credit card debt - how much do you have?

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

hey, I was very poor once... I never want to be in that situation again.

i love being poor. builds character.

[TechnoKäfer]

Originally Posted by callisto9

i love being poor. builds character.

Wow! I knew I had a lot of character for some reason! I would, however, be willing to sell some character to some wealthy person who is lacking. I think a couple of million $$ would be acceptable.

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by TechnoKäfer

Wow! I knew I had a lot of character for some reason! I would, however, be willing to sell some character to some wealthy person who is lacking. I think a couple of million $$ would be acceptable.

i might sell some character for some cash. any takers?

nah, i am OK being painfully middle class. or lower-middle. shoot, what are the wages for the classes? maybe i'm not middle class. anyone got a salary range on what constitutes being poor?

[TechnoKäfer]

I read that lower middle class starts at $25,000 a year.

[AmyJane]

Originally Posted by callisto9

i love being poor. builds character.

Splains lots ova on dis side of da computah!

[angelworks]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

hey, I was very poor once... I never want to be in that situation again.

I hear ya-----my memories still make me shiver this time of year.

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

Splains lots ova on dis side of da computah!

sho' does! so, if lower middle class is $25,000, i might be....just plain ol' MIDDLE CLASS. yeah!

i would guess in some parts of the country though, $25K would make you dirt a** poor (say, NYC or places in cali).

[AmyJane]

Originally Posted by callisto9

sho' does! so, if lower middle class is $25,000, i might be....just plain ol' MIDDLE CLASS. yeah!

i would guess in some parts of the country though, $25K would make you dirt a** poor (say, NYC or places in cali).

Yeah, I think the bums on the street here make more than 25,000. It's sick. I make close to 50,000 and I'm barely scraping by.

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

Yeah, I think the bums on the street here make more than 25,000. It's sick. I make close to 50,000 and I'm barely scraping by.

man, if i made 50K here, i'd be loaded! i just got a raise and now make $35.5K and that's decent for this area. well, that depends on who you ask!

[AmyJane]

Originally Posted by callisto9

man, if i made 50K here, i'd be loaded! i just got a raise and now make $35.5K and that's decent for this area. well, that depends on who you ask!

I know..I wish I could take my pay to PA. I'd be loaded then too!

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

I know..I wish I could take my pay to PA. I'd be loaded then too!

girl, you need to move!

[neko]

Originally Posted by callisto9

here that's called a debit card...sort-of. when we use our debit (bank / atm) cards, it comes out of our account in 1-2 days.

so you don't have credit cards in europe? probably a good thing.

I know in Italy they do have credit cards, but it is custom to have the credit card to paid in full at the end of the month authomatically by the bank (not required tough, it is just that everybody does it that way). Also europeans still use cash 90% of the time so the credit card bills are really small.

[neko]

Originally Posted by neko

I know in Italy they do have credit cards, but it is custom to have the credit card to paid in full at the end of the month authomatically by the bank (not required tough, it is just that everybody does it that way). Also europeans still use cash 90% of the time so the credit card bills are really small.

BTW, this is also one of the reasons the US and Europeans economies have so different dynamics. Europeans tend to save more, and that is really bad for the short term because it keeps the cash flow low and the economy stagnates (and unemployment goes up). In US people saves less and purcahse a lot on credit, really bad for the long term (see the interest rate on that credit cards...) but really good for the short term because it keeps the econmy zippy.

[Porkchop]

Originally Posted by neko

BTW, this is also one of the reasons the US and Europeans economies have so different dynamics. Europeans tend to save more, and that is really bad for the short term because it keeps the cash flow low and the economy stagnates (and unemployment goes up). In US people saves less and purcahse a lot on credit, really bad for the long term (see the interest rate on that credit cards...) but really good for the short term because it keeps the econmy zippy.

And at some point everyone has maxxed out card and our economy tanks b/c no one can buy anything else

Which I think we're headed for... especially with the new bankruptcy laws which keep people from walking away from their debts.

BTW Erin, I'm a card carryin' CWA union member working for Bellsouth as a customer service rep and made $60K this year. Union YES.

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

BTW Erin, I'm a card carryin' CWA union member working for Bellsouth as a customer service rep and made $60K this year. Union YES.

i carry a bra and panty card from JC penney...so THERE! i am not pro or anti union as i don't know much about them.

what's CWA?

[Pelican18TQA4]

Credit cards are absolute evil!! Some crap happened while I was in college and ended up pretty much charging 2 years worth of school expenses (tuition included). Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm still in school to get my BA?? At least my employer pays for it now!

[Steve Meister]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

Uhm... you still have the same debt then - just a lower interest rate (hopefully).

No, it's nothing like the "same debt." Now it's all secured against my house. Not only is the interest rate lower, the interest I pay on the HELOC is also tax-deductible. In addition, when I eventually sell the house, the debt will "magically" disappear, because I will sell it at a much higher price than what I paid for it plus whatever the HELOC's balance is. And if housing prices crash, eventually the debt will be paid off anyway as I continue to make payments towards the HELOC, with the aforementioned advantages of a lower interest rate and tax deduction.

[Mazzzja]

The only debts I have are my condo and my car.
That are 2 debts too many

And I have to disagree with Tommy (the crazy Belgium )
In Holland we have bankcards (ATM); money is from your account within 2 days.
And creditcards. I have 1 creditcard which I only use on holidays.
Here we can choose if we pay our creditcard debts in installments or not.
I don't, if I use my cc, than the amount is deducted the next month.

[digitalputty]

$6,500 ...

I used the card to pay for school classes about 3 years ago ... it hasnt dropped yet.

[PhoenixRising]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

Credit cards are the devil!!

Agreed. I have none, if you don't count the 'debit' card. And that is tied to my checking, so once it's dried up, it's done.

And no interest. Yeah!