Shopaholic Isn’t Sick, She’s Irresponsible

Bettijane Levine paints a sympathetic picture of the poor, misguided perils of spendthrift Karyn Bosnak (“Digging Herself Out of Debt Through Others’ Pockets,” Aug. 27). But all of Ms. Bosnak’s financial problems are of her own doing. No one did this to her. Eyes wide open. Pocketbook wide open. Brain nonfunctional. Bosnak’s cop-out excuses of “my mom thinks that shopping solves everything,” and “I just grew up that way” cannot excuse her irresponsible behavior. She states that “ ... in her 20s ... she was soon earning $100,000 a year.” I earn a lot less and have been supporting a family of four for many years without going into the enormous debt she has amassed in two years.

Here’s some novel ideas: When the credit card companies send promos offering great rates on credit cards, throw them out! Her premise of running up the balance on a card and transferring the balance to a new card to create a zero balance, and using that card again, is the height of financial suicide. Get a roommate. Try JCPenney and Robinsons-May. Six-hundred-dollar coats--aaarrgghh! I could outfit my family for that amount. And the topper--$800 a month for a personal trainer. Get a grip on reality, girl. But here’s the real insult to our intelligence: She goes on the Internet to beg for money and offer advice to others in the same situation. There are a slew of words for a person like that, but for editorial purposes I’ll say she’s got a heck of a load of nerve. Books and film in her future? Forget about it. She should be held up to public view as an example of the perfect idiot. And then promptly ignored.

STEVE FELDMAN

Van Nuys