credit card debt..

[xrated]

Which there is VERY LITTLE of when it comes to finances. Kind of why poor parents often times have poor children...

It is amazing that for how much money is involved and changes our lives, we rarely talk about it with other people, nor do we spend much time leaning about it in school.

Does that seem right?

that would be a big start.


* Average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15,788*-fug that makes my 500 I stress about on the card seem piddly....mind you it's not cause it's not paid off, but I guess it could be worse.

You are correct, if you never witnessed your parents being money smart then you most likely won't be either....makes me glad I had to watch my parents scratch and figure how to make the budget stretch.(at one point they were supporting a family of 5 on 800 a month....I think we ate some real "different" stuff)

We have all ready started working with our oldest who is 5 about money and the consequences, etc involved with it.

 

[xrated]

Hardass, agreed.

What do you think is the link between our debt and government debt? Where or how do you think the causality is linked?

those in government are just stupid people like us....if they have bad personal money management skills why would it be any different when they go to DC?

 

[ruffryder]

those in government are just stupid people like us....if they have bad personal money management skills why would it be any different when they go to DC?

ha, that was what I was going for...

 

[allied1]

National debt hits $14.3 trillion. Kinda hard to wrap your head around that figure. Makes $123 billion look like chump change.

 

[christopher]

And for those who want to be enlightened about govt practices, finances, the economy, etc here is a great eye opening documentary.

For a slightly different look at what the results of our government spending might be, try this little documentary video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb1n1X0Oqdw&feature=player_embedded

 

[smokindave]

A couple of years ago I used mto run my trucking and cranes service company on credit cards.It was great for collecting airmiles.
I would put on 10,000-15,000 a month which I would pay off at the end of the month.When the economy went bad could not pay it all off,so after a few months I had run my card up to 50,000.
At that point I cut up all my cards and have finally got caught up.Now over the summer I put money on a pre paid card to make it over the slower winter months and pay for all my fuel cash.
I find now that I am paying cash for fuel I am being more conservative on fuel,I no longer idle.Makes you think when you fill up 800 liters @ 84 cents per.
I will never get another credit card ever,credit card interest rates are criminal.

 

[motojunkie101]

For the first time in my life I feel pretty good about being below average! haha.

We paid off one card the other day (600.00 limit) and have started to really chip away on our other card in the last few months. We have about 4k on our Hawaiian airlines card. I hate that its ran by BofA though. They have their greedy fingers into everything!

 

[Hardass]

If you have self control the credit card is a great tool to have at your disposal. I use mine all the time, but always pay it off. I learned in my early 20's that out of control spending on a card equals hardship down the road and vowed to never let it happen again, and it hasn't.

 

[zach477]

I agree with everyone 100% who said if parents have money problems so do the children. I came from a family that taught me the value of the $ and ingrained that in my head at a very young age by making me landscape their house when I was a 3-4th grader and paying me roughly $0.50 an hour…..moving 10 tons of rock when you’re 65lbs soaking wet will teach you to spend that money you earned very wisely! My parents are very conservative with their money and have taught me to be the same…..heck I wash zip lock bags and reuse them just like my parents do, my wife and co-workers make fun of me for doing it.

My wife on the other hand, is a whole different story. For the most part I have her whipped into shape, but it didn’t happen overnight. She came from a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and borrowed as much as they can to buy the stupidest things. The sad part is, they lived paycheck to paycheck with above average income.

I recently bought a house that was partially complete; and finished it myself. I had a construction loan to finish the house with, but chose to buy my supplies with my credit card and pay off the balance every month with the money from my loan. After it was all said and done, I had over $1500 cash back available. Since, I have started to pay for everything with the credit card…paying off the balance every month. It works pretty good if you have the discipline because I am earning about $50 a month in cash back, and put it into my “play” account.

 

[ruffryder]

heck I wash zip lock bags and reuse them just like my parents do, my wife and co-workers make fun of me for doing it.

That isn't normal behavior? I do too... except when there is uncooked meat in them...

 

[zach477]

That isn't normal behavior? I do too... except when there is uncooked meat in them...

I guess not anymore......I agree with you on the uncooked meat though, I tend to slack some days when it comes to doing the hand washed dishes. Getting sick due to a $0.20 bag is where i draw the line.

So what do you guys think are acceptable items to finance? Car? House? Boat? Sled? Vacation??

The only things that make it on my list are: Home, vehicle, and investments (i would look at land as an investment)

 

[Hardass]

Boy some of you are pretty thrifty you know washing out your sandwich bags and all or is it your sandwich bags???? (Jimmy HAts) HaHaHa I knew a guy that washed ear plugs. I'll pick bear cans out of the ditch in public and daylight to not have to reuse a ruborbag i mean.See post about scabies.

Car, Home,Land possibly These days Not sure, absalutely no toys though.

 

[Wheel House Motorsports]

I refuse to take loans out on toys.. vehicles, possibly and for certain reasons, there are benefits of having slightly newer better more reliable type vehicles, especially when you make your $$ using one. houses and land obviously as by the time you could save for one you would have pissed all your $$ away on rent.


Credit cards are great if used responsibly, but, they are to easy to fall back on in hard times. I know one of my buddies who is financing his new dragon, his truck, and runs all the gas on a CC for the winter play season, then tries to scramble and pay it back as he can make an extra buck... its bad news.

 

[christopher]

So what do you guys think are acceptable items to finance? Car? House? Boat? Sled? Vacation??

The only things that make it on my list are: Home, vehicle, and investments (i would look at land as an investment)

#1. Education.
#2. Home (Modest/Reasonable)
#3. Maybe a car, but buying an affordable used one is better.

Thats it.
Everything else is CASH ONLY.

 

[zach477]

#1. Education.
#2. Home (Modest/Reasonable)
#3. Maybe a car, but buying an affordable used one is better.

Thats it.
Everything else is CASH ONLY.

#1....duh, i just made a payment on my student loans a week ago.

Funny story, right after i finished posted yesterday a kid about my age that sits in my office area was talking to another co-worker about his Escalade he bought new this winter. He just put 24s on it, which with tires, set him back $6000. He made the comment "good thing my Visa has a $8000 limit". So I asked him if he was really financing his $6000 rims and tires with a credit card and he looked at my like a was a ra-tard and said "ya, why not.....if you can afford the payment you can afford the goods". I asked him what his payments on the Excalade was, and he said $600 a month. I was supprised since he bought it new and its a $70,000 truck, so i asked him how long he financed it for......102 MONTHS!!!! I didnt know anyone would stretch financing out that far but apearantly he is working with some bank from Cali....to top it off, he is a tech making roughly $19 an hour.

 

[christopher]

The young man has NO UNDERSTANDING about debt!

What he is doing is Fiscal Insanity!

But I saw that every day in the boat business, all anyone cared about was whether or not they could make the monthly payment.

Didn't care about the interest rates.
Didn't care about the length of the note.
Didn't care about the actual TRUE COST of the final purchase.

 

[diamonddave]

Hence the phrase, don't have a pot to piss in.

If people weren't so far in debt, they'd be even less likely to work hard.

In the words of the great Dale Earnhardt when asked about why he bought such a nice lear jet, "I race harder the deeper in debt I'm in"