Shoppers are in debt but still charge more crap.

**Mutt Sucks** · 11-23-2012, 09:13 AM

Credit cards are used properly. People think they have the power to buy and forget the chain it attaches to your ankle. If you cannot afford it, don't buy it.

**newcastlefan** · 11-23-2012, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by Mutt Sucks

Credit cards are used properly. People think they have the power to buy and forget the chain it attaches to your ankle. If you cannot afford it, don't buy it.

that doesn't make the credit cards bad. it means the users are stupid.

**gwartney** · 11-23-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by newcastlefan

that doesn't make the credit cards bad. it means the users are stupid.

It's like we have a green, amphibious Bernake amongst us.

**newcastlefan** · 11-23-2012, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by gwartney

It's like we have a green, amphibious Bernake amongst us.

insisting that you behave like an adult?

**Stew Nod** · 11-23-2012, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by newcastlefan

that doesn't make the credit cards bad. it means the users are stupid.

You could make the case that they are smart, actually....word is out among the bottom feeders that you can run it up, then be forgiven the debt...happens every hour of every day

**FranciscoTheMan** · 11-23-2012, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by George Costanza

You could make the case that they are smart, actually....word is out among the bottom feeders that you can run it up, then be forgiven the debt...happens every hour of every day

That's a good point....too bad stuff like that screws honest people like me over and makes things more expensive.

**newcastlefan** · 11-23-2012, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by George Costanza

You could make the case that they are smart, actually....word is out among the bottom feeders that you can run it up, then be forgiven the debt...happens every hour of every day

there are always people who will game a system. i do it often at work. i think you have to look at the effect that has on yourself also. gaming the credit system to make yourself more of a bottom feeder is really lame. gaming the system to enhance your performance to create or succeed at a profession is a positive thing. there will always be bottom feeders.

**FranciscoTheMan** · 11-23-2012, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by newcastlefan

there are always people who will game a system. i do it often at work. i think you have to look at the effect that has on yourself also. gaming the credit system to make yourself more of a bottom feeder is really lame. gaming the system to enhance your performance to create or succeed at a profession is a positive thing. there will always be bottom feeders.

I think there are more of the former than the latter. Sorry.

**AmishGirl** · 11-23-2012, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by FlaFlaFlunkie

I have friends who live in Europe and they're confounded by how Americans use credit cards.

I usually explain to them that it wasn't always that way. In the 70s, we called them charge cards and most people who got them (who were granted them), liked them because now they didn't have to write checks. They had the money at home but didn't want to carry cash or write checks.

Then, some time in the 80s, the mentality switched to: "Oh. My card has a $10,000 limit? That means I have $10,000?"

My ex-husband was European (Finnish) and he used his credit card like an "American." I was the saver ....

**FlaFlaFlunkie** · 11-23-2012, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by AmishGirl

My ex-husband was European (Finnish) and he used his credit card like an "American." I was the saver ....

Oh boy. That sucks. He jumped in, head first, huh?

**AmishGirl** · 11-23-2012, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by FlaFlaFlunkie

Oh boy. That sucks. He jumped in, head first, huh?

Yeah, crazy. Oh well, what's done is done, I guess.

**Mojopin** · 11-23-2012, 12:21 PM

Black Friday is America's most embarrassing day of the year.

**Dainty Jainty** · 11-23-2012, 12:25 PM

I have zero debt but my mortgage. I've never been so relieved in life. I carried my student loan debt on my back as if it were a 40 lb bed bug for years. Glad that beast is dead!

**newcastlefan** · 11-23-2012, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by FranciscoTheMan

I think there are more of the former than the latter. Sorry.

bottom feeding is easier. gaming systems to enhance your performance implies the ability to delay gratification, which bottom feeders lack.

that still doesn't mean the tool is bad. for example, i use my credit card totally instead of carrying cash. i figure i'm less of a mugging target since i don't carry cash and don't use ATMs on the street, plus i get 5% cash back on my daily expenses that used to just leave my pocket as small bills throughout the week.

there are master plumbers like BadFunn, and there are guys who bang on pipes with a wrench to unclog a drain. both use wrenches although one is a craftsman and the other is a shlub. doesn't mean the wrench is at fault.