Rant/Complain Thread: u mad?

[Archaic Sage]

Because very few people actually pay them off completely every month and credit card debt is used as a factor for getting a mortgage.

[Hong]

[Archaic Sage]

Good luck with that. The issue is even outside of good money control, situations occur that require money - breakdowns, family emergency, personal emergency that can drain savings and require credit card spend, then you fall into the cycle of minimum or less than full payment and get caught out.

As someone who has experienced very challenging times, where you have to do your best for everyone, you rapidly see that credit cards are evil. Even the ones where you earn loyalty points or get a cut of what you spend back. Much better off with a fixed rate, short term loan than a variable rate credit card.

[Archaic Sage]

Also, iiiiiillll. Stupid cold has finally hit me. It has to go away before Monday...

[PLA]

[PLA]

^ The creditcard is a red herring. Having enough money isn't enough. Necessary. Not sufficient.

[Archaic Sage]

It's not as simple as that Garrett, the principle of it is, but the reality really isn't... Especially when other bills pile up as you've spend your entire month's pay on trains to see dying relatives and then have the remaining month to pay for normal bills, food, getting to work and oh yeah - paying your credit card... With another credit card. A real example of what I had to do about 5 years ago. The option of not seeing the dying relative wasn't there as it was my wife's dad... Who happened to pull through it and die last year, but you just never know.

I don't regret what I did, as it was the only option, but with hindsight I'd approach things differently.

As a note, trains in England are insanely expensive. We're talking about £35 (~$55), per person return from where I live to London, which is only like 40 miles.

If you have a simple life, then it might work, but the moment things get complicated, credit cards make it that bit more complex.

Outside of that, euggh, two rolls of toilet paper used today on my cold. So many pills... Congestion, headache, temperature, life. Eurgh.

[SirthOsiris]

Actually, I thought PLA was saying even if you do everything right, you'll still end up in debt.

[Starfe]

I ended up accruing a good deal of credit card debt when I was 19 or 20. My parents had been through a long period of unemployment (my father) and horrible health (my father). After a quarter of a million in medical bills piled up, they had to declare bankruptcy. They were able to keep their house, thank God, and my father found work a few months later, but in the mean time I was covering things like the bankruptcy filing fees and helping them pay their mortgage and helping my sister have the high school years she deserved (prom dress, senior pictures, etc).

The end result was that I exhausted all my savings, and ended in a pretty negative financial situation for myself. Credit was helpful in this situation for buying food between paychecks, and getting the clothes I needed to start my new job at the bank, without which I could not have worked. Sure, the bank job meant a $3/hr raise from my previous job and benefits, but in the meantime I needed to upgrade from Dickies and store issued polo shirts, which costs money, money I didnt have. Spend money to make money, I guess.

My credit card also helped me survive while I was funneling money into my brothers tuition during his last year of college, when his student aid wasn't covering it anymore. He has since paid me back. But not being a loan shark, I wasn't about to charge interest.

Later, when my father gave up the ghost, I was between paychecks, and the credit card was what I had to get a last minute train, so last minute that I also needed a last minute cab to get to the train station on time. It was also what I needed to buy shoes and a tie upon arriving home because, in my optimism, I hadn't packed funeral attire.

Later still I acquired the flu during the swine flu scare a few years back, and had been to PAX shortly before, so probably had that. In any case, my manager wouldnt let me back to work until a had a doctor clear me. Being an hourly employee I needed to do this immediately, which necessitated a trip to an urgent care clinic. My health insurance might have covered some of it, but I still had to put $100 on the credit card.

I come from a family that has been variously poor, working class, or lower-middle class, as is the case of most uneducated immigrants to the United States. I have always been a fairly careful person with money. But as Archaic said, there are situations. I suppose the horrible thing is that I am also willing to help others, especially family, which sometimes causes my own denigration and journey into debt for their sake. But I can honestly say that I do not regret it.

I am now in a considerably better financial situation, even being a teacher. Certainly the money doesn't match the workload, but I am comfortable and not living pay check to pay check. However, this as well would not have been possible without the careful application of credit. When I moved to Oakland in August of 2013 I was completely broke, and would not be receiving a paycheck until the last day of September. I subsisted on beans and rice for the better part of a month, slept on a bed with no sheets or pillows, and generally lived in squalor, but this too requires the expenditure of money, for which I had only credit.

I have been in debt, I have paid interest charges. I don't regret it, and while I wouldn't recommend it, I would never say that it is some horrible scheme that a reasonable person cannot handle in a way that is helpful when times are rough, and 100% manageable when they are not.

That said, having spent 3 years working in a major bank I have seen the dark side of this, and banks prey on the people who are at their worst. One of the most horrible experiences of my life was in the winter of 2008, and dark times were those. A woman came to the bank trying to pay her mortgage, which was several weeks overdue, and she was attempting to do it by advancing on her credit cards, all of which turned out to be maxed out. In her desperation, having lost her actual job and moving to 3 part time jobs, she could only fall back on the 20% APY of credit cards to try and stay in her house. We ended up having to call the police to remove her from the branch, which I will chalk up as a supreme moment of personal shame, as I was the one who made the call. There is a dark element to credit, certainly, but having been in a position to see it at its worst, I can still say that I would not tell young people to entirely swear it off.

[Starfe]

[zamisk]

Starfe, that was harsh. However, we did JUST talk about this Garrett. Your snap judgments and thoughtless, rude comments have got to stop. Furthermore, this is the thread for getting stuff off your chest, not someplace people come so others can interject their opinions. You were way out of line.

[Starfe]

[Cottontofu]

My head hurts so much I can't concentrate on simple tasks like studying...

[zamisk]

Ugh, I 'm in the same boat. The meds I'm taking from my wisdom teeth surgery are making it so hard to get my homework done, but there is a lot of it due very soon.

[Trifkin]

I've joined the physical ailments club this week, apparently. They sent me home from work today. Head hurts, throat hurts, stomach was hurting but is better now. Back is worse than ever but at least it's not constant pain.

Let's all feel better soon!