Credit Card Debt.

[rodwc]

When you buy something ,You usually want it.( naturally )

Do any of you ever ask yourself,

Do I NEED it ?

In the majority of cases , I would say NO.

If you use cash and it is disposable income , then fine. ( need or want doesnt matter. )

If you use a credit card, and dont pay it off at the end of the month , then you are spending money you dont have.

If you use a credit card and pay off the full amount ,at the end of the month, then you are simply using the card

for convienience and possibly reward points.

A British banking giant is now banning 160,000 debt-ridden customers from using their credit cards.

I think that the "modern" way of life has now become , I want it, I cant afford it, but who cares?

What have we got into ?

[jkerouac]

In the US I think there is little difference between many lenders and crack dealers. When you get a mortgage, the amount they say you can afford is totally out of whack with reason-- unless you don't need to eat or buy clothes, transportation, heat, electricity....etc. And the credit card companies will keep sending a person (or pet) solicitations until many people are swamped with cards. My wife and I pay off our cards every month, but get within a breath of the due date and they will do their utmost to sock you with finance charges. I despise their business practices.

[Victoria]

My wife and I pay off our cards every month, but get within a breath of the due date and they will do their utmost to sock you with finance charges. I despise their business practices.

True. I don't care for the 21% APR that I used to pay when I started.

But credit made America. It's why Americans can afford the crap they have, including watches.

Pity the poor Brazilians, who have to use cheques pre-datados (predated cheques) to buy their tschokes. And sometimes the businesses cash them before the date, screwing them up financially forever...

[rodwc]

In the US I think there is little difference between many lenders and crack dealers.

Apart from one being legal and the other illegal, I agree.

[ratchpot]

My wife and I pay off our cards every month, but get within a breath of the due date and they will do their utmost to sock you with finance charges. I despise their business practices.

Are you really suggesting that they do their utmost to sock you with finance charges before the due date has occurred? That would indeed be a despicable business practice.

[sssurfer]

In Italy spending more than one can afford has become a rule of life. I heard on TV news that the Italian families are currently in debt for 3000 millions euros and this keeps raising.

Actually, this is encouraged by sellers. They sell at discounted price (even 30% less) if you accept this kind of buy:

You take away the item now. Six months from now, you are given the choice to either pay the discounted price in a single stroke, or to start paying instalments for 2-5 years at scandalous interest fees.

Many families, at the sixth month, have no money enough to pay even the discounted price, so they start paying by instalments.

While they are paying, the cost of very essential goods and services (gas, electric energy, water, food, etc) increase and they have no money to pay even the instalments.

In the end, they come out by selling away their home and/or wife's and/or daughter's... uhm... "beauty".

As a matter of fact, 50% of publicity/advertisements in Italy are by banks and credit companies, and 40% are about cars, phones and so. And the Italians are getting each day poorer and more stupid (with the latter being the cause, and the first the effect, naturally)...

[rodwc]

In the end, they come out by selling away their home and/or wife's and/or daughter's... uhm... "beauty".

Have never heard of it going that far !!!

[Wiss]

Someone said it earlier... Disposable income = Purchase what you want when you want. Anything else is a lack of self control, USA, Italy, or where ever.

There is a reason you don't pee yourself everyday... Self control. Spending is no different. Even if the banks come calling, don't do it; have self control.

We can all live within our means it is just that society has made living outside of it acceptable.

[rcrscom]

In my line of business, I still am amazed to hear about how deeply some people have dug themselves into the credit hole! Some are legitimate, and aren't able to help themselves (medical concerns with family or themselves), although insurance would have coverd that aspect, but for the most part, it's people spending for luxury goods they can't afford. Case in point, I'm trying to help a family get their credit in good enough shape to get a mortgage to buy a home. On my first consult with them, I tell them no big purchases or anything on their credit is a must. What do they do a month later? Apply for a car loan to get out of the Acura SUV they already own and into the same vehicle, but silver instead of champagne! That's just one example. I believe everyone deserves a 2nd chance, but come on, don't abuse the chances you're getting... That's what not just Americans, but modern society needs to learn. Then again, if everyone was responsible in the first place, I'd be out of work

[HauteHippie]

But credit made America. It's why Americans can afford the crap they have, including watches.

It sounds to me like somebody's jealous.

[rodwc]

There is a reason you don't pee yourself everyday... Self control. Spending is no different. Even if the banks come calling, don't do it; have self control.

Also a good healthy prostate !

[Victoria]

It sounds to me like somebody's jealous.

That's funny. Chieftang, let me put you wise, since you missed it in almost 5000 of my posts, which brim over with this sentiment.

There is a reason my friends call me Captainess America. I LOVE America, with the delirious, requited love of a convert. America can do no wrong in my eyes, and Americans and American culture, less.

Hopefully we're on the same page. I will now sing a Yankee Doodle Dandy medley on my kazoo.

[narikaa]

In the words of the imortal Dr Johnson (1709-84)

'Whatever you have, spend less'

As true today as it was then

.

[rodwc]

Hopefully we're on the same page. I will now sing a Yankee Doodle Dandy medley on my kazoo.

OOOO No, can you whistle it instead.

[jkerouac]

Are you really suggesting that they do their utmost to sock you with finance charges before the due date has occurred? That would indeed be a despicable business practice.

I'm saying that several times I think they delayed crediting a payment until the day after the due date in order to impose the late and finance fees. Example: Electronic funds transfer from my bank initiated four days before the due date, but only credited to my account the day following the due date. With mailed checks you need to allow even more lead time.... at least seven days.

I frequently compare the mailed or payment submitted dates vs. the date my accounts are credited. No other type of business even comes close to the credit card company's lackadaisical payment processing systems. But then, very few companies have non-existent grace periods like the cc companies either.

But they've trained me well. I pay my cc bill not on the weekend along with the rest of my bills, but as soon as it arrives. I don't want to pay their interest, plus I have an completely spotless credit record and get really [censored] off at the notion of them mucking with it.

P.S. So why don't I switch? They have a really good points program.

[TeeJay]

I'm saying that several times I think they delayed crediting a payment until the day after the due date in order to impose the late and finance fees. Example: Electronic funds transfer from my bank initiated four days before the due date, but only credited to my account the day following the due date. With mailed checks you need to allow even more lead time.... at least seven days.

Banks do that as routine. Bunch of shylock c*nts (not intended as anti-semitic, I just think that aptly describes financial institutions)

For example, I paid money into my wife's account, so she could make a paypal payment on my behalf (as I'd hit my sending limit without validating) A server glitch led to an error, meaning that the amount (intended as USD) was sent as GBP, so about twice the original amount was taken by paypal from her account (theoretically putting her overdrawn) The seller was contacted, the situation explained, and they rejected the payment (which saved the delays of if they had issued a refund, which would then have had to been transfered from the PP account, to the bank account) So in theory, the money only went as far as paypal. Once the payment was rejected, one would have thought the money should have been immediately credited back into her bank account. Not so. While it was indeed 'put back in', it remained 'in clearing' over the weekend, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. On the monday, we spoke to someone in the bank, they called someone on the phone, and had the 'ear marking' removed from the funds, so it was immediately available to her.

Why was the money being 'held'? For no reason other than so they could get the interest on it.

PS While this was going on, I set up a new PP account, so we transfered the money back to me, and I was able to complete the transaction in the end Admitedly, a bit of a mess up on several fronts, but a good example of banks trying to hold onto money they have no right to, just so they can get the interest.

[dieselpower]

I used to work in a bank. Here's a little story - all true.

The assistant manager ran an annual lottery for charity (his son was disabled). The prize was

[Dani]

I have a easy rule i follow.

If i whant something expencive i ALWAYS pay CASH,it hurts much more then slicing a card tru a machine.

So by following this rule i have never to this date had any debt becasue of shopping or such.

Then again you need to have lots of cash on hand to follow this rule

[milsub5517]

you are over reacting in this situation. technically they refunded you next business day, what are you complaining about?

Banks do that as routine. Bunch of shylock c*nts (not intended as anti-semitic, I just think that aptly describes financial institutions)

For example, I paid money into my wife's account, so she could make a paypal payment on my behalf (as I'd hit my sending limit without validating) A server glitch led to an error, meaning that the amount (intended as USD) was sent as GBP, so about twice the original amount was taken by paypal from her account (theoretically putting her overdrawn) The seller was contacted, the situation explained, and they rejected the payment (which saved the delays of if they had issued a refund, which would then have had to been transfered from the PP account, to the bank account) So in theory, the money only went as far as paypal. Once the payment was rejected, one would have thought the money should have been immediately credited back into her bank account. Not so. While it was indeed 'put back in', it remained 'in clearing' over the weekend, for absolutely no reason whatsoever. On the monday, we spoke to someone in the bank, they called someone on the phone, and had the 'ear marking' removed from the funds, so it was immediately available to her.

Why was the money being 'held'? For no reason other than so they could get the interest on it.

PS While this was going on, I set up a new PP account, so we transfered the money back to me, and I was able to complete the transaction in the end Admitedly, a bit of a mess up on several fronts, but a good example of banks trying to hold onto money they have no right to, just so they can get the interest.

[Victoria]

you are over reacting in this situation. technically they refunded you next business day, what are you complaining about?

I've been able to observe TeeJay's thinking over these months. I've observed that TeeJay seems to take exception to usuary.

That's a common Shar'ia distaste*, and I'm not sure what came before, the chicken or the Islam. That is his personality being in line with his conversion.

But if true, and it's just a hunch, it goes a long way to explain why he dislikes the price markups the "cartel" and others have. And then now the banks. Hah, TeeJay darling -- sorted!

*In the UK, it's common for many Islamic local banks to follow Shar'ia law. They are not allowed to charge excessive interest (we Christians had the same strictures. That's why TeeJay used the Shylock reference, stemming from The Merchant of Venice, of course).

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...46141_mz035.htm

Excerpt:

"From Jakarta to Jeddah, 265 Islamic banks and other financial institutions are now operating in some 40 countries, with total assets that top $262 billion, according to organizers of the International Islamic Finance Forum, a semi-annual industry conference. That pot of money, the investment of which adheres to the Koran's prohibition against receiving or paying interest [...]"

Banking, credit cards, mortgages as we known them in the West, could not exist under Shari'a Laws. Ah well.

I like our system, since I firmly believe, greed is good.

[danzeman22]

Credit cards are for povos! charge card is the only way to roll. You have to pay it back, credit card is just asking for trouble.

[triplehd]

Someone said it earlier... Disposable income = Purchase what you want when you want. Anything else is a lack of self control, USA, Italy, or where ever.

There is a reason you don't pee yourself everyday... Self control. Spending is no different. Even if the banks come calling, don't do it; have self control.

We can all live within our means it is just that society has made living outside of it acceptable.

Totally agree. Anytime you to a store in the US, they'll ask you "Wanna save 10% from today's purchase by opening up a <name of store> card?" Hmm, save 10% while have an APR of 21% to 28%. That's where people get themselves in trouble because they say, heck yea, wouldn't mind saving 10% today without realizing, when they get their bill, if they don't pay it off, tack on that 21%-28% APR, and you'll actually be oweing more money than actual saving.

I hear about it and read about it (seems like everyday) about how people here in the US just keep on getting themselves in debt. It's a shame - but it's a matter of self - control. If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it. Simple as that.

BTW - can't wait to use my CC on some new watches - the new Heritage, a TW Sub (fully modded of course), Omega SMP Chrono, couple of Pams, Tag Aquaracer Chrono just to name a few

[UB7]

this is my 1 and only cc...i never leave home with out it. some months i wish i had never signed up for it, and other months its a god send. the annual fee is worth it, in a sense that you don't have to ever worry about going over, and also for the concierge which i take full advantage of..

to qualify for one of these you need to spend at least 250k annually..i'll keep dreaming

its made out of metal, i think titanium, not plastic..and look at the pretty box it comes in:

i've held one before and its actually a pretty heavy hunk of metal