Why you should max your VISA

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

The vast majority of Y2Kers argue that you should get out of debt before going into y2k. That means one less thing you would have to worry about. I disagree COMPLETELY!! Here's why:

1) If it is so bad that you have to worry about creditors, then EVERYONE will have to worry about creditors. Are they going to reposses the houses of millions of Americans? I don't think so

2) If it is a medium to worste-case scenario, then the people who would be bugging you to pay your bill, will be scavaging for food (well, maybe not in a medium-case) and you certainly will not have to pay your bills...ever

3) Given the above, keep in mind that this is the ONLY TIME IN HISTORY that you will be given this opportunity.

Yes it would be a gamble, but it is a gamble where the odds are in your favor, and if you lose, you only have to pay back what you borrowed. If I said to you,

"I'll make you a bet...I'll lend you $5,000 dollars, and if I win you have to pay me back, but if you win, you don't."

Given the fact that TEOTWAWKI is a very real, and possibly LIKELY scenario (remember mr.CEO!), don't pass this bet up!

-- Visa President (CEO@visa.comd), December 05, 1999

Answers

Get back under the bridge!

-- (TrollPatrol@don't.com), December 05, 1999.

Really, and what about those poeple who were taught that a man (or womans) word is their bond. A debt encurred is to be honorably discharged. No matter what the circumstances! Shame on you!

-- Mary Kay (celticuty@aol.com), December 05, 1999.

The sensible thing to do is to get the maximum cash advance you can on all your credit cards on Monday, December 27th. Stash the cash--don't spend it--and wait to see what happens. If Y2K is really just a bump in the road by the third week in January and you feel confident that there won't be any major Y2K problems, simply deposit the cash in your bank account and write checks to pay the full amount back to the credit cards. All it will cost you is one month's interest and the cash advance fee.

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), December 05, 1999.

Hey guys, you don't get Visa President's drift. Any money you owe to creditors who have gone out of business because of Y2K, cannot be repaid, even if you wanted to!

If a business has gone belly up, who are you going to pay? You tell me!

I just bought $1600 worth of carpeting. Had planned to pay cash. But the salesman said we have a special deal this week. Six months no payments and no interest. So I said OK and chuckled to myself.

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), December 05, 1999.


I guess you dont realize that the House of Rep has passed a new bancrupcy(sp) law and the senate is about to approve thier own version. The law was written by lawyers for credit card companies and others and you will have a much harder time getting out from under your debts that way.

Debt is the last thing you want. America is already doing what you say anyway, without y2k as a buying excuse. It is folly. In a severe recession debt will limit you. Get out of debt if you can. Sell out at the high end of the market, which is now. The houseing market, car market, all of it.

-- me (me@here.com), December 05, 1999.



This one isn't even an issue for me. I've had my credit cards maxed out for months now. Too many things to buy and not much time to buy them. Gata do what ya gata do. It's only money afterall.

-- Julie (DesertJewel@Hotmail.com), December 05, 1999.

cody,

I agree with everything you said except the part about depositing the cash back into the bank. Use another credit card to pay off the cash advance. Then, when the second cash advance becomes due, go back to the first credit card, and use that to pay it off. They usually don't charge interest if you pay by the due date within 30 days. We need to show the bankers how much we like using electronic money by holding onto the cash as much as possible, and continously using cards to pay our debts. They will love it! :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 05, 1999.


I understand the 'moral obligation' of repaying a debt...but realistically, VISA is run by greedy gazillionaires who probably have 1000 years dehydrated food each. I wouldn't lose any sleep if I didn't have to repay them (even if I am the president :))

-- Visa President (CEO@visa.comd), December 05, 1999.

If a recession hits, as it may well, money owed on credit cards will have to be paid back with more expensive dollars because the dollar is actually worth more.

Then there is this honor thing...

-- Nancy (wellsnl@hotmail.com), December 05, 1999.


Nancy, If a recession is all y2k brings and I lose my job, but Visa is still functioning...then I am screwed. But that is a risk I'm willing (gulp) to take.

-- VISA president (CEO@visa.comd), December 05, 1999.


In our lives, we have many choices.

We can choose the right, or the wrong thing.

If you choose the wrong thing, though no one sees, God still sees, and YOU see.

Choose ye this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

The Lord also saith: Thou shalt not steal.

Shame shame shame.

-- (formerly known as nobody@nowhere.xxx), December 06, 1999.


Visa dude, sorry but bankruptsy court will let you defunct company sell your account to my lousy son-of-a-bitch mafia company, who WILL break your legs if you do not pay.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 06, 1999.

pretty good discussion before the god BS showed up.

-- blahblahblah (blahblah@blah.blah), December 06, 1999.

blahblah-

I thought it was a pretty good discussion until you showed up.

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 06, 1999.


My fear is that I will be left with a mortgage and no job. I have a drawer full of visa cash-advance checks to use in that scenario. But get this - no matter if no one forecloses and the mortgage companies all belly-up, years from now someone could still come to your door waving a deed and an IOU, and tell you to pay up plus interest or move out. Don't count on it just fading into the ether forever.

-- Chicken Ma (gotta@getgoin.com), December 06, 1999.


blahblahblah- Y2K preparedness abrieviated checklist:

#1) Get yourself spiritually prepared #2) Water, Food, Heat, Light & the rest.

on de rock

-- Walter (on de rock@northrock.bm), December 06, 1999.


Chicken Ma said was I was gonna.

If you don't trust the people/government/businesses around you, are you sure you want to go into unnecessary debt? I don't. Would just as soon be clear & free, if possible. And yeah, even if you don't believe in God: What about your personal karma? It's real, even if you're not "religious." You lose something by being a dishonest person, even if you're the only living person who knows about it.

-- nose (still@relatively.clean), December 06, 1999.


Diane S!

I thought your policy was NO ADVERTISING ?

Where's the fine print? Grace period? Bloodsucking interest rate?

-- maid upname (noid@ihope.com), December 06, 1999.


I've been agonizing for months about the charge card issue. My husband and I just paid off our cards and don't fancy getting back into debt. But certain items that are necessary for my survival have to be charged. My water tanks, food, gun, ammo, etc., etc. We just don't have enough cash to do it. Many, many people in this country are sitting on huge piles of debt - that's what the credit card companies want. If all we have is a serious recession, I most definetely will have a hard time paying off my card. But I will have everything I need to survive if the SHTF. Its a gamble, but one I have to take to protect my family. I am not putting anything on my card except for y2k stuff. No one can take your house for non-payment of credit card debt - the worst that can happen is a bad credit report and bankruptcy. Better than dying of starvation or thirst.

-- Deborah (idoyoga@earthlink.net), December 06, 1999.

Deborah,

FWIW, I support your decision 100%. If I had to choose between having debt or not having enough for my family, I'd risk the debt, too. If nothing else, I'd have the groceries for a couple of months on hand, so no grocery bill for a while.

Good luck, Deborah, and don't give this particular decision another thought. You're doing the right thing.

-- Arewyn (isitth@latealready.com), December 06, 1999.


Have any of you considered that *if* electronic transfer systems, telephony here and abroad and other infrastructure problems exist it may take YEARS if ever to unravel the debt mess?

Banks and creditors due business on an international level. If things go bad, data can't transfer, there is corruption of data, etc., then things are going to be very difficult to work through. What about the plans for entities to cut themselves off of networks to avoid corrupting their own data? How can business be done today if this occurs?

Even if you want to you may not be able to pay back your debt before a lender closes due to litigation, business operations problems, etc.

Then, there is the whole situation of just how many times ONE dollar has been borrowed by various entities.

Years. Years. Years. It will take years, if ever, *if* things go badly. If they do go THAT badly then we should consider the problems associated with a world under these conditions. Debt wont be the number one priority. Survival will. War may be.

Let's hope we can all continue to pay our debts as best as we can but we should be realistic and consider that this is a house of cards and eventually it's going to fall. With Y2k on the horizon my bet is on sooner.

Mike

======================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), December 06, 1999.


I have been maxing out my Visa as I don't see much of a future for electronic OR paper currency which should follow it down. Now is a great time to buy gold as the Brits are selling off their stash. It's so cheap that even mining companies are buying. It is below their cost of production.

-- Slobby Don (slobbydon@hotmail.com), December 06, 1999.

One thing to think about before doing this: you are under contract to repay including accumulated interest. What if the electronic/paper check system doesn't function very well for years and you can't get your payments through? Well, it is YOUR problem and responsibility, not theirs. They would own you lock, stock and barrel based on accumulated interst you had not paid. And 'Yes, Virginia' they will sell your account debt to someone who will bancrupt you totally to get all that you own into their pocket.

Mafia? No but current loan shark businesses (home equity offers you get in the mail) don't operate much differently. They use the legal system to strip you bare. Once you are litigated against you are hamburger even if you don't pay (legal fees).

So think twice and thrice before you do this, even if your plan is to hold the cash and not spend it. You may have a really hard time paying it back.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), December 06, 1999.


Hawk,

Interest on cash advances, either usually or always, starts immediately. Also, either usually or always, cash advances have an additional one time transaction fee.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), December 06, 1999.


Formerly,

You said: "The Lord also saith: Thou shalt not steal."

Didn't the Lord also tell the Israelites to borrow gold, silver, and jewelry from the Egyptians just before He delivered them from bondage? And, the Bible also teaches that "the borrower is the lender's slave". So, if Y2K is going to crash the financial system and deliver us from our usurous masters, would we be following biblical principals if we spoiled them before leaving their opressive system?

Just a thought....

-- Mr. Bible (TakingIt@OutOf.Context), December 06, 1999.


Hold on here! It's GREED that is at the root of this nation's problems. I've prepped as best I can, and I'll trust God for the rest. Greed just makes you like the bastards who have corrupted this country! Have a little faith. Lack of moral character has spread far beyond the Whitehouse, it seems. If the mentality of some on this thread is an indication of where the "herd" is at, then maybe we deserve what we'll get. Get ready for Judgement, folks. This is sad. Very very sad.

-- RPGman (tripix@olypen.com), December 06, 1999.

"What if the electronic/paper check system doesn't function very well for years and you can't get your payments through? Well, it is YOUR problem and responsibility, not theirs." That's relevant only if you default on your loan while others are paying theirs back. That flow of money keeps the company afloat while they target you for vengence. However, if EVERYONE defaults at the same time, the bank/loan company is just out of business.

-- or maybe not (what@doI.know), December 06, 1999.

Credit card debt is bundled up and sold to pension funds, life insurance companies and other smart investors (maybe widows and orphans). Do wish to damage these people further.

-- earl (ejrobill@pcpostal.com), December 06, 1999.

Romans 13:8

'Owe no man anything but to love him.'

That's if you value honor. And only you and God will know.

-- Connie Iversen (hive@gte.net), December 06, 1999.


This is a difficult question that has come up before. The best answer that I've ever heard on stuff like this is:

"Don't put yourself in the position where the world as we know it HAS to end for you to come out ahead."

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), December 06, 1999.

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