Proverbs 22, verse 7
One simple rule to follow. If you can’t afford it don’t buy it. That would eliminate most credit card debts. It would probably go a long way to eliminating credit card companies.
That was back when there where debtors prisons and before bankruptcy laws.
35 If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit.
The 25-30% usury interest rates serves the important function of sopping up excess dollars so the fed can keep inflation at about 10%. I expect credit card interest rates to hit 40% or better by 2010.
There is NO positive side to credit card use. You will spend more if you use credit cards. Even by paying the bills on time, you are not beating the system! But most families don’t pay on time. The average family today carries $8,000 in credit card debt according to the American Bankers’ Association
If you use a credit card because you can’t afford it, how can you afford it with 20% interest on top?
Suckers. We paid our 2nd mortgage card off. No car payments, no nuthin.
The consumer deserves much of the blame but an equal measure of blame should fall on the credit card companies themselves. I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t get one or two mailings saying I’m pre-approved for this card or that card. I’ve got a maybe half a dozen credit cards, only one of which I carry a balance on, and I added the spending limits up the other day. If I wanted to max them all out I could ring up well in excess of $120,000. That’s insane.
retroactively applying rate increases is wrong.
Other than that, I have no sympathy for people who take out the card, swipe it, sign the slip when they can’t bloody well afford it!
They keep writing this stuff as though the people that overextend their debt are the victims of some outside force. They are merely the victims of their own actions.
Simple solution: stop spending, and start paying down your debt.
bttt
That's all fine and dandy wisdom. But, there is a legitimate need and use of credit. What's happening now is nothing short of legalized loan sharking. But, it's OK because the loan sharks have nice upstanding names and make contributions to political campaigns.
I know a hardworking fellow who confided in me that he got caught up in this kind of credit scam. Those smiling faces turned to vampires once he was over the barrel.
Clearly, the American public should be protected from such shenanigans. Sure, you can say "Buyer beware, etc". But, I'd like to know how many of you who have a credit card have actually read the fine print of the agreement you have as a borrower, and read the fine print of every document sent to you by your credit card company that might have hidden in it that the rules have changed.
If congress wants to do something for the American people, it should set a maximum interest rated tied to the prime rate.
But, instead loan sharking is legalized, as long as its done by the right shark.
Do you have a mortgage? Almost everyone does. That is debt, but having a mortgage is a whole lot less enslaving than having a landlord who has a mortgage - believe me.
Want a college education? Have a spare $160,000 sitting around? Don't give me a lecture about the local community college and State whatever. Do you want a real credential from a real university that will be accepted by a real employer - you have to pay. I am not talking about elite private universities. Elite public universities are just as bad. University of Michigan, UVa and UC (any campus) are at the $40,000 per year level, and no I won't take an engineering degree from the local community college as equivalent in trade when I hire a manger for a large project.
Want a car so that you can get to work reliably and that will last 150,000 miles reliably with a reasonable warranty so that you know that any lemon problems will be taken care of. Have a spare $25,000 - $40,000 sitting around with nothing better to do?
Have job in a major metropolitan area but want to live cheaply? You can commute 2 hrs each way each day and live in an area with a bad school district. People do. That is not a rich life, however.
In a society where the price of everything is inflated by the debt ration the system is designed for, your choice of not debt is enviable if you can pull it off, but you are likely to live a comparatively unsatisfied life as a consequence.
I hate our debt ridden society more than anyone, but the blame is systemic and systematic. It goes to society as a whole, the politicians who created it, the voters who continue to vote for it and the federal reserve board that keeps figuring out new ways to breath life into it. But don't blame its victims who are just trying to get by from day to day. That is immoral.
Credit card companies routinely offer credit to college kids, counting on them getting in trouble and getting a bail out from their parents. That’s been going on for years.
Now, Bank of America is offering visa cards to illegal aliens, and mortgages, too, all without any credit or background check. There’s no one to bail out the illegals. With the problems that we are seeing with the high risk mortgages, what do you think will happen with high risk credit being extended to illegals?
It is not easy to pay off credit cards. But, do it and don’t use them anymore.