[speaker001:] I don't, guess we got our first, uh, credit card, oh, back in the seventies, early seventies when,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I first got married was a Visa card. Uh, issued out of a Liberty Bank in Oklahoma City,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [NOISE].
[speaker001:] because my sister worked at the, uh, the Visa some Bank Americard center there. *one utt with a.3 utt2?
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] So, we were still in college and had she not worked there I'm not sure that I would have qualified.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] They've come in handy over the years.
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, and they have become, or, also a, a real bother sometimes.
[speaker002:] Oh, tell me about it [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Especially, you know, if you catch yourself short on cash or if you're on vacation,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] it's just easier to put everything on a card.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And, uh, I find if you're not careful you wind up, uh, a month or so, staring those bills in the face and you go I don't remember doing all that stuff and it adds up.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Yeah, they add up quick [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] So, sometimes, uh, especially traveling with T I,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you know, everything goes on American Express,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and it makes it a whole lot easier for bookkeeping.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] But, uh, as far as personal life goes, I guess, I really try to use them as little as possible, uh,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] I kind of like having them for, uh, gasoline purchases.
[speaker002:] Yeah, we like to keep one on hand just for emergencies, you know. But,
[speaker001:] Yeah. But other than that, uh, I, I guess over the years tried to avoid the national credit card syndrome,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] of just putting everything on there day after day after day and then,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] then you really get socked to it, if you don't watch it. How, how do you look at counting credit cards?
[speaker002:] We just, uh, quit using them [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Well, that's,
[speaker002:] And they got us in trouble, we took a loan and paid them all off. We keep them, uh, we keep, uh, one gas card and, uh, and, uh, Visa just, you know, in case there's an emergency or,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] something but other than that we don't use them anymore [LAUGHTER] [NOISE].
[speaker001:] Well, that's kind of the way we were doing it's, uh,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I guess for that very reason that, that, uh, if you're not real conscious of what you're doing,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] [Throat clearing] it's just too much by the time you get, well, if you got a bunch of cards,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you get a bunch of bills every month and for some strange reason those people think they need to get paid.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I know, isn't that funny?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And I give them, maybe not, maybe they're not really concerned about getting paid because they're, know if you don't,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] then they're adding on, what, eighteen, nineteen, twenty percent. Sometimes,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] it's twenty-two percent interest.
[speaker002:] Yeah, and then some of them add late fees on it,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] if they don't get paid and,
[speaker001:] I guess that's one of the motivations behind the,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] the, uh,
[speaker002:] Huh.
[speaker001:] the, uh, American Express card with T I, there's no,
[speaker002:] Huh?
[speaker001:] with the American Express card from T I,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] there's no, um, late fee, there's no, uh, interest rate,
[speaker002:] Oh, really?
[speaker001:] you ei-, you either pay the thing off or they come get it.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And it's turned into personnel and they come get you [throat clearing].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] So, they've got quite a bit more motivation I think to get paid then,
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] some of the others do.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] But that's the one that your call center manager sees every month,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] so, you're a little bit more careful about what you put on that,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER]. *slash error
[speaker001:] even though you can use it however you want to.
[speaker002:] Can you use that one for personal use? *slash error
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] Oh, you can?
[speaker001:] You can use it like any other card,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, uh,
[speaker002:] Oh, I see, huh.
[speaker001:] but, it, you know, you kind of, you know that somebody every month, and who knows how many people,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] are looking at those, uh, bills that come in, and those statements,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you're not the only one.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So, yo-, uh, you want to make sure that, uh, is that okay, is that o-, okay, that those people see what it is that you are buying,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and most of the time it is.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] But, most of the others I've sent back, I mean, all you get is card offers, *two utts I've got three card offers now,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] uh, from gas companies and, uh, Visa Gold and, uh, some, [NOISE], other bank, uh, Citibank I think is always sending the Visa stuff out. And I usually just throw them away because I,
[speaker002:] Oh, I do too, I don't even open them much, I throw them out.
[speaker001:] I don't want another one, I don't want to have to mess with it. You know you carry around a wallet full of credit cards,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, uh, one of these days it's going to all be full.
[speaker002:] A girlfriend of mine found a, it was a Visa or MasterCard, she found an ad for one in like a GOOD HOU-, HOUSEKEEPING magazine for eleven percent.
[speaker001:] Oh, that's not bad.
[speaker002:] shoot I need one of those [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah. No, if they don't say, no annual membership on them, I'll throw them away. Um, *slash error
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] years ago, well, th-, I had my Visa card through this bank in Oklahoma City for, *sd
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] oh, probably fifteen years,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and then they started charging, uh, annual membership fees, and I said, adios, I'm, you know, I'm not paying you,
[speaker002:] Why do they do that?
[speaker001:] It's just another way to make money,
[speaker002:] I mean,
[speaker001:] as far as I can tell. I mean, they've been,
[speaker002:] I mean they get enough, you know, on the interest [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Well, sure. And they, I guess, they figure they've got enough people out there with cards, they're going to get cards at the,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] twenty bucks a pop.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] There's going to be that much more.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Uh, so, then a couple years ago I found, uh, a bank here in Plano that if you kept a minimum balance in any kind of account whether it was a savings account or what it was, you can get a Visa card through them and no annual membership.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] So, I went over and just stuck three hundred dollars in my son's savings account, in his name, and got my Visa card, so,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] as long as they have no annual membership fee,
[speaker002:] Huh.
[speaker001:] I, it would be okay, but I can't see paying someone to use their card.
[speaker002:] No, I can't either.
[speaker001:] Be charged their eighteen percent interest, so. *slash error
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I think you're right. The best philosophy is have them if you need them, but otherwise leave them tucked away somewhere.
[speaker002:] Yeah, really.
[speaker001:] [Very faint] Yeah.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] gets a lot of people in, in trouble [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah, it sure does. Maybe they're counting on that, I don't know. Well, I guess that's it.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] Thanks for talking.
[speaker002:] Nice talking to you.
[speaker001:] Bye.
[speaker002:] Bye-bye.