Comments on Becoming & Staying Debt Free: Credit card fees can suck you in

Fo course, banks need to make money so they make m...

2007-03-21T03:02:00.000-05:00

Fo course, banks need to make money so they make money on those people who can not pay off their balance. But if you are smart enough you can make a credit card work for your benefit. If it were not possible people wouldn't use credit cards. I agree, it's a game, but in the game there is always a winner. A credit-card owner can win too.

as a business owner, kevin, i have to learn to res...

2006-12-18T23:42:00.000-06:00

as a business owner, kevin, i have to learn to resist temptation eventually. i can't go raiding my budget right and left. are you saying nobody should own a business? as a business owner, i am faced with temptations, and i rarely break my budget. i have kept a strict budget for 4 years and having $74,000 in 0% credit invested at 5% is simply not that tempting to me. cuz i know i have to pay every penny back. i've also been offered cocaine and i turned that temptation down, too. my girlfriend needs to establish credit so she can purchase housing after two years of employment. as an immigrant, it is hard for her to establish creditworthyness! you would rather she rents forever! your position is not fiscally... complete. yeah, going into debt sucks. but it can also be a sound decision. you don't like to talk about cases where it's financially sound. you want your readers to think it's always a deal with the devil. it's nice to see a lot more people responding to your one answer.

come to think of it, i don't even carry a credit card. i carry a debit card. i manage the credit lines very precisely and continue earning a small income. this is probably the funniest part of this "debate". i know i asked before what you think i should do with this money. well?

I am just glad I don't use credit anymore. Whethe...

2006-12-17T22:18:00.000-06:00

I am just glad I don't use credit anymore. Whether they are good or bad.

Keep up the good work. It is working for you! That's the most important thing.

Amen.....credit cards are "the man". It is best to...

2006-12-17T16:05:00.000-06:00

Amen.....credit cards are "the man". It is best to avoid doing business with them.

The 0% interest rates and reward programs are designed to lure you in to their trap.

Almost every credit card user claims to pay their ...

2006-12-17T13:27:00.000-06:00

Almost every credit card user claims to pay their balance in full, on time? Do you have support for this? I do listen to credit card users, and nowhere near "almost all" claim to pay in full every month. Either you found yourself a bunch of liars, a non-representative sample, or a biased study (you don't reveal your source). Ask any credit card company whether most of their customers pay fees of some sort, and their answer will be "yes."

Your issue seems to be whether the people who say they pay in full are telling the truth or not... which is irrelevant.

The only relevant item is what percentage *actually* pay in full, on time, regardless of what they claim to do.

I agree that credit card comapnies are growing more and more predatory in both their offering credit and the various fees assessed. For the few that do pay on time, in full every month, any fees assessed to other people are irrelevant. The fact that most credit card customers have to pay fees and interest allow credit card companies to keep customers who pay in full, on time, every time.

thanks Flexo, if you listen to credit card users, ...

2006-12-17T12:43:00.000-06:00

thanks Flexo, if you listen to credit card users, almost everyone of them claims to pay the balance in full every month, as I said if that was so the c c companies would be bankrupt.

Just because some people screw up with credit card...

2006-12-17T11:39:00.000-06:00

Just because some people screw up with credit cards doesn't mean everyone does. Some people can beat the credit card companies, but most can't. You can't prescribe advice and say it applies to everyone. Some people are successful playing against the credit cards. Other people are not. Those who are not subsidize those who are, so the credi card companies will never go brankrupt.

There are, and there always will be, enough people who pay late fees, interest fees, etc., to more than make up for those who can beat the system.

You can go on saying "don't use credit cards ever" and that advice may be good for most people... but you have to accept the fact that not everyone falls for credit card companies' tricks. The credit cards are still making their money from the retailers with a percentage of every transaction, so they don't care if there are a small percentage of people who never pay interest fees or late fees. They'd care if everyone was smart, but like any business, they know most of their customers are not smart.