ISHMAEL N. DARO
Opinions Writer
   It is a basic fact of life for many students that we live in debt. The costs associated with post-secondary education are great and ever-increasing. And though students are not always known for their money management skills, even the most profligate undergrad can occasionally take the beer goggles off to have a moment of financial clarity: if expenses exceed revenues for long enough, the party comes to a crashing halt.Â
   Yet, the temptation to spend more than you earn is enormous. We are, after all, a generation raised on borrowed money. From mortgages and car loans to student loans and credit cards, it seems few people ever actually own what they pay for.
   It is not entirely irrational that we use credit for the things we want. When used responsibly, people can live comfortably and pay down their various loans over time while also enjoying a stable, comfortable life. But when people forget that borrowed money is just that, borrowed, it can have disastrous consequences.
   The Great Recession was caused in no small part because people wanted to live outside their means, taking out enormous mortgages in the process that they could never have paid back even when the economy was good. U.S. banks actively exploited this “buy now, pay later” impulse because they too had gotten hooked on risky money.
   Now that the dust has mostly settled on the economic fallout — at least in Canada — we still face the challenge of changing our behaviours. According to a TD Canada Trust study, 80 per cent of Canadians find it difficult to save money.Â
   Numbers from the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada show that Canadians are increasingly financing everyday expenses with credit instead of earnings. Among indebted Canadians, 85 per cent have debt on a credit card. Â
   Even the national credit card is in the red. The federal government is expected to spend $56 billion more than it makes in 2010. The overall national debt is currently over $510 billion, with each Canadian’s share at about $15,000.
Bad habits can be hard to break and as economies around the world start to recover, our spending habits are likely to stay as bad as ever. Most young Canadians, in particular, don’t have the discipline to save and avoid debt that older generations had.
Living on borrowed money also means living on borrowed time, and sooner or later the debt collectors always come knocking.