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[Andy B]

I was 25 when I realised I didn't like not having any money left over at the end of the month it was all going on loans & a huge overdraft, had a windfall from my grandmother & started investing in property & swore then I would never borrow again or pay another penny in interest , sometimes it was difficult but I stuck with it & it worked for me.

Thing is, if you could borrow money from a secure institution (like a bank) at say 1% interest rate, and invest that money in another secure institution (like another bank) who paid you 2% interest - would you do it?

There are govt sanctioned schemes which allow almost everyone between 55-75 to pay in £3000 every year, the govt top it up to £3600, and you can then withdraw the entire £3600, and pay the original £3000 back to the lender. It takes a month or two for everything to work out so there will be some interest to pay, but it'll be nowhere near the £600 that the govt 'give' you.

The govt gave free money to first time buyers too ..... can't remember the in's & out's but my daughter benefited from it when she bought her house at the end of last year.

[TheBoy]

This... is the crux of the illususion. What happens if something occurs in the meantime? Suddenly that intention to pay the balance becomes a minimum payment.

No, I will not buy something - very expensive purchases aside, which mean some form of loan - unless I have the money to buy it.  I am using the CC for the benefits it gives, not because I want to borrow the money.

I know and accept some people do.  I even know some people who used to buy brand new cars on CC, and use balance transfers all the time, and proudly tell everyone its easy, free money, and everybody should do it.  Many of these declared themselves bankrupt when the balance transfer options dried up in the credit crunch. Idiots.

[TheBoy]

Some on here dont have the life experience (or bad luck) to understand what your talking about.

With health and the health of your loved ones, that's all that matters at the end of the day.

In a former life, I too ended up with nowhere permanent to live, and having to live on 9p Victor Value baked beans, and on posh days, cooked by rigging up the can in a kettle.

But I never bought anything I couldn't afford, hence never been in debt - beyond mortgages and loans.  It was one of many things I must have learnt from dad.

[STEMO]

I think, unless we were born into wealth, most of us will have had rough periods. I grew up in poverty, and have had several periods of my life waking up on a Monday morning without a penny. But it wasn't from overstretching myself, it was from life's ups and downs.

[Rangie]

I think, unless we were born into wealth, most of us will have had rough periods. I grew up in poverty, and have had several periods of my life waking up on a Monday morning without a penny. But it wasn't from overstretching myself, it was from life's ups and downs.

.   

You're absolutely right Steve nothing worse than having no money and red letters from the Banks charging you more to add to your problems , but if you see a way out of it grab it with both hands is my advice ( within the law of course) mine was due to living beyond my means I freely admit that , fortunately through my experiences I was able to advise my son and daughter the importance of being financially astute, plus to be able to assist financially if required both have nice properties my daughter actually bought he first house when she was 19 and gradually "traded up"

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I think, unless we were born into wealth, most of us will have had rough periods. I grew up in poverty, and have had several periods of my life waking up on a Monday morning without a penny. But it wasn't from overstretching myself, it was from life's ups and downs.

.   

You're absolutely right Steve nothing worse than having no money and red letters from the Banks charging you more to add to your problems , but if you see a way out of it grab it with both hands is my advice ( within the law of course) mine was due to living beyond my means I freely admit that , fortunately through my experiences I was able to advise my son and daughter the importance of being financially astute, plus to be able to assist financially if required both have nice properties my daughter actually bought he first house when she was 19 and gradually "traded up"

That is impressive.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I think, unless we were born into wealth, most of us will have had rough periods. I grew up in poverty, and have had several periods of my life waking up on a Monday morning without a penny. But it wasn't from overstretching myself, it was from life's ups and downs.

People may think I was born rich but I wasn't......although we never went hungry.

Like many people hand me down clothes from older siblings was common. No nancy boy central heating either so scraping the ice from the inside of the windows was always fun during the winter.

It's all relative. The further you go back in time the harder people had it. NO NHS before 1948 remember.

[Andy B]

I think, unless we were born into wealth, most of us will have had rough periods. I grew up in poverty, and have had several periods of my life waking up on a Monday morning without a penny. But it wasn't from overstretching myself, it was from life's ups and downs.

People may think I was born rich but I wasn't......although we never went hungry.

Like many people hand me down clothes from older siblings was common. No nancy boy central heating either so scraping the ice from the inside of the windows was always fun during the winter.

It's all relative. The further you go back in time the harder people had it. NO NHS before 1948 remember.

My daughter didn't have a clue when I said about ice on the inside of our bedroom windows as a kid .... Jack Frost.
And she really can't believe that I didn't have an inside toilet as a young lad and had a toilet outside in the yard.

[Rangie]

We had paraffin heaters when I was a kid, absolutely hate the smell of those heaters, remember being sent to get a gallon from the hardware shop local to us the whole place stank of paraffin.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Who is going to be first to bring up living in a shoe box in the middle of the road ?

[Doctor Gollum]

You had a shoe box? 

[ronnyd]

I think, unless we were born into wealth, most of us will have had rough periods. I grew up in poverty, and have had several periods of my life waking up on a Monday morning without a penny. But it wasn't from overstretching myself, it was from life's ups and downs.

People may think I was born rich but I wasn't......although we never went hungry.

Like many people hand me down clothes from older siblings was common. No nancy boy central heating either so scraping the ice from the inside of the windows was always fun during the winter.

It's all relative. The further you go back in time the harder people had it. NO NHS before 1948 remember.

My daughter didn't have a clue when I said about ice on the inside of our bedroom windows as a kid .... Jack Frost.
And she really can't believe that I didn't have an inside toilet as a young lad and had a toilet outside in the yard.

Always remember Dad going up to the top of our garden, with a fag on, to empty the bucket of the outside bog. Had the best rhubarb in whole street though. 

[Andy B]

You had a shoe box? 

luxury!! 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

You had a shoe box? 

I was very lucky. 

[TheBoy]

Like many people hand me down clothes from older siblings was common.

Yup, me too.  Trouble is, I have an older sister.