Seven deadly sins that lead to debt

[myself]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I think a lot of people use shopping as a stress reliever . I've noticed that I shop a lot less since I retired .

I've noticed that I shop a lot less since I mostly stopped watching TV.

[myself]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleHoney Good article, makes me wonder though if our preferred method of payment, the credit card and our cashless society isn't the real problem. The fact that most aren't really dealing with cold hard cash on a daily basis may be the root of the problem. I grew up in a cash world, everything I wanted when I was a kid had to be paid for with real money. If I wanted a candy bar the the drug store I had to dig out a nickel or dime and lay it on the counter. To earn that nickel or dime I had to mow grass or rake leaves or deliver newspapers. If you wanted to go to the movies, it was time to dig in the old pocket and pay up for your ticket. If the old pocket was empty or the piggy bank at home was empty, you had to wait till you saved enough to get what you wanted. Every purchase back then was based on positive amounts of money in your pocket, ZERO was as low as you could count. Negative numbers couldn't exist in the all cash world of a ten year old. It was good old cold hard cash that got what you were after and the only way to get it was earn and save. Fast forward to today and the world of credit cards and electronic bank transactions. I'll bet most us never see 99% of the money we earn or spend. We write checks, we use our credit cards at the grocery store and Lowes and the money we spend is only numbers, not real MONEY. And it's all controlled by a system that allows you to have less than ZERO money in your pocket. Once you take the cash out of your pocket and replace it with numbers, it's hard to track how much you spent unless you look at the numbers and you only see them once a month. If you're dealing with cash, every time you open your wallet you get a glimpse of how much is left and how much more you can spend. With cashless transactions it's real easy to get carried away and pay no attention to how low your funds are. Maybe we need credit cards that change colors as you spend, fading from green to bright red as you approach negative territory.

Somewhat true, even for me when I was a kid.

We're on a different page though. We spend only what we allocated, but we do it on our credit cards and pay it in full. Admittedly we're probably in the 5%-105% of the population that does this. On paper, it appears we have a average monthly balance of about $1,500. And thankfully there are rewards cards which pay cash (or cash back). We got back about $675 last year because of our charging things we paid in full and already had budgeted out.

You're right too. To me, it's only numbers, but I realize those numbers represent real money. If they're ever negative (which hasn't happened for 6-7 years now), we'd do a deeper check of our spending habits.

Keep in mind I'm not suggesting anyone do this. Especially if you carry a balance on your cards and pay interest (we don't).

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Yeah, 1st wife did that. Drove me nuts. She was never able to figure out that if we're going to end up paying credit-card interest rates on the purchases that it kind of negated the "savings". In other respects she was very intelligent, just had no impulse control when shopping.

Kohl's is a shrewd retailer. If you have a Kohl's Card, they'll give you an extra 15% off on their sales items. So they get you to buy even more because you'll "save" so much more.........

My house is a repository of various merchandise credit cards from Kohls, Target, TJMaxx, and WalMart. Somehow "we" never decide in time whether "we" want to keep purchases or not.............

[prgsdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BunsGettingFirm $10 billion on porn? I get my porn for free.

Keep the porn - but where do you get free high speed internet access to get that porn?

[ats5g]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Sounds like my DW........I am trying to change that behavior. Like I tell her, "I don't care if it's 90% off,I don't need 26 white t-shirts"...........

I also love sitting at the table after dinner, as she flips through the "sale ads" that we got in the mail, and hearing "Hey look, [so and so] took 20% off the price of [insert materials for home improvement project]. We should [insert improvement project]." I actually asked once, "Were you even thinking about [painting, drywall, new floors, etc] before you read the ad?" To which I got THE LOOK.

At least now I respond with "And when are you going to [paint, plant flowers, drywall, put in new floor]?... Good, I'll take the kids to the [park, outside, aquarium]."

- Alec

[CuppaJoe]

Tkanks, Martha, this 'splains it. According to Bankrate.com, 34% of homebuyers don't know if their mortgage is fixed or adjustable! Curious that the writer of the story used the word, "homeowners."

[BunsGettingFirm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prgsdw Keep the porn - but where do you get free high speed internet access to get that porn?

Well, I don't use my Internet just to watch porn. I also use to surf this forum which is kind of like porn for the frugal crowd.

[Gumby]

Thanks Martha. Great article. People often denigrate religion, but as the article demonstrates, there are some valuable lessons to be learned from it.

[thefed]

Funny thing....I read the OP while eating a french breadpizza at midnight, with an Ebay tab open in firefox as I waited to POUNCE on that pocket knife I really wanted....

so....i threw away the last bite and passed on the knife. instead im sending my heavily worh Krshaw's to the factory for a free sharpening. and for the food....well....that didn't work....im munchin on some twizzlers now

[Spanky]

Quote:

I think a lot of people use shopping as a stress reliever.

Shopping is stressful to me. Trying to find the best bargain requires too much efforts.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky Shopping is stressful to me. Trying to find the best bargain requires too much efforts.

Me too! Going shopping to me means voluntarily melding with crowds of rude people in order to deal with incompetent sales persons for the purpose of spending too much of my hard earned money on something that is probably shoddier than I might wish, and is not my idea of stress relief.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ats5g At least now I respond with "And when are you going to [paint, plant flowers, drywall, put in new floor]?... Good, I'll take the kids to the [park, outside, aquarium]." - Alec

I tried that and she called me on it. I bought the house before we were married and she always disliked the dark paneling in one bedroom, which I liked because I worked shift work - helped keep it dark during the day. She threatened for a year that she was going to pull it off and I told her to go ahead, just be prepared to deal with whatever was underneath it.

Got home from work one day and see the paneling leaned up beside the house. I have to give her credit - she really did fill in about 1,000 nail holes. So, okay, I'll paint and cut the new baseboards.