Originally Posted By: Art_in_FL
Forty years ago it was pretty rare for a person to use credit on anything but a house or vehicle. Most daily transactions were made with cash. Larger ones a cheque. If you had the money you could spend the money. If not you waited and saved until you did.


Ding! That's the right answer. Guess I'm old fashioned, because that's been my financial style from day one. (Though forty years ago, I was just sorting out the difference between thumbs and toes.) Now I own my own place, have a low overhead business, have a bit set aside, and owe not one penny. People have been living high off credit and snickering at my frugal ways and old cars for fifteen years; now my discipline is speaking louder than words. "Pride cometh before a fall," says an old book, and it's going to be a long way down for some.

Anyway, regarding CC, I think there are two kinds of credit card issuers: those that plan on people paying off their balance (mostly), and those that rely on people paying minimums only (i.e., loan shark interest rates).

I had a credit card issued from one of the latter. Their game was blatantly obvious: get me in debt up to my eyeballs. Total SOBs. So I dropped the credit line from $15G to 500 bucks, just for laughs. They didn't like that, oh no. Now I use it for Internet purchases only, protecting my interests and theirs from fraud and the Russian mob. Instead of being grumpy and snarly, they should have offered me a corner office with perks. My fiscal conservatism was the right(eous) path. Hope these predatory types get a major spanking; they deserve every whack.