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Re:Great work Visa, now I hate you by bdunbar on Monday August 06, 2012 @11:12PM (#4348507)
'In Free Market America, banks own YOU!' would be more appropriate.

But wrong. Or at least 'they own the unwary and dumb'.

I bank with a credit union, got rid of my credit cards in favor of debit, and working real hard to pay down my debt. Already I've bought two vehicles for cash.

Now, granted, they were not _great_ vehicles, but they run and they're paid for. Looking forward to paying _cash_ for a really _nice_ (but used) car in a decade.

Re:Great work Visa, now I hate you by FreakLegion on Tuesday August 07, 2012 @12:50AM (#4348775)
Why get rid of your credit cards? As long as you pay the balances in full every month, a modest selection of credit cards can easily lower your expenses by 3%, if not more. You can also accumulate a fair bit of free spending by trading out old cards for new ones with signing bonuses. Think of it like a free, untaxed $3-4,000 bump in salary.
Re:Great work Visa, now I hate you by bdunbar on Friday August 10, 2012 @12:17PM (#4366814)
Why get rid of your credit cards? As long as you pay the balances in full every month, a modest selection of credit cards can easily lower your expenses by 3%, if not more.

Why did I?

Because it was too easy to use credit, not pay the balance in full. The debt built up. Things got out of hand.

And because I really did not like dealing with the credit card folk, even when I was in their good graces. Too much complexity.

Re:Great work Visa, now I hate you by lsc on Tuesday August 07, 2012 @02:14AM (#4348948)
untaxed? really? I thought you were supposed to report and pay taxes on all income.
Re:Great work Visa, now I hate you by roel_v on Tuesday August 07, 2012 @04:22AM (#4349215)
Discounts are not income.
Re:Great work Visa, now I hate you by lsc on Tuesday August 07, 2012 @11:06AM (#4350400)
hm. Interesting argument against the 'cash back' cards.

The context I've heard of people getting in trouble with this is when they used the card for business purchases and then used the discounts for personal purchases.