I was just talking to someone about debt, and how banks encourage you to run up debt on things like credit cards , then how people get mortgages, and then when people pay off that mortgage they tend to aspire to bigger houses and fancy cars and such, and get more debt . and so they spend most of their lives in debt .... it all seems mighty ropey what are your thoughts about debt
....dont buy things that you cant afford and you wont get into debt. Its true, debt which at one time carried a certain ammount of social stigma is now the norm, it is even encouraged, we've all seen the adverts for loans on TV that help to 'bust your debt' (and sieze your home if you dont pay up in time). Credit cards are offering lower rates in an attempt to encourage everyone to have one. Problems start when people use credit cards to pay off other credit cards and it leads to a spiral of debt. I was at a drinks party with archbishop sentamu last night and he was talking about the evils of credit cards. Having said that, I have a barclaycard, and it has been rather handy on a fair few occasions... just takes discipline!
I was talking to a friend a while ago who deals with people in debt as a business, and he was telling me he has people coming to see him with 100,000 in credit card debt.
it all depends how you treat the credit card. it seems a lot of people think a credit card is great becuase its essentially free money.... if you can pay it back on time. but people get carried away buying things that arent needed or pretending they have money for all things when really they dont, becuase they can just get more credit. my mums always, always pays her credit card bills when they have to be paid. she uses it rather than carrying cash around and if she hasnt got enough money in her account until shes paid or transfered some from her savings or something, its handy. and thats really the point in credit cards... no one wants the debt... just people forget how much money they have to spend, rather than how much they can spend. then end up in the shit. i dont have a credit card, im happy with my debit card coz at least i know im paying for something straight away and i know how much money i have. also being a student without a job, relying on a loan which is paid at the start of every term, credit cards arent easy to pay off on time. so i just cross my fingers and hope it lasts long enough for some food and rent! but then theres the paying back of the loan. a lot of the tv adverts are for loans that pay off all your debts so you only have one debt to pay off... which kinda makes sense, but theres still going to be a lot of money to pay off every month or whatever. argh, money sucks....
I opened some new bank accounts the other day as i begin working after the summer. Previously i have used a building society, so have never had any cards and have no clue on how to use them. The people in the bank however offered me all sorts of things such as credit cards and morgages up to £30,000. Personally i think this is iresponsible of the bank as they knew i was only going to be earning a small amount, and saving all that anyway. It has shown me how openly the banks attempt to get people into debt from an early age, and therefore left me with a greater understanding of why many people i know have got into problems.
Student loans is another killer, I still owe mine, I wish I worked to pay some of it off through all the holidays I had while at college, but then again it was fantastic times.
