Comments on: (Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents: Credit Card Debt

By: Monday Morning Links and a Carnival | My Daily Dollars

Monday Morning Links and a Carnival | My Daily Dollars — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:31:16 +0000

[...] Frugal has a great post on credit card debt as part of her review of (Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents. She has some excellent links along the [...]

By: Until Debt Do Us Part

Until Debt Do Us Part — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:16:22 +0000

Great Post. I can feel your pain.

I agree completely with your point about going $100k into debt just to make $25k. It doesn’t make sense, yet so many people do it. A lot of people don’t realize that they have a debt problem until it is almost too late. At that point they have to relearn their financial habits and adopt to a whole new lifestyle.

Keep up the momentum

By: Marci in Rainy NW OR

Marci in Rainy NW OR — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:59:15 +0000

Re Emily’s Post – I think what they did when they couldn’t afford it was “Make Do or Do Without”…. don’t think there was a choice there … which is the way I tend to look at it also :)

And I’ll agree with you on the debtor’s prison stuff!

By: Emily @ Taking Charge

Emily @ Taking Charge — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:59:41 +0000

“It makes me wonder what our grandparents did when they ran into financial difficulty. They didn’t have easy access to debt, yet they survived.”

I also wonder this, though I know at one point debtors’ prisons were used to punish people who could not pay off their debts. I actually wrote about that recently, because I wonder what on earth our country would be like if those still existed…
http://blogs.creditcards.com/2.....meback.php

By: Harmonic Wealth Fan

Harmonic Wealth Fan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:51:17 +0000

Great site, really helpful.

I’ve always been a little skeptical of the new-agey books my wife reads about self-help or changing your life. But she was so impressed by this one (James Ray’s Harmonic Wealth) that I agreed to read it. AND I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT IT ROCKED!

What I liked about James Ray was that he didn’t just sell you all these fluffy ideas and leave it at that. James Ray breaks it down into applicable lessons and examples and even provided an online study course that helped me to apply the book to my life and come up with ways I can be more “Harmonically Wealthy” – wealthy in all the “Pillars” or areas of my life. James Ray doesn’t just address the money issues or the relationships – he says that all “5 Pillars” – financial, relational, mental, physical, and spiritual – have to work in harmony for you to achieve a truly wealthy life. I like that approach because it makes sense to me and is about results, not hand-holding.

Here’s the link to his website: harmonicwealth.com/read

By: Sofia Kim

Sofia Kim — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:37:18 +0000

Credit card debt is on its all time high with today’s economy. Hopefully people can obtain the help they need to get out of debt. Thanks for the article!

By: Michelle H.

Michelle H. — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:25:46 +0000

Hi Lynnae,
I completely agree – we tend to sometimes look at things and think they’re emergencies when truly they are not. I live in Texas and didn’t have a/c in my car as a teenager – you can do it if you have to. We also only had one TV channel growing up! Marci had a good point about the good feeling of being debt-free and sleeping well at night. Amen!

By: Carole

Carole — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:52:21 +0000

I have never owned a credit card, and my husband has not had one since we have known each other. Our parents and grandparents went without if they couldn’t afford something and we do the same. We have a decent roof over our heads, and eight year old car, enough to eat, some entertainment, good friends and some pets; all on a lowish income, but we have no debt. No amount of material goods would make us sleep better than we do now. Debt has become the norm; crazy!

By: JenLive!

JenLive! — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:48:21 +0000

Well written.

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve stopped by. I usually just read in my feeder. But I thought I should pop in and say hi. The blog looks great! Very professional, yet friendly.

And to think I knew you when you were mostly just under the clutter ;)

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:59:16 +0000

The part of this post that rung most true to me was the part about “emergencies”. I think, in general, most of us have it so good, we don’t know what a real emergency is. And like Kacie said, once you’re in the hole, what is a little bit more here and there and then everything has turned into an emergency. I see friends who have so little money but just keep borrowing because they think they just have to have new things or they and their kids will be miserable. Like many others, I have already been in and out of debt and never want to go back. I know there are benefits to using credit cards wisely, but I won’t go so far as to ever say they are necessary.