Helene wrote: > I wonder how many people owe banks more than several years of full pay > in credit > cards without really having noticed....One day, there is going to be a > nasty > reckoning,
and Tamara wrote: <because you couldn't keep up with the payments on your many credit cards (though why anyone would want to have more than one...). > I was reading in one of our over-50s magazines about one reason for having several credit cards explained by a financial adviser. This applies only to cards which offer 0% interest as an introductory offer on balance transfers from other cards. I didn't really understand what he was saying because I didn't pay close attention - I no longer have a mortgage on my home as we finished paying for it in 1986 and so what he was saying doesn't apply to us. It was the fact that he has 5 credit cards all maxed out, all of which are balance transfers and on all of which he is paying no interest. When the period of 0% interest runs out, he gets a new card and transfers the balance to that. He also had a flexible mortgage (whatever that is - ours was a straight repayment one), and, by working the flexible mortgage and 0% maxed-out credit cards together, he's saving a great deal of money on mortgage interest payments. He obviously knows what he's doing. I get really annoyed at current TV adverts offering loans to people already in debt to "clear your existing debts" - no you won't! - or "consolidate your existing debts into one easy monthly payment" - and "there could even be money left over for one of life's luxuries" - no there won't! You'll still be in debt, probably further than you were before. I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the claim that you could clear your debts was wrong, but they said there was nothing wrong with the adverts because people understood what was meant. People who get that far in debt don't understand anything of the sort. I use my credit card, but clear it at the end of each month. I use it for internet shopping, for items over �100 because there's free insurance for loss, damage or the company I bought from going bust, and until recently I got an extra year's free warranty on household appliances. If I can't afford it (apart from buying a house), I don't have it. Off soapbox. Jean in Poole To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
