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The banks finally convince the Repugs that people are not sooo good, and are using credit card debt to survive, and then dispose of it in bankruptsy. We DO have to protect our honorable banking system, don't we?
Credit card debt goes from unsecured debt(BK) to now secured debt for the banks since BK cannot be used by most citizens anymore. Well in busines, unsecured debt is much more risky than secured debt. So of course, now that credit card debt is non dischargable, the banks lower their interest rates, to the new collateralized debt. NOT!!
The banks and the Repugs screwed America; think of it as step 1 in screwing credit card debt, step 2 of suckering so many with ARMs, and finally third, bailing out the PROs( Bear Sterns), while telling the general public they should have known better, and don't deserve the governments help.
I love when the credit agencies tell you you have very good credit but carrying more consumer debt would make it EVEN BETTER! F*ck off, I tell them. I mostly use a debit card that doubles as a sort of pretend MasterCard -- that works for most things (not the aforementioned rental cars). Getting me further into debt makes all sorts of sense to them; not to me.
I book hotel rooms all the time using my debit card. The hotels like it. They know that when you book the hotel room the bill is completely covered ahead of time. They, like the rental companies, lock down a certain amount over
the actual hotel room cost to make sure the final bill is covered.
I slum all over the country with my debit card.
I figure I have to have one but I don't have to have multiple ones and I sure don't need to run up the balances just so Experian will give me a gold star. I can already get a mortgage, a re-fi, or a loan; I'll deal with it.
I can gurarantee you that higher interest rates are going to be built into the loan structure, now that fewer money is being lent. "Creditworthiness" is a Bullshi* concept! Look at the billions of dollars that are offered to college kids with no jobs and (0) money in the bank.
Again, it goes right back to how laws, through the pressure of special interest groups, are formed. Change that, and a whole shi*load of things will change in this country.
Well, if people are going to buy $100 tshirts, CDs, HDTVs and such shit to keep the very rich in coin because they think things make them happy, I have no sympathy. I've seen people buy stupid stuff they really could do without before paying rent, utilities or buying groceries. Can't feel sorry for people like that.
All my purchases are made in cash these days. If I can't save for it, it doesn't get bought. That used to be called "living within your means." What's the old saying, Neither a lender nor a borrower be...an erstwhile philosophy to live by these days.
On a happier note: Little cat that showed up there. She's solid black with some specks of orange on her coat. I didn't have anything but some cheese from the fridge at work to give her, but she really liked it. I don't want to take her back here with me and she's fine where she is. It's in a remote area of the complex there. I think the other cats drove her to stay over there. So until I move, I will feed her over there.
of yours are a part of the quantum field matrix that is moving this world to higher ground.
We need all the good vibes we can muster up.
it makes you think in terms of creating wealth. We live in world that's that's fast...everything now, not
tomorrow. Not to change the subject, but I'm reading a book (quick read) called "Generation Why".
Eric Chester is the author. I have two sons in that age group, and I write the content on a web design
team for websites designed for that age group.
What you and I see as reason and common sense, is beyond an entire generation of Gen x, and Gen Y folks who often don't have the ability to even make the same connection.
The upside of this generatioin is that it questions thing! Why? Why? Why? This is the generation that will close the door on the Republican agenda.
"Living within your means" is a totally misunderstood statement. It's not about money. It's more about living the lifestyle that matches your money....at any given time.
Carry on soldier:)
It used to be that the "cost of business" was built into a product or service, but nowadays, the "cost of business" is an add on. I noticed the practice being implemented back in the early 80s when law firms started charging clients for phone calls, copying, postage, and anything else they could tack on their monthly bills, in addition to the hourly rate you paid which covered the cost of their labor, with a hefty profit remaining for the partners, such as a task performed by a paralegal for $50 which might have cost them $10. Everyone knew the lowly associates and paralegals did all the work. The partners were just around for show time.
the whole concentrated and purposeful destruction of the middle class and the creating of a complete underclass by 90 percent of the country this way while the 10 percent are royalty that dictates our world.
I have long believed this is the whole agenda of the Bushies and their co horts. To create most of the country as a kind of surfdom to their royalty and to destroy the middle class.
I say, outta the palace and into the ditch.
It will be ugly what is found out when President Obama takes over the oval office.
Be ready for some terrible surprises in store over what exactly Bush has been doing for the past 8 years.
diane.
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Meanwhile, you probably are less likely to be mugged for your wallet by a petty criminal than a large corporation or financial/banking entity...
I agree that a lot of what is going on should be illegal. But the government cannot always save us from ourselves if we aren't willing to go without or make hard choices. I know what I'm asking. I had to do it myself. I got into trouble financially in the horrible economy of 2003-2004. You CAN live on what you make and if you can't then you have to find a less expensive way to live. Living beyond your means is not sustainable whether you are a person or a country.
I don't recall what play that is from. But it is good advise.
So glad we paid off and cut of our credit cards.
Vast numbers of marriages and lives have been ruined by easy credit terms...