In the midst of this credit crunch...

[ecojeanne]

And how's that goin' for ya?

Giving you issues, is it?

no thankfully coz i got a lot of savings, but the future doesnt look good altho my mortgage payments have gone down due to the lowering of interest rates, so thats a good thing for me

how about you, do you have a credit card or a loan?

[Junket]

no thankfully coz i got a lot of savings, but the future doesnt look good altho my mortgage payments have gone down due to the lowering of interest rates, so thats a good thing for me

how about you, do you have a credit card or a loan?

Do you have a job?

Yes, I have 2 credit cards. One I keep away (for emergencies), and the other I use on a daily basis because I get cash back using it.

I've never had a balance on both at any given time.

I use my credit card like I would use my debit card, keeping in mind how much I have coming in and monitoring what's going out. So now that my work is steady, I know I can afford to make a 300 dollar purchase every now and without wondering if I can pay it all off at the end of the month.

I also have plenty in savings that I could survive on for months before absolutely needing a job.

I decided to move in with my girlfriend, and our two mutual friends to keep the cost of bills and rent down. We swapped out all our bulbs to fluorescent and we turn off the a/c,heating during the day to conserve energy. I ride my bike and take the street car (trolley) when I'm at home. And drive my car mostly for work and running to the supermarket.

I've opted to hold off on buying a newer car until I get a pay raise, and until I either receive free health benefits, or can afford health on top of another car payment and car insurance.

It's not hard to live within one's means, you just need to get creative and think outside the box. And quite frankly, I love having roommates, it's like a mini family/support system, and it's great for cleaning day.

I think if people revised their American dream they would find the affordable alternative can be quite as, if not more pleasant.

[ecojeanne]

Do you have a job?

Yes, I have 2 credit cards. One I keep away (for emergencies), and the other I use on a daily basis because I get cash back using it.

I've never had a balance on both at any given time.

I use my credit card like I would use my debit card, keeping in mind how much I have coming in and monitoring what's going out. So now that my work is steady, I know I can afford to make a 300 dollar purchase every now and without wondering if I can pay it all off at the end of the month.

I also have plenty in savings that I could survive on for months before absolutely needing a job.

I decided to move in with my girlfriend, and our two mutual friends to keep the cost of bills and rent down. We swapped out all our bulbs to fluorescent and we turn off the a/c,heating during the day to conserve energy. I ride my bike and take the street car (trolley) when I'm at home. And drive my car mostly for work and running to the supermarket.

I've opted to hold off on buying a newer car until I get a pay raise, and until I either receive free health benefits, or can afford health on top of another car payment and car insurance.

It's not hard to live within one's means, you just need to get creative and think outside the box. And quite frankly, I love having roommates, it's like a mini family/support system, and it's great for cleaning day.

I think if people revised their American dream they would find the affordable alternative can be quite as, if not more pleasant.

i have my own business, thats why the future doesn't look good coz i already see the slowdown in customers. i also use my credit card as a debit card; its the only way to use a credit card. i find its better to use the credit card due to the fact it's more protected than an actual debit card.

however i am one of the lucky ones, i worked hard for a long time and didn't go to college but moved up in various jobs and made a sufficient amount of money and saved the old fashioned way. i'm worried obviously but not to same extent as many of the people i know. the future looks desperate for Ireland and the world. the system is designed to have people in debt. the media doesnt help either with advertising designed to convince certain products are neccesary to be happy. credit cards are good but not great, its easy imo to get trapped if one lives on the minimum wage or close to it. and yes i do care about that system coz not all people are always intelligent enough to read the fine print. and we are all created equal but individual, why does a person with less intelligence deserve to be used for that system. we all deserve a good life surely? it's almost like saying a less intelligent person deserves to suffer and why is that? we should care about the welfare of others.

[misombra]

credit cards are such evil little things.

[Junket]

Credit cards are my bitches.

[vashti]

I love my credit cards.

But yeah, they get paid off every month.

[bluesummer]

I just got a really sweet travel Visa through work. My fiance and I are paying all our bills off of it, and then just paying off the balance. We fly a lot, so we need it.

[lovesjoyajm]

It's not hard to live within one's means, you just need to get creative and think outside the box.

You're right.

Right now I'm working on living within a concrete budget, really for the first time in my life - I have this much income per month, I spend XX on rent, YY on a public transport ticket, approximately ZZ on phone cards (stupid pre-paid phones) and the rest I have available for groceries, drinks, etc - whatever. The cool thing is, even though I have to be much more disciplined than I ever have been with things like eating out, for example, I'm REALLY enjoying this whole process, and it gives me this little thrill when I get to the end of a week and I have 10 bucks left over. Yeahhh maybe now I can afford a haircut.

Anyway, yeah, point is, you can adjust your expectations and habits depending on what you've got coming into the bank. As soon as your limitations are clear to you, it shouldn't be that big a problem.

[IndiReloaded]

I agree with Fras. Credit is like getting fat. You eat more than you burn, you spend more than you make. You get in trouble.

And we all know how fat america is. 'Gotta have it' has been the national slogan up until recently.

But yeah, I feel real bad for those poor US auto manufacturers who have been producing gas guzzling tanks for all those years. And to think ppl don't want to buy them anymore? Shocker.

Some ppl got to be dropped on their head before they wake up. Sad, but true. The Economist and lots of other sources have been warning of this credit crisis for years.

BTW, Fras, I haven't been getting card offers. I suspect you are starting to make an income now & have somehow gotten on their list from some recent purchases or something. Its what happened to us after getting out of school.

[starbuck]

however i am one of the lucky ones, i worked hard for a long time and didn't go to college but moved up in various jobs and made a sufficient amount of money and saved the old fashioned way. i'm worried obviously but not to same extent as many of the people i know. the future looks desperate for Ireland and the world. the system is designed to have people in debt. the media doesnt help either with advertising designed to convince certain products are neccesary to be happy. credit cards are good but not great, its easy imo to get trapped if one lives on the minimum wage or close to it. and yes i do care about that system coz not all people are always intelligent enough to read the fine print. and we are all created equal but individual, why does a person with less intelligence deserve to be used for that system. we all deserve a good life surely? it's almost like saying a less intelligent person deserves to suffer and why is that? we should care about the welfare of others.

Similarly, why should the "intelligent" people be forced to suffer because the "unintelligent" ones didn't read the fine print or do their research. The point is that when people make smart financial choices, it benefits the economy. When people make stupid, impulsive ones, it drives interest rates up and causes economic problems for others. Not all of this is caused by people getting in over their heads, but they can't be totally exempt from blame.

Plus, the entire media cannot be blamed for the advertising that runs on its channels. You have this reoccuring theme in alot of your posts that suggests that the majority of the public (which country, you usually don't specify, but I have a feeling you mean the states) are sheep who are brainwashed. It's a pretty narrow-minded and inaccurate POV.

I'm not sure what you're suggesting though ultimately Eco. That the world shouldn't have credit cards?

[IndiReloaded]

According to Eco we are supposed to exchange handwoven grass skirts and cabbage for chickens.

[starbuck]

According to Eco we are supposed to exchange handwoven grass skirts and cabbage for chickens.

I have none of those to barter. Perhaps, I could knit the chickens little ponchos?

[ecojeanne]

Haha you can all make fun of me, I don’t mind 

Well I suppose it really comes down to informing people more clearly, but ultimately my point is no-one ‘deserves’ to suffer just coz they are less intelligent.

The blame game is silly imo. It doesn’t solve the debt. I despise the media actually. I would love if televisions were never invented even tho I watch one myself. Society used to be happier and more friendly before tv imo; No manipulation and people were more social and also knew a lot more people and took less mind numbing drugs for non-existent problems the media have told them they might have.

I do have issues with media around the world including Ireland and have mentioned the media in Ireland too on this forum, it’s not just the states, it’s everywhere.

Tv is anti-social. People sit and watch the news constantly and are constantly on edge especially now. There is no conversation anymore, it’s shhhhhh! Listen I’m watching this. There is so much more to life and back in the day people got to enjoy each other more.

I don’t suggest the world shouldn't have credit cards, I have one myself, however I do think the root of the problems are the banks as a whole, education, the media and of course governments.

Do animals deserve to suffer coz they're less intelligent? So why do we hold humans to the point that we almost demand that they take blame and suffer for having less intelligence? We should look after our own after-all we’re all related if you go back far enough. Pointing blame and accepting that they should suffer because of genetics doesn’t solve anything.

Banks and credit cards ‘like’ people to be in debt believe it or not. I can’t even count the amount of times the banks have approached a close business person I know to get him to take massive loans and hey even a dog can have a credit card…that’s a real story actually

And yes I would ultimately like to see a world without banks, but somehow that seems impossible to change

[IndiReloaded]

Well, here's something related. I recently learned that some countries (e.g. Australia) allow merchants to charge the % fee back to the customer (for those that don't know, businesses have to pay a %age if you pay by credit card).

Its not as evil as it sounds. Basically, charging the fee back to the customer means a couple things: they might opt to pay by cash or direct, and the retailer charges less for their goods/service. And it takes the credit card company out of the transaction.

This should be made legal in the US & Canada also, IMO.

[starbuck]

Well I suppose it really comes down to informing people more clearly, but ultimately my point is no-one ‘deserves’ to suffer just coz they are less intelligent.

I actually don't think anyone here was suggesting that they do, but people reap what they sew.