Or what if US just stops using inferior checks and just wires money like rest of the world? It's also possible to even push money in to credit cards directly, in addition to normal bank wires. Checks are insecure, inconvenient and pretty useless in today's electronic world. For non-electronical purposes you can just use cash.
Good God, push your money into to credit cards directly? Are you insane? Can you imagine the fees the credit card companies can and would likely impose?
Your deposit is too small - FEE Your deposit is too big - FEE Your deposit is greater than your minimum payment we'll just apply your paycheck to what you owe us and here's a Fee for that service - FEE Your deposit is not every week - FEE We don't like who you work for, they are not in our network - FEE Your direct deposit bounced - FEE
You mean if you want to give your friend $50 for something you owe him/gas money/share of the house bills etc it costs you $25 to transfer the money from your account to his? Or the same if you want to move money from one bank account to another account (held in a different bank) ?
If this is the case, wow. To be fair I don't know your banking system and maybe where I am (the UK) the bankers make their money some other way but if the above is true, that's brutal. Most people here just transfer money around t
The US banking system is basically where we (UK) were in the 1980's. I even saw someone writing a check in a supermarket when I was in the US recently! I haven't written a cheque for many years and, in fact, APACS will be outlawing cheques here in 2012. The US banking system is much more fragmented in the USA and doesn't have the regulatory structure and capital guarantee that UK banks have to have. Some banks only span a few towns (although these are disappearing) and don't have a national presence. They still have "bank managers" too and you can go in an "speak to them" - Most UK branches haven't had this for years.
It's only since "faster payments" was introduced a 4 years ago that person to person payments using online banking etc have really taken off. I don't think any of the big UK banks charge for faster payments. Of course, you can have fun sending 0.01 to your friends with a transfer label "goats.cx" etc.
They also don't have the concept of "direct debit". something that astounds me. You either have to go to an online bill consolidator service of have to pay each bill (sending a cheque!!!!) individually!
They also don't have the concept of "direct debit". something that astounds me. You either have to go to an online bill consolidator service of have to pay each bill (sending a cheque!!!!) individually!
That's not entirely true. I'm not a big fan of the bill consolidation services that are usually offered for 'free' by your bank, as long as you meet the minimum criteria of $X minimum balance, direct deposit, X transfers per month, X debit purchases per month, etc.
Every service that I need to pay for, from my gas utility, electric utility, student loan, and credit card bill can be paid directly at the company's website as a direct debt. I enter my routing and checking account numbers, and the bill gets
They also don't have the concept of "direct debit". something that astounds me.
Every service that I need to pay for, from my gas utility, electric utility, student loan, and credit card bill can be paid directly at the company's website as a direct debt. I enter my routing and checking account numbers, and the bill gets deducted from my bank account.
I think you misunderstand what "Direct Debit" means in the UK. Direct Debit is basically a system where you authorise a company to withdraw money from your account each month. This is very similar to a standing order (where you instruct your bank "transfer X amount to another bank account on this day each week/month/year") except that for Direct Debits the amount to withdraw is determined by the recipient of the payment.
This means that my phone bill is automatically paid in full each month, even though it
"I think you misunderstand what "Direct Debit" means in the UK. Direct Debit is basically a system where you authorise a company to withdraw money from your account each month. This is very similar to a standing order (where you instruct your bank "transfer X amount to another bank account on this day each week/month/year") except that for Direct Debits the amount to withdraw is determined by the recipient of the payment."
No, many companies have that over here in the US, especially the utilities, etc. I p
I personally do NOT like this as that I don't like giving hardly anyone or any company direct access to my bank
As I said, whilst they have direct access to your bank account, the agreement is also backed by the guarantee that your bank will refund the money immediately if you ask them to, no questions asked. This tends to work very well for the majority of the UK's population (although there are complaints that those without bank accounts are penalised since most utilities offer a discount for paying by DD as it reduces their costs).
However, many banks here are offering free bill pay from the banks website, where if the company is hooked to the 'system' (I forget the name) when I set up a bill to pay it is often transferred from the bank to the company electronically in about 1-2 days.
You can also do this in the UK if you don't want to pay by DD - you just tell your
You have a lot more bills that regularly come due than I do, if you'd be paying something every other day. Or even remotely close to that.
The most bills I will receive in a given month is 6. Credit cards, mortgage, auto. And only 6 is I have transactions on every card, which is never. Utilities and whatnot get paid by credit card.
I wouldn't want to have anybody pulling from my deposit accounts simply because I have to be aware of the problem before I can have it corrected. As it is, if there are erroneous t
You have a lot more bills that regularly come due than I do, if you'd be paying something every other day. Or even remotely close to that.
Off the top of my head: National insurance, credit card, phone, TV licence, internet, satellite TV, regular donation to the RNLI, contact lenses, gas, electricity, mortgage, critical illness insurance, water, council tax.
That's 14, so pretty close to every couple of days, and I've probably forgotten some. Then there are the annual bills like income tax that I pay by a manual BACS transfer.
I wouldn't want to have anybody pulling from my deposit accounts simply because I have to be aware of the problem before I can have it corrected. As it is, if there are erroneous transactions, it is my credit card issuer's problem until it gets sorted out.
You have to be aware to get fraud fixed on your credit card too. If you blindly pay your credit card bill without ever
You have to be aware to get fraud fixed on your credit card too. If you blindly pay your credit card bill without ever looking at the statement then someone can make fraudulent transactions and they will never get fixed (that makes it your problem, not the credit card company's). Similarly, if you check your bank statements like you'd check your credit card statements then you can get any erroneous transactions fixed.
Maybe you missed what I said about the direct debit guarantee - the bank is legally obliged
Interesting thing I'm hearing here that seems to be a big difference between bills in the US and the UK, your bills seem to come due sporadically throughout the month.
Myself and most people I know..pretty much only have bills due roughly at the first and 15th of the month. I only have to pay twice a month for things. I'm currently back on a W2 gig, so I get paid on the 7th and the 22nd of the month, so, when I get paid, I know I need to pay bills.
And most of my bills also come in the mail, so I have that
Interesting thing I'm hearing here that seems to be a big difference between bills in the US and the UK, your bills seem to come due sporadically throughout the month.
Myself and most people I know..pretty much only have bills due roughly at the first and 15th of the month. I only have to pay twice a month for things. I'm currently back on a W2 gig, so I get paid on the 7th and the 22nd of the month, so, when I get paid, I know I need to pay bills.
Some companies ask you what date you want to be billed each month, a lot don't. But even for the ones who do, you choose a date that lines up with your pay date, then change job and your pay date moves, then change some of your utilities and line them up with your new pay date, then change job, etc. Eventually the billing dates get all over the place - you could contact all the utilities and move the billing date when you change job, but.. effort.
And most of my bills also come in the mail, so I have that as a reminder
Many utilities offer a discount for using paper-free billing
I'm afraid UK banking system is now where spanish banking system was 15 years ago... US banking system is what spanish banking system was 50 years ago... I think my parents don't remember how to write a cheque... I only had to write a cheque when I spent one year on the US.
> I even saw someone writing a check in a supermarket when I was in the US recently!
Yeah, most of us do that. Some people pay cash, but when you're buying a week's worth of groceries for a whole family you don't really want to carry that much cash around. A few groceries (mainly the larger ones, particularly chains such as Meijer) have started to take credit cards, but buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt -- unless you kee
buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt
It will? I can't say I've noticed - I've always used my credit card to buy pretty much everything that's over £5 (almost every shop takes cards... and practically no shop takes cheques) and I've never landed in "heaps of debt". My credit card bill arrives at the end of the month and gets paid off by an automatic direct debit from my current account when the bill becomes due a month later.
Sure, if my bank account is empty when the direct debit goes out then my account will go overdrawn and I'll get c
"It will? I can't say I've noticed - I've always used my credit card to buy pretty much everything that's over £5 (almost every shop takes cards... and practically no shop takes cheques) and I've never landed in "heaps of debt". My credit card bill arrives at the end of the month and gets paid off by an automatic direct debit from my current account when the bill becomes due a month later.
Sure, if my bank account is empty when the direct debit goes out then my account will go overdrawn and I'll get
Most every checkbook I've ever seen or used also has a built in ledger, where you have balances against charges with you at all times. It is easy to see how much money you have left.
I've never bothered to use the ledger in my chequebook - it might make sense if the chequebook is the *only* way money leaves your account, but I'm not going to easily keep track of all the direct debits, standing orders, ATM withdrawals, debit card transactions, etc. on a little handwritten ledger. And that's before you even consider money going *in* to your account (I'm a sole trader, so I don't have a regular monthly salary going into my account on a fixed date - money appears in my account on a reasona
> I've never bothered to use the ledger in my chequebook
Yeah, I don't mess with that either. I use carbon-copy checks, which makes it unnecessary.
> it might make sense if the chequebook is the *only* way money leaves your account
How *else* would money leave a checking account? I suppose I could go to the bank and fill out a withdrawal form and get cash, but why bother, when I can just write a check?
> I'm not going to easily keep track of all the direct debits, > standing orders, ATM withdrawals
> it might make sense if the chequebook is the *only* way money leaves your account
How *else* would money leave a checking account? I suppose I could go to the bank and fill out a withdrawal form and get cash, but why bother, when I can just write a check?
> I'm not going to easily keep track of all the direct debits, > standing orders, ATM withdrawals, debit card transactions, etc.
Exactly. That's the point.
I'm sure as hell not going to write a cheque and walk to the post box every few days to pay a bill. Bills go out of my bank account automatically - saves a lot of hassle. It doesn't exactly make stuff hard to track because I can see all the transactions every time I log into my bank's website or use an ATM.
> I do use Gnucash to manage my finances
I just use a spreadsheet. It's easier.
Your finances must be *really* simplistic if a spreadsheet is easier than a financial management package. As soon as you have more than one account, a real financial management package makes things a l
> I'm sure as hell not going to write a cheque and walk to the post box every few days to pay a bill.
I generally pay all my bills for the month at the same day, and drop them in the mailbox on my way to work.
> Your finances must be *really* simplistic if a spreadsheet is easier > than a financial management package. As soon as you have more than > one account, a real financial management package makes things a lot easier.
Actually, my spreadsheet tracks money in three places: my savings account, m
I don't know if you're old enough to remember, but spreadsheets *used* to be considered one of the three basic computer applications everyone should know how to use.
Yes, I'm plenty old enough to remember this, and I do know how to use a spreadsheet just fine. However, spreadsheets have always been a tool that can be used for everything, but does nothing _well_. Financial management software has supplanted spreadsheets because it happens to do financial management much better than a spreadsheet can.
Just because something used to be considered a basic tool that everyone should know doesn't mean that it shouldn't be replaced when something better comes along. No one pr
> However, spreadsheets have always been a tool that > can be used for everything, but does nothing _well_. I think it does very well for what I use it for. Frankly, it would be extremely difficult to design another UI for finance management that simultaneously offers A) the flexibility to let me do everything I do and B) the ease of use that comes from an already-familiar standard interface. Basically all I have to do is type the numbers in in the appropriate column, and it does everything I want. W
> > buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally > > responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt > > It will? I can't say I've noticed Evidence: about twenty percent of the population of North America.
> My credit card bill arrives at the end of the month and gets > paid off by an automatic direct debit from my current account > when the bill becomes due a month later.
Ah. That would help a little. Here, if your credit card bill becomes overdue, they just s
> > buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally > > responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt > > It will? I can't say I've noticed
Evidence: about twenty percent of the population of North America.
That is no evidence at all - that is simply evidence that 20% of the population of North America are incapable of managing their finances. This has nothing to do with using a credit card not being "fiscally responsible" and everything to do with *certain individuals* not being fiscally responsible.
It's not just a matter of discipline (though that is relevant too), but also of keeping track.
There's not a lot of excuse for not being able to keep track these days - you can check a current bank statement at any time over the web.
With a checkbook, you generally have a record of what you've spent.
That only works if a cheque book is the *only* way you withdraw money from
> that is simply evidence that 20% of the population of North > America are incapable of managing their finances. This has > nothing to do with using a credit card not being "fiscally > responsible" and everything to do with *certain individuals* > not being fiscally responsible. You seem to have missed the strong correlation between using credit cards on a regular basis and being one of those "certain individuals". Fiscally responsible people (at least around here) don't use credit cards much.
You seem to have missed the strong correlation between using credit cards on a regular basis and being one of those "certain individuals".
Not at all. Certain individuals are incapable of managing their finances, so it is dangerous for them to use a credit card (or any other method of easily acquiring credit). The majority of people _are_ capable of managing their finances, and for them there is nothing "irresponsible" about using a credit card.
Since this is Slashdot, a car analogy is probably in order: some people are incapable of driving safely, and therefore letting them drive a car is dangerous. However, the majority of people are (reas
A few groceries (mainly the larger ones, particularly chains such as Meijer) have started to take credit cards
Wow. I guess that just puts a spot light on the diversity of the U.S. Here in California, I haven't seen a grocery store, restaurant, bakery, or even convenience store that didn't take credit cards in years. Heck, even the fast food places take credit cards here.
but buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt
No, there is nothing irresponsible about using a credit card for every day stuff like groceries. What is irresponsible is to use a credit card for long term debt., and to spend more money than you have. This is no different than with a paper ch
"Wow. I guess that just puts a spot light on the diversity of the U.S. Here in California, I haven't seen a grocery store, restaurant, bakery, or even convenience store that didn't take credit cards in years. Heck, even the fast food places take credit cards here."
I've seen fast food chains over recent years start taking CC's. I don't, however, eat there very often, as that there aren't that many around where I live here in New Orleans.
I'd say most of our restaurants here are local restaurants...and you
> Wow. I guess that just puts a spot light on the diversity of the U.S. Here in California
Culturally speaking, from the perspective of a midwesterner, California is basically a foreign land. Canada, for instance, is much more culturally similar to us than you folks are. Heck, even the deep south is not as culturally distant from us as California.
As for geography, California is basically the ends of the earth. It's so far, it's pretty much like going overseas, because you pretty much have to fly to get
Yes, California is a different place. Yes, most of what you see about it is movie fiction. No, we are not all blond. In fact, you have a full six weeks to get your hair bleached before the local municipalities start fining you for having dark hair.
More seriously, keeping track of your credit card balance is exactly the same act as keeping track of your checking account balance. Neither is easier nor harder than the other. Either you write down your purchases or you do not. On top of that, even in th
Air pollution is really making us pay through the nose.
Checks (Score:5, Insightful)
Or what if US just stops using inferior checks and just wires money like rest of the world? It's also possible to even push money in to credit cards directly, in addition to normal bank wires. Checks are insecure, inconvenient and pretty useless in today's electronic world. For non-electronical purposes you can just use cash.
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Good God, push your money into to credit cards directly? Are you insane? Can you imagine the fees the credit card companies can and would likely impose?
Your deposit is too small - FEE
Your deposit is too big - FEE
Your deposit is greater than your minimum payment we'll just apply your paycheck to what you owe us and here's a Fee for that service - FEE
Your deposit is not every week - FEE
We don't like who you work for, they are not in our network - FEE
Your direct deposit bounced - FEE
Ok so those are a little
Re: (Score:2)
Just saying it's possible. Wire transfer is the normal way and usually doesn't cost anything unless it's an international transfer.
Re: (Score:4, Informative)
Wire transfers cost $25 a transfer here.
$25 to transfer money to a friend?! (Score:2)
You mean if you want to give your friend $50 for something you owe him/gas money/share of the house bills etc it costs you $25 to transfer the money from your account to his? Or the same if you want to move money from one bank account to another account (held in a different bank) ?
If this is the case, wow. To be fair I don't know your banking system and maybe where I am (the UK) the bankers make their money some other way but if the above is true, that's brutal. Most people here just transfer money around t
Re:$25 to transfer money to a friend?! (Score:3, Interesting)
The US banking system is basically where we (UK) were in the 1980's. I even saw someone writing a check in a supermarket when I was in the US recently! I haven't written a cheque for many years and, in fact, APACS will be outlawing cheques here in 2012. The US banking system is much more fragmented in the USA and doesn't have the regulatory structure and capital guarantee that UK banks have to have. Some banks only span a few towns (although these are disappearing) and don't have a national presence. They still have "bank managers" too and you can go in an "speak to them" - Most UK branches haven't had this for years.
It's only since "faster payments" was introduced a 4 years ago that person to person payments using online banking etc have really taken off. I don't think any of the big UK banks charge for faster payments. Of course, you can have fun sending 0.01 to your friends with a transfer label "goats.cx" etc.
They also don't have the concept of "direct debit". something that astounds me. You either have to go to an online bill consolidator service of have to pay each bill (sending a cheque!!!!) individually!
Re: (Score:2)
They also don't have the concept of "direct debit". something that astounds me. You either have to go to an online bill consolidator service of have to pay each bill (sending a cheque!!!!) individually!
That's not entirely true. I'm not a big fan of the bill consolidation services that are usually offered for 'free' by your bank, as long as you meet the minimum criteria of $X minimum balance, direct deposit, X transfers per month, X debit purchases per month, etc.
Every service that I need to pay for, from my gas utility, electric utility, student loan, and credit card bill can be paid directly at the company's website as a direct debt. I enter my routing and checking account numbers, and the bill gets
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
They also don't have the concept of "direct debit". something that astounds me.
Every service that I need to pay for, from my gas utility, electric utility, student loan, and credit card bill can be paid directly at the company's website as a direct debt. I enter my routing and checking account numbers, and the bill gets deducted from my bank account.
I think you misunderstand what "Direct Debit" means in the UK. Direct Debit is basically a system where you authorise a company to withdraw money from your account each month. This is very similar to a standing order (where you instruct your bank "transfer X amount to another bank account on this day each week/month/year") except that for Direct Debits the amount to withdraw is determined by the recipient of the payment.
This means that my phone bill is automatically paid in full each month, even though it
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
No, many companies have that over here in the US, especially the utilities, etc. I p
Re: (Score:2)
I personally do NOT like this as that I don't like giving hardly anyone or any company direct access to my bank
As I said, whilst they have direct access to your bank account, the agreement is also backed by the guarantee that your bank will refund the money immediately if you ask them to, no questions asked. This tends to work very well for the majority of the UK's population (although there are complaints that those without bank accounts are penalised since most utilities offer a discount for paying by DD as it reduces their costs).
However, many banks here are offering free bill pay from the banks website, where if the company is hooked to the 'system' (I forget the name) when I set up a bill to pay it is often transferred from the bank to the company electronically in about 1-2 days.
You can also do this in the UK if you don't want to pay by DD - you just tell your
Re: (Score:2)
You have a lot more bills that regularly come due than I do, if you'd be paying something every other day. Or even remotely close to that.
The most bills I will receive in a given month is 6. Credit cards, mortgage, auto. And only 6 is I have transactions on every card, which is never. Utilities and whatnot get paid by credit card.
I wouldn't want to have anybody pulling from my deposit accounts simply because I have to be aware of the problem before I can have it corrected. As it is, if there are erroneous t
Re: (Score:2)
You have a lot more bills that regularly come due than I do, if you'd be paying something every other day. Or even remotely close to that.
Off the top of my head: National insurance, credit card, phone, TV licence, internet, satellite TV, regular donation to the RNLI, contact lenses, gas, electricity, mortgage, critical illness insurance, water, council tax.
That's 14, so pretty close to every couple of days, and I've probably forgotten some. Then there are the annual bills like income tax that I pay by a manual BACS transfer.
I wouldn't want to have anybody pulling from my deposit accounts simply because I have to be aware of the problem before I can have it corrected. As it is, if there are erroneous transactions, it is my credit card issuer's problem until it gets sorted out.
You have to be aware to get fraud fixed on your credit card too. If you blindly pay your credit card bill without ever
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Myself and most people I know..pretty much only have bills due roughly at the first and 15th of the month. I only have to pay twice a month for things. I'm currently back on a W2 gig, so I get paid on the 7th and the 22nd of the month, so, when I get paid, I know I need to pay bills.
And most of my bills also come in the mail, so I have that
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting thing I'm hearing here that seems to be a big difference between bills in the US and the UK, your bills seem to come due sporadically throughout the month.
Myself and most people I know..pretty much only have bills due roughly at the first and 15th of the month. I only have to pay twice a month for things. I'm currently back on a W2 gig, so I get paid on the 7th and the 22nd of the month, so, when I get paid, I know I need to pay bills.
Some companies ask you what date you want to be billed each month, a lot don't. But even for the ones who do, you choose a date that lines up with your pay date, then change job and your pay date moves, then change some of your utilities and line them up with your new pay date, then change job, etc. Eventually the billing dates get all over the place - you could contact all the utilities and move the billing date when you change job, but.. effort.
And most of my bills also come in the mail, so I have that as a reminder
Many utilities offer a discount for using paper-free billing
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah, most of us do that. Some people pay cash, but when you're buying a week's worth of groceries for a whole family you don't really want to carry that much cash around. A few groceries (mainly the larger ones, particularly chains such as Meijer) have started to take credit cards, but buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt -- unless you kee
Re: (Score:2)
buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt
It will? I can't say I've noticed - I've always used my credit card to buy pretty much everything that's over £5 (almost every shop takes cards... and practically no shop takes cheques) and I've never landed in "heaps of debt". My credit card bill arrives at the end of the month and gets paid off by an automatic direct debit from my current account when the bill becomes due a month later.
Sure, if my bank account is empty when the direct debit goes out then my account will go overdrawn and I'll get c
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Most every checkbook I've ever seen or used also has a built in ledger, where you have balances against charges with you at all times. It is easy to see how much money you have left.
I've never bothered to use the ledger in my chequebook - it might make sense if the chequebook is the *only* way money leaves your account, but I'm not going to easily keep track of all the direct debits, standing orders, ATM withdrawals, debit card transactions, etc. on a little handwritten ledger. And that's before you even consider money going *in* to your account (I'm a sole trader, so I don't have a regular monthly salary going into my account on a fixed date - money appears in my account on a reasona
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah, I don't mess with that either. I use carbon-copy checks, which makes it unnecessary.
> it might make sense if the chequebook is the *only* way money leaves your account
How *else* would money leave a checking account? I suppose I could go to the bank and fill out a withdrawal form and get cash, but why bother, when I can just write a check?
> I'm not going to easily keep track of all the direct debits,
> standing orders, ATM withdrawals
Re: (Score:2)
> it might make sense if the chequebook is the *only* way money leaves your account
How *else* would money leave a checking account? I suppose I could go to the bank and fill out a withdrawal form and get cash, but why bother, when I can just write a check?
> I'm not going to easily keep track of all the direct debits,
> standing orders, ATM withdrawals, debit card transactions, etc.
Exactly. That's the point.
I'm sure as hell not going to write a cheque and walk to the post box every few days to pay a bill. Bills go out of my bank account automatically - saves a lot of hassle. It doesn't exactly make stuff hard to track because I can see all the transactions every time I log into my bank's website or use an ATM.
> I do use Gnucash to manage my finances
I just use a spreadsheet. It's easier.
Your finances must be *really* simplistic if a spreadsheet is easier than a financial management package. As soon as you have more than one account, a real financial management package makes things a l
Re: (Score:1)
I generally pay all my bills for the month at the same day, and drop them in the mailbox on my way to work.
> Your finances must be *really* simplistic if a spreadsheet is easier
> than a financial management package. As soon as you have more than
> one account, a real financial management package makes things a lot easier.
Actually, my spreadsheet tracks money in three places: my savings account, m
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know if you're old enough to remember, but spreadsheets *used* to be considered one of the three basic computer applications everyone should know how to use.
Yes, I'm plenty old enough to remember this, and I do know how to use a spreadsheet just fine. However, spreadsheets have always been a tool that can be used for everything, but does nothing _well_. Financial management software has supplanted spreadsheets because it happens to do financial management much better than a spreadsheet can.
Just because something used to be considered a basic tool that everyone should know doesn't mean that it shouldn't be replaced when something better comes along. No one pr
Re: (Score:1)
> can be used for everything, but does nothing _well_.
I think it does very well for what I use it for. Frankly, it would be extremely difficult to design another UI for finance management that simultaneously offers A) the flexibility to let me do everything I do and B) the ease of use that comes from an already-familiar standard interface. Basically all I have to do is type the numbers in in the appropriate column, and it does everything I want. W
Re: (Score:1)
> > responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt
>
> It will? I can't say I've noticed
Evidence: about twenty percent of the population of North America.
> My credit card bill arrives at the end of the month and gets
> paid off by an automatic direct debit from my current account
> when the bill becomes due a month later.
Ah. That would help a little. Here, if your credit card bill becomes overdue, they just s
Re: (Score:2)
> > buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally
> > responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt
>
> It will? I can't say I've noticed
Evidence: about twenty percent of the population of North America.
That is no evidence at all - that is simply evidence that 20% of the population of North America are incapable of managing their finances. This has nothing to do with using a credit card not being "fiscally responsible" and everything to do with *certain individuals* not being fiscally responsible.
It's not just a matter of discipline (though that is relevant too), but also of keeping track.
There's not a lot of excuse for not being able to keep track these days - you can check a current bank statement at any time over the web.
With a checkbook, you generally have a record of what you've spent.
That only works if a cheque book is the *only* way you withdraw money from
Re: (Score:1)
> America are incapable of managing their finances. This has
> nothing to do with using a credit card not being "fiscally
> responsible" and everything to do with *certain individuals*
> not being fiscally responsible.
You seem to have missed the strong correlation between using credit cards on a regular basis and being one of those "certain individuals". Fiscally responsible people (at least around here) don't use credit cards much.
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You seem to have missed the strong correlation between using credit cards on a regular basis and being one of those "certain individuals".
Not at all. Certain individuals are incapable of managing their finances, so it is dangerous for them to use a credit card (or any other method of easily acquiring credit). The majority of people _are_ capable of managing their finances, and for them there is nothing "irresponsible" about using a credit card.
Since this is Slashdot, a car analogy is probably in order: some people are incapable of driving safely, and therefore letting them drive a car is dangerous. However, the majority of people are (reas
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A few groceries (mainly the larger ones, particularly chains such as Meijer) have started to take credit cards
Wow. I guess that just puts a spot light on the diversity of the U.S. Here in California, I haven't seen a grocery store, restaurant, bakery, or even convenience store that didn't take credit cards in years. Heck, even the fast food places take credit cards here.
but buying everyday stuff like groceries on credit is not fiscally responsible and will quickly land you hip-deep in debt
No, there is nothing irresponsible about using a credit card for every day stuff like groceries. What is irresponsible is to use a credit card for long term debt., and to spend more money than you have. This is no different than with a paper ch
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I've seen fast food chains over recent years start taking CC's. I don't, however, eat there very often, as that there aren't that many around where I live here in New Orleans.
I'd say most of our restaurants here are local restaurants...and you
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Culturally speaking, from the perspective of a midwesterner, California is basically a foreign land. Canada, for instance, is much more culturally similar to us than you folks are. Heck, even the deep south is not as culturally distant from us as California.
As for geography, California is basically the ends of the earth. It's so far, it's pretty much like going overseas, because you pretty much have to fly to get
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More seriously, keeping track of your credit card balance is exactly the same act as keeping track of your checking account balance. Neither is easier nor harder than the other. Either you write down your purchases or you do not. On top of that, even in th