Analogy of the day: credit is like the never-empty rice bowl trick

I grew up fascinated by magic, though I never got particularly good at performing any magic tricks, and I distinctly remember the 'trick bowl' that would always have rice in it, even if you emptied it out. Every time you put the lid on (hmmm....) more rice would be magically found in the bowl once it was opened.

This afternoon I went shopping with a friend who is in the market for a new laptop and I asked her "what's your budget for this?" She looked at me and said "I have no budget. I'll get what I want to get." I asked "are you just going to put this on a credit card then?" and she smiled, nodded, and said "of course."

How many people in debt view things that way? That the magic credit cards are the never-empty bowl of rice where you can spend to your heart's content, never having to worry about whether you'll run out of credit because another pre-approved credit card application will be in the mail tomorrow anyway. That's a kinda depressing thought, actually.