On May 6, 10:59 am, p...[at]his.com (Paul Michael Brown) wrote:

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As a matter of fact, you can come to my house and look through the
garage. Everything I owned PS (pre-spouse, its like BC or AD) is still
sitting in there!

"Douglas Johnson" wrote
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Okay, thanks for sharing some hard evidence.

<darkness39[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1178438453.201889.90010[at]n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
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Merchants are barred from adding a surcharge for credit. They are free to
offer a discount for cash, which is seen frequently at gasoline stations. A
distinction without a difference, thus allowing differential pricing.

If you think this is absurd, here's what appears to be the latest salvo by
the CC companies:
http://www.unfaircreditcardfees.com/...ress_41607.pdf (has a bit
of background on gasoline cash discounts).

Mark Freeland
BnetOnewsX[at]sbcglobal.net

"Elle" <honda.lioness[at]nospam.earthlink.net> wrote:

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But it is a good match for my experience. I've had a number of unauthorized
charges over the years, including $2,800 for jewelry that I didn't buy. I have
NEVER had a problem with disputing those charges. Never cost me a nickel. Well,
a few nickels for postage to dispute the charges in writing after calling
customer service to dispute them verbally.

A more common risk of identity theft is someone opening charge accounts without
your knowledge. Authorization limits on existing accounts are not going to help
with that.

-- Doug

Elle wrote on [Sun, 6 May 2007 16:23:15 -0500]:
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If you'd rather pay the 15K, go ahead.

However, the bank has to prove you authorised the charges, so do what
you want.

"Justin" <nospam[at]insightbb.com> wrote
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This seems a rather sanguine view of the realities of ID
etc. theft.

Elle wrote on [Sun, 6 May 2007 13:46:16 -0500]:
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You're not liable for unauthorised charges on your CC, at all!

You won't lose more than $50. Assuming you report the charges within a
certain time period. (60 days I think it is)

"Paul Michael Brown" <pmb[at]his.com> wrote
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The latter is similar to my reasoning. In particular, I
think in terms of having to buy an (economical) new car
"tomorrow," all on my credit card, to be paid off in full at
the next bill.

One other factor I use is how much I am willing to risk due
to credit card/ID theft. I keep my credit limit below $15k
but also know my credit card company has been good in the
past about upping my credit limit w/in a day or less. I
could bear a $15k loss. I'd probably cry, but I would not be
broke.

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Right, from where did this lunacy (having debt is "adult")
come?

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Reading validation of some of my own thinking lately, re
living cheap until one meets "thee one," is nice. Two
caveats from personal experience (YMMV): (1) Beware falling
into a miser's mindset--it's cool to save, have financial
peace of mind, but life and good health are short. I'm
spending more lately on fun. (2) I confess that I wonder if,
for example, my beloved old, but always clean and tidy on
the inside and wonderful hobby project, 40+ mpg 91 Honda
Civic, is unappealing to potential dates. OTOH, maybe those
that buy a new car every few years or prefer gas guzzlers
are exactly the type I do not want to attract.

Hey Phil (Non-Squid):

Yut yut. Oorah. Semper Fi.

As for your query: My main credit card has a limit equal to two months
takehome pay. I think that's a sensible amount. Obviously, it's more than
I could pay back in any given month out of my monthly cash flow. But it's
a convenient way to pay unexpected big expenses, which I then make good
out of savings.

As others have noted, I recommend never, EVER paying interest. I know
it's tempting when you first get out of school to "live like a grown up."
But if you're not careful, you can REALLY dig yourself into a hole. You'd
be suprised how cheaply you can set up housekeeping. Beg your married
friends for surplus housewares, hit some yard sales, and check out thrift
stores such as those operated by the Salvation Army. This is the time of
your life to live like a bachelor. You're just going to trash all this
stuff anyway when a certain somebody enters your life. ;-)

<darkness39[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1178438453.201889.90010[at]n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
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Huh? The fee gets charged on each and every transaction. There is no maximum
fee for the month. Sure they make more from those who pay interest, but
those carry a higher risk. Then, of course, there are those who are late, or
don't pay at all. Those are big losses. I don't think they are too sorry to
have people pay in full each month and take those transaction fees to the
bank - those fees they don't have to do anything to get.

Elizabeth Richardson

On May 5, 8:05 pm, zxcvbob <zxcv...[at]charter.net> wrote:

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Between $16 and $40 per month (probably not as high as that latter,
that was the old Amex fee). 2.5% ($20) is probably a good rule of
thumb. On the very big retailers they will get pushed below 2.0%, you
can bet WalMart doesn't pay 2% to Visa or Mastercard! And that gets
spread out through all the Visa system consortium members. So not
enough to cover their overheads.
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But not by as much. Those who don't pay by credit card, subsidise
those who do.
It' s why their merchant agreements forbid differential pricing for
those who pay by credit cards.

(however costs of handling cash are as much as 1%, so those too impose
a cost on the retailer).

"Justin" <nospam[at]insightbb.com> wrote in message
news:slrnf3pl1g.vpv.nospam[at]debian.dns2go.com...

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This is what George Orwell called "doublethink."

darkness39[at]yahoo.com wrote on [Sat, 5 May 2007 13:29:43 -0500]:
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Not quite as bad as a defaulter, as they still generate transaction fees
for merchants, but they also gain from rewards.

People who pay in full every month are referred to as deadbeats.

darkness39[at]yahoo.com wrote:
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You're forgetting about the merchant fees. If I never pay a late fee or
a penny of interest, they still make plenty of money off the merchants
when I run $800 thru my card each month.

(Yes, I know the merchant passes on the cost to me)

Bob

On May 4, 3:46 pm, rick++ <rick...[at]hotmail.com> wrote:
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And, in fact, their algorithms pick those who do *not* pay their
balance off each month, and give them more credit. They have really
sophisticated programmes to identify those who have trouble paying
off.

The worst customer for a credit card company is a very good credit.
Almost as bad a customer as a defaulter.

On Fri, 4 May 2007 18:06:14 -0500, "Don" <dwzimm[at]telus.net> wrote:

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Hardly a good analogy.
Thumper

"Thumper" <jaylsmith[at]comcast.net> wrote in message
news:usbk33df6gatqslo92b8uve749u0ej6ejr[at]4ax.com...

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Maybe people thought they would be doing him a disservice, because if they
told him the facts, he might dig himself in deeper. If a person stopped me
on the street and asked me the best place in town for a drug buy, I would
hesitate to tell even if I knew the answer.

A good rule of thumb is two months income.

The CCCs wll give more than that if you pay each month's
minimum on time.

On Tue, 1 May 2007 11:52:03 -0500, "Mr Tutu" <mr[at]tutu.hu> wrote:

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But you already had a card.
Thumper

On Tue, 1 May 2007 16:33:16 -0500, "Don" <dwzimm[at]telus.net> wrote:

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I find it amusing that hardly anyone answered his question. Most just
gave advise on how to use or not use a card.
Thumper