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credit cards are the devil
Feb. 11th, 2008 | 02:47 pm
Science fiction writer and überblogger John Scalzi has written an excellent post on writers and money management. His tips would be most relevant for people making their living from full-time freelance writing (which I am not, thank God), but his tips #5, #6, and #7 are applicable to everyone. Specifically, he argues against using credit cards like cash, and he says that if you want a shiny new toy, you ought to save up for it, instead of maxing out your credit card and incurring a monthly payment for two years in order to get a new widescreen TV.
Like, duh. I think it was Scott Adams who said that marketing is a dark science devoted to making people want things they couldn't possibly need, and it is a triumph of marketing and credit-card usury that people think maxing out a $10,000 credit card to buy toys is a good idea under any circumstances. It is a sad reflection on the state of Americans' fiscal savvy that suggesting that you, like, don't have to max out your credit card seems like a revelation.
-JM
Like, duh. I think it was Scott Adams who said that marketing is a dark science devoted to making people want things they couldn't possibly need, and it is a triumph of marketing and credit-card usury that people think maxing out a $10,000 credit card to buy toys is a good idea under any circumstances. It is a sad reflection on the state of Americans' fiscal savvy that suggesting that you, like, don't have to max out your credit card seems like a revelation.
-JM