This financial tip is an answer to a letter I recently received from Debbie. She asks: “We’ve been battling credit cards for most of our married life. We’re finally getting on top of the situation. We’ve paid off almost all of our cards with one left to go. It feels good! It makes me extremely angry to get two and three new offers of credit cards almost every day. I take great joy in tearing all of them up and throwing them away. The minimum payments have gone up. Interest rates are astronomical! Is there anyone who goes to bat for the consumer on credit cards or are the big banks just leading us to the slaughter? It appears that the banks can do about anything they want. Thanks!” First of all, congratulations on your efforts to get out of debt. As I’ve mentioned in the past, this has to be a major priority for all Christians. We are to be slaves to Christ, not to lenders. Unfortunately, the banks have a lot of power to influence Congress, so they are able to do just about anything they want. Which means anyone who has credit card debt knows what Scripture is talking about when it says, “the borrower is servant to the lender.” You’re doing the very best thing you can do to control the banks – pay off the cards. And then stay out of debt. If you can’t control your spending with credit cards, cut them up and stay away. Credit cards are a great tool if you know how to control them. Unfortunately, most people don’t. Researchers say that the average person spends about 30% more when they use a credit card compared to using cash only. That’s why radio talk-show host Dave Ramsey tells all his listeners to cut up their cards. I think that’s the best course of action for most people. Remember, the banks make money with credit cards three ways: interest charges, late payment and other user fees, and through merchant fees (fees charged to the companies that accept credit cards). The latter will often result in higher prices you pay for the things you buy. The first two, you have more control over. If you decide to use credit cards, you must pay them off every month and use them only for items you would buy with cash. That means you have to stay within your budget. If you can do that, then credit cards are a good tool to use. But if you can’t, then cut them up. As for the credit card offers you receive in the mail, there’s an easy way to stop those. read this next words
Tired of All Those Credit Card Solicitations in the Mail? Here’s How to Opt Out
We saw a couple of weeks ago that debt is a real success killer. But credit card companies stay in business on all the debt we rack up. So they try to make as many offers as they can, sweetening the deal all the time. If your mailbox is like mine, it’s stuffed full of credit card offers. Well, I finally got tired of it and did something to stop it. And you can, too.
All you have to do is call this telephone number: 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. The three major U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) set up the number to give consumers one place to call to have their information removed from the marketing lists and pre-approved credit offer lists. These lists are rented to third parties daily. When you enter your information, the credit bureaus will no longer include your name on the lists they rent to third parties. This will greatly decrease the number of credit card solicitations you receive in the mail for five years.
A couple of things to remember: When you call, you’ll have to input your social security information. That’s OK. The companies have set up a secure phone line to protect your information. Also, once you’ve made the call, it may take a few weeks for the volume to slow down. It’s likely the credit bureaus have already rented your information to credit companies, but the offers haven’t mailed yet. And it takes five days for them to take your name off their lists, during which time your name likely will be rented again. So be patient.
Notice I didn’t say that this will stop all of the credit card solicitations. That’s because it doesn’t stop your mortgage company, bank, brokerage company, credit union or anyone else you do business with from renting out your name. You have to contact each of these individually and ask them to remove your name from their rental lists.
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