Debt Negotiation: Talk Down Your Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is the number one form of debt in the country and every day more and more Americans are finding themselves in deeper and deeper with credit card companies. When the payments seem high and many and the interest rates are beyond comprehension, you may be looking for relief. Debt negotiation can bring [...]

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From Frugal Simplicity.

February 6, 2010 | Filed Under Frugal Living | Leave a Comment

Interest Rates Don’t Matter If You Don’t Carry a Balance: Some Thought on the Cash-Only Debate

Earlier today, I read with interest the comments on this Get Rich Slowly article about Suze Orman and the “cash only” movement. In a nutshell, the article advocated (as Suze apparently does now) that people should abandon credit cards because the credit card issuers have been raising interest rates.

To put it simply, the raising of credit card rates shouldn’t matter to a person who has control over their financial life. If you don’t carry a balance on your credit card for longer than the grace period, it doesn’t matter what the interest rate is.

Based on the comments I read there, a lot of people do the same exact thing I do. I use credit cards for their convenience and the rewards they provide. I pay off the balance in full each month (I pay all such bills on the 1st and 15th of each month, actually, to keep it simple).

There’s one big problem with this plan, some will point out. It puts you at risk. What happens if you can’t pay the balance at the end of the month?

For starters, I never, ever carry a balance that’s more than what I have in cash in my emergency fund. I never even come remotely close. In fact, I never come remotely close to carrying a balance that’s more than what’s in my checking account. If I’m turning to my emergency fund, it’s a genuine emergency, not just a great sale at the store.

Which brings me to the second point – effective credit card use requires a lot of self-control. I am speaking from experience here – I learned the hard way about what damage a credit card can do if you don’t have self-control. It took a mountain of debt and a point that was perilously close to personal bankruptcy (while having a baby at home, no less) to force me to wake up to the truth – that a credit card without self-control is like a chainsaw in the hands of a toddler.

If you aren’t spending less than you earn month in and month out, you should go cash only, because cash provides the hard limits that are needed when you don’t have your spending under control. Credit cards are only beneficial to people who spend less than they earn every month, like clockwork. If you can’t or aren’t doing that, the drawbacks far outweigh the benefits for credit card use.

When the credit card companies raise interest rates, it’s not the financially stable people who are punished – they are often barely aware of rate changes because they’re unaffected by the changes. Instead, it’s the people who don’t have self-control – the people who carry a balance – who are punished by the changes.

Yet again, it’s a fantastic argument for living frugally, responsibly, and below your means – if you do so, the games companies play with credit card rates don’t affect you.

If you’re carrying a balance right now and your credit card company has just adujsted your rates, I have a simple plan for you: cut up your credit card. It’s doing you much more harm than good right now. Then, focus intensely on paying off the debt. Absorb as many frugality ideas as you can and try them in your own life. Knock down your life’s routines and build new ones – your old routines are the ones that brought you to this point. Seek out friends who don’t find their self-worth in the things they have. Seek out activities that don’t drain your wallet.

And gradually, you’ll find that credit cards don’t have to be dangerous – they can merely be useful tools – and that you don’t have to worry about rate changes.

Good luck.

Continue reading Interest Rates Don’t Matter If You Don’t Carry a Balance: Some Thought on the Cash-Only Debate …

From The Simple Dollar.

December 13, 2009 | Filed Under Frugal Living | Leave a Comment

The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Next Project Edition

Now that my book is finished, I’ve decided to embark on another big time-consuming project, but this one is a little different.

I’m a big fan of online banks. I think they’re an incredibly powerful tool for helping you with your personal savings. For a long time, I’ve wanted to talk about a slew of online banks, just to review all of the different options out there.

There’s been a problem with this, though. I don’t like to talk about products that I don’t actually use myself. I won’t review a book unless I’ve read it and thought about it. I won’t review a financial tool unless I’ve used it extensively myself. And I won’t talk about a bank unless I’ve used it myself.

I use ING Direct as my primary bank. I talk about it often. But I don’t mention other banks for the reason above, and I want that to change. There is a huge diversity in online banks, offering different features, different interest rates, different offerings, and different tools for managing your money.

Here’s my solution. Over the next several months, I’m going to open accounts at a bevy of online banks. I’m going to try them out, see in detail what services they offer, transfer some money in out, test their customer service, and close the accounts (if I don’t intend to replace an account I’m already using).

Then, once a week, I’m going to post a detailed review of that bank in an effort to outline clearly what distinguishes it from other banks. What do they do differently? Who is this bank most appropriate for?

So I’m going to open this up to you a little bit. What would you like to see in a review of an online bank? What features really matter to you and would cause you to make the move to switch to a new bank?

While you chew on that, here are some interesting personal finance articles that might interest you.

“Natural Inclinations…Are Hardly Ever Altered or Overcome.” Over the last few days, I’ve been enormously inspired by this little quote. (@ the happiness project)

Do you do your most important work first? I used to have a very organized morning routine, where I would do most of my “routine” tasks before starting the day. What I found is that I got my “routine” tasks done, but most of the real meat of my work – the creative tasks – didn’t go nearly as well. (@ unclutterer)

How to Change Your Motor Oil Changing one’s own motor oil is a tremendous way to save money – when you pay someone else to do it, you’re essentially paying someone $20 so you can sit in a waiting room while some guy unscrews a nut, collects some oil in a bucket, screws the nut back in place, then dumps some clean oil in the top. Why not do that at home where you can do something worthwhile while the oil drains and save yourself $20? (@ art of manliness)

What To Do With A Financial Windfall This is a great step-by-step guide to handling a windfall. If you don’t have a plan, windfalls can actually be a large negative disruption in your life, as we talked about a bit last week. (@ moolanomy)

Results of a Week Without Spending Can you go an entire week without spending any money? As an experiment, this family attempted to have a week without any spending and managed to get by only spending $3. Fairly insightful stuff. (@ pt money)