Reprinted from THE DAILY RECKONING

Don't buy stuff you don't need with money you don't have.

There is a skit from Saturday Night Live that is making its way around the Internet (and that we are actually using in our documentary, as well):

A couple sitting at the kitchen table is trying to make their bills add up.

“Geez honey, it seems like we’ll never climb out of this hole,” says the husband (played by Steve Martin).

“Credit card debt, does it never end?” she says.

Infomercial-style, the author of a new self-help financial book walks in.

“You know,” says the author, “many Americans face a wall of mounting credit card debt. That’s why I created my special new program, just for those people who might need it. It’s called, ‘Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford.’”

“Gee,” says the husband, “that sounds confusing.”

“Let’s say I see something I want,” says the wife, “but I don’t have the money. What should I do?”

Says the author: “Don’t buy it.”

“Wait,” says the husband, “what if I don’t have the money, but I want it anyway. Should I buy it then?”

“Nope,” says the author.

“Oh look honey,” says the wife, after opening the book, “It says here, if you see something you really want, you can buy it with ‘savings.’”

“Yeah but, where are these ‘savings’ supposed to come from?” says the husband.

“It’s all there in Chapter Three,” says the author, “in fact, the book is only one page long. And it’s free.”

“Great honey,” says the husband, “we can put it on our credit card!”

Yes, dear reader, the typical American family is about to discover something new and exciting – thrift! T-H-R-I-T...no, T-H-R-I-F-T.

(To watch this entire hilarious skit, visit our Essentialist Humor Files ).

It is going to come as a shock – but not necessarily a completely unpleasant shock. For everything that is lost, something is gained. People won’t have so much money to throw around...but neither will their lives be cluttered up with so much junk they don’t need...nor will their days be taken up with needless trips to Wal-Mart to buy it.

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