Woo Woo! I just cut up my credit cards!

[kohodog]

Fuck these bastards. I'll pay em off as fast as I can (hopefully before I die), but will go without before feeding this beast any longer.

No limit on interest or late fees? People, it's time to tighten our belts and go cold turkey on consumption.

[Walt Starr]

1. Cut them onto eighteen pieces each

and send one piece of each to each of the Democratic Turncoat Senators who decided to screw the middle class.

[wicket]

2. I like this idea!

:thumbsup:

[kohodog]

7. They're in tiny bits.

Plenty to save for more turncoats in the House. But that's a great idea. Will anyone join me?

Remember "rice for peace?" (In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a 'Feed Thine Enemy' campaign. Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the White House with a tag quoting the Bible, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him."

As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an abject failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags publicly; certainly, no rice was ever sent to China.)

So we'll feed congress bits of credit cards!

What do you think?

[flygal]

47. Excellent!

[sarcasmo]

51. The wife & got a loan from the Credit Union to cut up the credit cards

WE took out a four year loan and paid off all the credit cards. She almost got suckered into getting a credit card to save 15percent off her purchase. I am trying to break her of the trap they use. Like at Target when you go through the checkout they ask you if you would like to save ten percent if you fill out a credit card. Get in the habit of saying no and paying cash for everything. It will make your money go further in the long run.

[Up2Late]

3. But you know what's going to happen now?

You just increased the number of "Pre-approved" Credit cards offers you'll get by about 500% :evilgrin:

The Credit card companies call folks like you "Dead Beats," no joke, I saw that on "Frontline."

Congratulations!:thumbsup:

[yankeedem]

5. Here's how you handle that

Take the pre-paid envelope they include and mail it back to them, with the complete text of S.256 (the Middle-Class Destruction act) included in 30 point type.

[Walt Starr]

8. I LOVE that idea

and will do it! I get at least three new credit offers in the mail each day.

[kohodog]

14. I Called the Post office today to see if "return to sender" would work

They (the banks) only pay to return it if it's mailed to you first class. If it comes to you via standard mail you will need to use the return envelope. Make sure you put over 1 oz in the envelope because they will pay a surcharge. I would suggest just stuffing it with other junk mail so you don't waste your own paper and toner.

Can we start a movement? I know some people may not be able to ditch their credit cards, but anyone can return the offers.

[DebJ]

10. oh that is just wonderful! Let's all send it to MBNA!!! Now! Offer or

not!

[Andy_Stephenson]

15. What I do...is to stuff

all the junkmail I get each day into their "pre-approved" self addressed stamped envelope and send it on it's way back to them.

[Up2Late]

21. I have got to start doing that!

But, I do love putting them through my confetti cut shredder.

[kliljedahl]

23. Better yet

Since they give you "postage free" envelopes just take all the offers you get, shuffle them up, & send them back. Just make sure they don't go back to the companys they came from. After about 6 months you won't get any.

[smiley]

28. every week I send back at least a half dozen pre approved

credit cards. They have to pay to postage.... and well it just makes me feel darn good! I have friends who do this too.

THE MOVEMENT HAS STARTED!!!

[demigoddess]

60. i do this with all the junk mail i can

especially businesses I have no interest in at all.

[Suziq]

44. Great Idea!

I posted yesterday that we should all cancel our credit cards. It is the only way to get back at the fat ass pigs who run the credit card companies and stockholders have such a hard time existing on million dollar bonuses. :grr:

I am going to cancel mine today!

I am sick about this assault on the working class. :cry:

[WolverineDG]

46. why kill your printer or your copier

when it's so much more fun to send 'em a brick instead? ;)

dg

[freestyle]

49. It takes a little work, but you can almost eliminate the offers

and your other junk mail too. Follow this link and proceed from there. http://www.newdream.org/junkmail/form.php The organization is the Center for a New American Dream, which has all sorts of cool programs. The junk mail and credit card offer elimination letters really work.

[tubbacheez]

4. Yay! Good on ya :)

Don't let the corporations tell you what you need to buy.




I emptied most of my living room last year, and life has been wonderful. No cable TV. No premium movie channels. No big screen TV. No home theater. No sound system.

Just a 32" tube TV with off-air antenna for local news. And a DVD player with a small collection of DVD classics that my family loves to watch over and over.

And I've lost weight doing yoga in the space I freed up.

[Anakin Skywalker]

6. All Right! One More for the Good Guys.

[Pepperbelly]

9. I don't want one ...

They call and call and call ... but no. It is a trap and what they really want is to FUCK you.

[tubbacheez]

12. Money is power.

If ever there was a clear illustration of this fact, the credit card situation has got to be it.

When you're out of debt, they wanna be your best friend.

When you're in debt, they're your worst enemy.







Keep your power. Keep your money.

[DebJ]

11. We aren't on the Do Not Call list...so we can now answer them

by saying "Not with S256 being passed."

[Up2Late]

18. Maybe we should get a custom "Self inking" Stamper made...

...That says something like REPEAL S256/VOTE DEMOCRAT!

or
REPEAL S256/SUPPORT
DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND.COM

and stamp it on the outside of the Business Reply Envelope?:bounce:

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

38. Good idea!

I'm really tempted to get one made now.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

13. Too bad there isn't a movement to turn this into a national day

A national day to cut up your credit card and stop charging on credit, kind of like what people used to do en masse with draft cards. In fact, I've thought of trying to get a bunch of credit cards (those without an annual fee) just so I can tear them up and let the credit card company spend postage on monthly statements.

[kohodog]

16. We don't dare burn them.

The poisons that would be entered into the atmosphere will only contribute to climate change. Cut 'em up and send them to congress.

[notadmblnd]

45. The do go through the shredder nicely

and this makes for nice uniform strips. I got rid of all my credit cards before my husband died. We took insurance out on the so they would be paid for (I wish we had done this for our mortgage). All I have to worry about is our house and utilities. We're going to grow a lot of our own produce this year but we already raise our own beef,chicken and we hunt.

I've been trying to talk my parents into selling their home, adding onto mine and having us all together to make things easier. They're Repubs and I guess they'll have to struggle some more before they realize my advice to them is good and right.

[n2mark]

17. I intend to send every piece of garbage they send me

back to them.

[HockeyMom]

31. Apparently worked

with the Seniors cutting up their AARP cards.

[Infomaniac]

58. I like this idea.

I like this idea. I'm moving all of my recurring expenses (i.e. storage unit, E-Z pass) to come out of my checking account. I think there's a chance for some unintended consequences to come out of this new law. People will stop feeding the credit card companies.

[Red State Rebel]

19. Congrats!! Excellent decision!!!

[wadestock]

20. Another loan lost to DEATH TECH....

err...I mean DI Tech?

[Wheaty]

22. Yay !!!!! Good for You!

I paid off my last Credit Card Jan 31st 2004. I only have a student loan left to go that I'm making double payments on, then I'll be totally debt free.

I felt so relieved when I mailed that final check to the Credit Card Company. Now I'm a deadbeat in their eyes (one who doesn't carry a balance).

Here's to you getting to the final payment soon! :toast:

Edit: Typo

[The Gunslinger]

24. I predict a "nostorm"

I have a lot to pay off, but my cards are destroyed. I will no longer fuel that machine, and I will give my support to any serious political party that will stand up to the Repuglocrats in the white house.

[newyawker99]

59. Hi The Gunslinger!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[samplegirl]

25. Good for you

Get yourself a bank debit card. No interest fee.

[knight_of_the_star]

26. Or a bank check card

Those draw out of your checking account but can be used like a credit card, sans interest and payments and that you can only spend what you have.

[demigoddess]

62. credit unions offer credit cards now but most of them go through

regular credit card companies. What we do is use ours like a debit card and pay it off at the end of the month. Over 20 some years and we paid no interest. You can use a credit card and not feed the beast. We have a good credit rating but the credit card companies are not interested in us.

[tgnyc]

27. Send some of your "no thanks" replies to future credit card solicitations

to sell-out members of Congress, too. Perhaps we'll make our point clearest by flooding Biden's office with our credit card solicitations.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. There should be some organized anti-credit card movement.

It's nothing but legalized loan-sharking. The only difference between Visa and La Cosa Nostra is that if you don't pay your Visa bill Guido and Vinnie don't come and break your kneecaps. You just end up destitute, working as a slave for MBNA for the rest of your life.

We need to organize to encourage people, if at all possible, to stop using their credit cards and not get new ones, and bring these vampires to their knees.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

32. And there's even more going on than we realize

This is only a small portion of a great post entitled "New Trap Door For Consumers" appearing in DU's forum on the Economy, Budget, Taxes, and Jobs. Apparently, companies like MBNA are leading the charge to implement new agreements appearing in the fine print of monthly credit card statements, to which the debtor automatically adheres if they pay their monthly bill, whether they read the fine print or not. They are forcing debtors to agree to lose their right to challenge debt collectors' claims against them in the courts and are forced into mandatory arbitration, with no right to appeal into the civil courts, and in front of arbitrators who are on panels and who are usually in the hip pocket of the credit card companies (they drop off the panel if they don't play ball). It's friggin' nuts!

"...Now, at least two giant credit-card issuers and one of the nation's largest firms arbitrating their consumer disputes have combined these practices in a disturbing new way: They're using binding, mandatory arbitration primarily as an offensive weapon, by fast-tracking disputes over credit-card debt into rapid arbitration. A number of consumers charge that the banks often do this with little notice, after long periods of dormancy for the alleged debt or over consumers' specific objections -- then force those who don't respond swiftly or adequately into default. The arbitrator often forces the consumer to also pay for the hefty arbitration costs and the card issuer's attorney, making the total tab for consumers several times the original amount owed and many times what it would have been in more traditional debt settlements. So it's a neat pathway to turbo-charged profits for both the card issuer and the arbitrator..."

"...The practice, based on industry data disclosed in several lawsuits, appears to affect tens of thousands of consumers. What's worse, it doesn't seem to matter that it is widely forcing victims of credit-card fraud to pay debts they clearly don't owe, or that the boilerplate language of mandatory arbitration clauses deprives those same victims of one of their most basic legal rights. That's because arbitration by definition says a consumer can't go to court to have his or her story heard, even if the alleged "debt" is a result of someone else's criminal fraud and in no way a result of the dunned consumer's actions!..."

"...Who's behind this new anti-consumer onslaught? One consumer lawyer who's been tracking the trend, Paul Bland of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, says that "certain corporate lenders, most prominently MBNA and First USA Bank, are using arbitration with the National Arbitration Forum as a way of pursuing large numbers of claims against consumers." Bland says that NAF's operation "is geared toward rapidly churning consumers through an industry- friendly process," where "arbitration awards are regularly entered by NAF against consumers who probably did not even understand that they were defendants in a legal proceeding demanding money from them. And NAF's process often greatly increases the amounts consumers are deemed to owe." ..."

[Viva_La_Revolution]

48. Can't find it!

"New Trap Door For Consumers"

no luck with the search function, got a link?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

61. Here, please

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x14447

[Viva_La_Revolution]

67. Thnx!

[jdj]

37. Suze Orman is running a one-woman anti-credit card movement.

She's amazing. I have learned so much from her that I wish I had been taught in high school instead of bullshit like geometry. It's pretty obvious to me now at 36 that accounting, taxation, and law should be required and specialized math and civics (otherwise known as war from then to now) should be electives only if one is interested. I truly believe public ed. wants to fill most of us up with propaganda and revisionist history, and keep us totally stupid about what we need to know in life to keep from getting fucked over.

[kohodog]

66. How can we best get the word out?

I'm pissed at MoveOn for their recent Iraq war stance, but could see an ad helping people get off this habit. These companies suck people in and ensnare them. Then they feed them more cards to buy necessities (food, Rx, etc), and take whatever cash they have to pay monthly bills on a schedule that will neverallow them to pay them off.

If we had a Government that looked after the best interests of it's people, the CEO's of these companies would be in jail for usury instead of this ridiculous bankruptcy bill.

SHAME ON THEM. A Pox on all their house!

[UdoKier]

30. I did it a few days ago, too.

More a personal finance decision than having to do with the bankruptcy law, but it'a a wise move either way.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

33. I'm going to cut mine up as soon as we declare Chap 7 bankruptcy....

...so long, good bye, good riddance!! We'll take the hit from a credit perspective for the next several years, but that's far better than scrambling every single month to find the money to pay off these glorified loan-sharks.

We've struggled since Dec 2000 to pay the bills despite my business going down the tubes. And now we've decided enough is enough! Those credit card bloodsuckers won't get another cent.

[doc03]

34. Here's how I get even with them

I have a sporting goods store card where I get 5% back on anything I buy at the store and 1% back for all other purchases. I charge all my gasoline on it and I pay it off every month. I got it last
Summer and so far I have received $50 in certificates which I used to by fishing equipment. A friend of mine built a new house himself and purchased all his building materials with the card and got several hundred dollars in rebates.

[renoray]

57. I'm a deadbeat

I don't use any credit cards that don't give me some sort of cash back, and I pay it off every month. I think the actual credit card company still winds up getting more out of the store that I buy from than I do from the rewards, but I'm not a very profitable customer.

[babylonsister]

35. We (I) did this 5-6 years ago when I

found out we were $20,000 in debt. All I heard was 'we bought tires.'
I fixed it by flitting back and forth to any company that would give me 0% tax to pay more off. I just kept doing it, and it was done.

[jdj]

36. the sad truth for me is that if I didn't have these card payments

I could afford to buy my own health insurance. And that is my own fault. Mainly my cards have been used for emergencies for my animals. But I need to save better. Thank god I got turned onto Suze Orman about a year ago, and she is the Lou Dobbs of credit cards, she's on a one woman crusade to get people out of credit card debt. I have never appreciated her more than I do now, and I know that she is probably upset about this bill.

I'm from poor roots, as is at least 80% of this country, and we know how to survive.

[SnowBack]

39. Cut mine up last year....

I have one left with a balance, and am paying it off and paying cash for everything... Amazing how much less you spend when it isn't on plastic...

Screw them.... And paying off the mortgage early too... The bank's going to lose over $120,000 in interest from us paying in 7 years instead of 30!

I'd rather make ME rich than some uber-conglomerate... :party:

[Maraya1969]

40. OK don't understand

Your credit cards have an interest fee and some bill passed that took off the cap for interest fees and other charges BUT you still owe money on them? So you are going to pay as much as you can to get them down to zero? As long as you are going to pay as much as you can I understand this.

Am I right?

I have about $7,000 owed in zero interest accounts and I pay a lot on them every month. When the interest is about to go up I switch to another zero interest card.

But you make sense by paying them off. I think I'll send more money to them. I can't stand being in debt like this.

The idea is we have got to stop spending money right?

Sorry for being dumb about this one.

[kohodog]

41. My primary aim is to stop feeding the beast.

The bankruptcy bill was written by and for the banks. The only recourse I feel that I have is to stop adding to their profits by not using them.

It's not about not spending money as I see consumption as a separate issue, and American's in general have a huge environmental "footprint." By reducing consumption we can help the long term viability of the environment. But I didn't mean to merge these two issues in my original post.

Recently I received a 0% interest offer and was tempted to take them up on it. Then I read the fine print. Not only could I never be late with a payment with them, but if I was late with ANY other payment (which could mean a utility bill or basically anything that showed up on my credit report), they could jump the interest rate to whatever they felt like.

So rather than continue to help these companies profit on my back, I will pay them off and be done with them.

[GiovanniC]

54. Link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3256224

[lonestarnot]

42. BEEN COLD TURKEY SINCE 11/2/04 THE CHEAT DAY!

Use my money to make signs and gas to hang em! What a life!

[trogdor]

63. Actually, The Cheat's Cheatday is 4/18.

The date on his fake ID.

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail107.html

[qanda]

43. This bill goes into effect 180 days after it's signed, right?

Perhaps we could start a movement to make that day, "Cut up Your Credit Cards Day". I think it could really resonate with a lot of people.

[AnnInLa]

50. I just sent your "Cut Up Your Credit Cards Day" idea

to about 10 different liberal bloggers....everyone else please do the same to the blogs you read everyday. What if liberal AND conservative bloggers joined in an effort to have a Cut Up Your Credit Cards Day? Can you imagine the buzz? MSM would pick it up, because the united effort would be unusual...and the credit card companies would get very nervous over the publicity. Your idea is fabulous! The first step would be to encourage bloggers to take this on....can we do it?

[qanda]

52. Thanks

I think it's something we could do to fight back and bring attention to how the corporations are controlling our government and ruining our lives.

[AnnInLa]

56. Can you please start a new thread and see if it gets any traction?

[humanriteswritlarge]

53. This is Citibank's new wrinkle

We are going to Europe in the spring. I have never thought carrying large amounts of cash is a good idea plus we have the money to pay off the trip once we get the credit card bill. However, Citibank sent a "Notice of Change in Terms, Right to Opt Out, and Information Update". I almost threw it away before I read it. It says: "For each purchase made in a foreign currency, we add an additional FINANCE CHARGE of 3.0% of the amount of the purchase after its conversion into U.S. dollars. The foreign currency transaction fee may cause the annual percentage rate on the billing statement on which the purchases made in a foreign currency first appears to exceed the nominal annual percentage rate."

Then there is a section on "Right to Opt Out". "To opt out of these charges, you must write us by April 30, 2005, indicating that you are opting out. If you opt out of the changes you may use your card under the current terms until the end of your current membership year of the expiration date on your card, whichever is later. At that time, your account will be closed and you must repay the balance under the current terms."

I wrote the letter. But I bet there are a lot of people who never paid any attention to it who use CitiBank when they travel internationally. It is a very bad time, economically, to travel since the dollar v. the Euro will buy about 75 cents. But imagine 3% on top of that?

[AnnInLa]

55. Traveling is the major reason I will keep one

credit card. I use a card when booking flights and hotels on the internet, or ordering Christmas presents online. But, I had a total of 3, including MBNA. I phoned MNBA yesterday and cancelled that card, and enjoyed telling them why. The customer service rep sounded weary and resigned....I must not have been the first to call and cancel.

BTW, I got the same notice with my last Visa card statement...they just screw us any way they can.

[trogdor]

64. I don't use citibank.

They're the worst predatory lender out there.

[palme]

65. Good on you. They are pirates.. You are like Jefferson!!

Seriously.. Good on you...

Hej,

Palme.