daben’s posterous

Another video from Don Harrold.



Don talks about Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, Lehman Brothers
which is about to go bankrupt and Merrill Lynch which is being bought
out by Bank of America... Next up, Washington Mutual. Sure, banks buy
one another out, etc... but not like this.

I often agree with Don Harrold, and here is another prime example. The
American consumer is at fault for creating this issue of monstrous
debt. And not debt like school loans, but this day to day use of
credit cards to buy meals, gas, groceries, etc. I feel it is partially
the fault of the consumer, but not 100%, for these corporations and
credit providers are to blame as well.

But yes, clear debt. Look over it all, and create a repayment plan to
eliminate it as soon as possible. And not by meeting the minimum
payment, which can ultimately take years to reduce (not to mention the
additional costs from interest etc). My plan- eliminate 1/4 of my
school debt and all of my cc debt over the next year.
And monitor your spending! I've seen it, individuals cutting up credit
cards. if that's what is called for, do it.

For those that do not have a credit card, it is still important to
establish credit and what not (figure getting a loan for an
automobile, a mortgage, etc). Again, just monitor your habits. So a
suggestion- if you have a checking/ savings account, you can apply for
a credit card through that bank. My first credit card was back in
2004. A First American Bank card that had a $500 maximum (cannot have
more than $500 owed at one time.), and something near 20% interest
(very high). Intentionally charge a total of a couple hundred dollars
on there, and pay the minimum payment month to month. Sure, you can
pay off a 200 dollar bill at once, but the idea is to show you can
responsibly and continuously make payments in full and on time (PS,
most cards will offer a year or so of 0% APR, so interest will not be
accumulating). You can also have cards opened with no balance on them,
so no need to closing them out etc. However, when you open a new
account, be sure to monitor the balance on older cards (I prefer to
have zero balance on cards I do not use). And say you use a card for 6
months, you can contact the company and ask for a reduced rate and
increased credit limit etc.). So in my case, after about 2 years, I
was offered, through Chase, a card with 8.99% interest and something
like a $15,000-$20,000 credit limit, which is pretty good... (I owe a
couple grand on that card, which I will work to eliminate right now...
I just threw on about $1800 from a trip, and I havent worked in a
couple of months, so yea... my approach will be to pay about $350 a
month for that card.).

Until next time.

peace.

daben.