Maxed out!

My brother knew I was looking for articles and videos on debts and he gave me a video of Maxed out.

It talks about the culture of credit in America. It will be nice to show you the whole movie but since I can't, I'm posting a video about the movie plus an interview with Maxed Out's James Scurlock and Elizabeth Warren:



I haven't come across a documentary on the credit culture in the Philippines yet. Am still searching for one but we certainly face the same issues on credit cards here except for bankruptcy maybe? I don't think filing for bankruptcy is normal for ordinary Filipinos :)

I know for a fact though how easy it is to get a credit card especially in the urban areas, how easy it could be for some to run away from credit card debts, how terrible and unproductive it could be for people left behind to receive the TONS of demand letters and answer calls and how collectors on bad accounts could be persistent (some bad mouthed) to the point that you want to kill them :))...

Nah.. actually in my case just to the point that I don't want to answer telephone calls anymore (I let the girls in the office do it and just pass to me business calls) since they would ask for people who don't want to talk to them (how much can you cover/lie for these people??? ) or even those that are already resigned (some of them resigned just for the purpose of running away from these hounders and they would not believe us when we say they've resigned!) and dead!

The movie is disturbing. Makes you want to say "to hell with those credit card companies". But credit cards if used wisely could be helpful too.

I try to use mine wisely. Oftentimes, I use it for the basics and make sure that I have money for the things I purchase and just make use of the lead time (time till it gets reflectd on your bill for payment) so I could pay for them just right after payday. No need to bring cash! I could easily avoid the long lines in the grocery to buy stuff for home by NOT going there on paydays, I could enroll my utility and similar bills there so I don't have to issue several checks , I get points, promo gifts and mileage plus I could request for a waiver of the annual dues (hehehe, I learned the trick from an officemate who would tell the card's center to waive or she'll cancel her card. I like to retain my few cards though so I use tamer language or else ask my officemate to make the call for me, it's lots easier since she's a hustler! :)) I do pay all my dues on time though (I've seen how many who opted to pay minimum get into trouble, big trouble!) Of course the temptation to splurge occasionally still happens but they are always within my budget.

For those who have credit cards, citibank has a nice advice on how to use credit wisely. Be sure not to maxed out!!!