Chuck

I feel for you man ... I hope this turns around for you soon...

My theory is that peoples complete financial future can be determined to
some extent by their financial start. You can start out the plus side or the
negative side of it . And it can all be changed by the opportunity you were
given in business, maybe by the help your parents gave you when you were
young ( helping you to buy your first car, etc..)
or on the flip side by any bad turn of events that might have happened to
you along the way.

Everyone can tell you how foolish it is for you to use a credit card but
from your description of your situation it is understandable that you do
what you have to do... It is easy to tell other people what they should do
but until they are in the same exact situation as you it doesn't carry as
much weight.

I have been very lucky to have been given a few breaks when I was young that
allowed me to start out on the plus side of the money curve. And I have made
sure that I thanked both of my past bosses for the break / opportunity that
they gave me back then.

Good luck and take care.

Jon






"Chuck" wrote in message
...

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Chuck wrote:

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

In a previous article, "Chuck" said:

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

Anybody who carries a balance on any credit card is an idiot or a

sucker.

Or isn't as wealthy or well off financially as you are...

Nobody is *forcing* you to buy what you can't currently afford, you
know.
Back before credit cards existed, people actually saved up money ahead
of
time for major purchases, instead of all this "buy now and pay later"
instant gratification stuff.




Ya know... I didn't say that paying the balance off was a bad thing. I
guess
what kinda ticked me off about your post was you said that people were
idiots or suckers for not paying the balance. I merely pointed out
that
some
people can't do that.

If I get a new job and have to go to Sears and buy $2,000 worth of
tools, I
will not be able to pay the balance off in one month. But I gotta have
the
tools if I want the job.

That is exactly why any financial advisor worth their salt recommends
that you save an amount equal to 3 - 6 months of expenses as an
"emergency" cash fund. Yes, it takes time to do this and a lot of
self-control, which most Americans no longer have, but that eliminates
the need to ever use a credit card for a situation like this ... or a
transmission failure in your car ... or a leak in your roof, etc.

Rather than save, most people use credit as their emergency fund. And,
as Paul said, that is a sucker play.


And some people like me are financially strapped and do not have the money
to save after the bills are paid. In fact, I was putting $20 a paycheck
into
the credit union at work trying to save a little bit and had to stop
making
that deposit because I needed that $20 per pay period just to make bills.
In
the last 3 years, our health insurance at work has gone up 135% and
co-pays,
etc have risen also. I have 3 prescriptions, my wife has 5 and our son has
one. That's around $150 per month or a little more. Both vehicles are paid
off, so no car payments. We rent a house and it is actually about $100
below
the going rate for our area. Electric bills are out the roof. Do I need to
keep going? In otherwords, by me living paycheck to paycheck, and my
yearly
raises at 3% if I am lucky that don't even cover cost of living, I am
doing
everything that I can to stay afloat and will resort to whatever means I
have to to provide for my wife and son. I wish that you people that make
$100,000 a year, own airplanes, drive Lexus and Mercedes and live in half
million dollar houses could understand...

When I got married, my wife got hurt and we ended up getting behind on
bills
because she couldn't work for almost a year. Everytime we see daylight,
something happens and we get sucked back into the hole again.

The point that I keep trying to make is that some people are not able to
save because of their financial situation. It seems that most in this NG
don't seem to understand that.

I understand what yall are saying about the 3-6 month cushion, and that is
great if you can afford to do so. I wish that I could. If so, I would have
a
cushion in the bank.

I do take offense to being called a sucker and an idiot because I have 1
credit card that I am paying interest on. In my situation, I have no
choice.

If you want to call people who have 15 credit cards with balances and they
buy big screen TV's, stereos, jewelry, etc on credit, I will agree with
you
then, but think about the persons situation before you call people
names...


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