Smalltownbanker

More Reasons to Break the Plastic Habit

Received the same letter from Citi on my Hilton Honors Card. Don't be surprised to see affinity partnerships evaporate completely as well as the rest of their good credit customers.

Credit Card Cancer

My dad took out a small loan in the mid-fifties to build the house I grew up in. He paid it off before he finished the house and it was the last loan he ever had. He saved money to buy what he wanted and waited until he could afford it to buy.

I wish I had been as wise as he was. The bank I worked for was closed this year. It is said that we were a victim of the downturn in the economy, even the FDIC agrees. That certainly is true to a point but did we properly underwrite credit and capacity? Did the appraisals of the collateral realy support the loans? If we and everyone else had acted prudently would we be in this situation?

I know that I spent more than I should have. I have borrowed for things I should have saved for. I did it and so did at least half of those who have posted here supporting the principles we know we should follow. We must change our ways but first we must admit that we are part of the problem, well at least most of us are...

If we listen to the President and try to spend our way out of this with our credit cards and HELOCs we will soon find ourselves even lower than today.

Unintended Consequences - Fast Money Recap (10/6/08)

I have flipped past it before but never listened for more than a few seconds. I won't even buy a used car from someone who yells on TV.

This morning on Bloomberg I listened to a few minutes of analysis on why BofA needed to raise capital. Not one of them mentioned the $8.4 Billion predatory lending settlement they just entered into to get out of the Countrywide lawsuits. They haven't impressed me much either lately.