The and Credit Cards....

I had to laugh when I read this article.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Consumers-cut-back-on-credit-apf-555521528.html?x=0
199 Comments

Consumers cut back on credit cards again in June


Consumer borrowing falls in June for fifth straight month as credit card use declines again

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Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer, On Friday August 6, 2010, 5:00 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumer borrowing fell in June for a fifth straight month as households keep cutting back on credit card use.
Borrowing dropped at an annual rate of $1.3 billion in June, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. That marked the 16th drop in overall credit in the past 17 months.
Americans backed away from swiping their credit cards for the 21st straight month. That offset a rise in the number of auto loans.
Households are borrowing less and saving more, and that has dragged on the overall economy by lowering consumer spending.
The $1.3 billion June drop in borrowing was much smaller than the $5 billion decline that economists had expected. The government also revised the May decline to show a smaller drop of $5.3 billion rather than the initial $9.2 billion decrease.
While a smaller decline could signal the long slide on consumer credit is leveling off, economists cautioned against getting too optimistic given continued lackluster job growth and tight credit standards.
"As long as income and employment do not show marked improvements, consumers will avoid taking on new debt," said Gregory Daco, senior economist at IHS Global Insight. "Consumers remain bound by a weak labor market ... high debt levels and a fragile housing market."
In a separate report Friday, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5 percent and private employers added only a net 71,000 jobs in July. That is far below the 200,000 or more jobs that are needed each month to make a significant dent in the jobless rate.
Overall credit dropped 0.7 percent in June. It was the smallest decline since credit increased 1.8 percent in January, the only rise since the beginning of 2009. The decrease left consumer credit at an annual rate of $2.42 trillion.
The category that includes auto loans rose 2.4 percent in June following a 1.4 percent increase in May. Analysts are predicting another increase in July after auto sales posted solid gains.
Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc., said consumer credit has fallen by $163 billion since hitting a peak in July 2008 as households have struggled to repair their balance sheets in the midst of a deep recession.
But he said that household net worth is down by more than $11 trillion since hitting a peak in the spring of 2007, indicating that many households probably still feel under pressure to get their borrowing under better control.
"While off to a good start, household sector deleveraging still has considerably further to go," he said in a note to clients.
The Fed's credit report covers credit card debt, auto loans and other debt not secured by real estate. It does not cover home mortgages or home equity lines of credit.
Earlier this week, the Commerce Department reported that the personal savings rate climbed to 6.4 percent of after-tax incomes in June. It was the highest reading in nearly a year and three times the 2.1 percent average for all of 2007, before the recession began.
For years, economists worried that the savings rate had fallen too low. But now the concern is that consumers aren't spending enough to help strengthen the recovery. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity.










I would like to forewarn you to exactly what happened to the credit card industry.

start with my parents. Our ancestors came to America and some still live in Canada. My mom was the poorest person along side my deaf and beautiful Aunt that had no education because she could not hear, she didn't know how to speak right.
Their upbringing was to collect acorns in the fall, and cash it in for life insurance. Their many days were spent watching my granfather slaughter and make sausage, building a "smoke house" hanging the beef, pork for drying out in the winter.
Heat was available only where my mom slept with her deaf sister and mute, aunt of mine. Boys were required to sleep without heat upstairs.
Grammaw had passed away at the time when my mom was 16, making her responsible to walk five miles to school, and coming home to feed the pigs, make my Auntie comfortable.
When my parents married, we had our auntie Gertie living with us until 1965, leaving her behind to take care of "Grampa".
I thought the world of my Grampa...he was short, stout, and if you forgot his salt shaker at dinner he'd yell like the nukes were gonna hit his house.
He would plan his income by "so and so is suppose to die next week..." he would tell my dad.
He bought a case of beer after digging graves with a y shovel anticipating the next death from "Basler Home" where they laid the bodies out for a week...and now I know why. No back-hoes...it was actually labor.
Fast forward to 1965 when we relocated to Chicago. I remember writing to my chilhood friends, "We have marble floors (ceramic) and a marble counter-top (fake marble) Oh, my God, we're rich!
Little did I know how much my parents sacrificed for us kids. I look back now and know now why I always had to wear that damn brown dress for four years!
Thing is..back then (I didn't find this out until the past year), there was no credit cards that my parents were aware of...there was no help from the gov't raising five kids with fifteen dollars a week for groceries...yet we fed the whole block. I don't to this day know how my mom is still reminded by emails how much the smell of food affected them so much, they'd knock on the door asking to eat with us. But, she canned her food, she preserved everything, even to this day....food in the freezer, canned tomoatos, pickles, you name it. It's either in the two freezers or stored and canned in the underground storage in the garage.

Thing is...she had a credit card for 24 years now, only charging gas, and paying it off before the month ended. She has a Kohl's card which gives her 30% down to 15% and we reek them together when one of us has the 30% off and the neighbor joins us for that 30% off when I get it. I usually end up with that 30% off cuz I don't use my card.

But the thing is, my mom had a zero balance on a Visa card - always paid it off when buying gas, etc. Mostlt gas. They informed her that unless she charged $2,400.00 they will drop her credit card priviledges. I think I mentioned this before, but she shredded it, sent it back and told them where to go.
She will not charge unless she pays the balance off before the time limit. Thus, she got punished.
Then take me...I was paying down my debt, and lo and behold...the one bank card said (BEFORE OBAMA'S NEW PLAN TOOK PLACE) that I was required to pay double, and I had already paid double, but they tripled it, which made it over the limit, then added fees, and while trying to visit the bank to straighten it out, they told the clerk that I had to "hear". I told them I made five trips in one weeek...ya wanna get paid...start over and let me take over where I left off...now they get nothing. This was before Obama's laws took in effect and the credit card industry changed the rules so they had the advantage before they allowed this to happen.

I excitedly responded I will file a discrimination suit against you. I have exhausted every means to communicate with your foreign collectors, that my sis in law couldn't even understand their broken language. Until you communicate with me from someone that knows English, I will pursue a lawsuit against you requiring me to hear on the phone, not able to communicate through YOUR bank, with CLERKS YOU HIRED THAT SPEAK ENGLISH, telling them I "had to hear".
Left that go. Then more debt arrived as I was paying it down. Obama did a dis-service to the Americans demanding reform and delaying the reform, which is why NO ONE IS PAYING THEIR CREDIT CARDS, nor are they charging even if the credit is good.
He sucessfully destroyed our credit system.
I met a woman that was a worker at the Senior Citizens Center in Joliet. Her husband died two years ago. She paid off their credit card, only to be told that she is not allowed to use it. Go figure. So, why pay?
Credit means shitz now a days. Especially when banks have the worst credit in the world in the USA.
Point is...if you pay them off...don't still expect to use them or have a great pay-off record.
They failed the U.S., got bailed out, and we are at the bottom of the list.

Why pay them if it means nothing even if you do?
I was brought up to pay your bills on time...but not brought up that they can change the rules on you. There's a difference when the minimum was $20.00 and you paid triple, double to beat the balance down...and all of a sudden each one wanted 90.00 a month...which would leave me with nothing based on a small amount I charged.

Told them all to go to hell and ask for another bail-out. I don't care about credit anymore. I will pay cash and fluck Obama for screwing us all. Send another 2 billion to another country but don't jump-start ours by forgiving our debt due to corruption in the higher ups' field.
They can't throw me in jail; they can't take my money, they can't take ANYTHING from me...until they work it out where from point one, they screwed ME and others. Until then...
Screw you, credit card companies. I am paying cash. Banks won't get to hold my money...as fast as it goes in, it'll go out. Suffer.

Or, ask Obama to bail YOU out instead of the foreign people that would jump-start the economy. Wrong priorities...send another couple billion to the those that won't help themselves in other foreign countries because it helps the US
IMAGE at the expense of taxpayers' money. Sick.

FLOTUS - this better be your last vacation. The American people are fed up with YOU. Selfish, self-centered typical woman who changes her image once they think race is involved.
Ask not WHAT YOUR COUNTRY can do for you. ASK WHAT YOU can do for your country.
All you've done is showed your kids is vacation in D.C. One year, though, remind them. your garden was a photo opt. If you cared, you'd be there pulling the weeds, turning the potatos, and planting enough to send overseas in lieu of money.

No...you are off on another vacation. Typical.

I always pay off my credit cards and have never had one cancelled.

I'm glad Americans are finally getting smart and cutting down on debt.

KarenT wrote:

I always pay off my credit cards and have never had one cancelled.

I'm glad Americans are finally getting smart and cutting down on debt.

I, too, except I refuse to pay on the one where they claimed they notified me in Oct. '09 that my 6.5% annual rate was going to be 29.9% starting in Jan. 2010 and that I had an option to opt out or, accept the new change. I never received such a letter, nor one that they claim may have been sent with the bill.
What I find astonishing is a credit card company, Visa demanded my mother charge $2,400.00 in order to keep her card. I've never heard of such a thing, demanding you charge something you don't need.
Credit cards should be used for emergencies only. She only used it once for gas, I believe she said, and paid it off immediately.
Is this something new, that they are ordering you to charge a certain amount in order to retain your card? Never heard of such an idiotic thing.

Have you? Her balance was zero for many moons, so why are they punishing her for not abusing her card?

Tell her to try Discover - we've never had a problem with them.