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428 Comments
- kingsal, on 06/26/2009, -23/+425Don't buy crap you can't afford. Simple as that.
- doublefelix, on 06/26/2009, -4/+258Hell of an infographic.
- blackjack75, on 06/26/2009, -22/+263Don't buy crap you can't afford: like a college education?
- viol999, on 06/26/2009, -18/+184I think we can blame both parties in congress for this mess.
- seltaeb4, on 06/26/2009, -46/+204Usury: when a 0% percent interest rate becomes a 30%+ interest rate when ONE payment is ONE day late.
You can thank the Republicans for deregulating the financial industry. - mohsenxp, on 06/26/2009, -19/+131From my experience there are only 2 people who think a college education is a waste of money:
1) Those who did a degree that is not relevant to what they want to do (basically went to college for the sake of going to college)
2) Those who went to college thinking that getting a degree will be a golden ticket into life (basically putting in minimal effort, getting a decent result at the end of it but that's it)
If you went to college knowing the stiff competition you'll be facing in the future, then you would have put in extra effort, joined societies, developed personal skills, developed contacts, secured an industrial placement with a prospective company...
These people (like myself) are now seeing the investment of college pay off in heaps.
You only have yourself to blame if you've graduated and have gotten no where in life. - floboskifilms, on 06/26/2009, -0/+80I like the ad for the Visa Black Card on the right side.
- ShyGuy91284, on 06/26/2009, -4/+83Am I the only one that was also able to interpret that as "suicide, preferably by being burned alive, will end your debt problems"?
- RegularUser, on 06/26/2009, -5/+78Where do you think all those multi million bonuses come from?
- Whitecoolie, on 06/26/2009, -4/+68Oh so true. I am already there.
- roostersheep, on 06/26/2009, -0/+63I was made redundant at the end of last year and had barely over £4000 including my girlfriend's money -- who also didn't have a job. In the first month the landlord demanded 6 months in advance rent, which is marginally less than £3000, so we combined the payment and had £1000 for food, internet, TV licence, petrol etc for the next 5 months (until I got another job). I can imagine a lot of people would take a loan - which we were very tempted to do at first. Instead I tried to earn some money doing freelance design (which, for the first time ever I completely lost inspiration for, probably due to pressure), and keeping our spending down. Did you know you can get a packet pasta for 19p? Did you know that you probably won't receive your job seekers allowance until after you've found a damn job? After a month or so only drinking water, you'll find that no fizzy drink or alcohol will quench your thirst nearly as well.
So I'd say keeping spending to a minimum, put the high majority of your day into finding another job or working freelance, and try not to take out a loan if you can. - patRIOTik, on 06/26/2009, -8/+66This is Digg, who are you kidding. Republicans did it.
- hellahyphy, on 06/26/2009, -0/+55I'm pretty sure I'll trip and fall straight to the bottom.
- inactive, on 06/26/2009, -6/+57***** credit cards - once I'm finally out from under the debt I accrued while going to school I'm never going to use the ***** again.
- mohsenxp, on 06/26/2009, -3/+54Well some of us left mommy's nest a few years ago and we are managing to live within our means.
That means sitting down, looking at my salary as it is, not how much it can rise to in the next 3 years, budgeting and making sure I end up with a plus at the end of every month...avoiding credit cards, avoiding overdrafts, treating $0 as $0 and not as the start of negative equity.
Sure this means I don't have a 42" Plasma hooked up to a $1000 surround sound like some of my colleagues do, but it means I will pay off my mortgage quicker than they can. To me that's definitely worth the small little sacrifices.
We've been conditioned into thinking that debt is a part of life. It really isn't. - NJank, on 06/26/2009, -1/+52hmmm.. avoid living within your means. Got it. if this doesn't work I'm blaming you.
- veriix, on 06/26/2009, -8/+58If you're dumb enough to put tuition on a credit card then I doubt you're smart enough to get into college in the first place.
- mnemy, on 06/26/2009, -3/+53That's precisely the philosophy I've always used. And where has it gotten me? I can't get a damned credit card because I've never been in debt so I have no credit history and therefore am a risk. I won't be able to get a good loan for a house, etc.
I've bought everything with my own cash, car included. I've never had a loan. I have a good job and make more than I can spend, but even my own bank wouldn't give me a credit card, even with them seeing that I save a substantial amount of money every paycheck. I had to get one of those Pre-paid credit cards through my bank to even get started.
Trying to jump start my credit history, I was putting all my expenses on the card, and using much of the balance every month and paying it off in full. My theory was that they would see that I needed more credit, and I was responsible for always paying it off in full and never being late. NOPE. Instead, they said that I was a risk because I was using a dangerously high percentage of my entire credit. Apparently they don't even factor in that I was paying it off in full, they just look at your end balance every month, and I was consistently using up 60%+ of my available credit.
Now I'm trying to keep a consistent 30% on my card, and never paying it off so I pay their finance charges every month. I heard that the only way to improve your credit is if you're actually "in debt" and paying the company interest. So in effect, you're bribing them for a good credit score.
This whole system is so ***** retarded I can't believe it. They reward irresponsible people living outside their means, and punish those that prefer to only spend what they have. - inactive, on 06/26/2009, -3/+50@SpykerSpeed:
Those are rare exceptions. Otherwise everybody would be a millionaire. - Elranzer, on 06/26/2009, -1/+48"basically went to college for the sake of going to college"
Seems like there's more and more of these nowadays. And not just for community college, but 4-year degrees.
They're basically lowering the value of everyone with *real* degrees and education. Now all the HR cronies expect everyone to have a Bachelor's Degree (they don't care what in, just have one) for entry level jobs.
The Bachelor's Degree is the new high school diploma. - RoanokeRich, on 06/26/2009, -1/+44Been down that hole twice, not going a third time. These days, if I can't pay for it up front, I don't get it.
- inactive, on 06/26/2009, -3/+43I particularly like how usury at much lower rates was a hanging offense in Europe hundreds of years ago, yet usury at might higher interest rates is widespread in America due to credit lenders.
- snurfle, on 06/26/2009, -2/+40A little bit of advise to anyone selling things to s1k3st: stop giving him your merchandise. He deceived you when he walked in the door of your establishment with his credit card with the intent to take goods and services and merchandise from your business with no intention of making good on it.
Simply ask him to pay cash at the time of the purchase, and avoid the hassles of never receiving payment for the products he stole from you.
I know most people will wright this off as crazy or a "conspiracy theory", but even if just 1 or 2 people try this they will spread the word and those people will do the same, over and over until everyone knows. - o76923, on 06/26/2009, -6/+43or healthcare
- 68024, on 06/26/2009, -2/+39And by the way, if you don't get a credit card, you will have a hard time building up a credit history, making it exponentially more difficult to obtain a loan when you really need it - such as when buying a car or a house. It's a nice little racket they've got going here...
- otterp, on 06/26/2009, -2/+34Its worth saying again: SNL already solved this. Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389/saturday-night-live ... - inactive, on 06/26/2009, -1/+31There is a reason it's called 7 years of bad luck. That is about how long it takes something stupid you did to owe money but refuse to pay back to get off your credit report.
Also they left out the part of the bottom of credit card hell when you get your dog to cosign on a car note. - NewGTGuy, on 06/26/2009, -7/+37Republican = Democrat. The left/right paradigm is an illusion.
- TnTBass, on 06/26/2009, -4/+33Unexpected car repairs? Having a roommate move out on you on short notice, leaving you with the bills.
Those two reasons are the only reason I have any credit card debt. It is not all stupid purchases. - gonzo1773, on 06/26/2009, -0/+29Things are bad when you start missing payments or get charged fees. However, in these tough economic times, the consumer does have a bit of power.
If you find yourself with an over limit fee, or some other ***** charge, call the card company and complain. 4 our of 5 times they will reverse the charge. The credit card companies are also a business, and they want to keep you as a customer. So if you also feel like your rate is too high, call and tell them that another card offered you a lower rate. Even if its not true, they will usually lower the rate (perhaps not to an insane degree, but a few points off is a huge savings every month).
The only thing you have to worry about is who you talk to. Most of the companies have their calls routed to India (no offense to indians) and the language barrier can be brutal. You have the right to speak to someone in the US. If they say you dont, ask for a manager. Eventually, you will get put through to a US based center.
OK. Im done ranting. Neat infograph. - hagiaso, on 06/26/2009, -4/+32The idea that everyone needs to go to college is just PR put out by colleges. Why? Because they are businesses. And it is BIG business.
The fact is, not everyone should go to college.
Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
It is a shame that "the bachelors degree has become the new high school diploma", it's just a testament to how good the PR is for colleges. - inactive, on 06/26/2009, -0/+28you crazy bastard
- MrSparkle666, on 06/26/2009, -1/+27I will echo what mnemy above has stated. I'm in a similar situation. I hate being in debt, so I'm 26 years old and I've never had a credit card. A few times I tried to get one, and because I'm in my mid twenties with no established credit, I'm some sort of "high risk." So, I can only get a prepaid card with ridiculous fees. It seems like a huge scam, so I never went for it. Now, whenever I try to rent an apartment, or get a job, or even sign up for a cell phone plan, I get treated like some sort of huge risk because I don't have a credit score. I would think that not needing to ever borrow money in my entire life would speak well for me, but apparently being thrifty and not borrowing money has put me in the same risk category as bankrupt crack head. Does that make any sense? And now, if I want to build a credit score I have to basically pay a credit card company just to use money I already have. Great! This is a stupid ***** system if I ever did see one. It only rewards people who are perpetually in debt. No wonder the banking system is *****.
- RainyDayNinja, on 06/26/2009, -0/+26http://www.hulu.com/watch/1389/saturday-night-live ...
- mohsenxp, on 06/26/2009, -2/+27Actually there's a very easy and sensible way to get around this, and it's something I did since I was 18, and I have never even been hesitated on being approved a credit check.
Get a credit card, but buy with it things you would buy normally with cash or debit. Basically things you can AFFORD to buy right there, not in the future.
Then simply pay off the credit card with the money you would have paid anyway for the good.
This means don't buy things you wouldn't normally buy, and make sure you have the money anyway.
You only need to do this a couple of times but it shows you can handle credit really well. Problem solved. - skipvt, on 06/26/2009, -0/+25It seems like a long way, but it's not.
- Vorg, on 06/26/2009, -1/+25i want one with kittens on it....
- ripple123, on 06/26/2009, -6/+27hey, some over generalised sage statments about life. wow. whine whine whine.
- shadus, on 06/26/2009, -0/+20You're not the only one. A lot of people who get unemployed rely on it to survive and feed their family. It beats losing your house or starving, but it's going to delay recovery even when people DO get employed again and make it a hell of a long time clawing your way out of hell.
- mille716, on 06/26/2009, -5/+25*****. Credit card contracts are designed to be as confusing as possible.
A ***** Harvard law expert on contract law doesn't even understand the terms of credit cards, how do you expect me or you to make sense of it.
Traps in Fine Print - 3:31
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cred ... - NJank, on 06/26/2009, -2/+21Last I checked, a credit card gives you access to a line of credit. In other words, there is no promise ever made that they're giving you a pile of money. If you are approved for a credit card with $5,000 limit, they never give you that money. They never said they would. They're not supposed to. It's a credit line, not a loan. That's why you don't pay interest on the full amount from day 1 like you do with a car loan or mortgage.
When you make a credit card purchase, all that paperwork you signed means you agreed to a financial arrangement where the bank will pay the seller for you, and you promise to pay the bank back that amount. The bank will cover up to the limit they specified for you. The return for them extending you this benefit is that you pay a finance charge each month on money you haven't paid back to them.
You never received money because they never promised to give you any money and you never agreed to get any money. You, however, did agree every time you made a purchase and signed the receipt to be bound by the terms of your card agreement in repaying the bank the amount they were paying the seller on your behalf. The bank paid the seller. You failed to repay the bank as agreed. You broke your side of the agreement.
They probably haven't responded yet because they're trying to figure out what you were smoking that made you ever think money was somehow to be transferred into your account like it was a loan. - TheNyquilKid, on 06/26/2009, -1/+20Jon Stewart had the best quote I have ever heard on this subject and I can't find it so I will paraphrase.
They used to loan you money so you would pay it off, now they lend you money so you CAN'T pay it off. - minorthreat, on 06/26/2009, -2/+20I paid off 14k worth of student loans and CC debt in two years. I own my car and motorcycle. I'm about to sell my townhouse and be 100% debt free. ***** it, A rich person is someone who has everything he needs. I have everything I need, plus a few toys and I don't owe anyone *****. In my point of view, I'm richer than anyone who has a car payment.
- TimtheTaxMan, on 06/26/2009, -3/+20I don’t know why everyone hates credit cards. They are an excellent liquidity tool if used correctly. Just like any tool, you have to know how to use it or you will get hurt.. You would not use a chainsaw without knowing what you were doing; use the same mentality with credit cards.
- Kale, on 06/26/2009, -0/+17I have a credit card from hell story. I had two credit cards from the same bank. One was my college card I had for years, the other was my new 0% APR card that I had open for a few months. Since I wasn't really using my college card (high APR) except for gas, I decided to cancel it. The day before I called to cancel it I apparently had used it at a "compromised vendor" and they wanted to change the account number. No problem, I told the bank, just transfer my balance to my other card and cancel. Just a quick glance at my next statement showed a balance transfer (and credit limit transfer for that matter, i could buy a new car on it...).
Fast forward for two months and I get a call "You're really late on a payment on your card that ends in XXXX, and you're over the balance". I told the guy I didn't have a card that ended in XXXX. After being bounced around to fraud and back, they realize that my balance transfer didn't go through completely, and a new card had been issued BEFORE the cancel card order went through. But since the cancel order went through after the number change, it caused me to not get a mailing with the new card number.
The card was canceled the credit limit was zero, and there was approx $30 on the card. So it showed up as late payment AND over balance. They wouldn't give me the full account number on the new canceled account (security risk? It's cancelled!!), but offered to let me pay it over the phone for a $14 fee. I argued that there was no way in hell I was going to pay that since it was their problem and I couldn't pay it any other way because they wouldn't give me the account number. Finally I talked them out of it. So I paid the $30 bucks and they said they would waive the late charges and phone-pay.
Two weeks later I start getting the automatic computer dialings saying that I'm late on a payment and over balance. I call in and they tell me everything went through but it's not in the system yet so just ignore the phone calls (bad idea!). So I did. Twice a day for another week. I called back and had to explain the whole thing again since I was talking to someone new. Apparently before the payment and late fee credits went through, another late fee was added on. So it was the only thing on the card. The guy apologized and said he would credit it back. Instead of removing the late charge, he messed up and ADDED IN THE LATE CHARGE AGAIN. So I started getting calls again.
Fast forward to now: I'm trying to buy a house and I have three months of over the credit limits and no payment on my credit report. And I have to explain this story again and again and again. GRRRR. Be careful with CCs guys..... - inactive, on 06/26/2009, -1/+16Says "bagelmaster" . . . .
- LOGNATR, on 06/26/2009, -0/+15Credit cards aren't exclusive to Americans., dimwit.
- altgeeky1, on 06/26/2009, -3/+18From the life savings of old widows!
- Kale, on 06/26/2009, -0/+14Congratulations, man. You're doing a brave thing. For school I figured loans were a necessity, but I still worked my hind end off not to take out too many. My parents were poor and I didn't want to put strain on them, so I ended up with less than $7k in student loans, where some of my friends were upwards of $40k for the same education.
When you do get things straightened out you'll be really good at budgeting and saving money. Here's to taking the smart way rather than the easy way! - inactive, on 06/26/2009, -1/+15they do charge interest and monthly payment on government loans you know. And take it from me, joining societies and doing well in college only gets you so far. I know many people that did just such that, but the fact is that all of that only gets you so far, and most times thats not even a foot in the door. Its not about what you know, its about who you know, and dont have a sense of entitlement because its rare for someone to leave college with a four year degree and make 60k+ with no experience. As well, its relatively rare for people to actually use their degrees in a specific fashion, there are tracts where the application sutis the degree dont get me wrong, but more often than not a business degree isnt specialized. I know plenty of people in the IT industryl that didnt major in IT in college, in fact im sitting next to a history major and a psych major, while i hold a four year degree in applied exercise physiology. Granted we are all help desk guys and i did a year or two of med school, but the bills got too high, and even in medical filed, the education often outweighs the return in the end. There are only so many radiology, surgery, OBGYN, and derm residency slots available, meaning all likelihood is youll get shoved into some internal medicicne slot on match day, whcih gauruntees you about 75-100k, barely enough to make payments on the 250k+ loans you accrued over four years and have money left over to eat.........
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