credit cards
 

having watched a program about credit card debts how can people rack up debts of £20,000 + they make it even worse consolidating the multiple debts in to one through the loan adverts you see on TV and then when they get sucked in to them they end up paying around 15% interest on the one huge loan its totally ridiculous how easy it is to get credit even if you declared bankrupt

i assume in the near future i shall be obtaining one i would put safeguards in place such as an extremly low credit limit a controlled astute spending regime spending only what i can on essential items people want too much luxury these days and simply cannot afford to so get in to debt

frankly they deserve to be debt ridden and have there houses taken away if they cannot control themselves

Re: credit cards
 

I have three credit cards with limits over $2K, but I always pay it off cleanly each month. I'm allergic to interest [that I pay].

Re: credit cards
 

Having been there & done that & struggled like hell to get myself out of the nasty cycle of more credit to pay off credit, I think the view of people deserving what they get & not being able to control themselves is a rather narrow one.
I, like may other many others (though admittedly not all), had to borrow just to make ends meet. At the time, I took the cheapest (& scuttiest) flat available, but due to shockingly low wages needed to borrow to top up my income. I did not spend on "luxury" items that I did not need, rather food, essential bills & occasinally a bit for my rent.
It has taken many, many years to pay (most of) this back & now, due to a better paid job & a well paid partner, I have the luxury of not needing credit cards or loans, instead I spend cash or use my debit card so that I can only spend what I have!
I feel that when you have a little more life experience under your belt your generalised oulook that people deserve to lose their homes due to borrowing too much may alter (I would at least hope it would). It is a truly frightening experience which I would not wish on anyone.

OK, finished :afire:

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totally agree there , it is a very nasty thing to get into , and very easy to get into as well , if you dont need the credit card dont get it , that is the easiest way of avoiding trouble :)

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I assume then that you don't currently have a card then. I agree that its easy to get credit at a bad interest rate but generally thats all that's availible (I know that when I've tried to get a decent loan (i.e. 6/7 %) I get refused because I'm not married (yet) didn't own a house (which I do now) and had moved around a lot due to Uni and rental agreements being 6 months only.)

It's easy to say that you won't over spend etc. but until you have that card in you hands then you probably won't know exactly what its like to have the ability to have the new DVD/CD/game each week.

I agree that having a low credit limit is a good idea but I intend to have 2 cards once I've sorted ourselves out. one will have £100-200 limit and be for those nice little items that you want and the other will be £2000 or so for the white goods that we want as you get some major protection by using a CC that you don't get any other way. (Which is why I wasn't worried when powerhouse when into receivership about 2 weeks after I'd paid for, but not received, a new fridge.)

I don't quite see where this comes from. Nobody deserves to be debt ridden and certainly taking someones house away from them Will not solve the problem. (It will compound it though)

How about us graduates ? If the Labour party has it's way with tuition fee's it will leave a generartion with more debt when they leave university than they are likely to earn in there first year of work. I left with about 6K of debt and my other half was about the same. since then we've paid some of that off but gained some more. However, being in debt is acceptable in todays society and it will remian that way until a large number of people come of worse and end up backrupt. and even then it will still be acceptable but more people will try to avoid it.

I can see just how enticing (if naff) those ad's are. I can also see where it will lead but if it comes down to being able to actually make the payments each month and defaulting on your CC payments what would you do ? That's why they are touting for business for all it is worth there are many people out there who see this as the easy way out/ thew only option and don't know what they are getting into.

Scarlett.

BTW, did you learn about budgeting and sensible control of you money in school ? I know I didn't.

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Um...typical of a 17 year old.

I got into debt when I lost my job having two (then babies) daughters. Try maintaining a house with two children who want all the luxuries in life (like shoes, clothes an occasional meal !!) with no income (benefits go nowhere near !). I am, after 6 years, still feeling the ill effects even though I have cleared all but 10% of my debts.

Yes I have loans and credit even now, oh yes and a mortgage, council tax, service charges etc, etc,. Easy, peasey to run a household and account for all the household bills, food etc, but what when the washing machine goes tits up and the freezer, oh crap the heating boiler is broken !! Where do I buy a new exhaust and tyre for the car (I cycle to work, but her indoors has a 5 mile round trip drive taking the kids to school) plus it needs an MoT and Road Licence !!! All these have happened this year !! Help !! Christmas is coming !!
Before this year my family had not had a holiday for 5 years !! The whole house needs decorating (last done 8 years ago), outside really needs re-rendering (like that is gonna happen !) but will have to make do with a coat of masonry paint. I replaced a few bits of rotten eaves fascia last year but the whole lot really needs replacing and the gutters are leaking (they're asbestos btw !). I could go on....and on. But you get the point (I hope) !!

I noticed somewhere the average amount spent on childrens Xmas presents this year is reckoned to be £600 !! We will spend less than £100 on each ! I feel like sh*t for that (now where's that card again !!)

It all seems so easy as a bright eyed, no responsibilities, no commitments teenager, but come back in 10 years and tell me how easy it is to fund a growing household on one salary !! :rolleyes:

Rant over.

Re: credit cards
 

FYI,
Thanks to a 'so called friend' I was forced into debts of around £450,00 0.

To cut a very long, very sad story short....

I could not pay back the ammounts and declared myself bankrupt. Lots of people started preaching morals at me telling me bankrupcy was the easy way out and I was shunning my responsibilities.

It's now almost 10 years later and still can't have a regular bank account. I still cant have any kind of loan or credit agreement.

I would agree with the majority posted so far, the first post is obviously from a young debt-free person. Oh, and I also noticed that you seem to think you can get a credit card with a low limint. Odd. In my expirience, the credit limit will go up and up regardless of your instructions.

REMEMBER the banks want a few people in debt, it's where they get their money!

Re: credit cards
 

I just wanted to echo most of what has been posted really...
I live by myself, on a half decent salary. To earn this half decent salary, I need to drive 60 miles to work, as I can't afford to live in the town where I work. Even where I do live, the rent is ridiculous, but I can't afford to buy a house because of extortionate house prices. Even if my salary was enough to get a mortgage, I'm not sure I could save the deposit because of the rent and bills I pay by myself every month. So when things like car servicing/MOTs/tax come up, or when something at home breaks down, I really do not have the odd couple of hundred english pounds languishing in my bank account for emergencies. When I still lived at home, with my parents supporting me, I always said 'I'll never have a credit card... ' :rofl: :rolleyes:

Are you getting the 'real' picture now Kronas? Please think about things before you make, IMO, really quite offensive remarks... :dunce:

Re: credit cards
 

A post from the young and Debt Free ...


Oh how I remember those innocent days.

We got into debt as it was an easy way to get what we needed at the time. Over 10 years ago we made the decision to climb our way out of it all. We consolidated and paid it back, but in the mean time needed cars etc to live.

We are still in debt, I don't know anyone that isn't. It can be a downward spiral and can seriuosly affect peoples health. This is a very sensitive subject, as some take very drastic action to get out of it.

Debt can lead to depression, depression can affect you in many different ways.

I blame the banks more than anything .... the original loan or CC you got, soon ends up being more as the temptaion is offered with alarming regularity.

... and YES the CC limit will be upped with out consultation.

My advice is not to get a CC, and seriously shop around when it comes to finance. Remeber a job is a fickle thing, great while you have it and can make repayments, but when gone, leaves you no comfort at all.

Now, we're in a better situation, still not rid of it, but more manageable but could have done without 10 years of worrying.

Kronas, you're young and seem to view the world as a place full of nice people who will look after your interests, and that you can ultimately make all the right decisions. Be careful, this is NOT the case, situations and events have a way of creeping up on you and overtaking you.

This is in no way disrespecting you, it's just the rest of us have the benefit of hindsight, and some worldly experience.

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about time for one of these I feel :ghugs:

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It only takes some common sense not to get into debt, either just get what you can afford, or don't bother.

I have a credit card for "emergency" use only, like if the car packs up, or something big needs doing on the house and I don't have the cash to pay for it.

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I dont know if anyone else has allready mentioned it, but I have had letters from the credit card company in the past saying we have increased your card limit to £X's. this is done automatically but I guess you could ring up and ask for it to be reduced again.

I was using my credit card a lot for hotels, fuel, expenses and business lunches etc and they were only too happy to automatically increase my limit. I was spending a few thousand a month but it was cleared every month much to their annoyance I expect. :p

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D'ya think he's gone ???? http://www.smily.at/smily/smily1282.gif

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People who spend more than they earn on credit cards do deserve to be in debt, however, there are lot's of situations where people end up in debt through no fault of their own, they might work for a company that suddenly goes bust and doesn't pay your last months wages (I know, it happened to me), the bills won't pay themselves, you still have to eat, you still have to run your car trying to get to interviews, you still have to pay the rent.

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Um...they write to you ? ..........

My two CC companies didn't even tell me !! One is now up to £9000 and the other £4500 !!!!!! :eeek:

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HSBC do, at least they do to me, "as a valued customer blah blah blah" .. "we're upping your credit limit so you can spend more and we can take more interest payment's each month!"

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When I was newly divorced I had to get a job - so I ended up on £11k a year (in London!) and my ex did me out of £12k settlement on our old house - so for the first few years I had to rely on credit cards for necessities too.
7 years later I have nearly paid off what I owe - but one card has increased my limit to £7.5k!! ! And they wonder why people get into debt.
It's made far too easy to get cards and overspend - it seems the quickest way to get your credit limit upped is to do this! Ludicrous!!
And I am continually being sent 'approved' applications for even more cards - I have changed mine over to a low interest rate one to pay off the balance, and have a cahoot one that I use for emergencies - and that's enough for me!
And now my children are adult I can look for a better paid job - but it's hard for young families on low incomes, with no safeguards in place. These companies want their customers to take on more debt - they make their money from the interest paid, after all!

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I had a CC once.After my husband wouldn't stop spending on the damned thing ,he was away with the navy and bored and still hadn't learned to do without my salary when I stopped to start our family,and we had debts of £3000 because as soon as we reached our limit they kept upping the damned credit limit.

Eventually we had to go see our bank manager(Barclays and a humiliating experience) who made us cut up our cards and then tried to give us a loan(with even more interest to pay). We said no thanks and decided to cash in an insurance policy instead.

We now refuse to have a CC.My daughter doesn't have one either.
The most I owe anyone is the overdraft at the bank which is currently on the high side but I'll be paying that off next month.
I can feel proud about my financial savvy these days but I learned it the hard way.

Incog. :)

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I think they have informed me in most cases.

I asked for £500 when I first took it out in 1986, and it seems to of crept up to a £15000 limit without me asking.

I think debt is way too easy, I was called into the bank a couple of weeks ago for a review. The privelidge account manager and two collegues stayed on to meet me at 5:45PM just too see me, I bet people who are overdrawn dont even get that sort of attention from them!

They were basically trying to give me money and have left messages on my mobile this week. I only asked for some mortgage details and I cant shake them off. :spin:

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I get about three offers a week for new credit cards - it's all to easy to get a stack of them and get into serious debt.

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well my friend i just hope that you never end up in the same situation as some people have here , its easy to be high and mighty about it when you are not in debt , so assuming you work , is your job there and safe for life ?????????? , i hope it is

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I used to take many of these up on their offers and move from card to card (but still keep some of the old ones). At one point I had nine valid credit cards and *could* have borrrowed about £60,000 on them.

Fortunately, not being a spend happy teenager I resisted the temptation and eventually cut them down to the four I now have. Generally I only use two of these, the ones that give me cashback instead of useless "points".

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I have my own house and must get these credit card offers nearly every day, luckily I'm mostly sensible and throw them in the bin but shudder to think how much debt these people are trying to tempt me with.

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Not really, they are still taking 1-4% in commission from the retailer for the privilege. A couple of percent of a few thousand is a nice way to make a living.

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I have never had a credit card (I'm now 30). Missus has one for getting the shopping - the only reason for this was that it was a Boots Advantage Egg Card, which was extremely generous with the Advantage points you got for using it. So generous, in fact, that they canned it, so now she has a plain old Egg Card, which gives a little cashback but is otherwise of little use. We keep the credit limit at £1,000 and I have had to write to Egg more than once to ensure this, because as others have said, Egg would love it to run higher and higher. This has resulted in us getting a £20 charge a couple of times for exceeding the limit, but I bear with it because it's better to get a £20 kick up the bum than to get out of control.

Missus is a full-time mum so we live on one salary, which means we have less than some of our friends, but I'm blessed with a job that pays more than the combined salaries of some of our other friends, so we have nothing to complain about - especially as some of them got married and bought houses more recently than we did, so their mortgages are sky high.

All in all, we've avoided debt by being very careful, but my experience of having just one child for a year has been a very expensive one so I can see how anybody can get in trouble, no matter how careful they are.

Kronas - a friend of mine with teenage children used to have a sign in her kitchen:

NOTICE TO TEENAGERS:

Quick! Leave home, get a job and start paying bills, while you still know everything!

Life is not nearly as easy as you seem to think.

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Beware of the ones who helpfully fill in your details for you - I'm always careful to put those through the shredder first!

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Was this the programme Kronas?

Spend it like Beckham

Ron
:smokin:

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:Yikes:

I like Egg ! :)

Hmmm...mine's a full timer too, but I'm on average salary = debt problems looming !!

Wait 'til you've got two pre teens wanting shoes and clothes 24/7 (they grow like weeds !!). My 11 year old eats as much as me (and she's thin as a rake !). That's not including the phones, PCs, TVs, stereos they want !! :disturbd:

:rofl: How true is that !!!!

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Its strange, I can only get one credit card with a limit of £200! I have applyed for cards from egg, marbles etc etc and they all turn me down.

I don't think I have bad credit rating as I have a loan for my car and my PC which I have never missed a payment on. Plus I have an £80K mortgage that I've never missed a payment on either.

Maybe I'm just lucky that they don't want to give me credit cards!

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Can I just say that each time you are turned down credit, it goes against your credit rating, I was told this when I applied for a mortgage, my financial advisor said it counts for loans and credit cards and everything credit wise. :erm:

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Not sure what you mean by 'against', a note is made of each credit check made on you including the reason why. Some companies score against you for this, others do not.

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What I meant is, it can lower your chance of getting credit, just repeating what the financial advisor said. Like you said that they may not score on this, different companies do credit scoring by different methods and means.

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As you don't currently have any revolving credit accounts, just loan accounts they will want to see a satisfactory pattern of activity.

Spend and pay off on time and you will see that £200 go up rapidly and more offers following. Your record may well be clean, but the companies are wary as it could be someone else trying to get credit on your profile...

You should also check your credit report, the previous owners of your house may have had bad credit and that could be a mark against you, there may be errors on it. Also are you on the electoral roll at the address, and have you agreed to having that info published so the credit companies can see it.

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yes but looking at it the point i was making is some people takeup the loans from the compaines set up to consolidate your debts in to one loan its a con really would you accept 15% from them think about how much you have to pay back on a £26k loan :erm:

i do infact i have become very much more habitual in spending money wisely


yes you see looking at if you were to buy items such as a fridge or washing machine that are essential to your everyday needs then maybe saving up for it is alot better then swipeing the card you are then not tempted in the future to spend


if you cant be compitent with money then you do deserve to be in a hole it is your fault i have no pity in these circumstances

you find a job part time and you pay it off bit by bit as well as going to UNI and if you struggle too much ask you parents for a little help


nope i learned control compitence and not to be greedy i have put this in to excercise with great affect more about this later


and as you have blatently missed my point of the initial post i will explain

the program was rather talking about people who spend there money on luxury goods if its for a mortgage house then getting in to debt is easy but i was not mentioning anything related to buying food or essential items

so thank you very much to whoever gave me a negative rep :Peace:

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and a typical response from a typical person who does not grasp the concept of understanding me and likes to plagiarize me :rolleyes:


the luxuries bit im talking about here ever head of 'putting your foot down' you dont have to bow down to the pressures of kids wanting the latest toy



if we are all still around somewhere :eek:

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trust me i know life is not easy :rolleyes:

this is a case i was more talking about where you spend spend spend and then you are in debt because you kept on getting the damn credit card out and using it

then the bank wants to sell you a loan on high interest :rolleyes:


i know you can get in to debt by owning your own home or mortgage food bills etc

but thats why you look for a job which pays well and if you need to rent a flat pay the bills its alot cheaper that dependant on your earnings you have to do the maths

if you read my previous posts i never meant to say that people deserve debt who are honest and dont buy luxuries but not every single person out there is in debt because of the above that many have mentioned in previous posts im talking about buying electrical appliances or expensive home improvements

if that is the case and if i instruct the bank to not raise the limit but they do then there is no point in getting one

there will always be people in debt

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that was it missed the intro i didnt even know it was on i was there by pure coincidence

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No kronas, nobody deserves to be in a 'hole'. People become in a hole before they even realise it. Do not take this as offense to your age but you are less likely to be experienced to those alot older than you who have gone through hell trying to make ends meet, we were all 17 once Kronas and we wish we could turn back the clock to that age and still know what we know now. You are at an age where you may not have any commitments, such as children, mortgage payment or rent, water rates, council tax, ground rent, electric and gas bills to pay, I will stand corrected if I am wrong. :)

When I was 16/17, I said I would never get any credit cards or loans, I've now currently got a car loan and two credit cards and various other store credit cards. Life takes unexpected turns Kronas and at 17, Kronas - I hazard a guess that you have not gone through what many of the posters in this thread have gone through, that is 'difficult' times.

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as i explained before i dont mean the people who are in debt due to the reasons you have stated above im talking about people spending cash left right and center even though they know they cant

*bangs head against brick wall due to people not understanding what he is trying to say :spin: :rolleyes:

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Have you considered Kronas that these people may have a 'spending' spree condition that is out of control? They cannot help it even if they really really want to.

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i suppose i am semi-lucky being a student. obviously not counting the debt mountain building up behind my student loans...

but anyway i have a credit card with £500 limit and a current a/c with £1000 overdraft. i have just poked into the overdraft and had to use my CC to make a couple of relatively big purchases, but i am lucky in that they are both interest free. i arent looking forward to the day with it goes up to 17.9% or wahtever teh CC interest rates are...

Re: credit cards
 

of course you can ill show you

i currently have say £100 to spend i want..............

sky+ £199 plus £50 install then
dvd player costing £100
a 5.1 sub woofer and speaker system costing £200

now you see whats wrong here ?

i cant possibly buy all that so i do without i may have enough money to buy the dvd player but i choose not to..

now a person with a credit card might just use the CC to put it on the plastic he only earns £200 a week so he has got the council tax to pay weekly or monthly the eletricity all those previously mentioned bills

so at the end of the month he has pennies left now why would someone stick even higher priced goods luxury goods on a CC when he fully well knows due to his income and expenditure he cant pay it add the interest and voila

you have uneeded debt thats what i meant by luxury goods these people need sorting and deserve debt if you cant do the sums

i know about mortgages children all that i have sympathy and life is hard i dont have sympathy for luxury buyers who amass debt

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Yep, the credit card companies who offer 0% interest on purchases and transfers, then 6 months down the line that offer vanishes and it hits you before you realise it.

Re: credit cards
 

When I was writing my original post, I was talking about credit card debt.

I do understand debt in certain cases, even though I hate it. A house. A car. Education.

I am C$8,000 (3,500 pounds) in debt from a student line of credit. That was only during the first year, when my folks had a particularly hard time. They do pay the interest each month on it. I'll be responsible for that debt once I graduate.

I have three credit cards. A regular student MasterCard with no rewards. A GM VISA which gives me 3% cash back towards a GM car (+ $1,000 when I graduate). And an American Express Airmiles card.

I use the GM card for everything to get points. I use the regular card for items I want to budget separately to make it easier. I pay them off clean each month. In fact, I often deposit money before buying something with the credit card because I'm so allergic to credit card debt.

My parents have several credit cards, each with a specific purpose. My dad has one Airmiles card that he uses for business purposes, and can often spend $30,000 to $50,000 a month on the card [the company pays the card though]. That translates into a heck of a lot of airmiles for us. :D

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I tried to keep a low credit limit on one of my cards (mainly used for web purchases) but the limit crept up and up. I asked (HSBC) for it to be reduced but without success. Now I use a Cahoot web-only Visa card. That has a big limit BUT it is very safe for web use because the "card" number changes at every transaction. Unfortunately some systems cannot accept such web-only cards eg on Ebay you have to 'register' your card - impossible if the number keeps changing.

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good point, I have a points based visa & pay it off each month, too.;)

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I didn't think you could get a credit card until you are 18.

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You misread what I meant. When I was 16/17 I said to myself I would never get a credit card as in for the future. :)

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Here's my 2p worth on this thread:

1) The only time you should get a credit card is when you don't need it.

If you *need* the money, you're better off going to your bank and seeing if you can arrange an overdraft. It's generally cheaper in the long run.

2) Credit cards *do* have their uses

For example if you spend over £100 on an item you get the protection of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act which makes the card company jointly *and* severally liable if you have problems with the item or if the retailer goes bust.

3) If you're going to get a credit card, pay off *as much* of the balance as you can afford *every month*.

Paying off the minimum just means the debt won't get any bigger. It doesn't get any smaller, though!

4) Be *very* careful with 0% deals on balance transfers etc.

It often turns out in the small print that if you spend money on the card and pay off some of the balance, the money goes to pay off the *transferred balance* first (which is not increasing) whilst the expenditur is *still* gaining interest!

5) The best way to deal with problematic spending on a credit card is to cut the card in half!

If you have debts on the card, don't spend any more. It doesn't help.

6) Credit card companies *may* be willing to do a deal.

If you're majorly "in deep" on a credit card, have a word with the card company and see if you can arrange "easy terms", preferably with an "interest freeze". Go to your local CAB or Debt Counselling Service and they will give you a draft letter which will help you set out your position and determine how much you can pay off each month. If you do this, the card company is more inclined to look favourably on your case.

7) Take advantage of those 0% deals out there. Provided you're careful and check the small print, you *can* make them work for you.

Example: Over 2 years ago now, I took out one of those 0% cards and transferred around £4,500 onto it. Every six months I shift that balance to a new card and the balance is now down to around £3,700 or so.

This means that I've had the equivalent of a £4,500 *interest free* loan for over two years! (Oh, and the money to cover the debt is sitting in an account gaining around 3% interest!!)

Basically credit *can* be good, provided *you* control it and don't let *it* control you!

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i thought plagarizing was using other peoples' ideas without acknowledgement? thats what it means here...:angel:

how did you swing that? is it a special GM thing where they give students $1000 or something? bloody canadians... wish i could find a credit card company who will give me $1000 in 2 years time :eek:

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Hmm lets think about this, loads of small loans equalling an original debt of £26k right?
Each of those loans probably get charged 15%+ interest
Consolodate them into a single loan of £26K and you'll be able to get 6%, hmm, 6% or 15%+, is that too hard for you to see the benifit?
Also you can extend it over more years thus reducing your monthly outgoings.
I suppose you also deplore people re-morgaging to release some of the capital in their houses, because that's basically the same as consolidating.



Jerrek re the GM card, have you seen how crap european GM cars are? Just ask Jeremy Clarkson about the vectra :rofl:

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I'm not giving money to any bloody students...!!

(Ahem, sorry!)

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It's canadian dollars, so that's about £3.80 :rofl:

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yeh suppose. canadain currency eh, useless eh?

:p

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Here it is:-

Discount on a Vauxhall

Ron
:p

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Heh, well, divide by 2.2 to get pounds. Thats about 450 pounds. Not all that much, but still, better than nothing. I mean, lots of people by previously owned cars. I'd rather buy new and have it last me two or more decades.

In the past 8 months of having this card, I've managed to get about $100 (45 pounds) towards a car. I won't be graduating or exercising this option for a few more years, so my goal is to get $2,000 to $3,000 towards a car.

http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/student.jsp

http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/gm.jsp

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2003/12/18.jpg

Now according to my New Scientist, cars are rather ... pricey in the United Kingdom. In fact, you pay more than double what we would normally pay for a similarly sized car. [img]Download Failed (1)[/img] I.e., my family has a Toyota Echo. Small car, 1.6L, 4-doors, CD, airconditioning, for less than 8,000 pounds.

I'd wager the GM rewards on the card goes a longer way for me than for you guys. If it will cover 20% of the cost of a new car, GREAT! :D

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Oh yeah we get charged way too much for our cars.

Course 20% off a naff car still doesn't appeal to me ( no offence to vauhaul drivers, unless you drive a new astra or vectra in which case you smell :D )

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Nothing wrong with Vauxhall cars (and I can spell it) :p

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What is Vauxhall?

Re: credit cards
 

The brand name that GM cars are sold under in the UK.

Re: credit cards
 

Um, thats funnny. What about Chevrolet? Saturn? Isuzu? The many other GM cars?

I'm a big fan of Chevrolet, and I will in all probability buy a Chevvie. I want to buy a Corvette when I'm in my late 20s... (about 30,000 pounds new) But I like the TrailBlazer...

http://autos.en.msn.ca/vip/newovervi...lazer&pos=Find

Re: credit cards
 

its also called opel if you are german, or holden if you are an aussie...

Re: credit cards
 

opel is generally euro isnt it , not just german :erm: :p

Re: credit cards
 

I am not suprised how much people get into debt with credit cards, just look at the wages being offered in many jobs these days. How can a couple in a relationship that are both working on call centre type salaries afford to buy a house?

I am just looking at it from the angle of obtaining a mortgage, I dont know what the criteria is these days if it's still 3x the first salary and 1x the second.
But a couple working in a call centre earning £13K each would only get a mortgage for £52K. A 2 bedroom terrace house in my street (Welsh valley town) with no front garden or rear access has just sold for approx £80K and houses are cheap here compared to some areas.

I have to work in England because wages are so poor in Wales, I would be lucky to find a decent job in Wales and then it would probably be half what I am earning now. I just can't see how young people can get their feet on the housing ladder without getting themselves into some very serious long term heartache and debt.

Re: credit cards
 

you have hit the nail on the head there my mate im afraid , it wont be very long before no young person will be able to afford a house :afire: :afire: :afire: :afire: