Public warning: When you're not looking cats can steal your credit card and order thousands of dollars of cat toys on line. BE CAREFUL. Keep your credit card on you at all times!
Posted on 03/16/2019 11:53:11 AM PDT by Libloather
A new study details how Americans manage credit cards and how stressful credit debt can be.
**SNIP**
“The most shocking find to me was how many Americans carry credit card balances month to month,” Tommy O'Shaughnessy, an analyst at Clever Real Estate Analyst and the author of the report, told Yahoo Finance.
Nearly half of the respondents (47%) carried some amount of credit card debt month to month, according to the survey, with 72% of borrowers carrying more than $1,000.
“With the average 17.64% APR, that debt compounds quickly and can become unmanageable for lower income families,” O'Shaughnessy noted.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Brutal.
When I related the conversation to my wife, she said, "Harsh." "But, True."
Credit cards add 3-5% to the price of things so it’s not just the month to month charges. I pay cash if they give a discount for cash. If not, I use a card.
I can assure you it is no surprise to the banks.
“17.64% APR Brutal.”
I got a cash advance in Dubai once useing my personal credit card when my business card would not work. APR was 50% or more. Apparently that’s legal for overseas transactions.
There are very few things urgent enough that I would be willing to carry a credit card balance to have it now. Even when I was starting out in business, I preferred eating beans and rice, with occasional hamburger, to going into debt. That soy-boy latte at Starbucks adds up (or it would if I bought those), so I skip unnecessary expenses.
Public warning: When you're not looking cats can steal your credit card and order thousands of dollars of cat toys on line. BE CAREFUL. Keep your credit card on you at all times!
As they say, you can’t help stupid.
Can we break it down by Political Party?
We got a huge discount paying cash for the new hvac last month but that’s the only time I’ve been offered a discount on cash v card.
Always, pay that card off every month. Always.
A few years ago there was talk of charging ‘freeloaders’—people who always pay their bills on time—a special charge for not going into debt.
Whenever I want something, I put it off and put it off. Eventually, I don’t want it any longer. Most people already have too much stuff.
Speaking of stuff. Why do people have to have room size walk in closets? They’ll never wear but maybe 10% of their clothes. That’s money down the drain. More money down the drain is paying property taxes on those huge closets.
Many years ago, interest paid was tax deductible and interest income was taxable.
Now, interest income is still taxable while interest paid is not deductible. Kinda chicken shit, eh? When interest paid became no longer deductible, I stopped carrying a credit card balance and, to this day, pay the balance in full every month.
People who carry credit card balances over month to month need to look at living below their means. And so should the federal government.
Well it isn’t free even if you don’t carry a balance - every store that accepts the card pays a fee for each and every transaction the card is used for. That’s why they entice you to use the card even more with cash back bonuses even if you never carry a balance. Those that do that not only don’t pay anything for the card, but get paid for using it.
really. that would be me! I’ve never heard of this charge.
Consumer spending is 2/3 of GDP.
They could just charge annual fees on their cards. I would be more than willing to start chopping up most of mine and buy everything possible with cash so they wouldn't even get their 3% they charge to the store.
You are correct, in that the stores pay a fee to the card companies. I think it’s around 3%, which is why the card companies can compete with each other with cash back offers.
Usually, that processing fee is invisible. But, sometimes the cash and credit prices are different, especially in low margin businesses like gas stations.
I once negotiated a good cash price on a car, and pulled out my credit card. No go... They wanted a check that would clear before pickup to avoid the Visa or MC processing fee. I couldn’t blame them, but thought it would be fun to see what they’d do when I offered to pay that way.
I wish more businesses gave discounts for cash but I understand why. Most customers don’t understand credit cards at all.
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