Bah, Humbug!

AMEN! If you don't have cash, you don't need it! Kids don't need everything under the sun to be happy. They need parents time and attention. How much does that cost? Nothing, but a piece of yourself. I would rather give that to my kids than the stressed out mommy they would get if I had to pay all the bills with the interest rates!! Plus they learn a valuable lesson. We have to work for what we have, its not handed to us.

Leave the plastic at home...if you can't pay cash you don't need it!!!!

I don't need plastic to have a great Christmas. We have a Christmas that we can afford and no credit card bills!!! I just say "NO THANKYOU" to all the credit card offers and I come out ahead. If I can't pay cash I don't really need it.

Too bad we can't turn all of our credit cards back to them and say, we're finished getting stuck with all you've done to us. High interest rates to pay for those who didn't pay. Why make those who've been paying our cards right on time or off the bad guys?? It's not fair.

Geee, some people are really making sence in this blog..... I mean, since when was CHRISTmas about racking up $7,895 in credit card charges ?? I mean come on... I have $40k in my checking account right now, im 23, and drive a mercedes... Now im not bragging what so ever, But no where in my mind am I thinking about going out and blowing $15k on gifts, hell Im no even going to spend $500... Christmas isnt about blowing money to show someone you love them, Christmas is about family & friends..... What makes me happy is my family together, my mom baking, the temp like at 45 outside, and inside drinking somthing warm listening to christmas music..... Come on people, pull your heads outta your A*S !!

Christmas???/// well be lucky if we dont get denied at the register for a Turkey for Thanksgiving!!!

Christmas??/// Well be lucky to make it through Thanksgiving,,, try using your credit card to buy a Turkey.........DENIED

Oh please! Gimme a break - if you ain't got the money then you got no business buying anything. Christmas isn't suppose to be about buying anyway - well - that is unless you listen to the cry baby retailers and the chicken little people.

This year we're going to have a home- made Christmas.I'll make clothing,a quilt for our grandson,and a rag doll for my daughter.Mom will get a gift card for the grocery store.My step- son and his wife will get a goody box with a meat bundle,diapers,etc. because if we gave them a gift card it would get spent on pop and cigarettes.We're going to hunker down and spend ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on unnecessary things.What gets me is that even though the banks were so bad off that the taxpayers are going to get financially sodomized for decades over this,we got two credit card offers in the mail,and one offer over the phone today.Seems like it didn't phase them a bit.People in this country need to get an attitude like the one that pulled this country together during WW II.Those who can need to rip out those worthless expanses of grass and plant gardens.Learn to sew,learn to cook,re-use everything.Above all,learn to say no to yourself.As we learned the hard way,it only takes a milli-second for a catastrophic medical condition to appear,and everything changes.If all you have for Christmas is the presence of loved ones,it's the best present of all.

Here is an idea that I think people should use to help pay for Christmas presents without credit cards.....remember the old Christmas Club/Account at your local bank???? See if your branch has one and have a set amount taken from your checking account automatically every month. If that is impossible, try buying presents early so you can "disperse" your dollars over a few months instead of all at once. Also, why do you feel "committed" to buy so much? Reevaluate your list and keep it simple. Remember, it is the thought that counts. Also, if you have kids, set the tone early of what can be expected if they know Santa doesn't exist and if they are very young, they won't remember much, much like my own did not remember, what they got from the age of 1 to about 8 or 9. A nice homemade card and/or homemade gifts or consumables is always a welcomed treat that is either unique or yummy. We are a society that has been seduced by major credit card companies and marketers that try to make us feel empowered with cash that we don't have to spend. Focus on the spirit, be thankful you have a long list of friends and family that you feel obligated to buy gifts. You can write a nice letter expressing your gratitude or a time where your friend or family member helped you during the year or relive a funny moment that you shared.

the tightening of credit to less than stellar consumers should have been done YEARS ago. People can't keep on depending upon credit for everything, and then yell sour grapes when they are denied. The rest of us are paying the price for those people, who ran up and maxed out their credit, and bought homes when they knew they couldn't pay for them. Those are the ones who got us into this whole economic mess!!!!!

If the Goverment would have staied out of the credit crard mess three years ago when they rasied the rate of repayment. Then at that point all credit card compines started the the cycle of 30 plus intrest. So when they stared that we did not agree to those terms and cutup all cards and sent them back. We pay as agreed when we opened the accounts. most now want all balances due but: ask daddy big pockets for the bail out.

The credit card issuers will suffer massive defaults and they, unlike the borrowers, will be bailed out by the government. They already have been bailed out to a great extent. The borrowers will end up in bankruptcy where the latest and greatest laws will rule against them, and they will have to keep paying something no matter what. No executives from the credit card companies will ever be forced to testify why they extended credit to anyone with a pulse. No responsibility for this financial meltdown will be placed with the companies for the irresponsible ways they distributed credit cards with high limits to college kids, to the unemployed, to known deadbeats, or to the working poor. Yes, many who should have known better abused the credit extende by spending and spending until nothing was left. The blame goes both ways, the pain is only on the borrowers side.

Xmas, alas ... I got carried away with paper. I really like the person who is going to give to their favorite charity
instead of the spoiled kids who complained they didn't have cell phones, as it appears they have everything else. Even though I have lost my father and have my mother who is great need of affection in her saddness, and medical care, I am at least glad I have a job and I can care of her and myself, and my dog! I have to give thanks for at least that! Believe me when I say harder times are yet to come. At least for now ... AMEN!!