"Don't use your credit card at pawn shops, tire retread places, or marriage counselors"

[Liberal_in_LA]

heard this on NPR Thursday. Using your credit card at places like this could identify you as in financial distress by the credit card company and lead to a higher interest rate.

I suppose using the credit card at Good Will, Salvation Army or other thrift shops is out of the question also. :shrug:

[billyoc]

1. Darn, I just ordered the blueprints to their corporate headquarters online with my credit card.

Hope they don't raise my rates.

[Soylent Brice]

8. !!!

:spray:

[Sukie]

2. What the heck? The credit card companies are

using anything as an excuse to suck us dry.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Yep. They are looking for folks to raise rates to 30% before congresses new laws to into effect

in 2010

[MUAD_DIB]

26. And if you can't or don't pay up do they send a bone crusher to see you?

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. ...Oh... they mentioned 'massage parlors' also. Don't know that use marks someone as low income

Maybe it would mark credit card owner as perv, but why would it mark him/her as broke?

[obliviously]

3. One more good

reason to stop using credit cards completely. We made it for years without them!

[dysfunctional press]

9. for a lot of people, it's not an option.

easy credit replaced decent wage increases for most workers awhile back.

[MadHound]

11. It's an option for a lot more people than you think,

Or even that they would think. Too many people have gotten caught in the notion that they absolutely must live this highly conspicuous consuming lifestyle, when with a bit of budgeting, a few sacrifices, they can live without debt.

[Kalyke]

14. Buying food and paying for health care is an option?

Dentists don't let you pay on time, fwiw, but oral health is as important is any other health issue.

[MadHound]

19. Excuse me, but a lot of people don't have to use their cards to buy food

Many due, for reasons of convenience, etc., but most don't have to due so because they are broke.

I'm addressing the people who have put ATV's, vacations, coffee, all those fine consumer goods on their cards in an effort to keep up with the Jones. I watched as my neighbor bought a modest house out here in the country, buy a new truck, and then put four new ATV's on their card, along with the gas, etc. Within a couple of years they were foreclosed on, because they had over extended themselves. Far too many people have followed that path.

As far as dentists allowing you to pay over time, I don't know where you live, but here in the Midwest we still have health care providers with a heart who allow you to do just that, pay over time:shrug:

Yes there are emergencies that arise, but frankly a lot of people who overextend themselves on credit cards did so not out of need but out of greed. I'm old school, I've never had a card, and you know what, my life is better for it. And before you accuse me of being rich, elitist, etc., know that I spent a couple of years homeless, and many years poor before reaching middle class. Yet having no credit card debt, no student loan debt, only a mortgage to worry about has been a big plus in my life. Not having a credit card has forced me to budget my spending, not overextend myself, and live within my means.

[dysfunctional press]

27. actually- a lot of people do.

and that's a big part of the problem.
i have a very uneasy feeling of impending doom about the economic situation over the coming months. i know several people who are about to run out of unemployment benefits- people with kids and mortgages. and they each know more people in similar situations. my wife and i aren't there yet- i'm om permanent disability, and she has a temp job- for now(but no benefits) and we have been skating over some very thin ice in the past weeks/months- with no changes for the better anywhere on the horizon.

perhaps a pandemic that takes out 15-20% of the population might leave a workable world for the survivors.

all we can do is hope.

[Sukie]

15. My parents rarely use credit, even for large purchases.

They have a comfortable life. They aren't rich. I would consider them upper middle. All achieved by saving in their younger years and not being extravagant. They have always bought everything, except homes, with cash. I detest credit card companies for making credit so easy to get and then slamming people who shouldn't have gotten the credit in the first place. They are legalized loan sharks.

[dysfunctional press]

28. they probably could- IF they were out of debt to begin with.

and for a LOT of people, that won't be happening anytime soon- and more people are thrown into that situation every day.

an ideal world and the real world are two completely different things.

[obliviously]

13. Sooner or later you have to pay the piper.

They own you if you succumb to their cards. it has to end if you want a life! If you didn't earn it it is not yours.

[tbyg52]

16. For those who are already in hock, for whatever reason, good or bad

this garbage the credit card companies are pulling is the last straw. I'm getting real tired of this "blame the victim." Yes, it would be better if no one was in hock. That doesn't make what credit card companies are doing to the people who *are* right.

And I speak as one who paid off a mountain of credit card debt (that I didn't know about for a long time, but that's another story of my stupidity and trust) and now has none. Even though I now have none, you won't catch me doing any holier-than-thou, I sincerely hope.

[obliviously]

22. The only advise I can give to someone that is buried in credit card debt already is file bankruptcy

as far as being holy-er than thou call me what you want. If I can convince one person not to sell their soul to the credit card company's I don't care!

[tbyg52]

23. That's fine if you can catch them *before*.

For those already in a mess, what the credit card companies are doing is obscene. I don't have stats, but I'd bet it *forces* a lot of people into bankruptcy.

I also disagree with your advice to file bankruptcy in all cases. (At least I assume from your wording that you would advise it in all cases.)

I am not talking about keeping people from getting in trouble with credit cards - of course that would be a good thing. I'm talking about what credit card companies do to push people over the line.

[obliviously]

24. Absolutely in all cases file bankruptcy and don't let your concience bother you.

I speak as one who was caught in this trap. The credit card companies are out of control criminals!

[tbyg52]

25. >>The credit card companies are out of control criminals!

Well, at least we agree on one thing....!

Still don't agree on the bankruptcy - not that my *conscience* would have bothered me! They don't have any, so why should I, in dealing with them....?! - but because getting it paid off seemed like the easiest (to use the term loosely) route in my particular instance. Don't disagree that it's an option, just disagree that it's the only one.

[dysfunctional press]

5. because raising rates on the financially distressed is fun!

credit card companies should only be able to the customers account history with them when considering rate changes.
if somebody goes bankrupt and they decide to cancel them, or lower their credit limit- fine. but insurance rates should be based on account/payment history- and also NOT where the card was used.

imho.

[Uben]

6. Wrong, use the card as much as possible

You need to max out all your cards...now! How else are we gonna get outta this mess?








/sarcasm

[greguganus]

10. Also auto/home insurance companies are digging in to your financial situation to set rates.

Does Bad Credit Make Bad Drivers?
Many insurance companies argue that a credit report can be a good indicator of the likelihood that a policy holder will file an auto-insurance claim. Some even say that in some cases what's on your credit report can be more important than what's on your driving record, according to the Conning study.

"We know that there is a correlation between how someone manages their credit and insurance losses," says Mike Trevino, spokesman for Allstate, the second-largest auto-insurance provider in the country. But what's not altogether clear is why. "We're not sure," admits Trevino. "But we know it's a fact.... And for us, that's what's most important."

http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/guess-whos-looking-at-your-credit-report-11056/

[Vinca]

12. I rarely use a credit card at all anymore, but I buy stuff at thrift shops

when I see an antique or collectible I can resell and make money on. It seems idiotic that a credit card company would penalize me for making more than $300 on a little creamer I picked up a few weeks ago.

[tbyg52]

20. Whoa!

How, if I may ask, did you acquire the knowledge that enabled you to make these killings? (I'd like to do so as well....!)

[Vinca]

30. I have a vast collection of books on antiques and collectibles

and have read them all. Plus, I've learned a great deal from older dealers, auctioneers, etc. After awhile you get a real knack for spotting stuff.

[customerserviceguy]

17. I've read this

but frankly, I've had Amex drop my rate twice this year.

I started the year with a really high rate, over 25%, because back in 2007, I was late on a payment, and they hammered me at that time. I shifted my payments around, and made sure I sent any possible extra money to pay them. On the statement where I paid them my last interest, they finally busted the rate back down to under 12%, without me asking them.

Just yesterday, I called them to get the rate lowered again, as I have made major progress paying off my other cards, and owe less than 20% of the credit card debt I had when I was late two years ago. They did lower the rate to about 10%. And I put charges on my card for the local watering hole, I often pay with my card and have my buddies reimburse me in cash for their drinks.

I'm sure there is a combination of factors, it isn't just any one thing that gets you in trouble.

[tbyg52]

21. Oh, granted, it's not *everybody*

My one non-gasoline, non-store credit card has *raised* my limit (not that I'm going to use it) - I just get tired of watching people who are already down get hammered instead of helped. And it has happened to me in the past.

[LynneSin]

18. Best advice if you don't want your rates hit - never ever pay just the minimum balance

seriously!

Ok well of course there will be those who say "I pay my card off each month" or "I don't use cards" but you can disregard this advice.

For those who carry a balance, never ever pay the minimum because that can be seen as someone with potential to default on their card. Even if only pay $1-2 over the minimum you won't get flagged.

[tjwash]

29. Is it still OK to take a 5000 dollar cash advance at the sahara to play a little craps?

nt