Comments on: Paying Off Credit Cards

By: Jai

Jai — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:28:21 +0000

Dude… credit cards suck. Beck and I are not crazy with them, but we definitely fell into Mike’s “Need to use them” category. Without it, we would have had no heat this year.

Though, this is why I needed to change jobs.

We used to be able to keep on top of the card issue, but we bought a house… and a house, is probably the largest contributer to debt, and mostly because upkeep on a house is ongoing and expensive.

Oh, and kids aren’t cheap either :-P.

But both of those things, house and kids, are worth what you invest into them, because they have great returns in the end.

Unrelated note… I think I’m blogging again…

When are we hanging out again? I miss you guys, and gotta see that Dahlia character again. She’s pretty cute!

By: John B.

John B. — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:30:33 +0000

I feel fortunate enough to be able to pay my two credit cards off in full every month. I don’t really charge much to begin with, because I don’t want to live beyond my means and get into debt in the first place. But I also have disadvantages – I don’t own a car, a house, have school debt to pay off. But even without those things, I feel I can live comfortably, and I have a good job even without the education.

@Mike: You need to move. Definitely. Anywhere that goes up that much is only going to keep going up.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:33:20 +0000

Mike, I’d have to agree with Brandon: your drop in expendable cash is over 530%! Is that really just the result of food, energy and gas?

We haven’t seen that result ourselves — at least, not between two years ago and last. I don’t have hard numbers, but I can tell you that we’d definitely feel a drop that steep. We don’t drive much and we’re only heating a 2 BR apartment rather than a house, but that sounds really high.

As to the issue of debt in American culture at large: well, I’d be willing to bet that most of the debt-holders are typically middle or upper-middle class consumer culture. A lot of the terrifying average of around $10k per household is a lifestyle decision to NOT live within our means.

I’d argue that our debt-obsessed society is much of the reason why we “are in such a miserable place right now.” The average American earns about $45k per year (1), but carries at least $8k in debt (2). Sure, a lot of that could be due to making ends meet, but Apple sure didn’t seem to have any problem moving iPods last Christmas (3).

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States
2. http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/SavingandDebt/P70581.asp
3. http://daringfireball.net/linked/2007/january#wed-17-apple_q1_2007

By: Red

Red — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:02:20 +0000

Very insightful!

By: brandon

brandon — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:25:04 +0000

so you’re saying that cost of living for you has gone up 20%? If so, with all due respect, I suggest you move.

By: Mike Bond

Mike Bond — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:51:41 +0000

“It’s a wonder more people aren’t doing this.”

You have to have money to get out of debt. A lot of people, at least around here, get into debt because they don’t make enough money to make ends meet.

I went from having $800 a month of disposable income 2 or 3 years ago to about $100 – $150. During that time my salary has increased 19%, and i’ve taking on NO additional bills or payments, just a result of higher food, energy and fuel bills.

All i’m saying is that it may not be that people haven’t thought about it. It may be that we, as a country, are in such a miserable place right now that getting out of debt is beyond many peoples economic means at the moment.