What's in Your Wallet?

[Hobbit]

A steaming pile of bullcrap, that's what's in your wallet, at least if you carry a Capital One card. I know this is old, but I didn't think to post it at the time. Clark Howard, a recently syndicated radio financial advisor (and a damn good one, at that) blew the whistle on a horribly exploitative practice being used by Capital One. It seems that if you're running one such card up close to the limit, they'll just send you another one...automatically, and let you run that one over the limit, too. They continue to do this until they have a nice little $350/month overage fee habid strangling you to death. It's sick...and twisted. What's is your wallet? It very well could be an anchor dragging you into the depths of poverty.

http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/7/40/224/

 

[Kagom]

Credit card companies are bloodthirsty bastards.

 

[insein]

All the more reason that Finance should be taught at 1st grade just like all the other subjects.

 

[red states rule]

Credit card companies are bloodthirsty bastards.

It is not the credit card companies fault if people are to damn stupid to manage their credit

At one time I worked with HS grads who could not count down their cash register drawer back down to $50.00 and put the rest in their cash bag

 

[KarlMarx]

I have one credit card. I use it to buy groceries, gasoline, pay bills and what not.

At the end of the month, I get a statement, I pay off the balance and life goes on.

Of course, I'm lucky in some ways, I don't live in an area of the country that has a high cost of living (if you don't count taxes), I have a decent job and I'm not one to live it up. I've had a job of one sort or another since the age of 12, except for brief periods when I went away to school.

My idea of a vacation is to hang out at home, go on a day trip to someplace nearby, veg out at home and read a book. My parents are the same as I am, they're big savers too. So I guess I've learned it from them. I drive a used car, which I've owned since 1998, pack my own lunches, wear clothes until they're threadbare, I put as much into my 401(k) plan as I can get away with.

Yes, I'll admit, I'm the biggest bore, definitely not the stuff that a mini series is made of. But I do have something going for me.

Whenever there is a sudden need for money, I have it. Whenever my son needs money for books, if I have to get something fixed around the house, when bill time comes, I'm all set.

There is such a thing as living below your means. Once you realize that you don't need the biggest, the latest, the best, you suddenly feel more wealthy. Contentment is a means of achieving wealth. And wealth is not always material, it sometimes manifests itself as understanding and wisdom. Be a good steward of the money that comes your way. Realize that money is a good servant but a bad master.

When it comes to investing and savings, I think of the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race. Invest and save a part of your paycheck each week, pay yourself first. In time you'll be amazed at how much you have.

Another fable that is instructive is the grasshopper and the ant. If you plan for the future and sacrifice today so that you'll have what you need tomorrow, you'll very likely do well. On the other hand, if you want to live for today... well, there's always tomorrow, but tomorrow may not be very pleasant!

 

[jillian]

Credit card companies are allowed to do what no other debtor can... charge usurous rates so that if one is making minimum payments, they still can't ever pay off their debt.

Credit card companies are also allowed to increase your interest rates even if you're paying timely, if you happen to pay another creditor late.

Financial institutions have one of the most powerful lobbies on capital hill. That's how they were able to get the bankruptcy bill passed.

 

[dilloduck]

One has to have a certain amount of intelligence to exist and compete in a capitalistic society. If you don't you are quickly relegated to a status where you have lost what some call freedoms and must depend on the generosity of others to exist. Ignorant losers are angry at thier status and are always angry at the hand that feeds them as opposed to being greatful they are not left to starve.

 

[red states rule]

Credit card companies are allowed to do what no other debtor can... charge usurous rates so that if one is making minimum payments, they still can't ever pay off their debt.

Credit card companies are also allowed to increase your interest rates even if you're paying timely, if you happen to pay another creditor late.

Financial institutions have one of the most powerful lobbies on capital hill. That's how they were able to get the bankruptcy bill passed.

Try soemthing that is hard a liberal to do Jilly - stop whining and find another credit card (if you have such a good payment history)

The nerve of people being forced to pay the money they owe! Oh, the inhumanity of it all!

 

[Mr. P]

I consider the CC companies legal financial predators.
They are the biggest lobby on the hill, and were the force behind the new bankruptcy legislation. What really is a shame is the CC companies now have a license to steal from their customers, which they are doing in earnest. IMO.
Not to mention the collection laws that banks do not have to abide by anylonger that other creditors still do.

What’s ironic is, they thought this new law would reduce their losses, in fact their losses have increased. Bad business practice does that.

 

[red states rule]

I consider the CC companies legal financial predators.
They are the biggest lobby on the hill, and were the force behind the new bankruptcy legislation. What really is a shame is the CC companies now have a license to steal from their customers, which they are doing in earnest. IMO.
Not to mention the collection laws that banks do not have to abide by anylonger that other creditors still do.

What’s ironic is, they thought this new law would reduce their losses, in fact their losses have increased. Bad business practice does that.

What are you people babbling about? CC companies provide a great service, and if people are to stupid to manage their credit - it is not the fault of the CC companies

Now it is a crime for people to have to PAY the money they OWE? I wish you people ran a business where your customers were able to walk away from you without paying you the money they owed you

 

[Gem]

Sorry...but the credt card companies don't sneak into you home in the middle of the night - stealing your cards and running off to the mall to max them out.

Do they charge horrible rates? Yes, many of them do...then again...they are willing to let people with horrible credit ratings, a history of late payments, etc. charge thousands of dollars worth of debt that they carry...and allow the person to make 15 dollar a month payments on that amount...

Now, I agree...its terrible that there are people who are unable to get out from underneath their debt...however...what I find MORE terrible, is that these people got themselves into a situation where they charged thousands of dollars worth of debt for things they could not afford.

There has to be personal responsibility.

That being said...I think we could get rid of an elective in highschool (I took Art I, Psychology, Sociology, Pottery I, Pottry II, Photography I, Photography II, and Computer Math in addition to my "normal classes." Surely one of them could have been a course on Finance and Money Management.

I was lucky enough to have parents who taught me these things...but many do not...case in point, my good friend in college who took a 5,000 cash advance on her credit card to go to Holland with another friend.

Is the fact that my roommate was a total idiot the credit card company's fault? Afterall, she is still paying for it? Sorry...but I don't think so...I see it as a business capitalizing on her ignorance...

So yes, they are heartless, greedy, bastards...but if you a)pay off your balances each month, b) choose your cards carefully, c) don't use them irresponsibly....you'll find that they are amazingly convinient and occassionally come with nice little perks.

Rather than screeching at the companies, why don't we push for education for people who misuse their credit cards? After all..."fixing" credit card companies isn't going to stop idiots with no money from buying whatever they want on plastic and paying off the minimums forever.

 

[red states rule]

I will never understand why so many people want to blame others for their own stupidity.

 

[Mr. P]

Sorry folks. I have a close connection to the world of bankruptcy practice
that you guys never see.

Should people pay their debt? Yes. Should CC companies make it impossible to do so? No. But they are for many people.

Take an old lady that has had a card for years, she’s always paid it in full if she used her card.
Then for whatever reason, medication, doctor, she runs it to $500.
She pays the minimum every month because she can’t pay more. Then the CC company increases her minimum payment, and the interest rate to boot. Now what does she do? Fixed income, responsible, she wants to pay her debt but how, not eat? What she can’t pay is what CC company imposed on her, it’s not her irresponsibility. And now her balance increases even though she is still paying.

And that folks is stealing! Like I said, they’re financial predators. Now they’re legal and taking every advantage of it. Believe me.

 

[red states rule]

Sorry folks. I have a close connection to the world of bankruptcy practice
that you guys never see.

Should people pay their debt? Yes. Should CC companies make it impossible to do so? No. But they are for many people.

Take an old lady that has had a card for years, she’s always paid it in full if she used her card.
Then for whatever reason, medication, doctor, she runs it to $500.
She pays the minimum every month because she can’t pay more. Then the CC company increases her minimum payment, and the interest rate to boot. Now what does she do? Fixed income, responsible, she wants to pay her debt but how, not eat? What she can’t pay is what CC company imposed on her, it’s not her irresponsibility. And now her balance increases even though she is still paying.

And that folks is stealing! Like I said, they’re financial predators. Now they’re legal and taking every advantage of it. Believe me.

Is it the fault of the CC when people cannot pay their bills? They are extending credit to people who are a bad risk

It is shocking to me their are so many bleeding hearts who want to smear the companies that allow the worlds economy to grow and prosper

 

[Mr. P]

Is it the fault of the CC when people cannot pay their bills? They are extending credit to people who are a bad risk

It is shocking to me their are so many bleeding hearts who want to smear the companies that allow the worlds economy to grow and prosper

Are you a dumb ass or just pretending to be?

Tell me how a college kid, without a job, just gets a CC in the mail one day without EVER applying for one!
Bad credit? Hell NO, NO CREDIT! It's common practice too with these blood suckers.

Or how about me. I ALWAYS pay the balance due. and have perfect credit, and they still pump the interest rate up. Am I a risk? No, they just hope I stubble someday, like the old lady.

 

[red states rule]

Are you a dumb ass or just pretending to be?

Tell me how a college kid, without a job, just gets a CC in the mail one day without EVER applying for one!
Bad credit? Hell NO, NO CREDIT! It's common practice too with these blood suckers.

Or how about me. I ALWAYS pay the balance due. and have perfect credit, and they still pump the interest rate up. Am I a risk? No, they just hope I stubble someday, like the old lady.

Did the CC company hold a gun to his/her head and force the "kid" to fill out the application?

You are the doumbass for shifting the blame to the companies who have nothing to do with the problem

If you pay in full every month why worry about the interest rate? If you don't like the rates change cards. Or is that harder then sitting on your ass griping about the rates?

 

[Mr. P]

Did the CC company hold a gun to his/her head and force the "kid" to fill out the application?

You are the doumbass for shifting the blame to the companies who have nothing to do with the problem

If you pay in full every month why worry about the interest rate? If you don't like the rates change cards. Or is that harder then sitting on your ass griping about the rates?

Tell me how a college kid, without a job, just gets a CC in the mail one day without EVER applying for one!

You missed that part I guess.

And I not griping about the rates, just showing you what they do. It has nothing to do with 'bad credit'. They pumped me up 9% about 5 years ago to, along with about 2 million other card holders. No reason, except we all most likely payed every month in full.

 

[Hobbit]

You know, nobody ever forces people to smoke, either, but they are immoral for pushing their product on kids. What credit card companies do is immoral, not illegal. They give credit to people who can't pay it off and then milk them for the rest of their lives. Saying that the blame rests solely on people who can't manage money is like claiming that somebody is trapped in a well through their own stupidity when the guys who made the well surrounded it with a well-oiled funnel. What's worse is that Captial One advertises this usury as a 'safety net' to allow you to pay for things without maxing out your other card until you can pay your debt back down, which they know you can't. They also do what is only a hair's width from lying when they advertise credit cards to college students who are still too young to fully 'get it' (the same ones who think a minimum wage hike won't increase unemployment). The first time they miss a payment, it's several hundred dollars in fees and a 30%+ interest rate. It's sick.

What credit card companies are doing now is preying on the foolish among us. They're essentially legal, white collar con men.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

You know, nobody ever forces people to smoke, either, but they are immoral for pushing their product on kids. What credit card companies do is immoral, not illegal. They give credit to people who can't pay it off and then milk them for the rest of their lives. Saying that the blame rests solely on people who can't manage money is like claiming that somebody is trapped in a well through their own stupidity when the guys who made the well surrounded it with a well-oiled funnel. What's worse is that Captial One advertises this usury as a 'safety net' to allow you to pay for things without maxing out your other card until you can pay your debt back down, which they know you can't. They also do what is only a hair's width from lying when they advertise credit cards to college students who are still too young to fully 'get it' (the same ones who think a minimum wage hike won't increase unemployment). The first time they miss a payment, it's several hundred dollars in fees and a 30%+ interest rate. It's sick.

What credit card companies are doing now is preying on the foolish among us. They're essentially legal, white collar con men.

Heh, the same protesting college kids who we are led to believe via the media as being so "important" re political matters are the same college kids who can't figure out how a credit card works....does that tell anybody anything? :

 

[90K]

Not enough in my wallet