To me i would depend on the interest rate. If you have a high interest, you need to pay them down. It may be years before shtf, by that time you might lose your home and everything you own because you didnt keep that 10k under control.

Your credit score might matter for some people. Depending on what position you are applying for,your score can mean the difference between getting a job or not in this market.

Its not like you couldn’t max out your credit card the day before the nukes start flying All so it's not like 50 pound bags of rice cost that much money. Spend 50 bucks on preps spend 200 paying down your cc.

 

If you didn't pay off your debit, and the world doesn't collapse around you like you seem to suggest it will, then your financial world will certianly collapse around you.

In short, why would yo take the risk of certian financial ruin because you are worried about an extremely small chance of total financial collapse? It makes no sense at all.

 

If you didn't pay off your debit, and the world doesn't collapse around you like you seem to suggest it will, then your financial world will certianly collapse around you.

In short, why would yo take the risk of certian financial ruin because you are worried about an extremely small chance of total financial collapse? It makes no sense at all.

You're kidding right? "Extremely small chance???" I would counter that right now there is at least a 75% chance the dollar will collapse, along with the Euro, Pound, Yen, etc. ... there is no upside to where the worlds economies are right now only MASSIVE DEBT.

I wouldn't pay down debt just now unless you can get rid of your mortgage - lock in the value of your dollars now while there is still something there and save your home.

 

In the Proverbs (could not find which one) it says "The wicked borrows and does not repay." Would you really want to go into a SHF situation with bad karma hanging over your head?

 

Psalms 37:21
The wicked borrow but do not repay; the just are generous in giving.

 

I'm talking about unsecured credit card debt here. You cannot lose your home because of credit card debt. The WORST that can happen is wage garnishment and a low credit score, which is bogus to begin with.

I mean if things are as bad as they seem (by reading reputable articles and ignoring most of the doom n' gloom on here, TV and most of the internet), is there a point?

And I'm not asking for advice here, I want to know how YOU feel about the importance of paying off credit cards and your credit scrore right now.

For some of those "reputable articles", click here http://www.globalresearch.ca/

 

I want to know how YOU feel about the importance of paying off credit cards and your credit scrore right now.

How I feel is irrelevant and immaterial to your question, and, none of your damned business.

 

..10k or "so" is a pretty dam big hole to me...........must be why they've reduced my open to buy limits on my cards.

 

yeah you should put all your money towards CCs. the CEO's need a bonus. when TSHTF and you have no preps, you can just murder your nieghbors for thiers. but at least you will have a good credit score.

 

I would pay it off per your contract. Otherwise you are a thief.

Just make the min payments if you think SHTF will come before you repay it all. Then you won't have to worry about the remaining balance, but still have money to get the preps you need.

I also feel that bankruptcies (that wipe your debt clear) are also theivery. You spend it, you pay it back. The courts can mandate that the payments are affordable (maybe even 20$ a month at 0% interest on 100k debt) for those who did loose their jobs or main income etc. But it needs to be paied back. None of this "wipe the slate clean" and do it again in 7 years crap.

 

A thief? What do you call it when they keep raising your interest rates to ungodly amounts? Charge you a B.S. charge every chance they get? Have you even looked to see how much of your payment goes to interest? I say file the big "B" and wipe your debt clear. Then just pay as you go and forget about being in debt. And if your paying as you go, then who cares what your FICO score is. Debt is a four letter word for trap. Get rid of the debt and the stress and forget about it and start enjoying life.

Just my opinion of course. My credit score is almost 800, but I work my ass off to keep it that way and it keeps getting harder and harder every year. And for what, so I can have a good credit score so I can get more credit and be farther in debt and then have to work even harder. Im beginning to wonder if its even worth it.

 

sendkeys, yeah it is like you couldnt max out your cc the day before shtf.

Credit has gotten very tight the last year. People are having their limits lowered or unable to get credit for no reason other than the banks dont want to lend it.

When shtf, the banks can turn off all the credit cards. Imagine going to walmart and having your credit card declined in an emergency.

As for myself, I am currently trying to pay off one credit card with a higher balance. I still want to maintain my good credit because it seems like this is a very slow economic decline.

 

Did you really say a a very small chance of total financial collapse? You must be kidding...

Again, not asking for advice here....just wondering about what YOU would do.

 

I've never been in debt in my life, so I guess my answer would be to get debt free as quickly as possible and stay that way.

 

You agree to make the payments when you signed up for the CC. If you are willing to comprimise on this what else will you comprise on? This is one of the core issues with our country, not upholding morals, values and honesty.

You not making payments affects others.

 

Please. The words morals, value and honesty don't even belong in the same paragraph with credit card companies.

 

Bible quotes? A thief if you don't pay credit cards? Banks are the thieves with mafioso interest rates and enormous CEO bonuses that we paid for. I'm not asking for advice, I'm good. Just something I've been thinking about, that's all.

I think I may have picked the wrong forum....

good luck to you all

 

Bible quotes? A thief if you don't pay credit cards? Banks are the thieves with mafioso interest rates and enormous CEO bonuses that we paid for.

I think I may have picked the wrong forum....

good luck to you all

theres a lot of wealthy people that hang out in here. they have a holy-er than thou attitude and a misplaced sense of moral obligation.

these are the same people who claim they will "take" from others to feed thier kids.

 

If it comes down to keeping your family alive with the money you've got and paying down credit cards, I say to hell with the fat cats.

 

If you borrow money from someone, you should pay it back. I don't see how you can argue otherwise. Say what you want about credit card companies, but nobody forces people to borrow money from them.

If you get a loan to buy a car, should you pay it back?
If you get a loan to buy a house, should you pay it back?
If you borrow money from your friend/family, should you pay it back?
If you borrow money from a company that gives a little card and says "borrow all you want", should you pay it back?

The answer to all of the above is, yes.

 

Yes, you should pay it off the best you can. I was in a similar situation years ago, I did pay off everything eventually. Then about three years ago, I needed a newer vehicle really bad. I applied for a loan I didn't think I'd get, but they surprised me and approved the loan, because my credit wasn't as bad as I thought.

Not paying your bills will come back to haunt you.

 

I am in a similar situation, not really in debt, but I do have a grand or two owing on my CC. I am working it off slowly, but in a SHTF, I would certainly max it out buying preps. I keep my limit low (3000) just so I don't dig myself too big of a hole. I have thought about this same Q as the OP. You can't make any assumptions. So don't assume their will be collapse, and don't assume their won't be. IE work on your debt to make sure you are taken care of if things turn out okay, but if things get worse, make sure you arn't afraid to use your CC for basics like food/water. Better then killing your neighbor over it because you didn't use your CC before the power went out.

The best idea? Pay off your CC, and just keep cash hidden away. Even if banks shut down at least you have cold hard cash. Probably the only thing the frantic and desperate store-clerks will take before they lock up to ward off early looters.

 

but in a SHTF, I would certainly max it out buying preps. I keep my limit low (3000) just so I don't dig myself too big of a hole. I have thought about this same Q as the OP. You can't make any assumptions. So don't assume their will be collapse, and don't assume their won't be. IE work on your debt to make sure you are taken care of if things turn out okay, but if things get worse, make sure you arn't afraid to use your CC for basics like food/water. Better then killing your neighbor over it because you didn't use your CC before the power went out.

I wonder if CC companies would put a halt on all transactions come SHTF or if vendors would stop taking them as payment. Just wondering. Did anyone hear of something like this during Katrina? These companies are far from stupid afterall.

 

What peculiar thread. Credit card companies are some of the slimiest, morally bankrupt types on earth...however, no one is holding a gun to anyone's head to run up debt on a credit card, and as others have noted, you go into these credit agreements knowing the risks fully - or if you don't shame on you for not reading the fine print.

No matter how many different ways you try to justify this by blaming the creditors for being scumbags, it is still theft plain and clear!

Unless you are planning to welsh on you debt like a scoundrel and go underground, I think this would be a very bad idea, never mind the ethics of it.

If the S completely HTF, then I suppose all this would moot of course.

 

I LOVE credit cards!!!

Don't get me wrong, I haven't paid 1 red cent in interest in 25 years. However they give me FREE gas, groceries, airline tickets, products just for using their product. I run lots of work expences through my cards to get the usage as high as possible and then ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pay in FULL when the statement cuts.

NEVER use a card that doesn't give you a FREE award, I'm getting 5% back on most cards in the form of free shell gas cards, over all I might pay (with real money) for gas once every other Month, I keep all my $50 gas cards in my glove box with a rubber band wrapped around them.

Number 1# rule for Credit Cards: WORK them and never allow them to work YOU!

 

Ohioman,

We do the same thing. Someone once told me the CC's industry call us free-loaders...lol

 

You will be sent to one of the Fema debt prisons where you will have to work hard labor to pay off the debt and for your plastic coffin when they are done with you.

 

Pay it off. You spent it. Time to pay the piper

 

Why pay?

If you're unemployed and everything you had is gone, why pay?

Those that run the world drove us into the ground. Jobs are gone and the rich :taped: are taking houses away from us.

I'm loosing my house and nearly everything I own. I have paid thousands to the mortgage company just to have it all taken away. So paying off a credit card is at the bottom of my To Do List. In fact I'm considering bankruptcy.

If you have the money pay the credit cards but if you're like me why bother?

:upsidedown:

 

Unsecured credit cards that don't get paid off are "charged-off" by the bank or credit card company, then they sell this "charged-off" debt to some "collection agency" often for pennies on the dollar. The debt collection firm or company or agency then attempts to collect this debt for the charged-off amount (+ lots of interest and late charges, etc.), for obscene profits.

If you get to this point, you are only paying the collection agency, and since the original creditor has already "charged-off" the account, it doesn't matter if you pay it off or not, as they don't care, and you won't get credit for it from them. It has already been written off their books as a loss. The collection agency though stands to make a killing, and the worst part about it all is that usually you won't get any credit for paying it off, in other words, the collection agency won't necessarily report the account as "paid in full" or paid off on your credit report.

In many (if not all) states there is a statute of limitations on how long they can attempt to recoup a bad debt by taking legal action against you. In many cases even if they succeed in getting a judgement against you, they cannot often garnish your wages or take any of your property. Basically, in many (but not all) cases, there is NOTHING that they can really do to you!

 

Exactly my point. These are the basics of where your debt goes that I don't think many people understand. Besides, the money you originally borrowed didn't even exist until the bank "lent it" to you. It's all numbers in a computer.

If you went out and collected all the cold hard cash and coins in Americans pockets, mattresses, BOL's banks, and motorcycle gas cans, you would have roughly $8.5 billion dollars. $8.5 billion dollars! Nothing! It's when you think about the TRILLIONS of "dollars" that exist somewhere out in the great unknown is when you start to question what exactly is money, and if you don't pay your credit cards, is that HURTING you fellow man or HELPING him.

I keep reading these posts and people seem to take others debt very personally and I find that strange. Don't forget the definition of 'insanity'. You know, doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result? It was recently popularized by a man, a plane, and an IRS building in Austin. But Einstein said it first.

 

Pay off your debt. Things are not going to collapse between now and before your financially ruined and unable to do anything due to not paying for things your purchased.

 

Can you tell me where to get a magic 8-ball like yours? I'd love to know what the future holds! PM me with a price, I'll use plastic!:

Life as we know it could collapse without warning tomorrow, next week, or ten minutes from now. Our present unbelievably complex and unfathomable circumstances lay proof to that.

Isn't that why you're on a survivalist forum? Because of the persistent unknowing of what's to come?

 

I'm surprised by most of the comments on here, I was expecting a little more excitement, people getting fired up against the same banks that are eradicating the middle class and somewhere at the root of nearly every thread on this forum. 1984'esque for sure

 

Why haven't you taken out loans to 'stick it to the man'? Seems odd that you would expect others to be all 'fired up' about it and not have done it yourself.

 

I don't think anyone has talked about this. I have never had a late payment on a credit card ever. That being said over the past two or three months 3 of my cards, for no reason raised my interest rates to 23%, 25%, and 29%. NEVER HAD A LATE PAYMENT. They said I could close the accounts and pay it off in full or pay the high rates. I am currently fighting a losing battle with these cards. They refuse to put my interest back to where it was and I'm refusing to pay them a dime. It is a really bad situation. They are trying to make me pay for the sins of others. I'm so fuggin ****ed. And I'm very close to saying I don't give a damn anymore. I'm one of the good guys and these credit card companies are trying to bend me over. I don't like to be bent over. And at this time I can not pay off all the balances in full. I do think people have no idea how bad things are going to get.

 

I've heard so many stories like this. I wouldn't say your ****ed man...think of all the people in this country that are in or near your same situation. Think of yourself as small potatoes compared to some of really big debts out there. Creditors and collection agencies talk a big game, but other than a lowered credit score there's not much they can do. It costs a lot of money to take someone to court for bad debt, and if they know they can't get anything worthwhile from you, they won't try. Let them know why you're not paying, treat them like they treat you, be strong, be smarter.

 

Do you think it is correct, honorable, and honest for credit card co.'s to raise rates from like 4% to up well over 20% for no reason, other than they think they can do anything they want with peoples lives.

 

I am not responsible for anyone's honor and integrity but my own. When I look in a mirror I either have respect for what I see or I have to live with the consequences of my actions. If a firm is behaving illegally I can turn them in to the authorities. If they are behaving as the law and their contract - the same contract BOTH parties agreed to - allows but badly, I can publicize their actiions and try to shame them; I can seek to have the law changed to prevent their actions; but most of all I can simply stop doing business with them, pay off all debts, and walk away. A lot of people here rage over the sense of entitlement they claim so many people have; and yet, isn't insisting that a company has an obligation to treat you as you want to be treated no mater what merely the same thing? And as for the idea that misbehavior on the company's part excuses you misbehaving in turn: Taken to extremes, that leads to airplanes being flown into buildings, whether the Twin Towers or an IRS office. I hear tremendous wailing about how America isn't what it used to be, we've lost our morals, anything goes these days: If your word is not your bond, even if you gave it without sufficient thought and sticking to it is costly, then you are not part of the solution, you ARE the problem.