technology

Is it just me or are we depending way too much on technology? I'm not old by any means, 47 even know iam a grampa now lol, but the cars they have now and the way stores are run just scares the crap out of me!!!! i remember when things were so simple, We booked a trip to cancun last year and they wouldn't let me pay cash!!! at 47 i had to borrow my moms visa to pay for the trip lol. in the last year we have gotten away from debt, other than mortgage of course, just kinda made a decision that if we cant buy it with cash we dont buy it lol. but it sure is getting hard just to survive that way. I just feel we are forcing the future generation to be stupid!!!!
Just my .02 cents

 

Unfortunately, you need a credit card to participate in today's society, even if you never charge things. It's a form of ID. It establishes creditworthiness. It shows that you are financially responsible. And more.

If you want to do any traveling, as you found out, you pretty much have to have a credit card. Rental car companies won't rent a car for cash. Pay cash for a plane ticket and you go straight onto the government's "this guy might be a terrorist" list. Most hotels require a credit card of yours be in their records, to protect themselves, even in you pay with cash in the end. People damage rooms, steal towels, and try to skip out without paying. Having a credit card on file gives them some chance of recovering the loss.

Just buck up and get one. (At age 47, I'd be downright embarrassed to have to go running to my mother for anything!) You don't have to charge anything with it, but it wouldn't hurt your credit score, which is something everyone needs to have a good one of these days, to charge a pair of shoes or a week's worth of groceries or something on it every few months and pay it off in full when the bill comes.

 

yeah i hear ya lol, we have had credit cards, just trying to deal without but its part of life, just have to be able to have restraint and avoid racking them up.

 

Fixed that for you.

This world is moving away from anonymous cash purchases.

 

It very much is. People often don't realize how often their credit history enters their life.

About a month ago we switched from Comcast to Directv for our television service. Even though we don't pay for our service with a credit card and never had plans to (it's set up to withdraw payment directly from our checking account), before Directv would do anything as far as establishing a new account with us, the first thing they did is pull a credit history. They needed some information from me in order to do so, so they told me right up front that they were doing it, but the reason they do it is to see if you're a responsible human being as far as financial commitments go. They want to simply see if you have a history of paying your bills on time. It's a reasonable thing for them to want to know.

That's why it's so important to have some credit in your financial life...and use it, regularly. Not every day, but periodically. It's interesting, but a prolonged period of not using any credit begins to work against you in your credit score as the latest data on file for you as far as your credit behavior goes gets older and older. Creditors like to see recent data that shows your creditworthiness. That's why I say, even if you don't like using credit, get a credit card with a low credit limit ($1000 or $2000 or something like that), charge something inconsequential on it every two or three months, and then pay it off in full when the bill comes. You'll do yourself wonders as far as your credit score goes.

We did exactly this when our kids came of age. As soon as each of them started college, our local bank would give them a low credit-limit ($1000) credit card as long as they maintained a B average at school. I told the kids to charge something small once in a while and then pay the bill when it comes. We knew that soon enough they were going to be entering the adult world, wanting to sign a lease for an apartment, buy furniture for it, perhaps buy a car down the road, etc., etc., etc., and nothing would do more to help ease their transition into the adult world than a good credit score behind them.


By the way, you say you don't have any credit at all. How do you pay for your residence? Monthly mortgage payment? Monthly rent? Or are you lucky enough to own your residence outright? If you're making any kind of monthly payments, rent or mortgage, that's building your credit history, too. If you're a renter, it's likely your landlord pulled a credit history on you as part of the process of approving you for a lease. Obviously, if you're paying a mortgage, your credit history was scrutinized closely before a loan was made.

 

Speak for yourself!

 

Mine are payed in full every month, but the average American credit card debt is over $15000.

 

While this sounds high, this in an of itself is not bad. The real question is, are these people making their minimum monthly payments? If they are, no problem. The system is working. These people may be hurting themselves by paying so much interest in the end, but that's their choice. Certainly the bank is happy as it's making a fortune off of people like this. But they're adults.


Also, I saw that $15,000 figure, too. But it applies only to people who carry a balance every month. People who pay off their credit card each month are not counted in this figure. If they were, the average would probably be much lower.


There are two types of credit card users in the world. There are those who see them only as a convenience so they don't have to carry cash with them for every purchase they want to make. These people pay off the full balance each month. Credit card issuers don't like these people because they don't make much money off of them.

Then there are those who see a credit card as another source of spendable money and carry large balances. These are the people who pay a minimum amount every month, are always in debt, and pay huge cumulative amounts in interest. Credit card issuers love these people.


I have a friend whose parents, even today in their 70s and 80s, use credit badly. Their credit card is always charged to their credit limit. As soon as they get any part of the balance paid off, say in going from $15,000 to $13,000, they say to themselves, "oh, I've got $2,000 to spend!", and they go right out and buy something, putting themselves right back at $15,000. My friend has tried to explain to them the long-term folly of this, but he's gotten nowhere.

 

well considering this post was more about how technology is running our lives instead of my personal finances lol let me clarify, i have perfect credit, we have a mortgage and normal bills but we just paid off our credit cards and cut them up. no car loans, no debt of any kind other than mortgage. just figured paying cash or debit card for everything would be a better way to go. but i guess when it comes right down to it you cant survive without them, unless you live in a cave, so i hope that clears things up

 

i guess we at that point in life where we are content with what we have, fancy expensive **** just does nothing for me lol, most times its whats in your heart that counts, not in your wallet

 

I like that. We have only one bank credit card for all of those same reasons. Plus when we travel we don't like to carry a lot of cash.
But we had to learn the hard way after retiring to Florida and getting a local bank card. Being a small hometown bank once we got in another state we couldn't get any of our money from our account with their card. Lucky we had enough gas and enough gas money to make it to Illinois. Back there we went to our old bank and they let us draw some of our money from their bank which was really in the Florida bank. Had to use that local bank and places like Wal-Mart for over a month to get up to $100 over what we bought. Sort of embarrassing and inconvenient but it worked.

As for your heart statement, yesterday evening I was talking to my oldest son in Illinois. But first here's why. I have had problems walking and standing for several years. Depended on my wife to shop, cook, etc. Just Tuesday something happened. Now she can hardly stand up and has to use a walker to get from room to room. She can't see doc till next Monday.
So I'm telling my son in Illinois all about his old parents and he tells me to come back to Illinois. Him and or daughter will put us up till they can build us a small house on his property in the country.
We get all serious and I tell him I need to get ride of five old cars. He likes my 1939 Ford deluxe coupe and son-in-law likes my 1948 Chevy panel project. I say son I'm gonna give you the 39 Ford or the 55 Chevy wagon. But before you answer keep in mind the 39 Ford is worth a lot more. He tells me "Dad I'd fix it up and drive it in your memory." Kinda got teary eyed. He said the value of the car means nothing to him.
He also said Dave the son-in-law loves the panel but so does he. There's a lot more but it's what's in our hearts that counts.
Some people never get it!
Same reason we live in the boonies on five acres in a mobil home rather than a brick house in the city.

 

When we visited NH last week we went to check into our hotel, which we had booked a few weeks earlier, they were unable to check us in, as well as a few other couples, because the computers were down. She tells us all that it should only be about a half hour. I told her that we had their email confirmation but they were still not able to give us a room until the computers came back on line.
It was was only a 30 minute wait for us but the family ahead of us had waited over 2 hours! I got a survey request from the hotel after we got home so I let them know about the delay on checking in. I don't understand why we couldn't have been assigned a room then checked in later. After all they did have our Visa number and we had their written confirmation.
Yes friends we are definity brain dead with out our PC telling us what to do.

 

that my friend is exactly what iam talking about, i have grown alot since my two daughters, a boyfriend and a new grandson has moved back in lol, i feel for you. hope things get better, hang in there!!!!!!

 

hahahahaha see you get it!!!!! amazing hey, just think we will be able to sit in the back seat of our new cars texting while we go to work lol

 

dont get me wrong, i'm not against technology i just think we are way too dependant on it, kinda scares me