It's dead in here. Let's talk about something. Nothing to see here, just ranting about my own debt

guitarwes

This is an awesome picture.....



Edited: for spelling corrections.

percyb

Pay off debt before investing in PMs.

gsa1fan

I have never understood people who owe 100,000's of $$'s on a house,car's, & credit cards. That think they are well off

I'll take my debt free peace of mind anyday

Coins101

On the other hand, if you can lock a mortgage in at under 3% and inflation goes nuts like in the 70's, you could make more money investing the cash in CD's or tax-free Muni-Bonds than paying the interest on the loan and property tax.

Lots of "iF's" and I prefer to be debt free!!!

mhammerman

Yep, consumer debt is like gravity in that both are biches and that don't go away. The good news is that having access to spending power can be a good thing because sometimes consumer debt is unavoidable. Maybe you need to get your brick patio relaid and the guy wants 3k, now, and your spouse is onya 'cause her mother is coming to visit...nex week. Maybe your windows XP computer finally craps out and you just can't live like that for even a day so you pull out the plastic for 2 Ks at the Best Buy to take care of the problem quickly. Maybe you need a root canal and a crown to go with it, 3K's, and the DDS wants to get paid shortly after he pulls the needle out of your gum.

The problem comes when you burn off a little plastic, get some gratification or relief, and then keep up your regular spending habits. But, you can't do that, you have to get that plastic paid off. Highest interest rates get eliminated first...just do it. It's good to have come credit available on your plastic or at the bank with the credit line account...sometimes you just need to pay for something without having the wherewithall to do it out of your pocket. But living with high consumer debt is like gravity. The worst thing is that with the debt, you are just working for BoA or Chase or some other predatory banksters that will hose you unmercifully. Hey, worst case scenario, you can tell your date that you work for BoA...not a bad line, really.

When times are good, acquire assets, when times are bad you have to concentrate on getting them back to good. If things get too ugly, just take that 100 ozer J&M to the B&M and get some cash; that's the advantage of being a PM head, there's always a way out.

That is all. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming.

tneig

Debt is a thing in business and government. Its something to be managed. That seems to be the same in households as well and the common situation. The house loan/debt is considered the norm. Then add in the other norms like the cars, short second mortage to pay for the new roof. Remortgaging on a regular bases to take the equity now. From what we've seen in government and around the world, its part of the system now. Bankrupcy and restructing is as common as a mid-life crisis these days and expected as a right of passage.

So, if you have PMs, and living with these standard debts, it may be good it isolate one from the other if possible.

(I think its quiet here because of the PM sideways flow. You can almost "Forget about that big year" now. Its anti-climatic and everyone is wide-eyed wondering is it going to spike or crash. I think it will pick up and continues to creep back more and more. Everyones in the holiday spending spirit, so who cares about tomorrow. I'm going to pick up an AR 5.56 myself. Ho Ho Ho.. ) I'm looking for folks that want to sell for their holiday shopping money.

jmski52

I recently had someone attempt to steal my identity a couple of months in a row. Fortunately, they didn't have all of the info that my bank required in order to steal my credit. In the process of double-checking any possible breach of security on my part, I ran my own free credit reports (you get one free report per year).

If you've never seen your own credit report, the results are pretty scary. Every single credit account that you've had for at least the past 10 years, maybe even 15 years are still recorded - even if you paid them off years ago. All of your information is recorded every time you open a credit account, and the record never goes away.

To these banks and credit card companies, you are nothing more than a tiny little revenue stream that pays their executive bonuses if enough people stay in the loop. I agree with percyb. Don't give them any more than you absolutely must. The money is yours, and you mean nothing to them. Getting out of debt gives you more flexibility (i.e. freedom).

DrBuster

I had a big debt monkey on my back for a good long while, probably 10+ years or so, but paid it all off vs bankruptcy. I will do everything in my power to not go through that crapola again. I cringe when I have to put anything on my CC and rarely use them anymore, the dentist, vaca/trip stuff, and any online PM orders are about it for anything big - cash for everything else if I can help it (99+% of the time).

Apart from whatever I put on my CC I personally am debt free and I try not to carry much on that (I think there's $3-400 on it this month maybe).

gsa1fan

Why even have a CC when a debit card will do?

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>I recently had someone attempt to steal my identity a couple of months in a row. Fortunately, they didn't have all of the info that my bank required in order to steal my credit. In the process of double-checking any possible breach of security on my part, I ran my own free credit reports (you get one free report per year).

If you've never seen your own credit report, the results are pretty scary. Every single credit account that you've had for at least the past 10 years, maybe even 15 years are still recorded - even if you paid them off years ago. All of your information is recorded every time you open a credit account, and the record never goes away.

To these banks and credit card companies, you are nothing more than a tiny little revenue stream that pays their executive bonuses if enough people stay in the loop. I agree with percyb. Don't give them any more than you absolutely must. The money is yours, and you mean nothing to them. Getting out of debt gives you more flexibility (i.e. freedom). >>



The last time I checked my "free" credit report" online, I was able to get info removed with no difficulty.

Also if there is info there that you believe to be incorrect write a letter to the appropriate credit reporting agency asking them to reaffirm the information. The onus is then on them to validate the info and if they can't then they have to remove it.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>Why even have a CC when a debit card will do? >>



If you know you have the $$$ to pay it off the rewards points offered by CC companies are a nice bonus. Also it is much easier to dispute a CC transaction than it is a debit one. It's putting stuff that you can't pay for on a CC that's the problem. Paying for the past is never a good feeling.

Coins101

<< <i>

<< <i>Why even have a CC when a debit card will do? >>



If you know you have the $$$ to pay it off the rewards points offered by CC companies are a nice bonus. Also it is much easier to dispute a CC transaction than it is a debit one. It's putting stuff that you can't pay for on a CC that's the problem. Paying for the past is never a good feeling. >>



I agree. I would much rather dispute or have my CC locked because of unusual activity than find my bank account empty and have to try to get it back! The rewards are a bonus!!

DrBuster

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Why even have a CC when a debit card will do? >>



If you know you have the $$$ to pay it off the rewards points offered by CC companies are a nice bonus. Also it is much easier to dispute a CC transaction than it is a debit one. It's putting stuff that you can't pay for on a CC that's the problem. Paying for the past is never a good feeling. >>



I agree. I would much rather dispute or have my CC locked because of unusual activity than find my bank account empty and have to try to get it back! The rewards are a bonus!! >>



I have a plain atm/debit card that I use, my CC is separate. I will not have an atm/check card thing - the debit card with the CC logo on it. Not every place takes a straight debit/PIN card still. And yeah, rewards points and online purchases generally don't work with a straight debit card.

gsa1fan

I just tell them it a CC never has failed

yellowkid

I got a come on from one of the cc companies today, 21% interest they would want on unpaid balances, money they borrow for next to nothing. They should be in jail IMHO but the next best thing is to stay away from them. Pay off your mortgage and keep a small credit line for when you might need it. You can't beat having no debt!!

OnlyGoldIsMoney

<< <i>Why even have a CC when a debit card will do? >>



The trick to to use their own offers to rake in the cash.

I use my credit cards extensively to pay for PM purchases and household expenses.

My AAA credit card pays me 3% cash back for all my gasoline purchases. Other credit cards companies this year have given me $700 in cash back bonuses for applying, 1% cash back on purchases and 0% interest for up to a year. I use their cards, rack up the cash back benefits, pay them off, cancel the cards and keep moving on. This month Capital One is kindly providing a $250 cash back bonus and 1.5% back on all future purchases.

This year the credit card companies have paid me over $2,000. I paid them just over $50.

I need a T-shirt proclaiming "I Love Big Banks".

DNADave

I'm in strong agreement with this "The borrower is slave to the lender."

Several years ago I dumped ALL of my Credit cards, which was a grand total of 1. It was a Discover card which always paid off in full. It was a hard step, but a good one.... every week I still get a mailer from them saying they want me back.
When I dumped the credit card, I COULDN"T make purchases unless I needed to AND the money was in the bank.

Last month, I sold almost all of my coins and bullion and paid $40,000 on the house loan principle, which was tough since I'd really like to buy a few acres of land. (I could buy 30 to 40 acres with that here in WV)
But It's more important to me to get out of all debt. I think I can pay off the house in the next three years, and be debt free for when the kids start college.

The tough part will be the fact that my two cars are both over 10 years old...we'll have to consider carefully what we do when we must buy another car.

If I REALLY put my mind to it, and didn't waste money every month, I think I could get there a lot quicker. My vices are flea markets and estate sales, and collecting (lots of things), I just need to find the discipline to sell some junk, and quit buying more of it.

I had $15 in my pocket today, and was going to buy a lottery ticket for the 500 million...I put the $15 in my savings stack instead, little bits add up.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>I got a come on from one of the cc companies today, 21% interest they would want on unpaid balances, money they borrow for next to nothing. They should be in jail IMHO but the next best thing is to stay away from them. Pay off your mortgage and keep a small credit line for when you might need it. You can't beat having no debt!! >>



If they didn't have so many cardholders shirking their fiduciary duties, they could probably charge less. Then again one can just say no like you apparently do.