This is very true!! I did sign up to stop receiving offers, which was nice. 

Oddly I've never had a big problem with charging things. I can probably count on two hands the number of specific "purchases" that went on any of those cards. Most of that was paying off medical bills and house repairs. What's funny, though, is I am vehemently anti-credit - as in, I will probably never take out another loan/card again, even for "good" use. Not because I don't believe it can be used responsibly, but because I'm so against the industry. My now-ex-husband was able to charge almost $50,000 on a salary of less than that a year earlier in his life (before we were married) - and after a series of events, he was paying, at one point, 29.99% APR on that debt. Can you even imagine what that's like? I just have no interest (see what I did there?) in supporting that industry.

That said, I'm a big fan of peer-to-peer lending and actually hope to invest in making P2P loans once I get this paid off!

Wow.

Recovery may be slow, but progress is progress.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing.

jconcilio wrote:

This is very true!! I did sign up to stop receiving offers, which was nice. 

Oddly I've never had a big problem with charging things. I can probably count on two hands the number of specific "purchases" that went on any of those cards. Most of that was paying off medical bills and house repairs. What's funny, though, is I am vehemently anti-credit - as in, I will probably never take out another loan/card again, even for "good" use. Not because I don't believe it can be used responsibly, but because I'm so against the industry. My now-ex-husband was able to charge almost $50,000 on a salary of less than that a year earlier in his life (before we were married) - and after a series of events, he was paying, at one point, 29.99% APR on that debt. Can you even imagine what that's like? I just have no interest (see what I did there?) in supporting that industry.

That said, I'm a big fan of peer-to-peer lending and actually hope to invest in making P2P loans once I get this paid off!

As this is just my opinion, take it for what it is worth. I know from reading your history on this that you have definitely been hurt because of credit. I do disagree with you, however, that all credit is bad. You seem to differentiate between "good use" vs not. I believe that to be the most important (in addition to knowing the likelihood of being able to pay off the loan, etc). I distinguish a loan from a credit card which should only be used if you can pay it off immediately (next month or two). Loans should be for things that help you further your economic position (perhaps a house or a business). If businesses had never relied on loans not much would have moved forward in this nation. You can never predict things like medical expenses. Only thing there is trying to make sure you are adequately covered with some form of insurance. 

I wish there where more arenas where young people got exposed to money management and investing. Those two go hand in hand and are not well addressed in schools or family upbringing. 

I DO adamently agree that there are a lot of predatory actions of getting people hooked on easy credit. It is a huge problem and one ALL need better education about. 

This is just my two cents. 


 

jconcilio wrote:

So here's my April 2015 update:

Discover card: $5,180.00 (Down $57.82 since last month.)
Goal: Get this below $5,000 by the end of April. While I've already made my regular payment, I get paid once a month on the last day of the month, and on that day, I'm going to shoot over an extra $200 on this to meet that goal. This is the only card I currently have open (I do monthly recurring subscriptions and Kindle book purchases on it, and then use the Cashback rewards) but I want to carry a much lower balance, or none revolving at all, eventually.

Union Plus Mastercard: $5,746.29 (Down $62.48 since last month.)
Goal: Yeah! I hit my next goal, which was to get this below $5,800 before the end of March. Next up, to get below $5,650 by the end of June. This card is closed and just being paid off at a low APR.

Citi Visa: $3,524.33 (Down $346.75 this month.)
Goal: My goal is to pay this card off before the end of this calendar year, which is a little bit of a stretch but doable. I'm paying about $300 above the minimum on it every month. My next-step goal has been to get its balance below $3,500, which is so close as to be silly, so I will also drop an extra $50 on this on payday to make that happen.

Honda Financial Lease: $17,281.18 (Down $430.27 this month.)
Goal: Not actually related to the lease, but my hope is to have two of the three credit cards paid off when the lease comes up for purchase in two years.

Overall: Down $467.25 on the credit cards this month; 29.13% credit card debt free (from starting balances on all three of these cards).

 
That's awesome!  Keep it up!

Man, I can't imagine racking up credit card debt like that.  I was taught from a young age not to fuck with credit cards.  I know it's common in this country, but sad.

jconcilio wrote:

Try having a baby and being hospitalized for a month with no health insurance. It adds up fast! Actually, I don't recommend that AT ALL!

Sadly, there's actually very, very little consumer purchasing that went into the debt - it's about 90% healthcare and 10% home repair, like when our heat pump went out last December. I'm glad that I now am in a position to have both the savings and the insurance that, when such emergencies come up, I don't have to charge them, but that wasn't the case in the past for sure!

 
Well, I can't have a baby, because I'm a man, but I get you on the health care costs.  They are astronomical.  You are on the right track though.  I wish you luck, and keep it up!

Last edited by The Man (4/12/2015 12:32 pm)