Credit buying is much like being drunk. The buzz happens immediately and gives you a lift... The hangover come... — Joyce Brothers

Credit buying is much like being drunk. The buzz happens immediately and gives you a lift... The hangover comes the day after.

Author: Joyce Brothers

Insight: We know this feeling in our bones, even if we don't often admit it. That moment when the package arrives or the card swipe goes through delivers a genuine rush—the problem solved, the want satisfied, the gap between who we are and who we want to be suddenly closed. And then real life resumes. The bill arrives. We remember we have other obligations. The thing we bought stops feeling new. The lift evaporates. What makes this comparison stick is how it captures something we usually hide behind practical language. We talk about debt in terms of interest rates and payment schedules, but really we're dealing with a kind of emotional hangover—not just the financial squeeze, but the subtle shame and diminished sense of possibility that comes from knowing we've mortgaged future freedom for a present feeling. The worst part? We can do it again tomorrow, and again the day after that. The useful insight here isn't that buying things is bad. It's recognizing that the buzz itself is unreliable information. It tells you almost nothing about whether something is actually worth having. A sober look at what we need versus what we're reaching for when we want that immediate lift might be the only real antidote.