tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22781533.post6660730370065866672..comments2024-03-23T14:04:57.635-05:00Comments on Father Hollywood: Fr. Hollywood Recommends...Rev. Larry Beanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06705910892752648940noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22781533.post-20884907212977556132008-11-09T18:32:00.000-06:002008-11-09T18:32:00.000-06:00I am what the banks call a credit card "deadbeat."...I am what the banks call a credit card "deadbeat." We pay off the balance every month. The only debt is the mortgage, which is paid down ahead of schedule. Learned that from my Dad.WM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22781533.post-42926905025273217552008-11-09T14:56:00.000-06:002008-11-09T14:56:00.000-06:00Live like you make 90% of what you make and put th...Live like you make 90% of what you make and put the rest away. It'll be easy as hell as soon as you quit believing your last excuse for not doing it.Past Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10541968132598367551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22781533.post-56914686372452874002008-11-09T14:50:00.000-06:002008-11-09T14:50:00.000-06:00We'd do well to remember that your bank branch -- ...We'd do well to remember that your bank branch -- the bricks and mortar one or the one you call up -- are retail stores no less than the hardware store.<BR/><BR/>When you're trying to pay interest on old CDs at higher rates than you can lend on now, and the spread between current lending and savings rates is thin, you've got a big problem, and that means looking to non-interest income to bail you out. And that's without shaky lending practices.<BR/><BR/>What's non-interest income? Fees, and add-ons like credit life insurance, which being guaranteed issue, is not underwritten so what you pay is scaled to the risk you yourself represent.<BR/><BR/>It's "would you like popcorn with that" in financial terms. And if you don't sell enough "popcorn", you'll be looking for another job.<BR/><BR/>You'll see if you haven't already your credit card rate go up not because you actually did get behind, but because it looks like you might. That way, the bank's got more interest from you in case you do, and gets rid of an undesirable account if you refuse the new terms and close the account.<BR/><BR/>The merchant pays too for letting you use the card -- when I was in retail we used to encourage the lower merchant fee cards over the higher -- then there's what you pay in interest if you don't pay your balance.<BR/><BR/>Credit is not extra pay.Past Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10541968132598367551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22781533.post-15082668136242148172008-11-09T12:33:00.000-06:002008-11-09T12:33:00.000-06:00Dear Eric:There are certainly wise uses of credit ...Dear Eric:<BR/><BR/>There are certainly wise uses of credit (e.g. an affordable mortgage, student loans that can be paid off later after education ensures a decent salary, and a reasonable auto loan that allows one to have reliable transportation - especially where public transportation is not an option).<BR/><BR/>Credit cards can be very helpful as well - but only when the balance can be paid off in 30 days. Way too often, credit cards are misused - and the fees and usurious rates that can be imposed as a result are beyond belief.<BR/><BR/>The average family is way over their heads in credit card debt, and millions of people are currently in a kind of wage slavery in which they can only pay minimum payments with no hope of ever being out of debt.<BR/><BR/>This doesn't bode well for the national economy.<BR/><BR/>And, of course, there is always someone there to profit from their misery - which is often recognized as misery too late. Isn't it interesting that schools rarely teach children how money, credit, and banking work?<BR/><BR/>I believe we are looking at some very hard times. Now is the time to do whatever it takes to get out of the credit card debt, and to refinance adjustible rate mortgages into a fixed rate.Rev. Larry Beanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06705910892752648940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22781533.post-87968405951385274242008-11-09T12:10:00.000-06:002008-11-09T12:10:00.000-06:00Credit is like anything else. . . a tool. As such...Credit is like anything else. . . a tool. As such, it maybe be used as a blessing (I consider my student loans, allowing me to go to Seminary in spite of a sinfully cheap Synodical budget as regards Pastoral Education to be a blessing) -- or it can be wicked and shameful vice.<BR/><BR/>What we have to remember is that the world pretty much always wants us to turn blessings into vice.Rev. Eric J Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17747919365522145094noreply@blogger.com