Posted on 02/05/2008 5:48:11 AM PST by xtinct
The belief that you are “saving 1%” is an illusion. Credit cards and merchants know that you will spend 15 to 20% MORE if you use a credit card that if you use cash. You would be better off by 14-19% if you paid cash.
Dave Ramsey’s system works. Many households are finding this to be the answer to their money problems.
See my post #21.
One of the best FR comebacks (on one of these credit threads) was from a FReeper who posted that like soooo many here he was soooo financially solvent he even pays off his neighbors' credit card bills each month...
Best of financial luck to you (I am in the same boat)...
Leverage makes sense for investment and making more money. Debting is only as a last resort for emergencies. I make one departure from that for my car which I lease. I get deductions for doing that though.
The generation that lived through the Depression as adults has not been around to provide counsel for the last 10-15 years, and we are not the better for it.
Anyone who saves and avoids debt is a traitor and wants the terrorists to win.
Patriotic Americans spend like there’s no tomorrow.
That’s why we’re cutting interest rates again, to encourage patriotism.
(irony mode off)
OMG, you mean, use REAL money?
I have never understood the logic behind using a CC to buy something that cost $100 today when I can’t afford it and paying $100 plus a large interest in the future when I might not be able to pay the bill.
I do understand it will work fine if the balance is paid every month. I also know they can be used for emergency cash.
Sounds like she finally grew up. I'm constantly amazed by how many of my peers in my industry complain about credit card debt. All well educated, well paid, and yet simply living above their means. I assume primarily on useless discretionary spending. Thank God my wife and I were raised by parents that grew up during the 40s. We learned responsibility and thriftiness through osmosis.
Actually, many bankers are the ones enforcing her behavior. Banks are starting to freeze HELOC’s against expansion, Citi is cancelling over 100,000 customers who have abused credit cards, etc.
The banks are pulling in their horns faster than the consumers with credit cards.
“I’ve started charging everything so I could stop running to the cash machine every few days.”
Ah, the problem with that is again, “technology”. Do it the old-fashioned way and you handicap yourself better. Problem is, ATM and credit card (never mind the stupid debit) are essentially the same thing as far as overzealous spending is concerned.
“And when you see it all at once, it’s on HELL of an eye opener.”
Obviously not true for most people. Point of payment is the real eye-opener, when it needs to be paid NOW with real cash, and if people handicap themselves and don’t allow more than XXXX$ in their pocket per week, etc. Credit/debit generally allows frivolous spending because it seems so “easy”.
“For those with really good self-control, it works. For most people. . .the intentions are good, but the will is weak.”
Yup, “credit” (hopeful money) is NOT the way to go. It is exactly why we are in trouble.
Only a mite few of us are capable (not just in real money, but in brain/will/selflessness) of making sure the credit is perfect.
Kind of like the sales at stores. “You SAVE” - no you don’t; with that sale, you spent something that you wouldn’t have otherwise, period!
No. Maybe you would. Maybe the population in general of out-of-control whackjobs would. (I'm not including you in that category.) I'm still buying the same eggs, milk, bread and cold cuts that I needed to buy otherwise. But then I charge it instead of grabbing cash.
Now, it IS possible that I might have to let my children go without lunch tomorrow if I didn't make it to the cash machine to get the money to pay for that stuff so I bought less than I needed. In which case, I save money and they're undernourished.
In general, no, I don't spend more because of the card any more than I went nutty in the 80s when I opened my first checking account.
Patriotic Americans spend like there’s no tomorrow.
That’s why we’re cutting interest rates again, to encourage patriotism.
(irony mode off)"
roflmao
That’s exactly what I do.
I feel safer shopping with a credit card than cash because I'm only responsible for the first $50 plus my charges should the card be stolen or lost.
Other than the one credit card, I have NO debt.
I’m a fan of debit cards as well as cash. They are more secure than carrying around large sums of cash.
Carolyn
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