[miho]

I got a neibor who works for bills. barely make ends meet. I must have something cos people just tell me their problems and well i listen if i have advice then i say something.i sugested to just stop paying credit card bills and focus on their basic needs.one thing i know is the banks got plenty of money from us poor people and they can afford for then to miss payments.if i have to choose between eating and paying a bill oh well ima buy me some food. maybe I'm wrong what your opinion on that.

 

[inceptor]

With you on that one.

The problem is the mentality that most have is instant gratification. I was an expert in that until I had a personal SHTF situation. It took time but now I am debt free and intent to stay that way. If I can't pay cash, it can wait or I don't need it.

 

[punch]

When I go abroad and see how little people in SE Asia have I realized I had too much stuff. All I do is work to pay for stuff. I joke that I am going to become a minimalist but the jokes on me because I am really cutting back on the frivilous crap. cooking more, eating out less. The credit industry is set up to keep in you in debt and provide the banks with a residual income. If you have good credit and don't need credit they give you more credit. If you have no or bad credit, you can't get credit.

punch

 

[miho]

I understand credit score is important but with this economy people who had great credit are now with bad credit. i mean what the worst that could happen thyre just not gonna have anymore buy now pay later benefits. The rich get richer on the backs of the middle class....if there's a middle class cos i think we are all poor now while they eat steak and lobster we eat spam.

 

[alterego]

you, you are the problem. The government is going to here about this. We demand that you get out their and spend spend spend.

 

[inceptor]

The rich get richer on the backs of the middle class....if there's a middle class cos i think we are all poor now while they eat steak and lobster we eat spam.

If you haven't noticed, the middle class is getting smaller and smaller. They are trying to make us go away.

 

[prepgirl]

They are in this position because they put themselves in this position. I believe in taking responsibility for our own actions. My advice would be for them to cut up the credit cards, use the snowball method to pay them off, then don't use them again. Just because you have credit cards doesn't mean you can just go out and spend mindlessly. You must still use caution and good judgement.

I was there. I was in too much debt. I crawled my way out, and it was a long, arduous process, but I didn't repeat it even though I certainly could. How we learn is by making our bed and lying it, and suffering the consequences for irresponsible behavior. At least that is how we are supposed to learn. Some people just never "get it".

 

[hayden]

There is so much piece of mind that comes from being debt free. I think your health improves from not worrying so much. All I owe is my mortgage and when I tried to refi recently the one thing that reflected badly on my 809 credit score was that I didn't have any recent revolving credit. They wouldn't let me refi because the paint on my garage was peeling, said fanny mae and freddy mac only wanted perfect properties. What happened to the days when they would write loans to people they knew didn't have a chance in hell of making payments.

 

[Lucky Jim]

I've never been in debt in my life, is there something wrong with me?..

 

[Ripon]

I rushed out instead of crawling. When my business collapsed it was clear I would be crawling for a long time so I bailed. My wife and I sold our home, and barely got out from under the mortgage and then took what little money we had and bought a new home at the reduced rates with a mortgage that was 525 a month. We got a nicer home for a third of the payment we had before the crash in housing. We kept our business open just until we got the mortgage on the new home and then closed it and fire sold off everything we could to eliminate our debts - all within 3 months - the only debt remaining was the new mortgage on the new home. That will be done in 6 months now thanks. I could not agree with you more that people are getting away with screwing the banks because of the perception the banks are evil and bad, same with the credit card companies, and government even. We got people saying students shouldn't have to pay back their loans for education, borrowers for homes shouldn't have to honor the agreements they signed 14x to get (perception), and hey if you owe the IRS get a "settlement" for less. The people of the United States are far too expecting of something for nothing. It sickens me. I seriously live off of the food I grow and hunt, I have not shopped for food in a store now since December when we decided we wanted a turkey. If I want to buy something, like my 338 Lapua I got late last year I sell something to get it or I do a job and earn it. I borrow nothing from anyone.

They are in this position because they put themselves in this position. I believe in taking responsibility for our own actions. My advice would be for them to cut up the credit cards, use the snowball method to pay them off, then don't use them again. Just because you have credit cards doesn't mean you can just go out and spend mindlessly. You must still use caution and good judgement.

I was there. I was in too much debt. I crawled my way out, and it was a long, arduous process, but I didn't repeat it even though I certainly could. How we learn is by making our bed and lying it, and suffering the consequences for irresponsible behavior. At least that is how we are supposed to learn. Some people just never "get it".

 

[AsteroidX]

I dropped so far into the rabbit hole I dont even pay taxes anymore .Legally. Dont pay them mind you. I earn little spend little and work constantly on self sufficiency. I love those deals on good meat you can find from time to time. But then again Im single which makes the whole process a bit easier. Except the more work then one person can handle part.

As for the crazy part I definently have an element of it but in general Im really stable and raise a child part time etc. Do I fit into societies norm.....Hell No.

 

[Lucky Jim]

Lucky Jim quote- I've never been in debt in my life, is there something wrong with me?..

Yes,there is something wrong--you're lying to us. Or,I guess your parents could be rich.

Nah, I'm in my 60's and have never had or wanted or needed a Credit card in my life, probably because I live a simple life, no car, no smoking, no drinking. If I want anything I just pay in cash at the stores, or use my Debit Card to buy stuff online.
I had this amusing dialog with my bank last year-

YOUNG LADY TELLER (smiling)- "We'll fix you up with a Credit card"
ME- "I don't need one, I've been using my Debit card just fine for years, so why do I need a Credit card as well?"
HER (in wide-eyed shock)- "Oh but everybody needs a Credit card nowadays!"
ME (smiling)- "But I'm not everybody"
HER- "Er...we'll fix you up with one anyway, you don't have to use it"

So I let her waste 25 minutes of her time doing the paperwork and computer entries to "fix me up", then when the Credit card arrived through the post i cut it up and binned it without activating it, just in case there were hidden charges and stuff in the small print!

Catch my drift, most people nowadays think it's perfectly NORMAL to be up to their necks in debt, so the banks encourage them into the red like lambs to the slaughter!
Jesus said:- "Don't dance to the world's tune" (Matt 11:16/17)
and I've always danced to nobody's tune except my own..

 

[Kidzthinkimahoarder]

No credit cards in this house....if we want something, it's bought with cash or DC. Do we have alot? No, I don't think we do, but what we have...we OWN! Which is alot more than I can say for some of my friends.

 

[JPARIZ]

With you on that one.

The problem is the mentality that most have is instant gratification. I was an expert in that until I had a personal SHTF situation. It took time but now I am debt free and intent to stay that way. If I can't pay cash, it can wait or I don't need it.

I have paid cash for everything for years and it ended up biting me in the butt. When I bought my current house I had to put a deposit down for cable because my credit sucked! I checked my credit report and all it had was my name & address. With a score of like 500 something! I actually had to buy a couple of secured credit cards & pretend I needed them for a few years to get my credit back. The trick is to use your credit but pay it in full each month. It doesn't take much to keep it alive.