I'm a 6'1" Supermodel and Thomas Jefferson Lived Like a Monk.

"My suit is Armani and my shoes are Prada."~pretend quote from Thomas Jefferson

Debt has always plagued humanity.  We want things now.  Not after the harvest or our next paycheck, but today!  Why wait when you have access to credit?  When reading the countless newspaper and magazine articles on this topic, how can I not conclude that our generation is irresponsible with money?  Baby Boomers, Generations X and Y, we are financially irresponsible, leading the United States down the road to Armageddon.  We need to open our history books and learn from our fore bearers the art of frugal living.
 

In the good old days, everyone paid in cash or bartered, never borrowed money and lived within their means.  Sigh... the good ol' days.  If you believe this, perhaps I can convince you that I'm a 6'1" supermodel with gorgeous long blond hair and a body made of plastic.  Not buying it?  I didn't think so.

Me!  Hey, it's possible!

Thomas Jefferson, author of the "Declaration of Independence" and American saint, was a notorious debtor.  To be fair, many Southern planters and northern merchants were debtors, but Jefferson as well as our other "Founding Fathers," are suppose to be examples of  frugality and simplicity. 

According to Monticello.org, while Jefferson inherited debt from his father and was a victim of the many financial panics the new country experienced, Jefferson loved spending money on building projects, wine, furnishings, clothing and travel.  He lived so lavishly that upon his death, he owed over 1.5 million in today's dollars.  Leaving Jefferson's family no choice, but to sell most of his property.   Jefferson must have been a do as I say and not as I do type of man, because MSN Money quotes him as saying:

But I know nothing more important to inculcate into the minds of young people than the wisdom, the   honor, and the blessed comfort of living within their income, to calculate in good time how much less pain will cost them the plainest stile of living which keeps them out of debt, than after a few years of splendor above their income, to have their property taken away for debt when they have a family growing up to maintain and provide for.

Debt and living beyond our means is an age old problem.  Human nature hasn't changed.  Instead of looking at history through the glasses of nostalgia, try to see history as a tool.  We love to spend.  Always have, always will, however, we have a golden opportunity to learn about financial responsibility and frugal living.  Cut up those credit cards, draft up a budget and start saving.  As for me, I'm going shopping (for groceries).