Square Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I started listening to Dave Ramsey a long time ago and he woke me up. We got out of debt and have not used credit for anything since. Feel a lot more stable not having anything hanging over our heads (paid off student loans, bought a car with cash, and put 20% cash down on our house). I know a lot of people use them for everyday and think the "rewards" are worth it, but typically it doesn't pan out. Opinions are like a holes at times so I'm not trying to judge or tell people what to do. Just know there are benefits to buckling down in the short term and getting rid of credit cards for the long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 This is happening to consumers the world over ... right in front of the holidays ... which will have a negative effect on year-end spending (imo). Also, lots of people are seeing their credit lines cut WAY back. Be leery about cancelling cards if you think you may actually need the liquidity at some point; getting credit lines restored to previous levels can be a PITA. Capital One just offered to raise our limit. I would be more concerned about the interest rate if we ever left a balance on either of our cards. Since we don't, this gets filed under "effed up but what the hell, I've got too many things that personally effect me to worry about this" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramhock Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Pretty good customer service there, I said this to a few co-workers and they did the same, out of a total of 6 people calling Citi, 4 got their APRs reduced. WD Anyone revolving anything significant? Any correlation to Citi's decision making on the 6? Thanx in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Capital One just offered to raise our limit. I would be more concerned about the interest rate if we ever left a balance on either of our cards. Since we don't, this gets filed under "effed up but what the hell, I've got too many things that personally effect me to worry about this" +1. Cap 1 haven't raised my rate and it wouldn't do them any good anyway since we don't carry a balance. I use mine for everything because the $1.25 I get back for every $100 spent is a no-brainer. Some other CCs offer an even better cash back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 +1. Cap 1 haven't raised my rate and it wouldn't do them any good anyway since we don't carry a balance. I use mine for everything because the $1.25 I get back for every $100 spent is a no-brainer. Some other CCs offer an even better cash back. I feel a bit dirty about it, but also take advantage of the rewards. I had some quixotic notion of trying to avoid CC's altogether because I feel they're just another tax on the local economy. CC's charge the neighborhood restaurant more than $2 on $100 that you spend there, give you back half of that, and now about 1% of all the money spent in your community is whisked away to Wilmington Delaware. Obviously the rewards program is an attempt to create a situation where they can take a cut of nearly every transaction that takes place. None the less, I gave up. I'm obviously not going to single-handedly start the movement (Use cash and get 2% off your bill!) and at least 75% of the transactions that occur at my restaurants are with CCs. I suppose if I'm going to be one of the guys paying the 2+%, I may as well take advantage of the rewards personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I'm debating switching to a cash system ala Dave Ramsey. Even though we pay off our cards every month, I pretty much know for a fact that we spend more because we pretty much put everything on the card. Too easy to justify picking up a few extra things from Target or buying some extra clothes when it just goes on the card. However, part of me would prefer to almost run everything through a card, all my monthly bills (utility, phone, etc.) as well as my mortgage if I could somehow for the very good cash back we do get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delicious_bass Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 (edited) Let's see....Amereicans as a whole have abused credit cards...bought well beyond their means....have declarde bankruptcy at an alarming rate and caused billlions of dollars of losses to these credit card companies.....and now they pissed because credit card companies are raising interest rates(which is clearly written as their right in the contract each of us signed when we agreed to carry these credit cards) to try to make some of that money back. Sorry, but I don't see how this is any different than any other business who must adjust their rates to offset losses....airlines, autos, hotels, gasoline, insurance companies ....don't all their prices rise when their losses affect their margins? When money gets tight, the first types of loans that people default on are their unsecured debts (those with no collateral). Late or completely negligent credit card payments are usuallyt the first. There are even companies out there now ADVISING consumers to default on their credit card debt so they can act on their behalf and nogotiate a lower balance due. While some people are in a position of high debt because of necessity, most are in it because they wanted to live beyond their means. They didn't bother reading the contract they signed, and just continued to add debt. They are not paying it back. There credit card companies are now doing the only thing they can to maintain their margins....raising rates. if you don't like it, pay off your balances.....and if you can't.....well...who's fault is it really? Glad someone mentioned this. One of my current biggest pet peeves is the number of radio/tv commercials for organizations promissing to eliminate people's debt. We've all heard them by now...they ask if you have over $10K in debt and they usually use some form of "we'll tell you what the credit companies dont want you to know" or similar. What really irks me about these is the verbage they use completely paints people as victims as though the credit card companies are a thug that attacked them and left them with two black eyes and $15,000 in debt. They say crap like "dont let the creditors ruin your life" and/or "get back the life you deserve". The worst ones even say something along the lines of "the govt bailed out the banks, now its your turn!" These ads, IMO, continue to "enable" many of the fools out there that either cant or simply wont manage their money properly to continue to live by the same carefree/irresponsible habbits they have been (which helped get the country in the giant mess its in). I have seen news specials that say many of these ads are also a scam. What's really sad is seeing someone who rang up $20,000 in credit card debt on tv crying about how they were deceived by an organization that promissed to eliminate that $20,000 down to $400 bucks. Yeah, buddy, you're the victim alright You betcha they will be bailed out again. The precedent has been set. It'll only be easier next time...and it was pretty damn easy the last time. Just create a false panic that the banks are failing when they weren't. Hell, what do we really need with a dozen monster banks in this country anyways? Yeah, Citi jacked mine up to 23.99% but I don't carry a balance. I'm shocked they haven't lowered my credit limit yet. I guess that's coming next. The only thing I worry about is some major unexpected expense that my savings can't handle. Especially some medical BS that you never know if your crooked insurance company will deny so you have to go to your crooked credit card company. All companies are cheats nowadays, it seems. Well said and very true. Unfortunately Edited November 19, 2009 by Delicious_bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Glad someone mentioned this. One of my current biggest pet peeves is the number of radio/tv commercials for organizations promissing to eliminate people's debt. We've all heard them by now...they ask if you have over $10K in debt and they usually use some form of "we'll tell you what the credit companies dont want you to know" or similar. What really irks me about these is the verbage they use completely paints people as victims as though the credit card companies are a thug that attacked them and left them with two black eyes and $15,000 in debt. They say crap like "dont let the creditors ruin your life" and/or "get back the life you deserve". The worst ones even say something along the lines of "the govt bailed out the banks, now its your turn!" These ads, IMO, continue to "enable" many of the fools out there that either cant or simply wont manage their money properly to continue to live by the same carefree/irresponsible habbits they have been (which helped get the country in the giant mess its in). I have seen news specials that say many of these ads are also a scam. What's really sad is seeing someone who rang up $20,000 in credit card debt on tv crying about how they were deceived by an organization that promissed to eliminate that $20,000 down to $400 bucks. Yeah, buddy, you're the victim alright Spot on. I don't like credit card companies but I am not keen on idiots either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Glad someone mentioned this. One of my current biggest pet peeves is the number of radio/tv commercials for organizations promissing to eliminate people's debt. We've all heard them by now...they ask if you have over $10K in debt and they usually use some form of "we'll tell you what the credit companies dont want you to know" or similar. What really irks me about these is the verbage they use completely paints people as victims as though the credit card companies are a thug that attacked them and left them with two black eyes and $15,000 in debt. They say crap like "dont let the creditors ruin your life" and/or "get back the life you deserve". The worst ones even say something along the lines of "the govt bailed out the banks, now its your turn!" These ads, IMO, continue to "enable" many of the fools out there that either cant or simply wont manage their money properly to continue to live by the same carefree/irresponsible habbits they have been (which helped get the country in the giant mess its in). I have seen news specials that say many of these ads are also a scam. What's really sad is seeing someone who rang up $20,000 in credit card debt on tv crying about how they were deceived by an organization that promissed to eliminate that $20,000 down to $400 bucks. Yeah, buddy, you're the victim alright Well said and very true. Unfortunately waiting for someone to come in here and say it was the banks fault. the bank tricked those people into buying too much!!! bad banks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby's Hubby Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Somehow, Citibank has increased my fixed rate card, but there explination was that one rate is fixed while another got adjusted, all the while rates are decreasing...I just paid the balance and cut up the card. Citibank has been the only card of mine to do this to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WashingtonD Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Anyone revolving anything significant? Any correlation to Citi's decision making on the 6? Thanx in advance. I think the correlation was more the height of the APRs they reduced versus the balance...one colleague was carrying well over 25k and they dropped his card from 28.9 down to 19.7% or so...we're pretty sure some of the decision making is also just dependent on who answers the phone, I got my rate dropped on the first try, others called a few different times to make it happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montster Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Is this true ? when we were buying a house, i did a ton of research on credit scores. like wildcat said, closing accounts will negatively affect your score, because part of it is based on how much available credit you have, as well as how long you've had that credit. so closing a credit card with a $20,000 limit that that you've had for 10-plus years will likely drive your score down. of course, if your bank slashes your limit for you and you can't get them to raise it again, that's another story. if you still want to cancel your cards, i read that, for some reason, it's best to do so by closing three at a time. if you have a ton of cards, space the closings out every six months. if you decide to keep the cards but don't plan to use them, make a single purchase on them every 4-6 months to keep them active and open and immediately pay them off. a friend of ours said she and her husband carry no credit card debt and pay off their cards on time every month. the limit on one of her cards was lowered from something like $20,000 to $100. i guess they were hoping she'd buy groceries, go over her limit, incur a bunch of fees and drive up her percentage rate, all in one swipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delicious_bass Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 waiting for someone to come in here and say it was the banks fault. the bank tricked those people into buying too much!!! bad banks!!! I actually saw an episode of Dateline(I think it was) where they were talking about the Housing Market Crisis. They interviewed people on all sides of the deal...lenders, borrowers, regulators, Wall St types, etc. Part of the show focused on a few individuals who had gotten in over their head. One case was particularly maddening. It was a woman who(according to the tax records Dateline dug up) was essentially broke. Yet she was able to take out mortgages for rental properties totalling over $1mil. Long story short, when they asked her if she was at all responsible for the predicament she was in, she looked straight into the camera and said "No". The interviewer(Matthews, I believe) was a little surprised, looked at her and said "You're the victim here?" and she looked into the camera and said "Yes". In her mind, it was the fault of the lenders for giving her that money. Unbelievable Now, it should be noted I am not so naive to think that shows like Dateline wouldnt coach this woman up to make it more ridiculous for the purpose of ratings, but there are likely millions of people out there that really do think like that and it just boggles my mind. At what point did personal responsibility go out the window in this country? Everyone is entitled and nothing is ever their fault Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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