Secret History of the Credit Card..watch this.. Tuesday 11/23..PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/


Frontline
Secret History of the Credit Card
In ?The Secret History of the Credit Card,? correspondent Lowell Bergman surveys the credit-card industry to explore reasons why cards are so easy to get and hard to pay off.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
9:00 PM..KCET (Los Angeles)

Credit cards seem like a necessary evil now a days. Still I wish I could do without them.

We use our Visa debit card. And for emergencies, we've stashed money aside for that. Of course it's easier once you are established etc. I already own a home, so even though I guess I should, I don't care what my credit score is. Saving money might not be easy for some people to do because of job situations, but once you get the credit monkey off your back, it's a great feeling. We should boycott credit cards!!!

should boycott the credit cards companies. The only reason I use credit cards is on line purchases. Once the bill comes at the end of the month I pay it off. They just make it so easy, so temping to use easy credit.

if you pay with cash.

We are crippled by debt in every way.

Imagine the balls the American people would have, to say 'no' to unethical employers and a host of other things if we didn't fear losing our ability to pay off that monthly charge.

Paying out extra money for the privlege of buying stuff now is ludicrous. I've never had a credit card, and really never felt the need for one. If I don't have the money for something I want, I simply save until I do have enough money. If I wish for to buy something mail order, I send in check or money order. The only real obstacle I've ever run into is Ebay, where some people insist on Pay Pal, and Pay Pal only, which requires a credit card. And when I run into that, I simply pass that item over, knowing that somebody who doesn't require PayPal will come along sooner or later, or I can pick it up locally, usually at a much lower price.

I find the ever increasing use of credit cards disturbing. People are putting everything on their cards, food, coffee, etc. It is ridiculous, and will lead to a massive crash and much misery when the bottom falls out of our economy. The fact that the average person has $8000 in credit card debt is disturbing, yet we keep on merrily charging along. I would suggest that you consolidate your credit card debt, cut up the cards themselves, and go on a pay as you go basis. It will probably cause a little short term economic pain as you make the initial adjustment, but you will benefit greatly in the long run. Think of what you can do with all that money you'll be saving from not having to pay outrageous interest rates.

that can feel like you are not really spending money either, forking over the cash and seeing how quickly you can use it up, opens up your eyes. I stopped using the debit card for groceries when I realized I was paying 5.00 for a small bag of grapes. If I could only give up the "paying at the pump" habit.

PayPal does not require a credit card, although you can certainly set-up an account that way.


My PayPal account is through my bank account. The money is taken directly from my account w/o interest.

I cut up all of my credit cards almost twenty years ago. Since then, if I don't have the money to pay for it, I don't buy it. And I've come to realize - I don't really need it as well.

and just use that online.. You are using your own money that way, and with a low limit, there's not much worry about someone else using it.. :)

Try to remind people again on Tues.

Already TiVoed! :D Should be interesting!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I'll have my older kids watch it too.

Is the problem. Very little if ANY goes towards what you owe. It goes towards the intrest charges. This keeps a person just paying intrest for ever and a day. FREE MONEY for the company.

When people get the bill, they think the "minum payment" is all they need to pay to eventualy get the job done. The way they SHOULD look at is as the "I'm in money trouble and all I can afford this month payment."

The actualy payment monthly should be way more then the minum if one wants to make any head way.

Let's not forget that now days the poor folks are being scammed with "applicantion" fees, 1st time membership fees and annual fees. That almost equal their credit limit for that card. BLAH!!! And if they miss a payment or are late 1 time (which they will) the intrest rate goes to an unblievable HIGH!

With a republican in the WH and the job market unsteady... being covered in debit is a scary thing. Pay as much of it off while you can.

In 2000 when there was fear that a republican could take the WH.. an older birdie cluded this young bird (then) out. Was told to minimize any and all debit. Get rid of what I do have. To be able to "ride" out the problems that will happen. I was told just in time. I almost took out a car loan. Before GW finished his first year in WH,, I had lost my job.

We live in a "here and now" age. It's hard for our kids to understand the American Dream doesn't mean fancy cars and latest computers, etc. They look at the minum payment and consider THAT the cost of the product. Not realizing that would be the savings if they saved UP for the product and paid for it out right.

We may have it bad. but our kids will have it worse.

...and grad school (mostly). That was 10-15 years ago. I struggled to pay it off, mostly making minimum payments for years just to keep the wolves at bay (I also have large student loan payments-- don't get me started on the topic of class divisions with respect to education access). In the last few years I finally got my head far enough above water to start paying the debt down, and managed to pay a couple of them off, but still had about $10K outstanding. Bear in mind that I've been treading water with these banks for YEARS. Earlier this year I started a nasty and protracted divorce, and one of my lawyers advised me to talk to a bankruptcy lawyer. The upshot is that I'm telling the CC banks to bite me. Of course, they've already made their original investment back several times over, and they'll simply write off the loss and pay less tax for this year. But I suddenly have money left over at the end of each month, for the first time in my life. Not much, but it's a damn good feeling nonetheless. I'm living within my means and I don't really want for anything. There is real satisfaction in knowing that I'm not helping to buy the corporate execs at Citibank or BOA or whatever a new set of 24K gold radio knobs for the limo this year.

you bailed:evilgrin:...

A friend of mine declared bankruptcy a few years ago, and other than a ruined credit record, she landed on her feet..

There will be MANY people who will do this, because that bill that's stuck in conference, WILL be wrested free one day soon, and before that is signed, people will be bailing like never before.

There was a time when limits were reasonable, and credit was actually only given to "some" people..not everyone with a pulse.. It's especially bad when young college kids have too much credit.. They START out behind the 8-ball..

you can get rid of your credit card debt. I believe a tax lien is the other big debt you can't get rid of in bankruptcy.

Paying off those debts with a cash advance from a credit card would convert debt that can't be vacated to debt that can.

I bet credit card companies challenge those sort of payments as sort of an honor among thieves things though.

Yep. That's what happened to me.

was NEGATVE 10K dollars. I don't know at what percentile the breakeven point is, however it's pretty clear that a lot of Americans spend more money than they make and that they're able to do it by financing their debt on their credit cards. And the huge interest they pay on those cards is a big reason they continue to be in debt.

to pay off credit cards.. Sure they can deduct the interest, but they are financing stuff they probably don't even have anymore...and for THIRTY YEARS..

They end up with no equity left and most just run up the cards again, so they end up using their home as an ATM machine:(

(1) they've converted UNSECURED debt (credit card debt) to SECURED debt. Before, had that person run out of money, they could have declared bankruptcy and they'd still have their house and all their equity. Now, if they run out of money, the bank will take their house. A major rule of thumb: always pay the mortgage first. (And always pay your property taxes too, because you can never get rid of them and the gov't will take your house.) If you're running out of money, ignore the unsecured credit first (but the outrageous interest on credit card debt makes this an expensive option, which is how the slipperly slope to bankruptcy starts...).

(2) You should only borrow money in order to make money. OK, sometimes it makes sense to borrow against your house to pay off credit card debt because the interest is compounding at outrageous levels. But, it should still be a last resort. There are plenty of loan intrumentss that are at lower interest rates than your credit card debt that you could take out to mege all your credit card debt and which are not secured by your HOME.

Now, if the value of their houses drop people will be screwed. The only people who were smart buying shit that depreciated to nothing with the money borrowed against their home were the people who locked in their gains by selling their house at a price that paid off the mortgage and gave them some extra money. But even those people incurred an opportunity cost. They should have borrowed that money, invested, and sold the house and capitalized on both investments.

People who borrowed imaginary money to buy stuff that decreased in value to 0 and staked their house to do that are going to be in trouble.

teaching these kids how credit cards and that interest can really kick them. Always try to pay off the total amount each month.

of late. I hadn't watched the program for a while, but, while surfing stopped on Frontline, after fifeteen minutes I was saying damn why havewn't I been watching this.
I must be the only person in America to get laughed at by credit card cos. they won't even offer. I feel pretty damn lucky, I have a checkcard and it takes care of everything I need. My drunken misguided youth has paidoff.

... if your account gets hacked, it is possible for your funds to get stolen - if that's the case, you're SOL

... if you make purchases with a major credit card, you're only liable for $50 in the event of fraudulent activity.

... it's best to use a CC and just pay off the balance each month.

they'd have to make a deposit to get anything, I have money on the first of the month, after that it's gone. I'm not worried about it, in fact I wish someone would steal my id just to improve my credit score.