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.