Zero! Zilch! Nada! Nothing! Goose Egg!

[Gerry]

Today, I enter into the world of ZERO revolving debt.

My wife and I have no Credit Card debt, no auto payments, no charge cards, nothing!

We have a mortgage but can get that out of the way in rapid time.


The clincher for me was Chase Platinum Card increasing my fixed rate of 5.99% to 26.99% because I went over my limit -once- by something like 29 bucks. Been a customer of theirs for almost 7 years.

How did I go over the limit??? a consecutive listing on my bill of 11 NEW FEE's and A NEVER BEFORE CHARGED ANNUAL FEE that was put onto my account without my knowledge over the past two statements (December and January) until I saw my statement. I will be contacting the NC State Attorney General's office or some consumer complaint department but I am sure it will do not good.

The other clincher for me was AmEx Blue (had that card for over 10 years) that I used for business raised my rates to 17.49% for No Reason - "because we can and it is part of the terms you agreed to" - was the answer I got.

I did exactly what I should do - pay the damn things off in full and cut them up.

I can not stress this WARNING enough - Read everything that you card holder sends you!

The new laws that were passed in the fall of last year preventing credit card companies from doing these very things and SHOULD HAVE been enforced then go into effect Feb. 22.

If you do not read those mailings and read the terms carefully, you will get screwed royally.

Anything they send you that you DO NOT send back and disagree with AUTOMATICALLY gets entered as an acceptance of terms.

 

[Theo]

Congrats, Doc. Party time for you, charge that pizza delivery on your card!

 

[katherine]

A free man, with no debt and slave to no bank ? That's so un-American

 

[Gerry]

A free man, with no debt and slave to no bank ? That's so un-American

We still have the mortgage but that is such a doable thing.

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

Congrats, Doc. Party time for you, charge that pizza delivery on your card!

Hmm...Papa Johns?

Pay cash.

Seriously, beware of the CC issuers. They are rushing to beat the clock to screw the consumer before the new laws take effect.

 

[Tia Wood]

Hmm...Papa Johns?

Best pizza ever!

Welcome to the old world where you have to save money if you want to buy things or wait until you could afford them or simply not purchase things that you didn't really need. I have no credit cards, no car payment, nothing like that. When I was a kid, I watched my family pay the consequences for overindulgence so I won't even touch a credit card application.

Congratulations, Doc for beating the system that conditions us to go into debt and stay that way!

 

[Fearless]

All my credit cards are on auto pay the balance every month. The problem is I never reconcile the bills. It's also been over 25 years since I've reconciled a bank statement.

 

[Gerry]

Best pizza ever!

Thanks Tia, but the best pizza ever is in Veneto Italy, or perhaps Sicily.

It was a matter of just carrying some balances on business related matters or cards that were really no big deal - until the companies started playing their games.

Overnight they can do this crap. The new laws were passed last fall and were supposed to be enacted then but they (the CC's) said they needed more time to implement the changes.

We see all too well what those changes were before the law actually went into effect.

 

[Gerry]

All my credit cards are on auto pay the balance every month.

Mine were auto pay every month as well. Clearly the best way to go and NEVER late on a payment. Still, beware the fine print that goes into effect the beginning of the week.

And if you do not respond to anything sent to you, the bank accepts that as a consent to terms and it goes into effect.

The downside...if you opt out, they can freeze your account.

Another new twist...a fee for not using your card. So, think you have good credit and want to maintain a low monthly balance? Too bad. You now get slapped with a non-usage fee.

 

[katherine]

It's funny that in America you need to carry debt to build a 'good' credit history. If you don't have history, the banks, the credit card issuers and the lenders shun you :loco:

 

[H2FC]

Some like myself pay their cards IN FULL every month. So long as the CC company doesn't impose a fee for doing that whats the downside?

 

[Gerry]

Some like myself pay their cards IN FULL every month. So long as the CC company doesn't impose a fee for doing that whats the downside?

Other than the fact that you are a good customer, they don't like you because you are not making them money.

Seriously, they are out to nail everyone in some manner to pay fees including non-usage.

That is why it is important to read all documents that come in or go online to read what they can no longer do.

If you take the section of what banks can no longer do and apply that to the thinking they are in a rush to do it NOW then you will have a pretty good idea of the new fees they can and have imposed.

 

[H2FC]

I know they're all crooks and constantly looking for ways to make money from their users and thats why I carefully review my bill every month. The way I see it is if nobody carried over a balance from month to month the crooks would get the short end of the stick.

I know its hard in many cases but people shouldn't put a charge on their card that they can't payoff in full every month. Thats one of the main things wrong with our country imo.

 

[BidNo]

Congratulations Doc. These organization are plucking their customers and serving themselves. It's greed plain and simple; time for them to go out of business. Join us in making that happen.

 

[Tia Wood]

This country thrives off debt and you can thank our current short-lived monetary system.

http://dailyreckoning.com/fiat-currency/
http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_04/greene032104.html
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-does-fiat-money-seemingly-work.html

“Under the infallible leadership of President Franklin Roosevelt, it was made illegal to own gold. On March 11, 1933, he issued an order forbidding banks to make gold payments. On April 5, Roosevelt ordered all citizens to surrender their gold — no person could hold more than $100 in gold coins, except for collector’s coins. He also made it unlawful to export gold for payment abroad, unless done through the Treasury. The penalty for defying Roosevelt was 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.”

But the official demise of the dollar was locked into place in 1971 when Nixon completely severed all ties between the dollar and the gold standard. During the decade that followed, the U.S. experienced some of the worst inflation in its history, only matched by today’s U.S. monetary and fiscal irresponsibility.

Credit cards (and loans) make things that much worse. Their goal is to keep you in debt. They actually do not have the money when they credit you (they are allowed to lend so much times the amount they actually have which means they can lend out on the same amount of actual money over and over again) and do not make money until you are indebted to them by simply typing numbers into a computer. Why would you accept their virtual non-existent money when it comes at such a price even for the most responsible of individuals? If you think these companies want to keep a responsible individual responsible, you are mistaken. They will find a way to either put you in debt or make you pay for being responsible.