primitive has too much credit card debt

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4150670

Oh my.

daninthemoon  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 08:14 AM
Original message

I, like most Americans, have too much credit debt. My personal self interest worry about all this is: are the robbing banks going to arbitrarily jack up the interest rates. If they do, I 'll be sunk. Has anyone been hit like this yet?

bigscott  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 08:15 AM
Response to Original message

1. NPR this morning mentioned some people are having their credit lines decreased and interest rates increased.

And those special intro 0% rates are history

ixion  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 08:18 AM
Response to Original message

2. not yet, but yeah, you should look for this in the near future, and try and get your cards paid off if you can.

The upside to this is that the devaluation of the dollar means you'll owe less than you owed before.

For example:

If you owed 10k when the dollar was at 1.07 vs the Euro, you'd now owe the equivalent of roughly 7k, because the dollar value has declined. As the dollar continues to decline, you'll owe less. The downside there is that there will also be rampant inflation, so a dollar won't buy squat.

Hasn't the dollar been increasing, not decreasing, against the euro?

daninthemoon  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 08:23 AM
Response to Reply #2

3. It's almost a joke. If I could pay them off, I would have done so already. No, if they jack my rates, I'll probably bail myself out with a bankruptcy. Definetely not my desire, but if the extortionists choose to hit me like that, it will be the only way I can hit back. It will probably be the only way to keep the house.

Virginia Dare  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 08:25 AM
Response to Reply #3

6. That's why the repubs worked so hard to change the bankruptcy laws..
   
when they were in power. They'll screw you coming and going.

Didn't the senior U.S. Senator from Delaware have something to do with changing the bankruptcy laws?

ayeshahaqqiqa  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 08:27 AM
Response to Reply #3

7. Are the balances all on one card or on several cards?
   
If on several, could you try and pay off one card? I could see that that would help.

One way to raise cash (which we're doing so we can finish fixing our house) is by selling scrap metal. My husband was a mechanic before he became disabled, and we had several pieces of old cars and trucks around that a traveling scrap dealer bought and hauled off. We both made a couple of hundred bucks on the deal. So one way to raise cash is to sell your scrap metal or collect other folk's.

TwixVoy  Donating Member  (380 posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 12:20 PM
Response to Reply #2

16. Are you a corporate executive at Chase or something?
   
"try to get your cards paid off". Of course he would pay them off if he could. It's obvious that he can't. The system is designed to get a person to that point, and once they are at that point it is LITERALLY ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to EVER pay them off. Be lucky you are not one of the millions of americans who has been victimized by this crime against our nation.

ayeshahaqqiqa  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 08:23 AM
Response to Original message

4. No
   
but I've distrusted credit cards since they became popular, and only carried a balance once, though it took several years to pay it off. Swore off the magic plastic after that. But the non-profit I work for uses credit cards and I worry about what a raise in rates might do to the bottom line. So far this hasn't happened, but since I keep the books, I'll be the first to know when it does.

Virginia Dare  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 08:24 AM
Response to Original message

5. Not yet, but this is the next shoe to drop..
   
they'll jack up interest rates and double your minimum payments. More people will go into bankruptcy, more private debt for the governent to pay off.

carlyhippy  (673 posts) Thu Oct-02-08 08:47 AM
Response to Original message

8. I wondered about this also
   
I have a balance on one card that was locked in at 4.99% until it's paid off, I sure hope they don't change the rules on that one, because it's a huge balance, I moved all the other balances to it for the locked in interest rate.

JHB  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 12:38 PM
Response to Reply #8

17. I did the same sort of thing...
   
...so I'm finally making visible headway against the principal.

If it was for "4.99% for the life of the loan" or something like that, they can't arbitrarily change it (though I wouldn't put it past some of them to try, so stay alert and check your statement carefully each month).
Just make sure you pay at least the minumum on time (and preferably earlier, to avoid tricks some banks have played to make payers late), or else they'll jack your interest rate into the stratosphere because **you** broke the lending agreement.

LWolf  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 09:01 AM
Response to Original message

9. Sort of. Last year.
   
It wasn't "arbitrary." It's in the fine print. The well pump went. It cost a lot to repair. I sent an interest only payment to Capital One that month. They immediately jacked my 6% interest to 38%.

After a year-long, costly battle, we ended up with stalemate. They can do that, and they've stuck to it. They DID have to pay me for calling and harassing my senior citizen mother during the legal wrangling, who had no connection to the account. If it weren't for that, I'd be sunk.

Daveparts  (580 posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 09:08 AM
Response to Original message

10. The Politically Incorrect Answer
   
First, if you bankrupt your credit is history for seven years. What is the out look for credit in the next seven years? Experts are already talking about a decade of readjustment. What are the banks doing? What did Washington Mutual, Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns do. They told their creditors, "too bad, so sad!" Washington Mutual stuck one investor for 1.5 billion dollars. Are they losing sleep over it? Not hardly.

When you took out those credit cards you put up your name as collateral. the only thing they can take from you is your good name. If you bankrupt your credit history is trashed if you tell them to take a hike your credit history is trashed, either way. Either a bankruptcy or a default, name your poison.

In the meantime don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff. Credit cards are way down on the food chain, take care of the house, the kids and the car.

Don't short the kids a warm winter coat trying to feed credit cards their predatory interest rates. Look at it this way, what would the bank do if the situation was reversed?

daninthemoon  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 11:42 AM
Response to Reply #10

12. Don't get me wrong. I'm fine at this point, I send more than the minimum each month, and am not strapped at all. If they go gonzo on the interest though, things may be very different. Mostly, I don't want to be taken further advantage of. My credit rating is pretty good right now, but that is not my worry. I already have a house and decent car, so my credit rating isn't too important in the immediate future. By the way, you can only go bankrupt every 7 years, but it stays on your record for ten.

kagehime  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Thu Oct-02-08 11:46 AM
Response to Original message

13. i've been woried about that, too
   
i'm now with a debt management plan and those rates were negotiated a few years ago, but i'm still kinda worried about that happening to me

slackmaster  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 11:49 AM
Response to Original message

14. I got tired of the high rates and got my credit card debt down to zero in May
   
I've been paying off the balance every month since then, and spending less to make sure I can continue to do that.

I recommend it.

coalition_unwilling  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 12:14 PM
Response to Reply #14

15. The credit card companies refer to you (and me) as a 'deadbeat' when you pay off your balance in full each month.

In my opinion, the sole use for a credit card should be for emergencies, like a car break-down or medical co-pay that is unexpected. I do understand, though, that many people do not use their cc's that way. It's really very sad. I wish high-schools taught a mandatory personal finance curriculum to juniors and seniors.

coalition_unwilling  (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-02-08 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #18

19. Many people simply do not grasp that a $1,000 purchase on a credit card when only the monthly minimum is paid each month may end up costing much more than $1000.00, thanks to interest and fees.

Just a basic understanding of interest and its effects on consumers purchasing with revolving debt would be useful.

Not sure said curriculum would have prevented much of the sub-prime fiasco. I think what might have prevented it from getting as bad as it has would have been for strict regulation to have prevented Fannie and Freddie from buying any such mortgages. This would have provided a disincentive to banks and lenders to make the predatory sub-prime loans in the first place.

Of course, the downside to that would be that many families that would not otherwise qualify would have been denied mortgages.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I expect it depends on your credit rating.  I am getting as many of those "0% APR balance transfer" offers as ever.  In the bankers' shoes, I'd be trying to drag in every new A-rated creditor I could at this point, to offset any useless paper I might get stuck with.

[comradebillyboy]

A really great way to avoid credit card interest problems is to pay off the entire balance every month, on time and try not to habitually spend more than one earns. Some people even save up for future purchases.

[GOBUCKS]

So one way to raise cash is to sell your scrap metal or collect other folk's burglary.

There. I think that's what DUmmy ayeshahaqqiqa meant to say.

If you owed 10k when the dollar was at 1.07 vs the Euro, you'd now owe the equivalent of roughly 7k, because the dollar value has declined. As the dollar continues to decline, you'll owe less. The downside there is that there will also be rampant inflation, so a dollar won't buy squat.

This is patently wrong. If the DUmmy owed $10K when it was $1.07 per euro, he would owe probably $40K now, since he would have made about 5 years of minimum payments plus more purchases. The credit card company would not give a damn how many euros that is. The DUmmy would blame his huge ballooning balance on George Bush.

[apeanut99]

I expect it depends on your credit rating.  I am getting as many of those "0% APR balance transfer" offers as ever.  In the bankers' shoes, I'd be trying to drag in every new A-rated creditor I could at this point, to offset any useless paper I might get stuck with.

If the client has a A rating they are probably smart and paying off their balance every month.

We use our credit card for everything, pay it off at the end of the month, and use the flyer miles to go to Vegas, baby!

But, if they are willing to right the bad debts off and not put it against the card holders credit...  Hey, who am I to buck the system and actually PAY BACK the money that I borrow?!?!?!

*sigh*

[LC EFA]

When are these people going to learn that "living beyond your means", is not possible long term.

If you earn $x per year and spend $2x, you're going to end up in a really bad position.

They blame the system that gave them the freedom to run up more debt than what they could conveniently pay off, rather than blame themselves for not having the responsibility to keep their spending within their means to pay it back.

Idiots. I have no sympathy or pity for them.
 

[JohnnyReb]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

[apeanut99]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

[JohnnyReb]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

I saw that but all I could hear in my head was this loud, "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

[Chris_]

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

The only thing close to a reason she has a case, is that this is the second time she's walked away from a debt that big from THAT store.  That's right; she racked up a huge bill with that store once, refused to pay the bill and they wrote it off.  Then they issued her an obscene amount of credit AGAIN, she maxed out that card, and is walking away from it a second time.

Must be nice when your daughter is so rich and famous that Fraud laws don't apply to you...

 

[BEG]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

Do I know you?!?   

[apeanut99]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

Do I know you?!?   

So which one are you?  I got lonely at election time...   was missing the good old days of 2004.

[BEG]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

Do I know you?!?   

So which one are you?  I got lonely at election time...   was missing the good old days of 2004.

Julie 

[apeanut99]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

Do I know you?!?   

So which one are you?  I got lonely at election time...   was missing the good old days of 2004.

Julie 

Hey, woman.  I have missed you! 

[BEG]

I must look very mean or something. Where's the guy that puts a gun to your head and makes you take a credit card, I've never seen him. Does he hang around and  make you pile debt on it, make minimum payments for extended periods at loanshark rates of interest? Where is he? I want to see him.

 I think he was at my sister's house last week...  Oh, thats right, he showed up 10 years ago and she still hasnt recovered.

Did you read about Oprah's mom?  Ran up $156k in debt at one store, they sued her for her unpaid bills and she COUNTER sued them saying that THEY should not have allowed her to run up the debt.  Thats right...  the mom or BHO's biggest supporter.   

Do I know you?!?   

So which one are you?  I got lonely at election time...   was missing the good old days of 2004.

Julie 

Hey, woman.  I have missed you! 

Check your PM.

[apeanut99]

Then why did you tell your name is Lutecia if it's really Julie?

Its really not Julie either...  that is just code.

[Zeus]

The first credit card was issued by American Express in 1951.

About 30% of consumers use their credit card as their main means of buying Christmas goodies, 70% do not save to buy Christmas gifts and 86% of consumers do their Christmas shopping during December.

Excessive use of credit is cited as a major cause of non-business bankruptcy, second only to unemployment.

Statistics show that people with high, medium and low income groups spend about the same amount on Christmas gifts.

In the 1400s, global income rose only 0,1% per year; today it often tops 5%.

The average age of Forbes's 400 wealthiest individuals is 63.

There are more than 7 million millionaires in the world.

80% of millionaires drive second-hand cars.