Credit Cards Can Be To Much Trouble!

I know that most of my posting have been about money and borrowing. This today can one of the greatest means of tying a families hands from making it in these hard times. By the way I don't have any personal credit cards, and only use them for business. They are just to scary to deal with.

I was recently reading a magazine and ran across an article that talked about the fees most of them hidden in the small print.

One was for of all things usage outside the united states, and that can mean a trip to Mexico or Canada. I know many people don't think of Mexico or Canada as a foreign country. I think the credit card companies are counting on that. Another was for a whopping payment for making a minimum payment late. Its very important to pay on time. I wouldn't be against setting up with your bank payment automatically if you're able.

Avoid cash advances at all cost. That's another way they ding you on fees. Its smart to know what a credit card company calls a cash advance. You can cut off the problem in advance. LOL (laugh out loud) for those who may not know the meaning of LOL.

0.00 (zero) transfer of a balance from other cards can be great at first. Yet down the road you can really be hurt. There are many site that have information on credit cards and they can help, one is creditorweb.com

Always keep tract of your bill each month when the statement comes. If you can; do it on line as that can be faster. Yet fees and other terms of a credit card company can change at will when ever they want. Some of them change monthly. Always read the fine print.

My suggestion is to avoid credit cards altogether. Granted you may need one so look for the lowest annual fee. That way if you don't use for over a year then you'll know the cost.

Most car rental company require one to rent a car. Some hotels require one. You can use a bank card as often most will work like a credit card. Ask ahead of time to avoid other problems. For example (If I don't have a credit card can I rent a car with you? or stay the night at you motel or hotel?")Planning ahead is the fastest way to avoid trouble in the first place. Nothing is worse than a great trip ruined by paying for it for years to come. Have a saving account for the trip saved over a year or more. Even little trips can cost a lot.

These are hard times with the days of big government returning. Now a days you have to read the small print in everything you do. My best advice is try to pay off the credit cards if you have them. Don't be afraid to call the credit card company and cancel the cards and talk to them to try to pay them off at a reduced amount. You have more rights than you think. You just need to ask them to "please give me a payoff amount or reduce the interest". Don't be afraid to let them know that you are trying to work with them to avoid bankruptcy. It's not my advice to file bankruptcy, but if you have more debt than ever and don't have enough money coming in try one of the credit debt companies that help with reducing debt of your cards.

You may have to file for bankruptcy. No one should have to live with so much debt over their head they feel like trapped or enslaved."The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:7 I know that this is in another posting I did. It's a good verse to know.

It's one thing to be broke all the time. But being in debt to someone can make you feel poor. Credit Card debt can be like slavery, it certainly makes one a servant of the lender."For YHVH Your Elohim blesses you, as he promised you: and you shall lend unto many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee." Deuteronomy 15:6 We end up letting our creditors rule over us. I even have concern that China who is giving us much of the money we spending may pressure us to do things as a country. Just because borrowing is the thing to do today doesn't mean you have to do it.

A final note: buying a house is only possible by most people by going to a bank to buy it. Hence borrowing from someone. A car can be another way, in that area I would keep the car choices smaller and then keep the payments smaller. Manage your debt or it will surely manage you.

"And [if] the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, [that] we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and [that] we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt." Nehemiah 10:31

There is a mountain of information in this verse, but what I am pointing out is debt was forgiven after 7 years. Torah is clear that no one should be in debt to another forever. It is a form of slavery. "And if your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you." Deuteronomy 15:12
The laws of the USA use to be that a person could file personal bankruptcy every 7 years, now it's 10. Granted some people did it often. I am not telling anyone to do like wise. But some people might have to take such an action. No one can live under oppression. Credit card companies are in the business of making money. They made 63 billion in fees alone last year (according to R. K. Hammer, a bank advisory firm).

The Torah is about freedom, keep yourself free from unwanted debt or find a way out of it.