One of the things I do after being away from home for a while is go to one of the nearby sushi restaurants, and get myself a nice roll, some tempura if they have it, and all the wasabi I can get away with stealing. Kind of a welcome-home thing for myself… have to keep myself entertained, somehow. Well, I swung by one of the local establishments yesterday, after calling ahead, and waited in line to pick up my package. I was kind of just boredly standing there, until the woman in front of me took her wallet out of her purse.
I swear to God, this girl had no fewer than eight credit cards stashed in that thing. Me? I somehow manage to limp by on one of those accursed things. Now, I did not really take the time to compare credit cards before I decided on mine… It kind of came with my bank account, and even after looking back at the situation retrospectively, it is not a bad piece of plastic in comparison to the rest out there. But eight? Good fraking Lord. I mean, I suppose you can do the credit card balance transfer dance, and shift the charges from one card with rewards, to another card with lower interest rates, but still…
I kind of have to wonder if part of the reason the American economy is so up-and-down recently, and why the American dollar is not worth a great deal compared against other major currencies, might have something to do with the average American’s complete and utter inability to keep themselves out of debt. I mean, yes, credit cards are an unavoidable, borderline-essential part of modern financial transactions… Shopping online is either a pain in the arse, or potentially and dangerously unsecure, without one, and God forbid if you try and do any manner of large transaction with checks, what with people bouncing those all over the place too. And then if you factor in how important credit cards are to a person’s credit rating, and then it gets ugly-complicated.
Honestly, I cannot come up with a single good reason to have that many credit cards… And while different strokes are, indeed, better for different folks, there are some things that people should just take better care of, and finances definitely qualify as one.
—This post sponsored by CardGuide.—
“But I pay mine off every month” is no longer a valid excuse | watch both hands | Me and the new city are gonna have to have a sit-down. |
I have often thought that a presidential candidate could win handily with the promise to make ALL interest charges once again tax-deductible, just like mortgage interest.
I have absolutely no doubt he could win with that stance, assuming no inordinately stupid other stance. This used to be the case, though? One has to wonder what it would do to the economy (and what tax increases we would face to offset it)…
Yup. See here: http://www.allbusiness.com/accounting/liabilities/421682-1.html
The quote I’m pointing out is in the first lines: the 1986 tax reform act eliminated the deduction for personal interest. Credit card interest is personal interest.
Huh. I can honestly say I never knew that (not surprising, given the act was passed a few years after my birth). Though, in equal honesty, I doubt we will ever see that kind of deduction ever again, especially given how much interest charges most people rack up.