We are drowning in debt

So when I finish studying, rather get a cheque card than a credit card?

Or will I need a credit card to build a credit rating so that one day I can buy a house? :/

Seems so messed up that I need to get debt, to be in more debt.
 
Come on people, a credit card isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I asked the provider to lower my credit card limit to R2000, sicne I don't want or need more than that. Even if I max it out that will be like R130pm I think. Anyway, its convenient, a cheque card would cost me something while the virgin money card is free, so I can do all those convenient online things for free.
 
supersunbird said:
Come on people, a credit card isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I asked the provider to lower my credit card limit to R2000, sicne I don't want or need more than that. Even if I max it out that will be like R130pm I think. Anyway, its convenient, a cheque card would cost me something while the virgin money card is free, so I can do all those convenient online things for free.
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Agreed. Have one.. only for emergencies. And I put money into it (so my petrol card goes off into it etc).
 
As far as people being in debt is concerned. I have found in my business that the problem is people are in jobs they don't like and inevitably buy stuff on credit that they never originally wanted to make themselves feel better then become trapped in those jobs due to the debt.

We become slaves to the possessions we never wanted and end up living lives different from our

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How about we all become Tyler Durdens? :)

For the past year I thought I was deep in debt until I realised I wasn't. All this time I was giving 30% of my salary to the parents and decided to give only 15% for 4-6 months and now I don't play "Spin the Wheel" with my debt anymore.
 
Everyone has different methods of dealing with money...

I "live" on my credit card basically.. BUT the limit is set to a value that I can settle in a single month.... so I never have cash on me.

The only things I have on credit that spans more than a single month are my house and my car....
 
What gets me is the fact that I live very sparingly with my money but every single month some **** happens and I end up having to fork a ton of cash to get it sorted (always a necessity otherwise I would bugger that it can wait). How many of you are in the same boat?
 
warchylde said:
What gets me is the fact that I live very sparingly with my money but every single month some **** happens and I end up having to fork a ton of cash to get it sorted (always a necessity otherwise I would bugger that it can wait). How many of you are in the same boat?
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It is unfortunately a fact of life. The more you possess, the more you need to maintain it.
 
creeper said:
It is unfortunately a fact of life. The more you possess, the more you need to maintain it.
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That's just it - I don't own all that much. Crappy health etc isn't helping. Medical costs sucks you dry very quickly.
 
After paying off all my monthly commitments I am usually left with 60 percent of my salary... Still not ideal, but I guess I am better off than other folks I read about... We need to plan better.

In the past, I have sat for hours studying my bank statements and I realised that the things I wasted my money on were very stupid and really unnecessary... Things I actually did not need, but luxuries that made me feel good at the time. But I have learnt my lessons and from this day onwards the only place I will 'waste' money on is buying my favourite Jameson whiskey... Now that I can't live without :)
 
Aqua_lung said:
I was pondering the same thing today, it makes everything more expensive too. Pay with cash and not credit and prices would not be as inflated.
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Handling cash is not cheap either.

phiber said:
wow, thats quite a scary article. Don't understand how they let people borrow that sort of money on those sort of salaries! Things are expensive, i guess the ease of getting credit cards allow you to put the daily basics on credit, where in the past it was only really the big items (cars and houses) where loans were taken out.
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I'm not sure what past you're thinking of.

ice_cubes said:
The worst advice I ever received was to *live* off my credit card.
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What do you mean live off? I pay for everything I can on credit cards.

Sensorei said:
If you can't afford to buy it with cash then you can't afford it. The only things this doesn't apply to is a house and car.

Switch from a credit card to a cheque card. How can people expect to ever have money if they live off their credit card, get their salary and transfer whatever is left after bills onto their credit card every month.
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The only people that need to stick with a debit card are those have a problem controlling their spending.

hawker said:
So when I finish studying, rather get a cheque card than a credit card?
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Are you someone who'll spend more on your card than you can afford to pay back when the account is due, and thus only pay the minimum due each month? Then get a debit/cheque card. Otherwise get yourself a credit card. You can get one from Virgin for free. Treat your card like you're taking money out of your pocket and you'll never go wrong.
 
supersunbird said:
Come on people, a credit card isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I asked the provider to lower my credit card limit to R2000, sicne I don't want or need more than that. ...
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If your like me trying to build up my credit record to get a bond, then reducing my CC is not an option. Apparently it counts heavily against one. But as soon as I get a bond, I'm going that route.

But if I get turned down for my bond (end of next year), then I will say sod this and kill all my credit mechanisms.
 
Increased cost of living is one reason South Africans are in debt, the price of food has almost tripled in the last 3 to 4 years, electricity, rates and taxes, water, soon tolling, petrol etc all goes up and hardly ever goes down. Salaries don't go up to compensate at all as companies believe CPI is where to base salaries at.
 
Lupus said:
Increased cost of living is one reason South Africans are in debt, the price of food has almost tripled in the last 3 to 4 years, electricity, rates and taxes, water, soon tolling, petrol etc all goes up and hardly ever goes down. Salaries don't go up to compensate at all as companies believe CPI is where to base salaries at.
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Well the CPI tracks prices of majority of consumer good so if the price of food has tripled, then the CPI should reflect that, and companies would adjust accordingly. The basket is made up of most of the generic cost of living products.
 
phiber said:
Well the CPI tracks prices of majority of consumer good so if the price of food has tripled, then the CPI should reflect that, and companies would adjust accordingly. The basket is made up of most of the generic cost of living products.
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LOL good luck with that. With the exception of a handful most of my friends haven't received an increase in three years due to the "recession"
 
I was doing shopping at Pick n Pay in Centurion today and saw a woman with 3 kids, all probably younger than 10 years old. I was thinking to myself does she struggle financially presently? If not will she struggle financially in future? Taking a child to creche these days is R1000 a month, not to mention buying them food and toys and other things. People must realize that the time of having 3 kids is coming to and end, people must have 1 child. The poor are the worst, they must have 1 child too, the days of the poor having 10 children are long gone. I just want one child, I really don't want to stress myself too much because of not being able to provide for my future children adequately.
 
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