Comments on: Act Your Wage http://www.monopolizedchaos.com/2007/12/30/act-your-wage/ Personal Development. Life. Stuff. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:29:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Craig http://www.monopolizedchaos.com/2007/12/30/act-your-wage/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Craig Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:46:19 +0000 http://monopolizedchaos.com/?p=9#comment-18 Oh I agree, although Credit Card companies would not be out of business since a tremendous portion of their income comes from fees charged to retailers and not interest on debt, they would definitely be hurting bigtime. I agree that the majority can't pay their balance off month to month, but it is possible to do so, and is the one case where using credit cards can be a good idea. But if someone knows they can't resist the temptation of carrying a balance, it's probably a good idea for them not to use one. The key is individual financial responsibility, which many people seem to lack, which I think is the point of your post. Oh I agree, although Credit Card companies would not be out of business since a tremendous portion of their income comes from fees charged to retailers and not interest on debt, they would definitely be hurting bigtime. I agree that the majority can’t pay their balance off month to month, but it is possible to do so, and is the one case where using credit cards can be a good idea. But if someone knows they can’t resist the temptation of carrying a balance, it’s probably a good idea for them not to use one. The key is individual financial responsibility, which many people seem to lack, which I think is the point of your post.

]]> By: j.Brown http://www.monopolizedchaos.com/2007/12/30/act-your-wage/comment-page-1/#comment-17 j.Brown Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:26:10 +0000 http://monopolizedchaos.com/?p=9#comment-17 @ Craig - For the longest time, I would have agreed with you Craig, but after seeing many, if not most people continue to carry a debt month after month after month, and tell me about all the "points" they are getting I finally decided debt is debt, and thus debt is dumb. It has been proven that the majority of people can NOT pay off their debt each month. And trust me, the credit card companies do NOT want you to pay it off. And for the 0% promos... they are are just sitting back and hoping that you don't make a payment so they can hit you all that back interest. All of the 'free offers' are not free. Credit card companies know the majority of people are going to carry a balance well beyond any promotional period. If everyone played by the rules the credit card companies would be out of business because they wouldn't be making any money. @ Craig – For the longest time, I would have agreed with you Craig, but after seeing many, if not most people continue to carry a debt month after month after month, and tell me about all the “points” they are getting I finally decided debt is debt, and thus debt is dumb.

It has been proven that the majority of people can NOT pay off their debt each month. And trust me, the credit card companies do NOT want you to pay it off. And for the 0% promos… they are are just sitting back and hoping that you don’t make a payment so they can hit you all that back interest.

All of the ‘free offers’ are not free. Credit card companies know the majority of people are going to carry a balance well beyond any promotional period. If everyone played by the rules the credit card companies would be out of business because they wouldn’t be making any money.

]]> By: Craig http://www.monopolizedchaos.com/2007/12/30/act-your-wage/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Craig Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:53:55 +0000 http://monopolizedchaos.com/?p=9#comment-16 It is important to differentiate between good debt and bad debt- but credit cards are not necessarily evil if you make use of them correctly. I pay for just about everything with a credit card, then pay the balance off every month- getting the benefit of an interest free use of their money for 30 days, as well as any rewards points that I accrue. Now you can argue this increases costs to retailers which will eventually be passed on, but people are not going to stop using credit cards, I might as well get the benefits from it, it just requires the self control not to carry a balance month to month. The other good use for credit cards is when special offers allow you to make a big purchase interest free, at least as long as you are capable of paying it off before that term is up. Again, requires the self control to pay it off before that term is up since the interest is still accruing and will be applied if not paid off in the promotional period. The key is to live within your means while taking advantage of what's available and advantageous to you. It is important to differentiate between good debt and bad debt- but credit cards are not necessarily evil if you make use of them correctly. I pay for just about everything with a credit card, then pay the balance off every month- getting the benefit of an interest free use of their money for 30 days, as well as any rewards points that I accrue. Now you can argue this increases costs to retailers which will eventually be passed on, but people are not going to stop using credit cards, I might as well get the benefits from it, it just requires the self control not to carry a balance month to month.

The other good use for credit cards is when special offers allow you to make a big purchase interest free, at least as long as you are capable of paying it off before that term is up. Again, requires the self control to pay it off before that term is up since the interest is still accruing and will be applied if not paid off in the promotional period.

The key is to live within your means while taking advantage of what’s available and advantageous to you.

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