Not much in life is sweeter than a paid-for set of wheels. But the auto industry is predicting a slowdown on car buying. Seems a bigwig for Comerica Bank (who else but a bank person) says that chrome consumer spending is slowing down because of "higher interest rates and higher energy prices."

Let me clue everyone in; the only confidence that the U.S. of A. would be better off without is consumer confidence. Dave Ramsey said it best; consumer confidence is that thing economists use to measure how giddy you are about (over)spending because the economy is good. They don't care about how far you dive into the debt pool, just how much you spend during the sink. And if you go into debt to get the goods, you WILL sink!

Here's the kicker ... if you stay away from debt, you don't have to worry about consumer confidence or interest rates. Why? Because you're not spending dough that you don't have. Last time I checked, cash is accepted most everywhere. Ditch the debt, connect with cash and get your life back, jack.