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... why do the little people always get the wrath of the self-righteous while the bigger lying stealing fish escape without the tar and feathers?

I'll blame both JDR. Credit card companies are ruthless in the interest rates they charge. It seems they encourage indebtedness by jacking the fees up higher for those with the least ability to pay them off.

Ditto stuff like late fees. I have had one card for the last ten years and pay it off in full each month. That concept might sound alien to many but I digress. One month, just one, the payment arrived a day late and they slapped me with a sizable late fee. I called them and told them they would lose my business forever if they didn't remove the late fee. It was gone in a flash.

Consumers are to blame too. My nephew got out of school and obtained a job starting at $55K. Despite this being a really good salary for a young single person, to him it wasn't enough. He traveled Europe, bought fancy clothes and electronics, all on his credit card. Before long he had around $30K in card debt.

Plastic has become the new currency, particularly among young people. Card issuers would be wise to set limits based upon the holders financial status and credit rating but they don't. Card holders will just get another card anyway.

There is greed on both sides JDR, so let's tar and feather them both. Happy?

I couldn't agree more. I worked in the credit card industry for years including credit counseling. The rich and poor alike overextend themselves. It's just a matter of the amount in relation to income. The whole country needs educated budgeting and living within their means. My husband and I have been paying the price for over a year. Downsized, relocated with best job could find, can't sell our home in old state. Now we are paying a mortgage there and rent here. We have had very low offers to buy and offers (from those foreclosed or in pre-foreclosure) to rent. We have lived within/beneath our means and drive cars into the ground (150000 miles plus). We have had to explain to our children more than once why we choose not to have the cars and homes that "The Jones " have, yet here we are, paying the price anyway for "The Jones" irresponsibilty. And yes,clearly our government has handled the country's money the same way... spending money they don't have to get what they want (war, bailouts, pork barrel etc).

Well said all. When we built our home in 1971, by brother urged us to build the home we wanted, that the payments would be possible then and easy later on. He was right. Our goal was to pay for our home. By paying $50 extra each month we were able to pay off a 20 year loan in 17 years. Paying for a home is not the goal of most home buyers now it seems. Getting a bigger and more impressive home seems to be the goal. I wonder who they are impressing...

For once I agree with you Carol. Good job.
The government rewards failure! The more you sit on your ass, the more government,rewards you! if you are a big company and are ruined by poor management, the government will bail you out. Guess who that leaves out. The working people and companies that succeed!
Atticus, my kids used to fuss because we had the oldest cars in the neighbor. (still do) my pickup has 140,000 miles, little red has 189,000. My wife car 87,000 miles. All run great.
I never buy anthing on credit now that I have to pay interest on.
You find if you are looking for a car now, and can write a check, you can get a super deal!

Carol, we also pay more on our mortage monthly. Not helping us much at this point as we had only been the house for 6 years and it needed allot of work. Hard to get it all back at this point..

I think the most we have had on a vehicle was 187,000 before we had to "put er down", I like to joke. My husband's goal is to get one to 200K before getting the next used vehicle. He has never owned a new car even though we our considered to be on the high end of middle class or low end of upper class.

I am just curious, why are some on this blog permitted more words than others? Or is it that I am doing something wrong that I am being cut off at this point in all of my posts?

Carol, we also pay more on our mortage monthly. Not helping us much at this point as we had only been in the house for 6 years and it needed allot of work. Hard to get it all back at this point..

I think the most we have had on a vehicle was 187,000 before we had to "put er down", as I joke. My husband's goal is to get one to 200K before getting the next used vehicle. He has never owned a new car even though we are considered to be on the high end of middle class or low end of upper class.

I am just curious, why are some on this blog permitted more words than others? Or is it that I am doing something wrong that I am being cut off at this point in all of my posts?

Atticus, you just got posted twice, wonder why...sometimes my posts say they are invalid because I wasn't signed in when I was, then they show up. Have never had a post cut off and I get long winded at times. Guess you are not holding your mouth right.

I am having some technical difficulties with my laptop keyboard as well...My curser keeps jumping around on me. Maybe holding my mouth differently will fix everything. I am sure some people wish I would just hold it shut completely!!!

I need to know which credit card debt church I need to go to to get forgiveness.
I have sinned.
How will I know that I am forgiven? Will I get a letter in the mail?
Please somebody tell me how to get saved!

If the government rewards failure, then so do they reward living beyond one's means. Mortgage interest is 100% deductible, isn't it?

Therefore the bigger the house, the more good old Uncle Sam is willing to help you buy it. But I'm sure there is nothing wrong with that scenario. It's only socialism when the government helps poor people buy hovels.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p936/ar02.html#d0e1887

My father once drove a Jetta til it hit 290,000 miles. That's when the odometer broke...and he drove it for 2 and a half years. It was driven so much that we had to replace the seats. At the end of its life it was sold for 250 bucks to some Mexicans.

It was the ugliest car I've ever seen and I'll say I was quite embarrassed when he picked me up at middle school.

rahrah,

Good teaching in humility, I'd say.

My mortgage interest is deductible but I barely come out better itemizing deductions than I would taking the standard deduction. I guess if I lived beyond my means, I'd get a much better deduction.

Our loss of deductions came thanks to Reagan...lost interest on loans which were not mortgages on homes, had amount increased for ceiling of medical, etc. You are still better off to have less interest...you just give more to the government but a lot less to the lending institution.

Atticus, always copy your post before hitting the post button. Like Carol, the system will log you out even when you are logged in and lose everything you posted.

Glad to see everyone in agreement with this thread. It's a good idea to live within one's means, seems many youngsters, and some oldsters, and our govt., don't understand that concept.

Carol, are you one of those rare people who actually own a home with no mortgage?

Dan, thanks for helping me out. Does this mean you have forgiven my "poor attitude and chicanery". I apologize for anyone I upset on that post. I had not unpacked any of my bibles. I was offended by the "your little verses" and "try again" comments from Verelse and acting defensively. I wasn't attacking anyone's religion. I am a Christian that believes that every word of the bible does not define who I am. I would like to believe that true of Muslims as well, especially the majority that are coming here to escape that environment. I do agree with the original letter to the editor that when studying other religions, you find allot of common ground in the Old Testament. The views change after that in regard to how we are supposed to live according to God. With that said, I know now that I copied the link to a site where an individual was taking stories from the bible and/or parables and translating them in the worst way possible. I had not unpacked my own bibles yet so I did not have a reference. Again, my apologies to anyone I offended.