Credit card interest

I dunno, I don't pay credit card interest.

I haven't for 20 years.

I have a debit card.

"Consumption. This is the new national pa‮ts‬ime. F*ck baseball, it's consumption, the only true, l‮sa‬ti‮gn‬ American value that's left . . . buying things . . . People spending money they don't have on things they don't need . . . So they can max out their credit cards and spend the rest of their lives paying 18 percent interest on somethi‮gn‬ that cost $12.50. And they didn't like it when they got it home anyway. Not too bright, folks, not too f*ckin' brig‮th‬." - George Carlin

WARNING - Expletives in the following link...

George Carlin talks about a favorite American past time...CONSUMPTION!!

Here's a solution.
If you don't have the money now.... DON'T BUY IT NOW!
Save your money and then buy it when you actually have the cash or cut up your credit cards and get a debit card. And guess what? By the time you actually have the cash you will probably decide you don't need it anyway. See it's really quite simple.

Impulsive consumption is made possible by instant credit.

If you want an answer to something, don't look to a god, or a horoscope, or a sign in the sky... look to good 'ol George Carlin!

I just noticed this myself for the past month.  I thought it was anomoly and have it on my list of things to call on......I'll now do that today. 

I also pay off my cc's every month and use them because I get sky miles which offsets much travel costs for my family.  I see no problem with using cc's if you pay them off every month (at least until now).  For those of you that don't use them, good for you but IMO you're not using you cash flow properly. 

I'll give an update on what the bank says.

Its called "predatory lending". EGP

MarkM - I noticed two of my cards charge interest daily without grace period anymore, so I rarely use those cards anymore (one small purchase every 6 mos just to keep the account open). The other two still have a grace period... which is right up to the next billing date whether thats a day or a month from the purchase date (used to be any balance over 30 days, not any purchase within 30 days). So those two cards get paid off every month before my bill date... which negatively affects my FICO on those two cards because I'm not paying interest to buy a better score. It's a serious scam.

Well,

My wife was seriously angry at me when she saw the interest rate on her Amex.... She thought I wasn't paying the bill on time. I was...

"Mysteriously" the interest rate went up. 35.99% yup, that's what I said.

I have a "business" amex that is a corporate card and the company only pays twice a month. If I have a business expense that falls just right, and I am a day or two tardy in posting my expense report that "balance" gets carried over to the next month which accrues interest and a late charge. Amex (and others) use that info to jack up the interest on our personal account.........

Now, the interest on the corporate card is quite low and I usually can sweet talk my way out of the "late fee" BUT the damage has already been done!!!

My solution? I never put anything on my corporate card anymore. That will be a pain once I have to travel to the home office again. And, I have paid off the personal Amex balance.

NOTHING goes on credit anymore. If we don't have the cash.... It does not get bought.

I have a small HELOC that I am working on next and the 1st mortgage has only 9 years left. I figure with proper acceleration of the loans I will be totally debt free in 5 years unless I get caught in the lay-off tsunami

C.

Hmm I had read a news item maybe a couple months ago that SOME credit cards were considering doing away with grace periods, but didn't realize some had implemented that so soon.  Can't say I'm surprised though.  Late last year when I made my list of possible scenarios and how to prepare for them, one of my early preparatory actions for a possible "Economic Collapse" scenario was to stop using our credit cards, with very limited exceptions (purchases made online, travel, and gas) and we always pay it off quickly.  LogansRun pointed out with some credit cards earn you rewards and airline miles and admittedly it does irk me to pass up earning those rewards, but I've concluded that those benefits are outweighed by the risks... namely the CC company pulling something shady, or possibly even going under and creating a messy situation of not knowing to whom or how to pay my balance.  Already my main CC did a shady thing earlier this year by moving my due date a week earlier without any notification, and just happened to make my payment come in a day or two late.  I called them up and demanded to have the late fees and finance charges removed, but it took 2 months and several calls to get the charges reversed (the reps always seemed baffled that the credit "hadn't gone through").  If I'd been using my card as frequently as before I would have had close to $1000 instead of just $200 on the card, and who knows how much more I would have had to fight with them to waive the finance charges and fees.  So after that BS I use the card even less now.  I understand for some businesses credit cards can be near-essential for placing orders and the like, but my personal opinion is individuals are probably best off transitioning away from credit cards entirely.  And as an added bonus the merchants I shop at won't have to pay the 1-2% fees involved with purchases.

- Nickbert

Have you also concluded who actually pays for these so called 'rewards'?

Of course you do in the interest and fees you pay the CC companies.

Nothing is free.

Several surveys over the years have shown that so called credit card reward systems are no more than scams that trick people into believing they are getting something for nothing where in fact they are paying for it dearly through exorbitant interest charges and fees.

I remember that one survey showed that in order to receive enough reward points to get a $119 microwave oven for 'free' you had to spend $40,000 on credit card purchases.

The fact that most folks think they can't function without credit cards is just another facet of social conditioning.

Okay some pay off the monthly balance each month... but most don't.

The people who keep a balance on their cards are generally the ones paying for the reward programs, and my CC company gets very little from me.  The only thing I've paid to them was one $60 annual fee in the past year and a half, and I've more than made up for that with enough miles for two (almost) free tickets, one of which I've already used.  So already it has been a net gain from my position, and I know many others who also pay off their balance every month on their airline cards and reap the airline rewards without paying anything aside from the annual fee.

That being said, yes I do agree with you that it's a subtle way to trick people into spending more on their cards so they'd find themselves holding balances... really it's not much different from any other 'loss leader' product, whether it's cheap eats at casinos or a heavily discounted computer at Best Buy.  If you know what you're getting into and stay aware of the conditions though, you can receive much more than you pay in.  But it does require some discipline, and from the banks' perspective there are enough people who don't have that discipline that make up for the ones that do.  And I do foresee these rules changing (no grace period, higher annual fees, etc) to the point to where this net gain will disappear or turn into a net loss no matter what I do, which is why I've largely stopped using the card and will cancel it before the next annual fee takes effect.  Their shady move with changing my due date without notice and the resulting hassle just made the decision easier.  But I made out quite well while it lasted.

- Nickbert

I try very hard not to use my "credit" credit cards anymore and rely on my "debit" credit cards instead (online purchases, gas, etc). Since I don't leave the house unless I'm absolutely forced to, cash really isn't an option for most things... yeah, and how about those new ATM withdrawal fees they're starting to reinstate?!?!? They either nail you at the machine, or you get an ATM fee on your statement, or (my favorite) they switch which type of account you have so they can charge you a monthly service charge!! And, of course, you get charged a fee for going inside or driving up and talking to a human teller as well. And check fees... more charges if you write too many, or any at all with some account types, etc etc. So much for getting & using your cash!