After not paying income taxes last year, buying a house and spending all my money on the down payment, spending all my money again at the beginning of this year on some of last-year's taxes and Jackie's Engagement ring, and THEN having to do emergency upgrades on the server, spending another solid chunk of change on added servers and hosting, I'm FINALLY crawling out of my hole of debt. I just paid this year's Taxes and paid off all my credit cards, and there's still almost a month before my next mortgage payment is due.

It feels REALLY good knowing that the money I'm making now is actually MINE.

Woot!


(if anyone cared, maybe this'll spark a discussion of finances).

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After not paying income taxes last year, buying a house and spending all my money on the down payment, spending all my money again at the beginning of this year on some of last-year's taxes and Jackie's Engagement ring, and THEN having to do emergency upgrades on the server, spending another solid chunk of change on added servers and hosting, I'm FINALLY crawling out of my hole of debt. I just paid this year's Taxes and paid off all my credit cards, and there's still almost a month before my next mortgage payment is due. It feels REALLY good knowing that the money I'm making now is actually MINE. Woot! (if anyone cared, maybe this'll spark a discussion of finances).

Still $18,500 in the hole here. Booo.

Well, I don't count my student loans, or the back-taxes I'm paying. Those amount to something like $600 a month in payments. I'm just saying in terms of paying my lump sums, like taxes and credit card payments.

The interest rates on back-taxes and student loans are low enough that they're not crippling. So, yeah, I'm still around $15k in the hole in that respect (also not including the $125k or so I still owe on the house).

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-$6,000.

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"Some douche bag, pony tail wearing, hippie FUCK..." -Sip

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Well, I don't count my student loans, or the back-taxes I'm paying. Those amount to something like $600 a month in payments. I'm just saying in terms of paying my lump sums, like taxes and credit card payments. The interest rates on back-taxes and student loans are low enough that they're not crippling. So, yeah, I'm still around $15k in the hole in that respect (also not including the $125k or so I still owe on the house).

o, snap.

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"Some douche bag, pony tail wearing, hippie FUCK..." -Sip

just keep borrowing, it's how our system works.

everybody owes everybody.

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just keep borrowing, it's how our system works. everybody owes everybody.

It's not how our system works, it's how creditors want you to believe it works. They spend billions of dollars a year convincing you and everyone in our society that it's how our system works, and consequently make trillions in return. It'll stop when you decide to stop it. Quit borrowing, and put Visa out of business.

There's good debt and bad debt. Good debt generates revenue. Bad debt doesn't.

A car = bad debt.

An expensive server that itself generates an increase in your monthly profit = good debt.

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+$10,000

hate me all you want

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Quote just keep borrowing, it's how our system works. everybody owes everybody. It's not how our system works, it's how creditors want you to believe it works. They spend billions of dollars a year convincing you and everyone in our society that it's how our system works, and consequently make trillions in return. It'll stop when you decide to stop it. Quit borrowing, and put Visa out of business.

i use a credit card for everything, but i have yet to go in debt. Credit cards are good for building credit rating and allowing you to get a lower interest rate on other loans/borrowings you need. so they are a necessary evil in my opinion, just gotta not miss the payments.

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Quote Quote just keep borrowing, it's how our system works. everybody owes everybody. It's not how our system works, it's how creditors want you to believe it works. They spend billions of dollars a year convincing you and everyone in our society that it's how our system works, and consequently make trillions in return. It'll stop when you decide to stop it. Quit borrowing, and put Visa out of business. i use a credit card for everything, but i have yet to go in debt. Credit cards are good for building credit rating and allowing you to get a lower interest rate on other loans/borrowings you need. so they are a necessary evil in my opinion, just gotta not miss the payments.

This decision to build your credit rating of course implies that you have an interest in going into debt in the future.

As an alternative, you could not go into debt at all and save money before buying stuff you cannot afford.

Again, the big bad creditors want you to believe that you have to have a credit score to buy a house or car or anything else. A credit score is not necessary. A credit score is a report card for how good you are at owing people money. You do not have to owe anybody money; that is a choice. Credit scores are not the societal requirement 99.99% of the population has been programmed to believe they are.

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Quote Quote Quote just keep borrowing, it's how our system works. everybody owes everybody. It's not how our system works, it's how creditors want you to believe it works. They spend billions of dollars a year convincing you and everyone in our society that it's how our system works, and consequently make trillions in return. It'll stop when you decide to stop it. Quit borrowing, and put Visa out of business. i use a credit card for everything, but i have yet to go in debt. Credit cards are good for building credit rating and allowing you to get a lower interest rate on other loans/borrowings you need. so they are a necessary evil in my opinion, just gotta not miss the payments. This decision to build your credit rating of course implies that you have an interest in going into debt in the future. As an alternative, you could not go into debt at all and save money before buying stuff you cannot afford. Again, the big bad creditors want you to believe that you have to have a credit score to buy a house or car or anything else. A credit score is not necessary. A credit score is a report card for how good you are at owing people money. You do not have to owe anybody money; that is a choice. Credit scores are not the societal requirement 99.99% of the population has been programmed to believe they are.

Chances are, when I build my house, I will have to take a loan out for it, so I'd rather show that I'm awesome at owing people money than not being able to get it.

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I am a defender of Credit Cards as, when used properly, provide for a solid mechanism for emergency payments.

While it's still best to have lost of money in the bank, you can still get solid use out of credit cards if you use them to buy expensive things quickly with a 30-day payment plan.

If something happens in my company, for example, and I need an emergency loan for some servers, credit cards provide that mechanism to get those items quick to ensure my greater long-term success.

Abusing the credit system, which most people do, however, only leads to more debt. Living your life in debt means you're always paying someone back with interest and you ultimately get to keep less of your hard-earned dollars. Credit cards should be used for emergency purposes, or if you can guaratnee to pay back in full every month, as a means to generating frequent flier miles, or cash-back rewards and that's really about it. If you let your credit card debt overwhelm you, and you're paying that exorbitant 20% rate they charge, you are just asking to be indebted perminantly.

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You know what else works great for emergency payments? Putting some money aside for emergency payments.

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You know what else works great for emergency payments? Putting some money aside for emergency payments.

Very true, and that's actually my next step, now that I can see the opening at the top of the hole.

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I'm working on getting a nice rewards package from Chase, that's my real reason for having a credit card.

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I'm working on getting a nice rewards package from Chase, that's my real reason for having a credit card.

It's just a gimmick to get you to screw up and owe. The house always win. You think a casino gives you free drinks because they want you to have a good time? They know the numbers, and they always win. You think you've got them figured out, that you can beat their system... and that's exactly how they hook you. "Earn Free Reward!" is bait, because they know you're gonna screw up, just like everybody else does somewhere. If you really were winning like you think you are, the billion dollar a year companies would not be giving you rewards.

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Quote You know what else works great for emergency payments? Putting some money aside for emergency payments. Very true, and that's actually my next step, now that I can see the opening at the top of the hole.

Make your emergency your number one priority above all else. That's where you're going wrong. You're putting the emergency money several notches down on your list -- and this of course means when you have an actual emergency, you have to turn the car around and go back the way you came, further into debt. Put the emergency funds aside first, then work on your debts. When an emergency happens, you'll have a nice little cushion there to pad your fall and you will not have to negate the work you've done with further debt.

Oh, and when you do have a real live actual emergency and have to use some of that cushion, you restuff that pillow before you pay toward a single debt. Emergency money always comes first. Make sure it's there before you make any other significant payments.

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Quote I'm working on getting a nice rewards package from Chase, that's my real reason for having a credit card. It's just a gimmick to get you to screw up and owe. The house always win. You think a casino gives you free drinks because they want you to have a good time? They know the numbers, and they always win. You think you've got them figured out, that you can beat their system... and that's exactly how they hook you. "Earn Free Reward!" is bait, because they know you're gonna screw up, just like everybody else does somewhere. If you really were winning like you think you are, the billion dollar a year companies would not be giving you rewards.

You CAN win if you don't screw up. You're saying "You will fail" but the only way to determine that is to see what happens. Perhaps Camera has better control over his finances than others. Perhaps he can win.

They make their money from those who make mistakes, but if you don't make mistakes, then you can only win.

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