Credit card debt

Have you checked your credit card balances lately? Seems some credit card companies are reducing credit limits to less than cardholders owe and then charging late fees, penalties, etc. And this is legal right now!!!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeti...ithout-Spending

They also just upped their interest to 14% for everyone. The government is suppose to be meeting to fix a limit on what they can charge, but you all see how the government works. NOT!!!!!

i know about the intrest rising, it certinlie happening heer.

i din't know that the wer reducing thir limites of borrowing, thats just mean and unfaire! IMO

The whole credit card routine is frightening. What are people thinking? I've heard some awful stories about parents having to bail out 20 somethings who cranked up limits while in college. I just hope that once they bail them out, they take away the cards.

I also heard that the banks are giving less time between the time you receive the bill and the time payment is due, so be sure to check the due date when it arrives.

I've started using a debit card. My boys use them all the time and have often teased me about charging and writing checks. I love the debit card. I stayed away from it for so long because I thought I wouldn't keep track in my check book, but I am doing so. The boys keep track online. I'm not there yet. And, I love not charging or writing a check. That check writing takes so much time. Anyone else doing debit cards? I'm probably the last one to join the debit troups. Am I?

Three years ago I managed to pay off all my (6) major credit card debt, most charged by my ex when we were together. I use checks or debit cards and thats it. I am debt free and wouldn't accept a credit card if it were made of gold and they paid me to use it.

Been there - done that!

It actually feels so much better just waiting for something if money is tight or making due with whats available. Once you become use to doing that it is really quite easy.

i been doing debits for awhile dotsie.

i used to joke that no matter how bad my spelling is and handwritten is they still cashed my cheeks, i refused to have one untill i was 25 becouse i was so embarised with my writeng and spelling. So when debit cards came along i probabilie was first their lol.

i do have credit cards and been using them more latlie than ever before, as a fall back on and good job i have them as well. I seen frends going without heat and stuff they should't be going without becouse they dind't have cards or overdrafts. So i am luckie but keep telling my frends its limited convinense as it is not free monie...

once in my life my parents bailed me out and i been away from home since i was 16, it bonkers how much parents are paying for thir kids debt and from what i can see they go straight back to running up more debt asap. I just don't understand why kids and parents are doing what they do.

Okay. A little trivia. Did you know that cheques commonly issued by the banks in the UK are crossed cheques? One cannot simply write "Pay to Cash" to payee.

i always though the cheques were that way so if lost they could't be redemed for cash.

i guessing its diffrent in usa that why your bringing it up

Could you explain a bit more, Lola?

It is difficult here to just cash a check, even if you have written it yourself. I guess that is when I use my debit card.

Whereas in the States, cheques are blank, in that that they do not have the two lines drawn on the face of the cheques, in the UK all cheques are issued with pre-printed double lines across it. Generally, cheques issued here are for deposit to accounts and do not convert to cash from the bank teller (or cashier, as they're called here). One goes through a lot of security checks and endorsements by the person issuing the cheques to encash a crossed cheque. And even then, it rarely happens because of the bother. So, even if I wrote out a cheque to your name, you would have to deposit that and it goes through a clearing period. No one writes "Pay to Cash" here.

Here's a sample cheque.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/BritishCheque.png

Checks here are a breeze to cash, even the casinos cash them if say you don't have a bank account. BUT if the check is from outside the US the banks put a 15 day hold before cashing it.

i confused why would you go to a bank stand in a cue in a bank to get monie from a chequek and not just get it out of your bank account anyway, weer the cash be comming from?

I see the point if casinoes and such cash them for convienses. Dose all big busnesses cash cheques or is it the nature of people needing cash quick that has the casinos changing cheques to cash?

I thinking we can't get buy without a bank account heer but one possiblie could in usa.

oh its hard with great security such as driving licsense and passports and utilitie bills being needed to open bank or building society accounts.

how easie is it to open one is usa?

Opening an account: It is as easy as falling off a log. Sometimes there is a minimum deposit of say $25.00 ut thats abbout it to open a saving or checking account.

Cashing checks: Its to cash checks from other people Celtic. I edit for a lot of people here in Nevada and they pay me by check. Sometimes I deposit them and take out cash but sometimes I just cash the checks without making a deposit first... However out of the country checks no one will cash for at least 10 to 15 days even if you deposit it thres a hold on that money until it clears.

We have check cashing stores in Texas. I'd be surprised if they aren't nationwide. They charge a fee to give you cash for the 'check.' For some, it must be worth it (illegals)... there's a check-stop on every street in town. Otherwise, in Texas, you can cash a check, whether drawn on your own account or that of someone else, if you have an established account with the bank you try and cash it with.
lola, our checks look very similar... lines, 4 in total - one for the date, one for the payee, one for the written amount, and the one on the bottom left for a description of the disbursement. And, of course the little box, or area for the numerical amount. I haven't seen a check without lines since I was a wee one.

Gims, the difference is in the pre-printed lines with pre-printed "Account Payee" across and in the centre of the cheque. That's how cheques look like here.

ahhh, got it... the 'account payee' making the difference...

yep and the lines going diagonalie across the cheque, i seem to rember my dad having to write them in ...i almost sure of that but i onlie knowen my chekes to have diagonal crosses, so they can't be cashed for cash if lost lol.

chatty and gims are right on with their explanations.

Most stores charge at least a $25.00 fee if you bounce a check, meaning write a check with insufficient funds. The bank also cahrges a fee. I saw a sign in the store the other day - $40.00 fee for bad checks.

I don't think only illegals use check-cashing stores by a long shot. Some people don't have cars and can't easily travel to a branch bank. (this is like when we assume that everyone has easy access to a good grocery store. No, they don't.) Some people like the neighborhood convenience, some need the cash without a waiting period, and some like doing all their business in one spot: pay bills, get money order, etc. They tend to serve primarily poorer people, but I know folks who use them.

My personal checking account is used almost exclusively for business. Credit cards are used for business, and everything else. When debit cards arrive in the mail, we cut them up. To me, it's one more thing to keep track of.

You are correct Ellenm, in Canada we call them pay-day stores. They can be found in most cities. Not sure about rural areas. They do tend to be used by primarily poorer people --who are desperate, need money immediately but unable to discpline and plan their spending...or they are financially illiterate. ie. they don't realize how much they are being ripped off by these "stores".

The legal aid lawyers in Canada and U.S. who work with poor, get really pissed off how much of a scam these pay-day stores are. I know so, because I worked for a non-profit, legal aid organization that wanted to introduce legislation to control these operations more rigorously. I know it was debated a few years ago in the legislatures in British Columbia and Ontario...the debates are recorded in the minutes of legislative debate.

whats sad and i think one point your making is if its needed to be controled paybee for % of cashing fees i am assuming, then thats the pooerest or more desprite section paying over the odds and of course thir the ones that more licklie to need thir cash.

Yup, you got it. We ordinary people like to complain about credit card rates, but they are nothing compared to payday loans, which can legally charge astonomical rates. So poorer people have more difficulty getting out of debt because they're in hock to these folks forever.

Some people truly don't manage their money very well, but a lot of folks make so little that one relatively minor emergency -- a car repair, a doctor's bill, a larger utility bill, etc. -- can leave them with no funds AND no way out or they'll bounce checks or lose the job they have and be out in the street. So then the loan spiral starts.

I have never written a single Insufficient Funds check, luckily I never put my EX on my bank accounts. I also never tell anyone my pin numbers.

Chatty delete this post. You can be found.I had someone read what I wrote on here and....well just delete that info Chatty.

Okay Chick, I removed part of the post in question. Thanks for thinking of me, I wasn't thinking outside of BWS, and that can be dangerous I know.

Glad you did so chats.

My son was one of those...which is one of the reasons he is living with us right now. Granted, he made some poor choices (keeping my mouth shut on that issue is a real challenge) and he is one of those unskilled folks scrambling to better himself while making 8-9/hour!

He got a couple of those payday loans because he didn't want to "bother" me. Oh my! Rough lesson to learn!

I'm guessing he's in his 20s? Hopefully they learn while they're young and won't make the same mistake twice.

I'm sorry to hear about your son, but glad to know that you are there to help him. My own daughter ran up signifcant bills on several store credit cards. She just didn't 'get' how the bills grow if you only pay the minimum amount until I showed her about finance charges, etc. Like all of us, she was horrified and felt stupid, but lesson learned. This stuff is so easy to fall into, not so much to get out of.