Credit Cards

[Ermz]

There are few things in the world that sicken me more than this. It's all the vileness and scum-puss of humanity rolled into one area of finance. Not only is it atrocious that credit and loans are needed par course for simply living in this day and age, but the vultures who control it set ridiculous terms which one has to adhere to simply because the costs of living are so high. Once you really start getting up that creek with no paddle you are enticed to further obscure the situation with debt consolidation, compound interest, whee... it never ends. It really rates up there with politics, criminal law and life insurance sales.

It's kind of funny that you're born into a system that's already monopolized your life before you even had it.

But I digress. Don't own a credit, don't ever plan to unless things in life take a very bad turn.

 

[Jind]

I know debt, and I know it well - we are like best friends, but the romance is over. I've worked my ass off the last several years to get debt free. I owe no one anything outside my monthly expenses. No car payments (both cars have been paid off for at least a year), no credit cards (those have been gone for a year and a half), no taxes owed, no school loans (those have been paid off for two years), it's all gone - I've tossed my old friend debt to the curb.

It sure does feel good to be at this stage in my life. I'm building savings, I'm paying for everything with cash (well, debit card), YEA!!!!!!!!!!!

Debt is an evil blight on mankind!!!! Don't do it!!!! Don't be tempted by low interest rates, the best feeling is owing nothing, spending your own hard earned cash on things you can afford.

OK, I can calm down now - I've gotten it off my shoulders.

 

[Soundlurker]

I've always avoided being in debt which means I'm broke almost all the time. I'm still not sure if I'm not missing out, since you can invest in stuff you need for your job, things that allow you to get quicker and better results.

Not sure about a real-life scenario but all the economy sim games I played as a kid required that you take loans, especially in the beginning if you were to succeed. I was actually pretty aggressive with loans because unlike real-life a game is usually predictable to a degree... and obviously you don't have Load and Save in real life.

 

[Altitudes]

... and obviously you don't have Load and Save in real life.

That would be cool though...

 

[Uladyne]

I wish I were as smart as all of you back when I got myself into this crap. At the time, though, I was making really good money, and paying off huge chunks of the balance wasn't a problem. But now I'm not making shit for money, and I've used my credit cards for "emergencies" enough times here and there that some of them are maxed out, and I can pretty much only pay minimum payments each month, which is fucking pointless and only putting extra money in the pockets of the creditors. I'm sure they love me. I'm the perfect consumer. It's people like me that keep them in business.

My favorite thing is when you make a big enough payment that they let you have a month off and not make a payment. Evil bastards! They don't want you to pay the balance off because then they don't make their money!

 

[Jind]

Evil bastards! They don't want you to pay the balance off because then they don't make their money!

No truer words have ever been spoken - it is their singular objective to keep you in debt!

 

[grywolf627]

I wish I were as smart as all of you back when I got myself into this crap. At the time, though, I was making really good money, and paying off huge chunks of the balance wasn't a problem. But now I'm not making shit for money, and I've used my credit cards for "emergencies" enough times here and there that some of them are maxed out, and I can pretty much only pay minimum payments each month, which is fucking pointless and only putting extra money in the pockets of the creditors. I'm sure they love me. I'm the perfect consumer. It's people like me that keep them in business.

My favorite thing is when you make a big enough payment that they let you have a month off and not make a payment. Evil bastards! They don't want you to pay the balance off because then they don't make their money!

Oh, trust me...I went through a similar thing. Young, single, making pretty decent money...no problems making payments on things. Then I lost my job. It took a while, a lot of work, a lot of saving, and a lot of sacrificing...but I finally managed to get everything paid off. It's a good feeling to be debt free (until we buy a house, that is!).

 

[roy22341]

My favorite thing is when you make a big enough payment that they let you have a month off and not make a payment. Evil bastards! They don't want you to pay the balance off because then they don't make their money!

Be careful here. Depending on your lender if you pay more than your minimum monthly installment the additional amount will be credited towards next months bill, however they still expect you to make your normal mimimum payment every month - even if you owe $0 that month.

In order to truly save a few bucks when paying off these loans you have to make MORE than your minimum monthly payment EVERY SINGLE MONTH. I'd suggest at least 50% extra, but I'm kinda crazy.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

My wife and I have one credit card with a $13,000 limit. We throw around $1400 a month on it and pay it off at the end of the month every month.

Fuck credit card debt.

 

[Jind]

Another little thing that can make a big difference is ensuring that they are applying any additional amount paid to the principal of the loan, and not the interest only. In some cases you have to physically tell them to apply additional amount to the principal and not to the interest. It's just yet another way of screwing you in the long run and keeping the debt higher for a longer period of time.

Here it is clearly worded so you can see what to do:

When you pay more than is owed on a loan, it is always best to communicate to the lender that you want the additional payment amount to be applied toward the principal in order to save money on the interest. For those of you who are particularly fastidious, I suggest you send in two checks, one for the regular payment and the other for the extra, clearly marked that it is to be applied to principal. This can clarify your wishes beyond a doubt. Please note, however, that your loan may have a prepayment clause that prevents you from being able to reduce the interest paid. You will have to examine your loan documents to determine if that is the case.