Seven out of Ten? Really??

[TheGreatSatan]

My mother had been in debt for years. When my dad died back in the late 80's she had over 20K in medical bills and funeral expenses. Over the course of my life she's filed bankrupcy twice and just recently received part of her mothers estate. Finally after 25 years of debt she owes nothing. No credit cards, no house payment, no car to pay for.

[Eclecticos]

Thats good, I just one the Capital One sweepstakes.
Good for a donation to a non-profit organization. Woot!

[Oneslowz28]

My wallet is a non profit organization. :p

[Airbozo]

The SO and I cut up our credit cards aver 12 years ago and have never needed them. If we don't have the money in the bank, we don't buy the item. We have never had an issue renting cars or hotels. Every place will take our Visa check card no questions asked.

IMHO, Credit card companies are evil and the product they pimp is designed to keep the average person in debt over their lifetime. I believe they also prey on college students, hooking them into the credit morass as early as possible. Hell when I was growing up no credit card company would even consider giving a college student any sort of line of credit.

Mortgages are a different beast and I have no issue with them since they are a loan on a physical item that increases in value over the life of the loan. (in most cases)

Car loans are middle of the road to me. Most people can not drop $30k on a car without the help of some credit. I just hate that I pay higher rates to offset someone else's inability to manage their own finances. (unless you get a promotional deal)

Bottom line: Credit cards are EVIL!

[d_stilgar]

It is also necessary for our economy that people be massively in debut. If those people were not in the system banks and credit institutions would have very small accounts payable books and their stocks would tank. Look at it this way. The more people that owe you money over the long term, the more security you have that you will stay in business for the next 30 years.

I disagree. I think there is a big shift in the economy happening now where people are getting out of debt. Yeah, this is bad for banks, but way better for the country as a whole. Instead of having the entire GDP run through banks, and pay some interest and fees to them, we can cut out the middle man and keep that money in our own pockets. There was a time when most people were debt free and there were still banks. If the banks can't change their business model back to one they had before massive debt, then they deserve to go out of business. If banks give out loans that they know people can't pay off and it backfires, those banks need to eat their mistake or go out of business as well.

I think banks are a good service for saving. I think credit cards are evil. You have no need for a credit card (or even a credit score for that matter) if you pay for things with cash. A good mortgage can be had for those with no previous credit if you have a steady job, you can prove your income, and you have never been late on your utilities or rent.

[Airbozo]

...Deleting what I agree with...


I think banks are a good service for saving. I think credit cards are evil. You have no need for a credit card (or even a credit score for that matter) if you pay for things with cash. A good mortgage can be had for those with no previous credit if you have a steady job, you can prove your income, and you have never been late on your utilities or rent.

I disagree with the credit score comment.

The difference between a bad (or no) credit score can end up costing you ten's of thousands of dollars in interest on a mortgage. Is it right? No. But I do understand why it is in place. I just don't agree with how they determine the score.

I personally believe that my studious control of my spending and payment of my bills should get me a better interest rate than someone who pays late and/or defaults on a loan (no matter what the reason).

[Kayin]

Wife and I have no credit cards, no interest in them, and a bit of debt, but it's getting paid off and we're working on saving where we can. We don't believe in credit cards or credit, and wherever possible we avoid them. We're paying payments on a van simply because I didn't have the time or tools any more to rebuild something for cash.

20 years ago, these interest rates were criminal-it was called usury. Look that one up, it's sickening.

We will be out of debt in a few years, and we pay cash for PCs, appliances, all that good stuff, and if they ask us if we wanna put it on their card, we walk out. **** the credit card companies.

[Xpirate]

usury - The practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate.

I use a single credit card as a convenience. I use it to buy junk on-line and to pay for gas at the pump. The balance gets paid in full at the end of the month.

I am paying interest on my house, but soon I am going to sell all of my personal mutual funds for a loss to pay it off completely. If I had used the investments to just pay cash for the house in 2007, I never would have lost any money on them. I will keep the IRA even if the market bubble might burst soon.

Don't ever let anyone tell you how stupid you are for paying your debt off early. I have already saved $30,000 in interest from making extra principal payments. I will save an additional $22,000 for paying it off the rest of the way.

[Spawn-Inc]

see for all the people who hate the credit card companies, take advantage of them and look for free, high interest credit cards that offer rewards or points for other stuff. as long as you have the money and pay off the card all the time you never loose anything to them and only gain. so far i have received $50 cash back and am building it up again, at $38 after 4 or 5 months. sure it's not alot but it cost me nothing....

[Omega]

seriously.

credit cards are easy;

treat them like you're spending cash. when you run out of money to pay it off, DON'T SPEND ANY MORE.

I have three credit cards with 0 debt across all of them, and I only use them when I have the money, accounted for and put aside so i don't accidentally spend it twice.

As tempting as it is sometimes to use it to buy gas or something (because when you're broke and need to get places, it's a lot easier to run it on your card than go make money), I don't, because i know it'll only bite me in the ass later.