People must have more money than they say.

[dumpster56]

Or are in bigger credit card debt than we can ever know. Gasoline prices way up people still driving the same.Food prices way up, I still see people paying 20+ bucks a pop to feed their families even at the fast food places.Now I have seen many use credit cards for 7 and 8 dollar purchases these days even at the quick marts when you pay for gasoline. Stuff like smokes and a soda out comes the plastic!! Who in the world is giving Obama and Clinton MONEY for their campaigns ?? It sure looks like the average joe is well finding ways to pay. But then again 2 to 3 million will be foreclosed on and lose their homes this year.

Weird.

 

[FinanceDude]

Or are in bigger credit card debt than we can ever know. Gasoline prices way up people still driving the same.Food prices way up, I still see people paying 20+ bucks a pop to feed their families even at the fast food places.Now I have seen many use credit cards for 7 and 8 dollar purchases these days even at the quick marts when you pay for gasoline. Stuff like smokes and a soda out comes the plastic!! Who in the world is giving Obama and Clinton MONEY for their campaigns ?? It sure looks like the average joe is well finding ways to pay. But then again 2 to 3 million will be foreclosed on and lose their homes this year.

Weird.

Ok.....relax...........

1)Are you so sure they're not using debit cards with a CC logo? If you were behind me in line, that's the way it would look to you.

2)How do you know they're not paying them off in full each month?

3)You are not the policeman of ths USA. The reason you'll be able to collect SS is they will have to work forever.........

4)Some people have to continue to drive their cars in order to get to work. Where I live, there's no trains, the busses don't run out where I live, and my co-workers live nowhere near me. Does that mean I should quit my job because it's not on a bus line? Give me a break!

 

[Rambler]

They got enough for the fast food, the smokes, the liquor, the starbucks, twinkies, moon pies, and all sorts of junk food, but can't make the mortgage payment. There are lots of things that lots of people could do to scrimp and save, if they would just do it. When I was a kid, I remember when my folks got the farm...the first year was hard to make the payments, so we had little meat, lots of powdered milk, pinto beans cooked at home and not at taco bell, veggies from the garden. Two pair of basic Kmart jeans and 3-4 shirts were our clothes...the jeans were cut off the next summer for shorts. Too many people feel that their dignity would be hurt if they have to take those kinds of measures, so the keep pulling out the plastic for themselves and their hyper-consumptive kids.

Been there, know how to cook pinto beans, and not afraid to do it again if I had to.

I wonder, BTW, if you looked at a long term average, how many homes are foreclosed in an average year. I read on MSNBC that the forecast is 2 million this year, which would be about 2% of households, or about 3% of homes owned by the occupant.

R

 

[podey]

Now I have seen many use credit cards for 7 and 8 dollar purchases these days even at the quick marts when you pay for gasoline. Stuff like smokes and a soda out comes the plastic!!
Weird.

I use my CC for almost all purchases, even my $2 coffee at Starbucks. Why? I get flyer miles for every dollar charged. AND, I have never, ever carried a balance on my card, it gets paid off every month. I simply never charge what I can't afford.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Ya, we use the CC card for every purchase we can. Cash back at the end of the year. Just dont miss a payment

 

[ziggy29]

This has been your newguy888 Economic Armageddon update for the day.

 

[RunningBum]

Stay tuned tomorrow for well the next episode.

 

[Fireup2020]

If I did not use my CC for ALL possible purchases that I can use a CC, I would not be able to rack up the FF miles to afford to take vacations!

 

[EarlyRetiree1978]

I use my CC for almost all purchases, even my $2 coffee at Starbucks. Why? I get flyer miles for every dollar charged. AND, I have never, ever carried a balance on my card, it gets paid off every month. I simply never charge what I can't afford.

I too use my Starwood Amex for all purchases. Just went to 7-11 in the morning and got a slurpie and paid for the purchase with my CC.
I know my monthly allowance on discretionary spending and don’t go over it and also pay off the CC each month.

This has been your newguy888 Economic Armageddon update for the day.

LOL, good one.

 

[RunningBum]

Aside from the free float and rewards of using a CC, I like the tracking. At the end of the month I can scan my CC statement and see where the money went. I don't track money that flies out of my wallet nearly as well.

 

[FinanceDude]

This has been your newguy888 Economic Armageddon update for the day.

Maybe we need a new section, called NGEA.......New Guy Economic Armageddon...........

 

[OAG]

I use a VISA card for every purchase I can which is virtually ALL purchases and I pay it off EVERY month - to a 0 balance. I do carry a $100.00 bill in the recesses of my wallet and bit of change in the car glove compartment for emergencies. I have to check on the $100 bill once in a while to be sure it is still there since I have never had to use it in about 2 or 3 years. The VISA card is convenient, safe, provides a record of purchases, gives a double warranty on some purchases, auto insurance on rentals, cash back (5%, 2%, 1.25% - Gas/groceries/all other), etc., etc. What is not to like about them?

 

[podey]

I use a VISA card for every purchase I can which is virtually ALL purchases and I pay it off EVERY month - to a 0 balance. I do carry a $100.00 bill in the recesses of my wallet and bit of change in the car glove compartment for emergencies. I have to check on the $100 bill once in a while to be sure it is still there since I have never had to use it in about 2 or 3 years. The VISA card is convenient, safe, provides a record of purchases, gives a double warranty on some purchases, auto insurance on rentals, etc., etc. What is not to like about them?

Wow, that is far better than me! Impressive!

My major cash outlay is a wine bar I like to go to on Friday nights that only excepts AMEX, which I don't have, so I go to the ATM once a week for some cash...

 

[Walt34]

Aside from the free float and rewards of using a CC, I like the tracking. At the end of the month I can scan my CC statement and see where the money went. I don't track money that flies out of my wallet nearly as well.

Seems to be just personal preference. We pay cash for almost all smaller type purchases such as gasoline, restaurant meals, write a check at the grocery store, etc. We just don't like getting a four-figure CC bill. But if one pays it off every month it doesn't make any difference.

Years ago we kept a notebook for about a year recording where every penny of cash went to have an idea of where it was going.

 

[Rivrider]

Just to be a bit contrarian here, I use cash for most small purchases. I have a DC which I use for some things, but for me using cash cuts down on impulse buys if there is only so much in my pockets.

Just a personal preference.

 

[Caoineag]

I use a rewards card (mastercard) for everything I can to get money back. I also use it exclusively after having had my credit card number stolen at a regular restaurant. Because it was a credit card, it was no big deal (they even caught it before I could and I check balances frequently online). But since I used to exclusively use my debit card, it was a little scary to realize how bad it could have been. I still pay my bill 2x per month for my own comfort level but its nice knowing I am getting money back on my normal purchases and have some protection in case this one's numbers get stolen.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i mostly use cc for reward points but pay zero interest as i payoff each month. but when i sign the receipt for that $30 worth of food at the supermarket, i have wondered if i am being, for someone who might be watching, a bad example of personal financial management.

 

[RunningBum]

i mostly use cc for reward points but pay zero interest as i payoff each month. but when i sign the receipt for that $30 worth of food at the supermarket, i have wondered if i am being, for someone who might be watching, a bad example of personal financial management.

I've told my daughter a few times that I always, always pay my full CC balance, and explain why I'm using the CC.

For the rest, it's not their business. I never judge someone for using a CC. In fact, I get a bit annoyed when someone watches everything being scanned, then looks for their checkbook and fills the whole thing out, including the check register, before handing over the check. It was even worse at a Harris Teeter I used to go to a long time ago, where the manager had to be called over to approve every check, and of course he didn't always hang around the registers.

 

[Dreamer]

I also use my cc for most every purchase. I use it for the same reasons that were posted above and pay it off every month. Our house is paid for and so are our 4 vehicles. We don't own any loans. So basically, we just need to pay off our cc and our utilities every month. I am usually in jeans and t-shirts or sweatshirts at the store and who knows, people might think that I am about to lose everything also. They should not worry about me and pay more attention to themselves.

 

[bright eyed]

Sometimes I do look around and wonder how people can afford everything they appear to have - then I realize it's just borrowed on cc's. Even people with the nicer homes, cars are/were leveraging their homes and cc's and now are having to cut back. boo hoo.

 

[dex]

Have a nice day!
The truth about credit card debt - MSN Money


Take heart: Were actually frugal
In much the same way, a relatively small population with huge credit card balances can skew the average to make it look like the typical American is carrying a much bigger debt load than he or she actually is. Consider:

• 23.8% of American households have no credit cards at all -- no bank cards, no retail cards, nothing.
• Another 31.2% of the households the Fed surveyed paid off their most recent credit card bills in full.
• So together, the households that owed nothing on credit cards equaled 55% of the total.

 

[myself]

Or are in bigger credit card debt than we can ever know. Gasoline prices way up people still driving the same.Food prices way up, I still see people paying 20+ bucks a pop to feed their families even at the fast food places.Now I have seen many use credit cards for 7 and 8 dollar purchases these days even at the quick marts when you pay for gasoline. Stuff like smokes and a soda out comes the plastic!! Who in the world is giving Obama and Clinton MONEY for their campaigns ?? It sure looks like the average joe is well finding ways to pay. But then again 2 to 3 million will be foreclosed on and lose their homes this year.

Weird.

Yep, I hear ya. But why would I give up getting $600-$800 back over the course of a year for items I would buy anyway?
Just because someone uses a credit card, doesn't always mean he/she isn't paying in full. And I have used a credit card to charge a $0.75 candy bar before, because I wanted it ... but the bill was paid in full when the statement arrived.
Now, if you don't have a budget that you follow. And you spend more than you earn. You're simply asking for trouble if you use credit cards.

I said it on another thread. If $8 or so can't be found in one's wallet at the end of the month to pay extra for the gas, then you haven't budgeted properly.
Figure it this way. 15 gallon tank that's on 'E'. Gas goes up $0.14/gallon because cousin vinny wants it too. That's $2.10 more than it was the previous week. You fill up tank every week, so for the month it's cost you $8.40 more. Now let's see. Don't drive to work to get money to pay the bills, or figure out where we can save $8.40 to pay for the extra cost.
Or think of it this way (everyone should note that this doesn't take into account the taxability of the interest earned). If you saved up $3,360 and put it into a CD earning 3%, the increased cost would be paid for. And if the gas increased by $0.07/gallon, you would only have to save $1,920 in a 3% CD to keep on paying for the gas with no out of pocket expenses. Of course if you could earn more than 3% (say in a brokerage account at a low-ball rate of 5%), your savings would increase to $22/month. So, instead of having to pay $8.40/month (or $4.20/month) extra, you now have over $15/month that can be reinvested into your brokerage account to help pay for any future increases.

 

[P.S.]

Just went to 7-11 in the morning and got a slurpie and paid for the purchase with my CC.

I have never in my life bought anything from 7-11. Too expensive.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

I've told my daughter a few times that I always, always pay my full CC balance, and explain why I'm using the CC.

For the rest, it's not their business. I never judge someone for using a CC. In fact, I get a bit annoyed when someone watches everything being scanned, then looks for their checkbook and fills the whole thing out, including the check register, before handing over the check. It was even worse at a Harris Teeter I used to go to a long time ago, where the manager had to be called over to approve every check, and of course he didn't always hang around the registers.

in other words, you've never counted the number of items the person in front of you has in the 10-items or less express lane? (just kidding--got what you're saying.)

 

[maddythebeagle]

Maybe we need a new section, called NGEA.......New Guy Economic Armageddon...........

Dont worry...we got Al Gore to come off the bench to save us all....oops wrong thread...