[speaker001:] hi what do you do with your credit cards
[speaker002:] oh well my husband and I have gotten into some some problems with credit cards we don't handle them very well we we tend to run them up to the maximum and then ask for more
[speaker001:] oh jeez
[speaker002:] they they're they're really bad for us um matter of fact we've gotten rid of all of our credit cards except for a MasterCard and a Visa then and we pretty much keep those maxed out
[speaker001:] oh I was going to say that that sounds like like pretty many but I see what you meant you had them for each of the individual stores
[speaker002:] yeah we had credit I had probably twenty credit cards
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] um for I had I had an American Express American Express Gold an Optima all the different department stores um two Visas two MasterCards
[speaker001:] oh gee
[speaker002:] I mean I had any time anybody would you know send me an application you know preapproved or whatever I went I took it and it really ended up getting us in some real serious trouble
[speaker001:] oh sure
[speaker002:] um because see the more the more credit cards you have the more people offer them to you
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] um and the more you use them the more the more they send them to you
[speaker001:] but each of these had an annual fee also right
[speaker002:] exactly and the American Express was probably the worst the worst um because the with the Gold card I can't remember how much it was because I didn't even have it very long before I gave it up
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but I know the Green card was like thirty five forty five dollars a year
[speaker001:] yeah I'm forty five right I I
[speaker002:] um which was a lot because I mean you had to pay it in full every month
[speaker001:] exactly you know I that's it I really resented the fact that they were charging me for cards so I sent back all of mine except the ones that were free
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and um then then I also limited it to one of each one MasterCard and one one Visa and here most of the stores will accept those and actually I then got a Discover card since they pay you back
[speaker002:] um-hum yeah I had a Discover and that was one of the ones in the group that I ended up um closing
[speaker001:] uh
[speaker002:] um it really wasn't my choice though I mean I ended up having I ended up actually losing my credit cards um I ended up going through a credit counseling service
[speaker001:] oh um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] um because my husband and I just don't handle credit very well
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] and um when when you do that they automatically once you start with their service they close your accounts out
[speaker001:] oh I see
[speaker002:] so I'm still paying on all these accounts but my accounts are closed
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] so and I would prefer to keep it that way once we once we're paid off
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um I would prefer just to have one MasterCard and one Visa and that's it
[speaker001:] yeah yeah actually I pay off my cards every month only once in my life have I not paid
[speaker002:] I think that's a really good way to handle it because that way if you if you paid off every month you never have to worry about well how much do I have to pay these guys you know this month you know this you buy what you can afford I mean if you handle it just like you would like a check or cash
[speaker001:] um-hum right and um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] um it's a lot easier to keep it in check
[speaker001:] well and also in a sense they're giving you a loan for a month so that
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you know if I were smarter I would have that same amount in savings and get the interest which I don't do but
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] but yeah the the thought of adding you know X percent to to the price of what I buy I just I can't accept
[speaker002:] yeah and I and I think at this at this point in time with the economy the way it is um I think that um it's going to get even worse
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um I'm I'm glad that we're starting to pay our debts off off now um you know we started we started I mean we started this last year
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and we probably still have about another year to go before we're completely out of the hole
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but I think this they way the whole economy's is going right now it's just not good to be in debt
[speaker001:] that's right that's right yeah yeah that I would that would be a very scary feeling for me to know that I was you know juggling payments to different people
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] I guess because I never experienced it and it's not because you know I'm rich or anything it's just uh a mental concept that I have
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] yeah that I just
[speaker002:] well when when it's you when you're getting rid of the whole credit card cycle and if you really get into the mind set I got really good at juggling money and basically robbing Peter to pay Paul and I and I it was scary because I was so good at it
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] and I thought this this is not right I mean this has got to stop because eventually it'd end up catching up at and catching up with me and it hit me in the face
[speaker001:] right right
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] but it sounds like you know you you learned from it and you're coming out of it all right
[speaker002:] I yeah I have I've learned a lot from it um I've learned that credit cards are extremely dangerous in my hand
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and my husband's too because he's he's the same way I am
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] I don't I don't think that well when we when we buy on credit we just don't have a concept of how much money we're spending
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] until the bill comes in
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and all then all of a sudden you look at the bill and you go oh my gosh I spent this much
[speaker001:] um-hum but now the fact that you still have two cards are you do you use them more judiciously
[speaker002:] yeah we pretty much use them for for emergency type things like um transmission fell out on our car
[speaker001:] uh yeah
[speaker002:] and that paid for a new transmission
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um and and things like that um and we try we try not to use them for you know
[speaker001:] purchases
[speaker002:] inc idental type things like you know gas and stuff like that
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum clothing sales sales I find are a pain
[speaker002:] yeah yeah I've I've gotten I've gotten a lot more away from from credit cards and I I pay by check a lot more now
[speaker001:] um-hum well it sounds good you know like I said it sounds like you're you've really got it under control
[speaker002:] I I admire you for for having that um uh mind set for not not even getting you know past that thirty days I I would that's ideally the where where I would like to be
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum um-hum yeah and like I said once once it it happened I couldn't because my son's tuition came due and I guess I had you know not really counted on it quite at that point but um yeah I didn't like it at all I was very uncomfortable so you know and and I mean it was
[speaker002:] um-hum I can imagine
[speaker001:] I thought a lot sixty dollars interest or something for for just a couple of months and I'm going jeez that's outrageous but in in you know retrospect it wasn't all that much I mean a lot of people pay a lot more and
[speaker002:] yeah oh yeah
[speaker001:] and you know but still I mean I figured I didn't need those items if it cost me sixty dollars more to have them
[speaker002:] um-hum you think about what you can buy for sixty dollars
[speaker001:] exactly groceries for a week yeah
[speaker002:] yeah yeah I I think about all all the money that that we've spent on interest
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] on all of our credit cards and it's just incredible
[speaker001:] but now did you use to not feel so badly because you could take it off your income tax
[speaker002:] we've never been able to take it off our income tax I'm I'm fairly newly married I've only been married um less than two years
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and before that I never owned a home or anything so I never had any deductions
[speaker001:] right right
[speaker002:] so really it was always just money
[speaker001:] thrown away yeah jeez
[speaker002:] thrown away and I never really thought about it because
[speaker001:] you were good at it
[speaker002:] yeah I was so good at it that it just kind of got stuck in the back of my mind and just never
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um became a real problem until all of a sudden it came an insurmountable problem
[speaker001:] yeah I suspect that you know thinking about it and looking at my friends and the number of credit cards that they use and you know the amount that I know they buy I guess probably a lot of them are in a similar situation and you know just don't talk about it
[speaker002:] yeah most most people don't like to talk about money they feel uncomfortable I think
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] you know because I mean I guess for a lot of people it is very personal
[speaker001:] very personal um-hum yeah and especially if you if you don't feel you're handling it quite right or that somebody might make fun of you or that it would be
[speaker002:] yeah but I I think the the average American is probably pretty heavily in debt
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] not not including like a mortgage I mean a mortgage is an understandable debt
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um because that's you have you have to have a roof over your head
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and I would much rather own my own home than than be renting it like we're doing I mean we're basically you know kind of throwing seven hundred dollars a month away
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] we're renting a house
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but but you know right now with the way our credit card situation is there's nobody in the world that's going to give us a mortgage on a house
[speaker001:] right right but but once I suppose you you prove yourself by paying this off next year you'll be in very good shape
[speaker002:] yeah yeah it's it's going to it's going to take quite a while um hopefully within five years we'll be in our own home
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] but um I'm not really counting on it real soon
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum so that's that's been an even harder lesson then if it affected
[speaker002:] yeah