Texsox

I am glad to see we haven't lost our minds, yet.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 13, 2011 -> 02:16 PM) And if you spend in cash and just blow all of your cash, you still are going to be stuck. And if you have no card, what is to prevent you from instead going to those paycheck advance places, etc. I believe this is called having savings, having an emergency fund. Are you suggesting people replace savings with a credit card? If you can't save to build up the fund, how is the person going to pay off the card when the bill comes in?

I agree with all of your best case scenarios. But that isn't reality for the majority of the population. The credit card industry has advertised the hell out of what you need to do to be a good customer of theirs. They assign a rating system and people start jumping through hoops to make certain the credit card companies think they are good customers. The goal seems to be to have a pocket full of credit cards with higher and higher lines of credit that you will only use from one payday to another because you will never carry a balance or pay interest. Then you can qualify for larger and larger car and home loans. That is a nice goal. Forget about paying cash for stuff. Having an emergency fund to where you don't even have to use a credit card from payday to payday. Forget about putting large down payments on purchases. That's just crazy talk and would never work.

You are correct. As noted a credit card is a tool, and if used properly, isn't a problem. But credit is just that, credit to be paid back later. The credit card companies and reporting companies have spent millions convincing you to buy into their customer rating program. Get yourself a high customer rating so they can sell you more products. Pay them interest regularly and you will be considered a better customer and they will sell you more stuff that you can pay them for. So yes, a credit card can be a great tool for some people, most people wind up becomming a tool for the credit card companies. I am certain there is a terrible problem with saving for something and paying cash. I am certain therwe is some problem with putting large down payments on major purchases, with having an emergency fund to pay for stuff. But I can't see how paying cash and not using credit is going to be so terrible. We want stuff now, not in three month when we can save for it. We have been sold on instant gratification and spend now and pay later.

Clear means you are properly hydrated.

You may be slightly dehydrated. Clear and copious is better.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson9/ Other sources have credit card debt at over $10,000 for the average American.

I'm not saying that people can't manage credit and have all the good things that have been mentioned. But the average American has nine credit cards and $5,000 in debt. The majority will die with that $5,000 and have paid interest for decades. Over 1,000,0000 will file bankruptcy this year because of credit cards. Many millions more will go to credit counseling services, take out second mortgages, pull from 401Ks, shift balances around, apply for more cards to keep up with the payments on their first cards. On the home mortgage, steady employment, healthy savings, not being committed to making those credit card payments is going to help you way more than nine cards and $5,000 or more in debt. A positive net worth looks very nice, at least according to what I've experienced and heard about today's market. If you really want to play with credit, go with something that can't be used for general expenses. A department store, finance a computer through Dell, something like that. See how fast you pay it off. But if you goal is to keep opening up charge accounts to build your credit so you can get higher and higher credit limits and to get more and more cards, well that leads to having balances and making a lot of interest payments. Why else do you want the cards? I know all that sounds like work, and is not as much fun as having lines of credit equal to your annual salary. You will feel more successful opening your wallet and thinking "which card should I put this on". Soon some of you will be opening you mail thinking it is your lucky day because another bank will open up an account for you, and since you just maxed your first or second card, you will have it "just for emergencies". And as Rex mentioned, with each step the cycle gets worse.

I believe I said 15%, do you consider that a s*** load? A very simple investment strategy is to have a positive net worth. Debt for the types of things that unsecured credit is used for is not productive. As an investment strategy, why have money on a credit card being charged 20% interest? People can claim all day long that they won't carry a balance, and a few will be right. But most people will start carrying a balance. The credit card and credit reporting agencies have spent millions convincing the public they need to borrow money to buy a new outfit, go on vacation, dinner, plants for the house, etc. They have to have a credit card to get more credit cards. They have to pay interest to one card to earn the right to pay interest on another card. Again, an investment strategy of zero debt, especially in debt for an item that is already worthless or on it's way to being worthless, isn't very good either. Just a small counter to the spend today and pay tomorrow and next week, and next month, and next year . . .

Walk into a car dealership with 20% down and you will drive off their lot. Walk into a mortgage company with a decent down payment and no credit cards and you will get a mortgage. Stable work history and a history of saving, including a positive net worth, actually has value. But yes, showing you can manage a negative net worth with lots of debt also works, and there are a lot more companies advocating for that. But actually saving money, putting away an emergency fund instead of relying on credit cards, saving for down payments instead of no money down instant gratification is very difficult for most people. Even if you don't go as far or as extreme as some financial advisors will tell you, being your own credit card increases your net worth and saves you money. And look at who is telling you that credit is essential. Credit monitoring companies, credit card companies, credit repair companies. And we want that stuff immediatly, it's something we like, so we believe them. The only time I can honestly say you absolutely need a credit card is to rent a car. If you manage to put aside an emergency fund, you can pay for those unexpected expenses like car repairs. If you can't afford to set aside the savings, how will you pay off the credit card without racking up interest payments? Americans want to spend 110% of their income.

Read one of Dave Ramsey's books and think three or four times about starting any credit card. If you really want to start down that road, start with something really safe like a department store card. Fill out a JCPenny application. They have pretty easy standards. Best of all, you can't use it for drinks with the buddies, a vacation, tickets to a ball game, etc. At worse you may go over at Christmas or something buying gifts. If you do decided on a Visa or MC, only take a $500 loc and see how well you do for a year or so paying off the balance every month. Balta is a very rare consumer with his history. If he was a random message board dude I would raise the bs flag. But I know he's legit. The bank credit card industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars convincing people they need a credit card to do anything in life. They have been very successful in that. There will be a dozen replied talking about how essential it is to have credit cards. Listen to them and their stories then Read one of Dave Ramsey's books and think three or four times about starting any credit card.

As soon as the Cubs had a winning, playoff team, former Sox fans would be backing the blue pinstripes in droves, if any of them would still alive.

It would also depend on if they kept the name or not. The Vegas Winns would probably not hold as many fans as the Vegas White Sox.

QUOTE (OilCan @ May 10, 2011 -> 07:29 PM) My near-by choices would be the Rangers or the Astros. And death is not an option. UGH. Don't want to think of no ball on the South Side. I would probably watch more Ranger games. I still prefer the AL. There are also some historical parallels between the two teams. I guess it would be very much like basketball, if someone asked what team I like, I would say the Bulls, but I could tell you way more about the Spurs than the Bulls. Hell, I probably know more about the Mavs than the Bulls. Still I spent way too much time in the upper balcony of the stadium to stop following the Bulls. Same as the Sox. It would be a marketing dream for the Cubs. I could see all sorts of promotions to win over new fans.

knitting is boring, so I post.

Almost every town here in the Rio Grande Valley has an Economic Development group that works like crazy to lure your businesses down here to the sunny south where there are no state income taxes. I believe high earning execs like that perk. They also like the low housing costs, access to household staff at reasonable prices. They can buy a condo on South Padre, country club membership, and move most of their operations into Mexico to save on labor costs. We enjoy flying owners and top execs down for a few days, maybe have their families join them for the weekend. So yeah, stop your state from offering incentives for businesses to stay there, please.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ May 10, 2011 -> 11:53 AM) Frankly, I would guess the show discourages probably 0 pregnancies. I really doubt that many teens are going to be thinking of 16 and pregnant just before sex. Societal norms and taboos are powerful behavioral regulators. Take away the taboo and stigma about being 16 and pregnant and more people will get pregnant. Same as any other behavior.

I feel the need to post in this thread

Dartmouth

Another team would have stopped the skid sooner.

Yes! a couple Sox victories

Instead of the team being a religion, how about a Christian school? Notre Dame, Boston College, BYU, SMU, or a Jewish college like Brandeis. And I saw this somewhere else, I forgot where Dear New Al Qaeda #1 Seal you real soon! USA

What does that say about a person when the only way they can express themselves is by insulting people? Seems like such a small thing to not use hurtful words, I'm not certain what LBJ would have lost by using a different word, maybe he has a very limited vocabulary.

Also playing the field will help Paulie. My vote that yes he would get in is depended, in a fairly large way, in the voters rewarding the clean guys.

Yeah, I do hate some people. What we now know. Dad died a year ago. Mom remarried and her and the new guy took off, leaving him with his 18 year old sister who is pregnant. The sister had been living on her own for a while. I was told when he received the money and gift cards he cried he was so happy. He's a real humble kid and doesn't want anyone to know.