Alva Review-Courier -

According to several studies of American spending habits, many people in the United States are drowning in debt. They apparently don’t need any encouragement from the government to spend money they don’t have.

One would think that perhaps government officials would assist people in saving money rather than spending it. But that is obviously not the case.

It is, of course, crucial to our economy that people spend money. But, unfortunately, saving some of their money is something that many people have not learned to do.

One stark example of the government wanting people to spend their money happened to me recently. In this case, “the government” is that of the State of Oklahoma.

For two years in a row I was entitled to an income tax refund from the state. Rather than send me checks, however, state officials sent me debit cards. I was miffed about this and mentioned it to my accountant.

She told me that if I went to the bank, people there could take the value represented by the cards and deposit it into my account.

When I got to the bank, the teller told me that before she could help me I had to call a certain number and activate the cards.

So, I made the phone call. The person to whom I talked asked for some of my personal information and then had me create PIN numbers for each card. All of this took several minutes.

I then went back to the bank and two tellers spent at least ten minutes filling out forms and doing something with a debit card machine in order to put my money into my account.

The three of us (the tellers and I) agreed that it would have been much easier if the State of Oklahoma had sent me checks instead of debit cards.

But, then, state officials don’t want me to save my money – they want me to spend it. And I think that what I decide to do with my money is none of their business.