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Debt Load
by: JR - Apr 1, 2013 21:05:01 GMT -5
Post by JR on Apr 1, 2013 21:05:01 GMT -5
I was just reading a thread and one of you posted about having credit card debt, all the normal things that most of us live by.
We have an income and need something so we charge it and think I'll pay it off soon and then it becomes a big debt that there is no paying off soon so to fix that, we have good credit and get another credit card to be the one we use for emergencies. After all it won't be used while I'm paying off that other one that I just wish would go away. Then something comes up and I just need to spend some money, it will just be one time and that new card has a "low interest rate" I can pay it off fast.
A few months down the road you have a credit card load of 10,000.00 and guess what a payment was missed so that low rate is now 21%.
Sound familiar???
I think most of us would not want to admit to being in that boat, but more of us have been there than we would like.
Guys, a new scooter or other toy is not worth the sorrow of being a person in debt. I hope all of you can get whatever it is you want in life but please pay cash. Being a slave to a credit card or bank debt is no fun. Been there and done that, no more for me. If I can't pay cash I am not buying it.
Took me almost two years but now the only debt I have is my house payment, it feels good.
There is no big secret to getting out of debt. How I did it was simple.
1. I stopped using the credit card.
2. I paid off the smallest bill first and moved up to the next one at a time, the last one being my truck loan.
3. of course you need to find a way to have a stash of cash to run off of so you do not need to resort to the credit cards.
I don't think I ever had more than $6,000.00 in credit card debt but when you are trying to pay it off and then find something you have to use it for, it becomes a never ending circle.
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Debt Load
by: jeffery5568 - Apr 1, 2013 21:47:29 GMT -5
Post by jeffery5568 on Apr 1, 2013 21:47:29 GMT -5
My dad always told me growing up if a man could get everything paid off he could quit work and live off a small garden. I always think back to that. I paid my house off 2 years ago but the only thing I can grow is weeds so I am still working. Being debt free is great and gives a lot of freedom I am quitting my full time job to go back to college. When someone I know needs something I buy it for them and never think twice. I could never do that with car payments and house payments. So for the people in debt dig in and get everything paid for then give and give to people around you in need its the best feeling ever.
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Debt Load
by: shalomrider - Apr 1, 2013 22:42:04 GMT -5
Post by shalomrider on Apr 1, 2013 22:42:04 GMT -5
howdy, i agree that nothing beats the feeling of owing nothing to anyone except to be a good neighbor(and who is my neighbor?). i would encourage anyone to do as the examples above .
Lotsa miles and smiles to ya
ken
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Debt Load
by: justbuggin2 - Apr 2, 2013 0:38:30 GMT -5
Post by justbuggin2 on Apr 2, 2013 0:38:30 GMT -5
i agree with the above i do not own my home but ever thing else i have is paid in full my credit is shot to he** (3 ex-wifes) but i am trying to find a way to buy myself my own place checking for loans people say with my income i could afford 80 to 90000 dollar home but all i want is a place with a couple acres so i have room for a garage and a one bedroom home as it will be for just me
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Debt Load
by: triker - Apr 2, 2013 1:02:58 GMT -5
Post by triker on Apr 2, 2013 1:02:58 GMT -5
Every thing I own Is paid for except my home. I paid off all my credit cards 20 years ago, cut them up and never want another one. I live within my means.
Roy
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Debt Load
by: JR - Apr 2, 2013 1:21:31 GMT -5
Post by JR on Apr 2, 2013 1:21:31 GMT -5
For inspiration I highly suggest a fellow by the name of Dave Ramsey. He has a radio talk show on the subject. I found him after I was sick and tired of the debt circle and had already paid off some of my burden.
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Debt Load
by: ramblinman - Apr 2, 2013 3:03:37 GMT -5
Post by ramblinman on Apr 2, 2013 3:03:37 GMT -5
from a personal point of view, to be debt-free is wonderful but for the economy as a whole, debt is very important. the total amount of paper money is less than the total amount of debt in this country. (probably true for every country with a fiat system but i haven't researched other countries)
money is created when people borrow. if everyone paid off all debt their wouldn't be any money.
that statement made no sense to me when i first heard it either but if you research the history of money then you will realize (as i did) how screwed up our monetary system really is.
so until we get a new system, the health of the economy is determined by the amount of debt.
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Debt Load
by: terrilee - Apr 2, 2013 7:10:45 GMT -5
Post by terrilee on Apr 2, 2013 7:10:45 GMT -5
you could all be like me. Go bankrupt twice
im bi-polar
when i lived in Myrtle Beach , i quit yet another job,
and rented a 45 boat, crewed, i cant sail.
and i went to the Bahamas's 3 times in one month.
So my credit has been Fed for years.
thats one of the effects of bi-polar, when in the "up" mood
you spend tons of money you dont have, and dont even care
about ever paying it back.
Unfortunately for me i wasnt EVEN diagnosed till i was 40
so i had, by that time, totally screwed up my credit, my life, everything.
The good thing about NOT being in the 1960's is now Drs etc,
understand about BI-polar ( manic - depression) a whole lot better these days.
So now a days people are getting diagnosed in their teens instead of suffering for decades.
My family is always harassing me to write a book.
They say that if i can get one person, to not suffer for decades
that it would be a good thing.
I cant write stories etc, but my biggest supporter, my 10 yrs younger sister, has now told me i have 2 years to just jot down notes etc and she'll help find a "ghost writer' to edit and get it to sound like a story instead of just notes.
she may be right. IF it would help one person, NOT suffer like i did it would be a good thing.
so im gonna try.
some day you might be able to say you know that famous author
before she became famous and was just a lil NUT CASE on a scooter forum LMSAO
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Debt Load
by: Jarlaxle - Apr 2, 2013 8:06:08 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Apr 2, 2013 8:06:08 GMT -5
Thats a good idea, Terri...I thought about something similar, but I just cant do it.
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Debt Load
by: SylvreKat - Apr 2, 2013 18:46:51 GMT -5
Post by SylvreKat on Apr 2, 2013 18:46:51 GMT -5
Here's a slightly different version--
I *do* use my ccard (it gives I think 5% of what I spend back to my college), but I treat it like cash and I pay it off every month. I keep track of how much I'm charging and don't go over, unless something comes up (like the gall bladder surprise). Then I dip into savings to pay the extra. But once paid, I repay my savings.
You just have to keep mindful of what you're spending vs what you're earning. And keep it on the plus side not the minus.
I took the Dave Ramsey class. There was one lady who had absolutely zero idea how much she'd spent so far that month. Not even a small inkling of a clue. Her husband wasn't a whole lot better, knew they'd bought a coach and some other big things like that. But didn't know what it all added up to. Scary.
>'Kat
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Debt Load
by: ernie1 - Apr 3, 2013 0:03:18 GMT -5
Post by ernie1 on Apr 3, 2013 0:03:18 GMT -5
We'll have all our cards paid off in may. So we're going to buy a new car ( one half down) @ go to Gatlinburg.
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Debt Load
by: JR - Apr 3, 2013 1:25:12 GMT -5
Post by JR on Apr 3, 2013 1:25:12 GMT -5
from a personal point of view, to be debt-free is wonderful but for the economy as a whole, debt is very important. the total amount of paper money is less than the total amount of debt in this country. (probably true for every country with a fiat system but i haven't researched other countries) money is created when people borrow. if everyone paid off all debt their wouldn't be any money. that statement made no sense to me when i first heard it either but if you research the history of money then you will realize (as i did) how screwed up our monetary system really is. so until we get a new system, the health of the economy is determined by the amount of debt. Yeah, when I was a kid my economics class taught me for every dollar you put in the bank they can make it seem like six dollars to the economy. Sorry but that boat don't float. The big reason the economy took a big dump was because the banks went too far loaning money out to people that should not have borrowed it. Debt for a house is one thing, debt for food, a television, a car, pants, socks, underwear is a totally different thing. The big reason the economy is getting better is because we stopped borrowing all that money and started paying down our debt. Guess what if you have no debt you can put money in the bank, put it in a retirement fund and they then use it to invest in enterprise, that is good for the economy. |
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Debt Load
by: imnts2 - Apr 3, 2013 7:33:44 GMT -5
Post by imnts2 on Apr 3, 2013 7:33:44 GMT -5
It is not the credit card that is the problem, It it the out of control pending that too much easy credit may encourage. In fact, I use my credit cards as an interest free loan for up to around 30 days. IN perhaps 30 or 40 years of carrying several cards, I have never paid one cent of interest on a credit card.. For 20 years I nearly 100% avoided borrowing money as I built a business that when it was "full blown" I needed to be able to carry nearly $300,000 accounts receivable by careful and skill full use of my credit cards and care full management of cash flow. On Friday evening every bill was paid in full except the cards. twice I had to run a  note through the bank for 10 or 15 G. In short I used around 15K of credit card debt to let my business be bigger faster and make more customers happy while I am my staff made more money, Last year Janet paid for a round trip to Italy from credit card points. No interest paid. Of course, both of us are cheap skates and careful spenders. So credit cards acrtually made me money. Cheers lefty2 |
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Debt Load
by: JR - Apr 3, 2013 10:44:07 GMT -5
Post by JR on Apr 3, 2013 10:44:07 GMT -5
Lefty, your case is not the norm. The great majority of people just do not have that control. Add to the lack of controlthe fact that when a person uses a creditcard they also will spend more money that they don't pay off every month it multiplies the problem.
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Debt Load
by: JR - Apr 3, 2013 11:32:21 GMT -5
Post by JR on Apr 3, 2013 11:32:21 GMT -5
I will echo Doug and lefty. I'm the same as lefty, use two cards very wisely, one I've had since 1972 which is almost unheard of. But it's not a cash back earner, it's just my I am away from home and forgot to bring any cash emergency card. I've never treated it any other way. But I have a Walmart Discover card for one thing and one thing only, cheaper gasoline. I get a always 5 cents per gallon off and at times especially during the holidays it goes up to sometimes as high as 15 cents per gallon off. But it's paid monthly and my cash back is adding up too. My wife and I move around a lot so 5 cents a gallon adds up in the long run. I just this past week re-financed my house to a 2.675% interest rate, took a 10 year loan and we just set it up to make a automatic payment that will pay it off in 48 months. We will do this, not bother the payment system and be done with this. My wife went back to college after being out of school for over 25 years and is now a RN making very good money, with out house plans and her job she will retire in 10 years and maybe just work a little part time or maybe even on the traveling nurse thing. I have two vehicles paid for and two that we just bought one for her to go to work and the other for me to get these grandkids I'm raising around to all their activities. Both of these vehicles are on the 0% interest thing that if you had to buy a vehicle you'd be a fool to turn down and I could care less if the wife's is paid off because she puts over 50K on a vehicle a year so it'll probably get traded in again in about 2 to 2-1/2 years, the other one will be paid off in 36 months. Other than that I owe nothing and have a few bucks stuck back to have some fun later on when we get these kids raised. Credit card debt can be a very bad thing and like Doug called lefty I'm not the norm, I manage mine religiously. I a lot of times buy my Christmas from October to December and buy a lot with free shipping and to 180 days same as cash which allows me to buy more and yet stay in my budget interest free but that's not the norm either. I just paid off my grandkids go-kart I bought them for Christmas this past week, Christmas is officially paid for, now it's time for our June vacation money planning and going to Disneyland and even hollering at old Doug when we are so close. JR |
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note through the bank for 10 or 15 G. In short I used around 15K of credit card debt to let my business be bigger faster and make more customers happy while I am my staff made more money, Last year Janet paid for a round trip to Italy from credit card points. No interest paid. Of course, both of us are cheap skates and careful spenders.
