Is it a good idea to get a loan for a face lift?

"I financed my car. Why shouldn’t I finance my face?" said the patient of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. There is a growing democratization of cosmetic surgery surging across the U.S. as the middle class is catching up to the rich in the nip/tuck race. The real face of plastic surgery is turning out to be ubiquitous.

However, while the rich can just write a check for their beautification procedures, the middle class are getting loans and taking out second mortgages on their home in order to get the breasts, nose, and tummy of their dreams. People are risking financial ruin and getting knee deep in debt just to look prettier, younger, and thinner. Is it me or do you also see a pattern of beauty sickness emerging?

Oprah has been getting lots of people to go on debt diets, and apparently it looks as if some of that debt fat is coming from loans and credit cards to pay to get rid of real fat. Americans spent $14 billion on cosmetic surgeries last year, and it keeps growing. A 28 year old Mercedes Benz salesperson used a finance company to get $6,000 in liposuction after working out took too long to give her the svelter look she wanted in her arms stomach, and thighs. She says of the liposuction:

“Those were problem areas for me and I needed results now. It is all about instant gratification for me.”

And there we have the key words, "instant gratification." People who are 3 paychecks away from broke if they get laid off or fired are getting loans to pay for tens of thousands of dollars worth of nip/tuck so they can look hot lickety split. Is it a good idea to get a loan for a face lift? I think the sane answer would be "NO."

[via NY Times]