[speaker001:] well credit cards
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I'll tell you what I I can't say a whole lot about credit cards because I uh tore mine up
[speaker002:] is that right I I know people I know some other people that have done that
[speaker001:] yeah uh I got in some problems with uh financial problems because of credit cards so I uh basically just got rid of all of them I I have a a couple I have a uh gas card that I that I use just for gas and
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] you know uh one that I use just for emergencies but
[speaker002:] uh-huh yeah I have I have we have some some friends that did the exactly the same thing they uh you know they kind of overextended and borrowed and borrowed and finally they realized that they were they were abusing them and weren't going to get out of the hole and they just cut them all up except for for one they kept for emergencies and
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] they're still paying away to get out of debt
[speaker001:] I know it
[speaker002:] but no I did just the opposite I I guess I I sort of followed in my uh parents' footsteps I have quite a few of them I use them continually
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] but I uh I basically never charge anything I don't have the money in the bank to pay for and uh and I always pay them off totally every month yeah
[speaker001:] oh is that right that's a that's a good policy
[speaker002:] yeah and it you know I mean they they're just a convenience for me I don't have to get cash out of the bank and I don't have to to be writing checks and
[speaker001:] yeah yeah uh sometimes I wish I had them but in most cases I'm glad I don't because I you know unfortunately I
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] I I don't have the control you have I wish I did but but I don't uh and it you know it I just don't want to get into that situation again so we'll
[speaker002:] yeah uh-huh yeah I mean it it's easy I mean you don't have anything transferring just a little signature so what you know
[speaker001:] oh that's it see and that's even with my gas card you know I find that I'll go in to get some gas and I'll end up buying you know
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] candy and drinks and you know sweets and whatever and then at the end of the month I you know I get a bill and I'm thinking what did I get
[speaker002:] right surprising
[speaker001:] that costs so much
[speaker002:] yeah well you know but the I mean there are sort some inherent limits there you're not going to you're not going to run up a few thousand dollars for that right
[speaker001:] and  yeah that that's true but I can I can understand certainly understand where
[speaker002:] now I with the thing that probably helps me most doing that is really you know uh not so much discipline I mean well I mean you have sort of a discipline in general about finances but but I hate their their rates so badly I mean their interest rates so badly
[speaker001:] you know oh yeah isn't it that's unbelievable how let me ask you this how how old are you
[speaker002:] that I I'm uh thirty three
[speaker001:] thirty three
[speaker002:] thirty two excuse me
[speaker001:] okay you'll be thirty three this year
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you want to be thirty two as long as you can huh
[speaker002:] it's coming
[speaker001:] uh-huh  yeah I I know what you mean about the interest rates it's uh it's unbelievable
[speaker002:] you know I just that just irritates me so much that that I refuse to pay them interest and and my wife recently uh decided she had to go to Brazil and was going to take off and she's from there and and uh didn't really have the money but you know she could pay it off and so I sort of reluctantly let her put it on credit cards but she's paying it and uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] I just won't do it I mean she's paying I don't know I don't know what per month you know forty fifty dollars per month in interest and I just you know I just refuse to give it to them if I need to borrow that kind of money I'll go to the bank and uh
[speaker001:] oh jeez  yeah and then you bet that's uh yeah I in fact I've I've even uh heard some people that have applied for credit cards with much less uh rates
[speaker002:] oh yeah
[speaker001:] and have paid off their you know higher interest rate uh cards and just sent them back you know
[speaker002:] right right yeah
[speaker001:] and I I guess there's some there's uh uh some negotiating there too because I heard uh on one of the local talk shows here they had somebody on and and said what you can do is uh call you know if you've got a pretty good rating uh credit rating you can call your in you know your your card wherever you got your card from and tell them hey either drop my rates or drop my you know uh annual fees or I'll just go to somewhere else
[speaker002:] right huh well I might
[speaker001:] you know and if you've got if you've got a pretty good uh
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] uh history with them
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] they're more than willing to do that
[speaker002:] hum I might try that because I I have one card that I've had for about uh I don't know nine or ten years
[speaker001:] yeah in fact that's that's what this guy you know he wrote a book on it and he says that's you know he's tried it several with several of his cards and he's just told them you know I I can get this card from this bank
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] at this rate and yours is at you know eighteen or nineteen percent
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] it does not make sense for me to do that and if you won't drop my rates I'll just go ahead and send you back your card and I'll go somewhere else and get it
[speaker002:] yeah for me the big thing you know is the uh uh is the uh the annual fee and I just refuse I won't get any card now I've I've got a good rating and I've got you know and I'm not going I'm not going to pay an annual fee the only one I actually pay on is this one that I that the very first
[speaker001:] uh-huh