Credit cards

Kevin_H. · September 05, 2003, 04:41:29 PM

Haytrader,
Amen to that :D

Using a credit card is like having automatic overdraft protection.

And If you do have to pay a little interest it's a tax deduction to boot.

Den Socling · September 05, 2003, 06:08:24 PM

Steve,

I always put the two decades of raising my kids in a special catagory of my life. Two decades really is a wink of an eye when you look back. Develop your kid (and that's what a good parent does, DEVELOP) into the best person possible. And, as I'm sure you know, turnin' that tadpole into a good person is not dependent on money but, at times, you gotta spend money that you don't have. As you mentioned, sometimes money is spent by spending the time with your kid that needs to be spent. It's easy to let the credit card companies get their hooks into you deep when you are trying to provide and spend time. But, kids are an investment more important than cash.

den
PS I really lucked out when I raised a son that became my partner. He now helps me make bucks! big bucks that I couldn't do on my own 8) real cool!

biziedizie · September 05, 2003, 06:11:34 PM

Den

Steve

Sawyerfortyish · September 06, 2003, 05:13:07 AM

I'm with Frickman don't own one don't want one been all over this country and have always used cash. Makes you very aware of how much you spend when your pocket gets this empty feeling.Can't figure out how people can survive spending more than they make and paying those interest rates. Someday it will all crash it happened once before and it can happen again.

shopteacher · September 06, 2003, 05:46:00 AM

Biz,
Call those cc companies and get them to lower your rate. I bought my skid steer, woodmizer and roll back ford truck on cards. I owe 5,000. now and haven't paid one cent in interest. Everytime the free interest period is about up I look for another card company with a 12 month free interest offer and transfer. The transfer fee you mentioned will usually be waved if you call and tell them you'd like to transfer to their card, but don't want to pay that fee. The've waved it for me every time. I called one company to close an account I was going to transfer and was instantly offered to have the interest lowered from 9% to 2.9%. I told them I had a better deal 0%. So I know if you haggle with them they will try and keep your account. I have a AAA VISA card I use for gas purchase that gives me a 5% rebate on fuel purchases thats about 8 cents per gallon right now so that lower it from 1.65 to about 1.58. You don't have to be a AAA member(I'm not) and can apply online for their card. I pay it and any other card off every month. I do like using their money, but only for free.

biziedizie · September 06, 2003, 07:29:18 AM

  Shopteacher I do the the low interest thing but I have never seen a o interest deal before. I'm gonna pull all the bills out and look them over to see where I'm at. What I'm thinking is to give it to my accountant and have her put them all on one card. I hava alot of small bills and if I put them together then it won't be so bad.
  I'm gonna look at a new truck today as it's 1.9% and that's a pretty good deal.

   Steve

shopteacher · September 06, 2003, 07:42:50 AM

Biz,
Last month transfered 7500.00 to Chase Manhattan at 0% for 12 months. There address is www.chase.com/cards. They have a phone number for out of the country on the back but I can't make it out due to the embossing of the numbers on the card. Discover card is another one I had used at 0% as well as AT&T universal card. Check them out and see if any can do you any good. Best of Luck.

PS: All that interest would make Devon a great start on a college fund.

biziedizie · September 06, 2003, 08:15:11 AM

  Now that's cool. 8) I will check that site out when I get back.

  I have one of them goverment deals for a college fund where for every buck I put in they will give me fiffty cents. At the moment it's at around $4500.00. I hope to have about $25000.00 by the time he's ready to get better education but I think that will only put a small dent in what it's really gonna cost.

   Steve

biziedizie · September 11, 2003, 06:44:48 PM

  K I've been thinking about things. What if I just say to heck with the cards and see what happens??? Been walking around the property and thinking about things and it seems that I have alot of stuff on credit. I look at some of the stuff that I have and I ask myself if I own it or is it on cc??? Not saying that this is a bad thing as being self-employed credit is good at times.
  Work has suxed this summer and as I lost most of my commercial work cause I chose to be with my kid things have gotten tight.
  Woke up this morning and because of the weather change my knees were killing me so I didn't go to work.
  This time of year I have enough saved to make it through the slow times in winter but at this moment I can't see this happening :

If I walk from the bills what happens??? Do they take everything??? These are things that I'm thinking about but I don't know if I will do it. At this very moment it's just thoughts going through my mind.
I started this thread saying that I owed about 20 grand and now that I added things up it's alot more then that

I have my accountant going over things at the moment and she wants me to save my credit and is going through things to figure out a way. She says that it can be done but I'm thinking of different ways to deal with it ;D
I guess my question is has anyone here lost everything and started over??? What was it like and would you do it again if ya had to :

Steve

woodmills1 · September 11, 2003, 07:03:45 PM

U R now speakin of bankruptcy there are two kinds both called chapter something. I seem to remember it is hard to keep any capital goods you own under either one. though creative ownership can work. you do need an accountant who is with and for you and knows what you really want to do. GOOD LUCK!

Den Socling · September 11, 2003, 07:17:22 PM

Assuming you have an accountant that you trust, do exactly as she says. Keeping your credit can be useful if, for some reason, you absolutely have to buy on credit. On the other hand, a friend of mine was married for a year or two to a woman that charged him in deep and then took off, leaving him with the bills. He declared bankruptcy and had a couple hard years. He now has more toys and tools than you can shake a stick at and they are paid for. It just takes time. Don't expect any overnight solution like the stupid lottery.

biziedizie · September 11, 2003, 07:26:59 PM

  Den what I'm wondering about is the stuff that I bought, like I never used the cc's to go drinking or things like that I used them to buy stuff. Will the cc companies take it all away???
  My accountant says that I can make it through this and she has a plan and I do trust her.
  I just re-read every post here and it just kinda makes me think that it would be better to start over.
  I used the cards to get the company ahead and that was a plus but now I don't need them ;D
  In the morning I have a meeting with Trudy and it will be interesting to see what she says

Steve

Den Socling · September 11, 2003, 07:44:08 PM

Steve,

I have no idea what the laws are in Canada but, down here, my buddy Mike had to go to court. There had been some haggling between his lawyer and the court. he was told what was going, the big stuff, and what he could keep.

get a good night sleep and then get real honest with Trudy. Then follow her advice. One thing I am sure of, there is a way out of every hole! 8)

Den

David_c · September 11, 2003, 07:44:49 PM

do whatever you have to but dont lose your credit. and bankrupcy will be on your credit report for 5 years that you wont be able to get new truck or any kind of credit :'( and even after that its still there in the back ground just waiting to bite you in the a** when you need it most bite the the bullit and pay them of even if you have to sell some of those toys to do it. definitlly aint worth the hassle for whatever its worth. :D good luck whatever you decide.

Tom · September 11, 2003, 07:45:49 PM

I've an acquaintance (friend?) who has lived on Credit Cards since his retirement from the Army. His indebtedness cost him a job with the Fed. Park Service, It prevented his working with an established company in the field of Surveying, which was his livelihood. He claimed Bankruptcy and the Courts took everything he (didn't) own and everything he did own to pay off the indebtedness. He never owned a house but lived in a 5th wheel camper.

If it hadn't been for his wife's sister and her husband, he and his wife would have been on the street. They moved the couple into a back bedroom. It has been 7 or 8 years and he has just bought his first car on credit since the Bankruptcy. He was living on pure cash before. There is a possibility that they may come out of it with reputations intact but it sure doesn't look like it. They are both 65+ now and the only thing they have going for them is his Army retirement which allows on-base shopping and some medical attention. His wife is a Cancer survivor with a colostomy and that gets expensive. He is a beer drinker and most of their disposable income goes toward alcohol.

I would say that Bankruptcy is the very last thing a young fellow should do. Not that it may not be in the cards but your reputation as well as your self-esteem will depend on how you handle this and how you come out of it.

If you feel that you are in over your head then make every effort to right things with your creditors before you leave them holding the bag.

David_c · September 11, 2003, 07:50:41 PM

well said tom 8)

Jeff · September 11, 2003, 07:58:43 PM

I think back to when Tammy and I first got Married. I made 3.25 an hour and she did not work. Our grocery buget was 20 a week. Our rent was 100 and our car payment 115, and car insurance was 400 every 6 months. Our electric bill ran around 20 and the phone about the same. In the winter we heated one room with blankets hung up in the doorways to keep that one room warm.

We lived lean. We were both 18 and on our own. We were as happy then as we are now. We may have to live lean again some day. Who knows. Living lean does not mean living without. Most meaningful things are free. Tammy and I have been together since we were 16. We have been down the credit card path in our history and climbed out. How? By looking back at how we started.

biziedizie · September 11, 2003, 08:08:15 PM

Good point Jeff. I guess that's what I don't want to do, live lean. Kinda used to spending money like it grows on trees and I know that if I stop living like this that I will be fine.
13 years ago I would count change when I went on my own and it was hard and it looks like I gotta do that again for awhile. I have way more stuff now and things will work out as they always do.

Tom thanks for the post, you just told me the same thing that my dad just told me

I didn't want to call him but I did and he told me about what he's been through and my stuff seems so small in comparision.

Steve

Jason_WI · September 11, 2003, 09:48:23 PM

Cut up dem cards! They'll eat you alive. If at all possible get a small business loan with lower intrest and pay off the high intrest stuff. Use all your stuff as collateral except your house or land in case the 6!@#%^&* hits the fan you still got a pot to pee in and a window to throw it out of. ;D

You should be incorporated or LLC to seperate buisness from personal stuff, don't know if that applies in canada though.....

You may have to eat ramen noodles for a while but it will be worth it. 8)

Jason

biziedizie · September 12, 2003, 04:42:33 AM

  Been looking at my banking options and it looks like I can get a company loan with a 2% interest rate and the payments will be low and spread out over five years. I could take all my cc and cut them up and just keep two and things would be fine from what I see 8)
  You know them checks that the cc companies send ya, well I just had a little fire with them all 8)
  From the way I figure things I just gotta stop spending money that I don't have :D
  I bought this for 5 grand and I've only used it a few times.

  Did I need to buy a new trailer??? NOPE :D We have another one here but it's not as nice but it will do the job so this one will be up forsale soon.
  My van will be in the papers in the morning as I can't drive two vehicles at once ;D
  I let things slide and it's my fault and it's up to me to pick up the slack. I'm gonna pay these bas#$@! off if it's the last thing that I ever do 8) :D

  Does anyone know how to make kraft dinner??? :D

   Steve

C_Miller · September 12, 2003, 05:54:20 AM

Sometimes the Mac 'n Cheese comes in five packs and is much cheaper than individual boxes. On the good weeks there's a bag of tuna wih them. You don't need hamburger to make Hamburger Helper. There's usually bread at 2 fer 1. And sometimes dinner is just outside running around the yard. CB caps don't make enough noise to bother the neighbors if you live in town.

C

Tom · September 12, 2003, 07:07:08 AM

Seed doesn't cost much, You can buy a pack of dry beans at the grocery store and plant what you don't eat. :D

You've about run out of growing season up there though, haven't you?

Snow Peas!! :D :D

kentuckyboy · September 12, 2003, 07:28:49 PM

Check out www.daveramsey.com lots of info on this subject and also has a syndicated radio show.

biziedizie · September 12, 2003, 08:02:24 PM

   C_Miller Mac + cheese kinds makes me sick but I do eat it I have to ;D Found out today that if I come home for lunch I save a few bucks plus I don't have to listen to the guys and the b.s that they talk about ;D

  Tom it's a bit late to plant anything but I know lots of people that did plant this year.....gotta go make a few fone calls ;D

  kentuckyboy I'm really bad at searching web pages but if you can point me to the topic that would be cool

Steve

C_Miller · September 12, 2003, 09:42:14 PM

Steve,

There's a book I read just in case I needed to called "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thom Stanleyand William Danko.

They did research on how most millionares maintain their lifestyle. most don't live lavishly but try to accrue wealth by living on less than what they earn.

also if you cut up hotdogs and throw them in the mac and cheese it's not to bad. Ham is good too, or is that canadian bacon?I am pretty sure I was in that movie. The last scene showing the American side of the river. man i need some sleep.

C