- ‹ previous
- 327 of 1510
- next ›
Buying Green: Bad for Your Credit?
Till today, I couldn't find too many reasons not to shop at the Salvation Army: Thrift-stores are cheaper, better for the planet, and usually more interesting than the mall. But turns out my fondness for weird old mugs could land me in financial hot water. Treehugger has a great little post today about green consumer habits that some credit companies consider "red flags:"
Credit companies take note, for instance, if you charge services like tire retreading and shoe repair to your card. Or if you're shopping at thrift stores like the Salvation Army.
The message: Buying used things and repairing broken ones instead of buying new means you're struggling financially, and can't be trusted to pay back a loan. That's awfully backwards. Little do the credit companies know how much poorer I'd be if I didn't shop at the Salvation Army.
For other credit company red flags, check out this Concord Monitor piece.






























Don't Use a Card
tagged as:- solution
I wouldn't put it past credit card companies (or debit cards, either) to watch for and track such transactions.
Easy solution is to not use a card wherever you don't want a record to be made of the transaction.
Good thing transactions that begin with craigslist don't accept cards, or I would be in hot water more ways than one! (Thinking here is the issue of sales tax that is supposed to be paid even for transactions between two regular people. In California, anyway.)
I've been on both sides of
tagged as:- solution
I've been on both sides of this fence. In my early years, I was in risk management (the credit industry). Yes, they are backwards in how they think about things, but in this case, it could turn out well for the consumer in the long run, as buying into the credit game only hurts you, so if they cut you off, you're actually better off. The credit industry is the furthest thing from green thinking. It is a model of greed and usury (have you ever read the fine print on your cards?).
Quite frankly, one should only purchase what one has the cold, hard cash for. Credit is not real money. It's a big illusion; a game that hurts the consumer and lines the pockets of the rich in control of the game. Only having what you can pay for means humble pie sometimes, but it's really freeing to be debt free and have complete control over one's finances. I've been on both sides of this dance.
Please don't think I'm holier than thou. I understand the desperate state many are in right now, as I've been there myself. I predict many will turn to maxing out cards and then end up defaulting on them. This is good, as it will balance out what has been taken from the consumer for so long. There will come a day when people are not so tethered into what the financial industry thinks of them.
The future is in recycling, reusing, and making decisions that support the health of the planet and humanity. The old banking paradigm will have to change along with this at some point. In the meantime, I hope you continue to live from your internal compass, and perhaps endeavor to pay cash for your life.
Paying with a Credit Card
A credit card transaction doesn't automatically mean you are spending money you don't have. A lot of us don't like carrying cash around.
But the practices of the credit card and the banking industry are changing this equation for me. I am one of those people who pay off my card every month. But this is just one more example of trading my privacy for convenience and I'm doing less and less of it. I'm back to ATMs and lump withdrawals so I can pay with cash. And even that got me in trouble. Last year I took an extended trip and had a lot of transactions out of state. My bank saw it as suspicious and the only notification I got that my card was turned off was by mail. Which I didn't get because I was out of state. A phone call or a notice on my password protected, security questioned secure account site--which I did check regularly, would have saved me from being suddenly stuck in another state with no access to my account.
What I buy and where I buy it is none of the banking and credit card industry's business, beyond keeping track of the transaction to make sure all the figures add up.
Hello. Can anyone tell me
Hello.
Can anyone tell me why the so called Prince of Thailand HAN has been stalking an English born australian woman and hypnotising her for the last two years.
The person resposible for this wears a star ruby ring. He has been telling his family that she is his girlfriend and does not let her know that she is in Thailand.
She works in a hotel in Thailand. But has no idea of where she is. He has been giving her rhohypnol and and psuedo amphetamine.
They told the girl that she was going to the hospital in Perth but they put her on a plane to Thailand and have been drugging and hypnotising her fo rthe past two years.
The person that I am talking about goes by the name of Jet Li.
He is a muslim and his family carries out the tradition of female circumscision and they also have a wierd tradition of checking all little girls genitals when they are born to check and see if they have clitoruses.
His Grandmother is from Tibet and his father is a known muslim extremist.
He has kidnapped and held this woman hostage for the past two or more years. His uncle posed as a doctor in Australia he went by the name of Dr Wong.
They are thenosiest perople to walk the planet.
His grandmother used the excuse that she thought that they were just having a fight.
His grandmother is standing behind me as aI am writing this note.
HEY PETE can you please send a plane to Thailand as I am going to kill myself. I do not appreciate being drugged and stalked by people with money and so clled social standing.
I promise that I wont trell you that they are planning to enter the country of India to try to avoid oublic humiliation and be discovered as hypocrites, liars and theives.
They are going tt try to offer memoney to keep my mouth shut and not going to the newspapers. Do you know that they actually offered me m,iullions of dollars.
BUT ME BEING THE HONEST NON BRIBE TAKING PERSON THAT I AM WOULD RATHER GO TO THE MEDIA AND EXPOSE THEM FOR WHAT THEY REALLY ARE SO THAT THEY CAN NEVER DO THIS TO ANOTHER PERSON.
Men that do this should be shot dead.
FUNNY ASIANS CAN JUDGE EVERYBODY ELSE BUT THEMSELVES.
His uncle is a movie director and they were planning to offer me a movie deal.
But as I have met a number of people in the acting business I have decided that I do not want to become a hollywood whore AND WALK AROUND ASKING PEOPLE OF THEY WANT MY AUTOGRAPH EVERYTIME SOMEONE WALKS UP TO THEM TO ASK THEM THE TIME.
hello uncle chen.
WHAT A DICKHEAD YOU ARE TOO.
THEY WRECKED MY GARDEN.
Yuen Fat Chow or whatever the cunts name is the idiot from crouching tiger hidden dragon and his grandmother the ugly old witch have also played their part in this.
And they wonder why they have no real fans outside their own family.
I WOULD LIKE SOMEONE TO ACT ON MY BEHALF AS I HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE THAT THESE LOW LIFE POOR EXCUSES FOR HUMAN BEINGS ARE ACTUALLY A PARRT OF MY FAMILY.
POOR ME.
Being a half breed born into the nosy asian lifestyle and culture is not easy.
They cant handle the fact that I have blonde hair and get more attention than they do.
BUT THEN THAT IS GOOKS FOR YA ISNT IT.
CHAO.
Of COURSE they flag it!
After all, if you are buying second hand and--gasp--even paying CASH for it, you're not feeding the Greed Machine!
Shame on you! SHAME!
I just really don't care if they flag me because I choose to do things in a green way. I am hoping to avoid credit (save my mortgage) for the rest of my life. The credit industry can cry me a greedy, slimy river!
Jen M.
Buying Green
I suspect that credit card companies may really be looking to see who is being more concerned about what they do with their money, such as repairs and used items because that means they are being more careful and not as likely to spend excessively or on unneccesary items.
My experience tells me that credit card companies don't care how much you may get in debt to them or how unneccessary the product may be, just spend lots of money and stay indebted to them.
If you are careful or concerned about your spending (by buying "green") they may see you as less likely to need them as much.
Too bad for them! We shouldn't need them as much! We have grown too dependent on credit cards to rescue us or because it is so easy to use. If we used cash more, we would spend less. Show the credit card companies they should have been happy that we used them at all, green or repairs or whatever!
Permission Granted?
Did you aquire my permission to use this image?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiosmith/2483824173/