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Posted: 3:51 PM Nov 19, 2008
Controlling the Credit Monster
WSAZ's Rob Johnson details one man's struggle with controlling credit. Reporter: Rob JohnsonEmail Address: rob.johnson@wsaz.com |
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The huge economic bailout plan approved by Congress is the focal point of our national financial struggles. The root of it all is really how much money Americans owe.
"It's an addiction," Rick Mattison says.
Rick Mattison says he got the credit card disease. He overcharged to the point it nearly buried him in debt. He owed more on credit cards than he made in a year as a teacher at Dawson Bryant School.
Angela Roach has cut up so many credit cards that she can't even remember how many. Angela works for Consumer Credit Counseling. It's her job to teach people to live without any credit at all.
Living without credit can make some of the simple things in life difficult. Just try filling up your gas tank at a station which requires you to pay first. Rental car companies have real problems renting to people without a credit card. Hotels are pretty picky about getting a credit card for the deposit as well. And can you imagine how much cash you would have to carry around to go to the grocery store for your family?
"We want everything now. It's an instant gratification society. We don't want to save the money to get what we want," Angela Roach said.
Rick is a college educated man, yet he still fell into the credit trap. It can happen to anyone. He has gone through a five year plan to clear all his debt. He now fondly looks through all the old bills that used to haunt him.
"Credit cards aren't the devil. They are a necessary evil," Mattison said.
Rick cut up his credit cards and he got his life back. He's been so successful that he actually was able to retire from teaching and buy a new house. Now he's teaching by example to live more simply and control the credit monster.
Rick says that one of the most frustrating parts of his credit crisis came directly from the credit card companies. He found that the more he used his credit cards, the more they would increase his limit, enticing him to get further in debt.
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Latest Comments
Debit card: I am the credit counselor interviewed and I just wanted to point out that you should not use a debit card to reserve a hotel or rent a car. They will put a hold on a huge chunk of your checking account which will freeze your access to your money. It is safer and wiser to use a credit card for these types of transactions. For instance, if you rent a car for a week, they may hold the whole weeks rental cost and then some (for damages)until you return the car or use another form of payment. I learned this myself while trying to rent a car several years ago and wanted to use my debit card. The rep at the car rental agency warned me against it. As I said in the interview, credit is needed, it just needs to be used wisely.
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debit card, I was just about to post the same thing. The gas station hotels etc are NOT the problem The problem is the everything right now attitude. Learn to save for those extras you want, and pay for what you need first. If you are going to use credit do it wisely, pay the balance every month, earn air miles for plane tickets or gas or whatever. Use the six months same as cash for big purchases you need and pay it off in the allotted time. In other words manage your money. I also think it should be illegal for credit card companies to hawk campuses and entice students into debt. They are preying on their lack of money managing experience.
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don't fell sorry for these people. their the ones who buried themselves in debt. not the rest of us who are responsible enough to control our spending. so tell them to cry on someone else's shoulder cause nobody cares.
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