Spending going out of control?

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachkitten That is exactly what they did at my college. They were on our mall (main part of campus) and offered free gifts if you signed up. A lot of people would get those cards as they had the school mascot on it and then they would give you a HUGE credit limit and continually raise it. It is actually pretty scary now that I look back on it.

Wow, I guess that it really does happen in real life then...

This has probably has to be part of the strain on economy. People borrowing money that they literally can't pay back. I can't totally blame those people cause in a way they were being "set up" by the companies with all the temptations and high limits.

 

[LMD84]

oh yeah my credit card company put up my limit every so often and every time i log into my ieternet banking and lower the limit agian. what's annoying is that they never seem to get the messgae i don't want the money! i don't want the temptation of having a big limit again! they never tell you they're doing it either... they just put it up like it's a nice little surprise for you

 

[User49]

I used to be a complete shopaholic. I'm a lot better now. It catches up with you. And eventually you will regret it all because you will get a paycheck and realize that over 80% of it goes towards paying of debt that you can't control and that just keeps growing if you only pay off the minimum payments.

I know the thrill of shopping. I used to spend every lunch break out in shops. Every day off I would be out in shops and I'd be making new shopping lists everyday. The only reason I stopped is because I couldn't get ahold of any more money and then I realized how much a mess I had gotten myself into.

As fun as it is to do it and as fun as it feels to get new things... eventually you realize it comes at a price. Be careful! x

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Grrrr, I'm still waiting for stupid Discover to send me my temporary log in name and password so I can start monitoring stuff online. Idk what is making it take so long?!

I just whipped out my calculator (well more like did a few clicks on my computer hehe) and did some calculations which include tax for how much I'm looking to be charging tomorrow for the HK Kouture Collection and some other regular HK items, and yeah...I'm looking at slightly OVER $300. Fucking hell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMD84 oh yeah my credit card company put up my limit every so often and every time i log into my ieternet banking and lower the limit agian. what's annoying is that they never seem to get the messgae i don't want the money! i don't want the temptation of having a big limit again! they never tell you they're doing it either... they just put it up like it's a nice little surprise for you

It's pure trickery I say! They don't seem to care what we want or what is best for us customers, they just want our cash $$ lol.

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glitternmyveins I used to be a complete shopaholic. I'm a lot better now. It catches up with you. And eventually you will regret it all because you will get a paycheck and realize that over 80% of it goes towards paying of debt that you can't control and that just keeps growing if you only pay off the minimum payments. I know the thrill of shopping. I used to spend every lunch break out in shops. Every day off I would be out in shops and I'd be making new shopping lists everyday. The only reason I stopped is because I couldn't get ahold of any more money and then I realized how much a mess I had gotten myself into. As fun as it is to do it and as fun as it feels to get new things... eventually you realize it comes at a price. Be careful! x

I had promised myself that I would never make any minimum payments if I could suck it up and make a full payment so I don't get charged even more money. But yeah I see how it is starting to all catch up with me. Cause I just constantly want more more more!

I think that when I'm older and have to take care of two older parents and a household that this needs to be cut down a lot. Now I'm probably going to have to cheap out on a lot of things in order to still spend on things I want. But it's so stressful and you worry a lot. The "thrill" of it just gets me though.

 

[User49]

Yeah I understand. I live with my boyfriend and we rent a house and I find we have to really cut back as we both got into debt. It makes me really regret it all because now when I get paid that money that goes towards paying off all my cards could have been spent on getting furniture for our house, going out with friends for a drink after work, clothes that i desperately need for work. It's very easy to push to the back of your mind that little voice that says 'don't spend money'. I think that if you feel the need to post about it you feel that you acknowledge the problem but I think most shopohoics think the same. Until it gets to rock bottom you don't let yourself stop. It's like 'well i'm already in this much debt so a little top or a eyeshadow wont make a difference.' and when all my friends urged me not to get more cards out I just blindly got more and just spent so much money and now I'm like "woah!" I also felt really guilty and that helped me stop. Like theres so many people in the world with absolutely nothing to show for themselves and yet they're still happy. And I'd just consistently want more more more. It's just a way of dealing with things that you get into a habit. I think it's a stress release. And also the society we live in doesn't really help... to be in trend and in fashion you have to consistently buy the new things on the highstreet and there's just no way I can afford to do that much anymore. I'm having to really stretch my mind and be createive with clothes to create an image that works for me. I really think shopping is just a form of like therapy for some. But like I said...try and stop while you can as it will catch up with you! Good luck! x

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glitternmyveins Yeah I understand. I live with my boyfriend and we rent a house and I find we have to really cut back as we both got into debt. It makes me really regret it all because now when I get paid that money that goes towards paying off all my cards could have been spent on getting furniture for our house, going out with friends for a drink after work, clothes that i desperately need for work. It's very easy to push to the back of your mind that little voice that says 'don't spend money'. I think that if you feel the need to post about it you feel that you acknowledge the problem but I think most shopohoics think the same. Until it gets to rock bottom you don't let yourself stop. It's like 'well i'm already in this much debt so a little top or a eyeshadow wont make a difference.' and when all my friends urged me not to get more cards out I just blindly got more and just spent so much money and now I'm like "woah!" I also felt really guilty and that helped me stop. Like theres so many people in the world with absolutely nothing to show for themselves and yet they're still happy. And I'd just consistently want more more more. It's just a way of dealing with things that you get into a habit. I think it's a stress release. And also the society we live in doesn't really help... to be in trend and in fashion you have to consistently buy the new things on the highstreet and there's just no way I can afford to do that much anymore. I'm having to really stretch my mind and be createive with clothes to create an image that works for me. I really think shopping is just a form of like therapy for some. But like I said...try and stop while you can as it will catch up with you! Good luck! x

It's such a nasty habit. I can already see whats going to happen when I'm older. I won't be able to afford a lot of the things that most people can like furniture, home phone service, and I'll be cracking down really hard with electricity and water cause I don't want to pay a lot for those things. All this just so I can go out and shop. It's horrible.

Shopping is my form of coping with stress. I mean yeah it's fun but I do it more when I'm stressed which is most of the time. I don't feel like I have anything else to turn to. Not going to do drugs or drink. No partying. So it's kind of like uhh what else is left for me to do? I'm already at the point where I'm afraid even shopping won't be enough. Then what? Scares me.

 

[xxManBeaterxx]

I have just 2 credit cards. Visa and American Express. I use my american express only for gas since i get 7% cash back. I use my visa when i go gorcery shopping. But it gets paid off every month, since its not worth paying the interest.. I can't even stress how important it is to have good credit...

Every 2 weeks we with draw money, and thats all we limit ourselves to when we go shopping. Paying cash makes you realize how much you are spending because the money is physically dissapearing... So you go whoa.. i need to stop or think twice about buying a new pair of shoes.

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxManBeaterxx I have just 2 credit cards. Visa and American Express. I use my american express only for gas since i get 7% cash back. I use my visa when i go gorcery shopping. But it gets paid off every month, since its not worth paying the interest.. I can't even stress how important it is to have good credit... Every 2 weeks we with draw money, and thats all we limit ourselves to when we go shopping. Paying cash makes you realize how much you are spending because the money is physically dissapearing... So you go whoa.. i need to stop or think twice about buying a new pair of shoes.

7% cashback for gas? That's a good deal. I'm eligible for cashback on my Discover card. I might just let my dad use it when he goes grocery shopping so we can rack up some points.

I had quite a few people blow off the importance of credit like it was nothing. I was just like what?! They check your credit for a ton of things. Like my friend who is trying to start to get a car next year. She has no credit, and well unless she can pay for the car in whole upfront, it's not happening. She needs credit. But once you screw up your credit then that's just really BAD.

Every time I use a calculator and start punching in the numbers I realize more and more that these aren't just numbers anymore but it's MONEY. But still kicking the habit isn't going to be easy. I can't til I get my whole months worth of paychecks and I can figure out how much I make and start budgeting. I need a set amount of cash that I am allowed to spend on x y and z and the rest has to be saved up.

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Just 5 minutes ago I was weak and decided to visit the Bank of America site for the HK credit card application. I filled it out halfway but decided to stop and quickly exed out.

Man, I'm so weak =[

 

[BloopBloop]

as for the cash back thing, you have to read the fine print and terms and conditions... my stupid ass signed up for it thinking i was going to get a check in the mail for all the money i would spend... alas, i was naive and found out recently that it would be cash back to an online citibank shopping site, where all the money you're "getting back" is put there and you can only spend it at that site... and you cant even spend it all in one shot-- depending on the item, they either let you pay partly from your pocket, or let you have it for free but you have to pay the shipping. i was so mad...

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

^^ Wtf, I'm scared now...I hate when companies pull that on you! It's like lying to us in order for us to sign up with them.

My dad and I went out shopping yesterday and yeah we racked up $540 cause of the cashback thing. Plus he got mad points for buying several hundred dollars worth of giftcards from our local grocery store that does the fuelperk program. I think he's going to get $2.60 off every gallon of gas now (gas here is only like $1.80-$1.95). I'm scared now that they won't give me my money. Cause the ad I had seen for the Discover card said that if you spent $500 within the first 3 months of being approved you'll get $100 cashback. The lady I spoke to on the phone when I activated my card said that I would get the money in $20 increments everytime I spent $100 and that I could use it towards either a credit to my account, get a check for it in the mail, or redeem it for giftcards. Ahhh, this is all just so "iffy"...

 

[NutMeg]

Out of curiousity, what is the benefit of having multiple credit cards? I've only got the one, and I really don't see why I would get more.

 

[BloopBloop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NutMeg Out of curiousity, what is the benefit of having multiple credit cards? I've only got the one, and I really don't see why I would get more.

its to spend more money... i was 18 when i first got my credit cards (three within the first month.) I got one for the air mileage points (after more than $4000 dollars on it, i dont even have enough to fly to buffalo, and i live in NYC!!!)

i got the other one for the fake cash back, and the first one was just the first card.

like i said, i was naive! at that time, i didnt know what shopping therapy and addictions were

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

I have really unrealistic fears seriously. I'm afraid that if I go somewhere and lets say something big happened and it's an emergency and I don't have enough cash on me to cover it, I'll have to put it on credit. But not all places accept every form of credit like Sam's Club takes everything BUT Visa. This has me all freaked out for some reason.

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Soooo I'm TERRIBLE.

I owe close to $600. I've just had such a temptation to just shop shop shop. And I'm afraid that Victoria Secret is going to be my new thing besides MAC which isn't a cheap habit to keep up with. BUT I'm only buying the cheap stuff there and I've been getting some discounts with coupons and stuff. Still not good though. Can't wait til I get paid!

Really after this and paying my parents back I need to seriously slow the fuck down with this spending. I'm already super stressed and constantly worrying and this spending isn't helping really at the end of the day.

 

[abbyquack]

Thanks for this thread, this is kind of where I'm at right now. I have had periods of major irresponsibility, then times when I didn't even touch a CC, and if I did I paid it off in full after every purchase (for rewards points, it actually ends up being a good deal- I've gotten $160 for free to spend at Nordstrom in 6mos!). Right now I'm carrying a $2000+ balance on my visa. It is horrible and so stressful. I don't want to even look at things to buy anymore, don't want to eat out anymore, because I'm sick of spending $$. As we speak I'm going through my closet to find new outfit combinations, things I haven't worn in a while, so I don't go buy new clothes.

And, I'm surprised to read about all the super easily obtained credit! I always felt like credit was kinda hard for me to get...I have several ccs, but they all have had small limits (like $500) until maybe 1 or 2 years ago. But I remember calling up several ccs asking for credit increases and never being able to get them! It's a good thing they didn't I guess.

 

[BloopBloop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbyquack Thanks for this thread, this is kind of where I'm at right now. I have had periods of major irresponsibility, then times when I didn't even touch a CC, and if I did I paid it off in full after every purchase (for rewards points, it actually ends up being a good deal- I've gotten $160 for free to spend at Nordstrom in 6mos!). Right now I'm carrying a $2000+ balance on my visa. It is horrible and so stressful. I don't want to even look at things to buy anymore, don't want to eat out anymore, because I'm sick of spending $$. As we speak I'm going through my closet to find new outfit combinations, things I haven't worn in a while, so I don't go buy new clothes. And, I'm surprised to read about all the super easily obtained credit! I always felt like credit was kinda hard for me to get...I have several ccs, but they all have had small limits (like $500) until maybe 1 or 2 years ago. But I remember calling up several ccs asking for credit increases and never being able to get them! It's a good thing they didn't I guess.

they like to start college students off with high limits because they are irresponsible (most of the time) and end up getting spend-happy. thats good news to the CC companies.

i have really bad irresponsible phases as well... like i'll be good at savin up and not charging things.. and then i'll feel so good that i feel i should treat myself to a nice little haul... *sigh * CC are credit death traps

IS THERE ANY WAY TO LOWER YOUR LIMIT?! THEY KEEP INCREASING MINE!!

 

[NutMeg]

I've got a pretty high limit on mine, because one of the things I use it for is paying for my housing fees online. So I have a $2000 limit, and the highest I've ever had on it was around $1100. That was in December, because I got presents and plane tickets home, which my parents reimbursed me for. Seriously, $600 dollars for a one hour flight? *grumbles*

My rule for my card is that I only use it for essentials, not fun stuff. So groceries, my phone bills, things like that. Unless something comes up (like plane tickets, or having to pay housing fees) I can usually keep my balance between $200-$300 every month, which I pay off in full. That way I can get a credit rating without going in debt.

For those of you who have a card to get a good credit rating, remember that you're not going to accomplish that by not paying off the balance in full every month.

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbyquack Thanks for this thread, this is kind of where I'm at right now. I have had periods of major irresponsibility, then times when I didn't even touch a CC, and if I did I paid it off in full after every purchase (for rewards points, it actually ends up being a good deal- I've gotten $160 for free to spend at Nordstrom in 6mos!). Right now I'm carrying a $2000+ balance on my visa. It is horrible and so stressful. I don't want to even look at things to buy anymore, don't want to eat out anymore, because I'm sick of spending $$. As we speak I'm going through my closet to find new outfit combinations, things I haven't worn in a while, so I don't go buy new clothes. And, I'm surprised to read about all the super easily obtained credit! I always felt like credit was kinda hard for me to get...I have several ccs, but they all have had small limits (like $500) until maybe 1 or 2 years ago. But I remember calling up several ccs asking for credit increases and never being able to get them! It's a good thing they didn't I guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BloopBloop they like to start college students off with high limits because they are irresponsible (most of the time) and end up getting spend-happy. thats good news to the CC companies. i have really bad irresponsible phases as well... like i'll be good at savin up and not charging things.. and then i'll feel so good that i feel i should treat myself to a nice little haul... *sigh * CC are credit death traps IS THERE ANY WAY TO LOWER YOUR LIMIT?! THEY KEEP INCREASING MINE!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by NutMeg I've got a pretty high limit on mine, because one of the things I use it for is paying for my housing fees online. So I have a $2000 limit, and the highest I've ever had on it was around $1100. That was in December, because I got presents and plane tickets home, which my parents reimbursed me for. Seriously, $600 dollars for a one hour flight? *grumbles* My rule for my card is that I only use it for essentials, not fun stuff. So groceries, my phone bills, things like that. Unless something comes up (like plane tickets, or having to pay housing fees) I can usually keep my balance between $200-$300 every month, which I pay off in full. That way I can get a credit rating without going in debt. For those of you who have a card to get a good credit rating, remember that you're not going to accomplish that by not paying off the balance in full every month.

As of this moment I owe $243 and some odd cents on my Mastercard and $530ish on my Discover card. Now $200 of the amount owed on my Discover card was from using it to buy giftcards (our local grocery store has an AMAZING fuelperks program and when buying gift cards for different stores from them can also rack up points) to purchase some stuff for a friend of my dads from Sears. Now obviously we'll get reimbursed for that money we used to get that stuff. So that takes down my Discover balance to $330ish. Thank goodness my parents are willing to pay the bills for the cards off for me and I can pay them back after I start getting paid from work. I use my cc to buy stuff that we need around the house like napkins, medicine, batteries, etc.

I haven't exactly been taking away the "tempations" away cause I keep going out and currently work at a drugstore and always seem to find something interesting to try to buy. And I was totally right my new obsession now is Victoria's Secret sadly. But like I said I have been finding a lot of coupons for freebies and discounts from them and using them as much as I can. I've been doing the same for other stores too mainly for freebies that don't require any purchase or ones where you can buy ANYTHING even a little $1 lollipop to get a free gift. Just yesterday I went out to VS and got the 7 for $25 deal with a free pair of panties and the girl who rung me up only charged me for 6 of the 1 for $25 panties so that was kind of good lol. I also got a bra for $35 after discount that I'm definitely going to be taking back. IF I do exchange the bra for another one I'll make sure I'll have another coupon ready and pick out something much nicer and cheaper there cause there 36c sizes actually fit me decently. I swore I would never touch a VS bra a while back cause of the prices but yeah... look where I'm at now lol.

I also signed up for their VS angels credit card...

. The girl did tell me that I could use the card and then tell who ever is checking me out that I wanted to pay for the balance right there and then. That way I can still earn rewards and get special offers. Anyone have one as well? They gave me a limit of $1000. I did some research online and noticed that they only really usually give out a limit of $250-$500 to people for that.

Credit seems to be sooo easy to obtain and even easier to mess up these days!

My $164 Nordstrom's haul just came to me in the mail yesterday. I loved it and dreaded it at the same time. My mom knew all about it and we both agreed it would be best to hide the box from my dad and not mention a thing to him cause yeah he'd fucking flip.

My mom has suggested that I start to use cash more but I explained to her again my big fear of having money stolen out of my wallet (it's happened before and the theif even took the coupon I had in there with them lol!). We agreed that the max I'd carry most of the time would be around $30 and only use my cc if I REALLY REALLY need it.