idea of paying 80% or 90% interest and high fees? Neither do I.

So, it's always going to be a terrible move, but sometimes I suppose using these kinds of loans will be unavoidable. You might lose your job due to an unfair boss who fired you just because you nicked his car pulling out of the parking stall at the office. Next thing you know you're out of a job.

In spite of how unfair the firing is, there may not be a whole lot you can do about it. What are you going to do - sue him? The reality is that in a lawsuit, nobody wins. And how are you going to pay a lawyer anyway?

So with no job, and the bills stacking up, and no family or friends to lend you some money to get you buy, the only choice might be to go to your bank and ask for a signature loan. You see, your mortgage lender isn't going to cut you a break just because your boss unfairly terminated you.

Here's my advice: borrow the absolute minimum you need to get by until you and secure a new job and your next paycheck. And take any job you can get - in this economy we can't really afford to get greedy or picky when it comes to making a few bucks. For the next few years it's in all of our best interest to do whatever is (legally and ethically) necessary to feed our families and keep our bills paid.

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