Tough Decision this morning

Today I recieved my ASE recertification bonus from work. planed on the 7 EMP kit for a B day present to me (today), but decided to pay off credit cards instead. at 24% these card companys are ripping off the American people, (another thread), well maybe in a few more months. wish me luck

Sounds like you have a good plan there, Bret. You'll get that RV kit soon my friend.

This made me think of a hilarious SnL skit that I saw a couple years ago. Just searched for it and found it online HERE (Don't buy stuff you can't afford - it's in the book....it's only one page long).

Putting my own RV spin on this, I wrote an article many moons ago on how I paid for my RV.

I predict you'll have a RV kit sooner than you think, and the fiscal mindset you displayed in your post just reinforces this belief.

Bret,
DEFINITELY the right decision! Congratulations. I agree with Doug. You'll get that emp kit sooner than you think and you will be able to enjoy it all the more!

DeltaRomeo said:

Sounds like you have a good plan there, Bret. You'll get that RV kit soon my friend.

This made me think of a hilarious SnL skit that I saw a couple years ago. Just searched for it and found it online HERE (Don't buy stuff you can't afford - it's in the book....it's only one page long).

Putting my own RV spin on this, I wrote an article many moons ago on how I paid for my RV.

I predict you'll have a RV kit sooner than you think, and the fiscal mindset you displayed in your post just reinforces this belief.

Click to expand...

Now that is some funny Sh!OT ! I'm still laughing!

Well done, Bret. It'll make everything that much sweeter in the end.

Great decision, Bret. All things in due time. I probably agree with you about our friendly neighborhood creditors, which is why I haven't paid them a dime of interest in more than 10 years. If you are careful enough you can learn to use them for your advantage. Let me explain.

I had an MBNA credit that I purchased almost everything for my RV on. I didn't buy anything unless I could pay the full balance of the credit bill at the end of each month. MBNA had a great points program and I racked them up. Bank of America bought MBNA so of course my card converted to a BoA card. BoA, in an effort to convert customers over to their points program offered DOUBLE points if you cashed out. I did just that. I had $900.00 cash value in points and with the double points I received a check for ~$1800.00. Soon after, BoA gave me a 35 day billing cycle, then a 15 day, then a SEVEN DAY cycle in an attempt to make me late on my payment, so you have to be careful with them (BTW: if you make a credit card payment at a Bank of America branch is takes 7 days to post to your account...another dirty trick). They play dirty. I don't tolerate that and of course cancelled my card for their devious behavior.

Good decision Bret. The tools can actually be more expensive than the first kit so think about this as well or start buying them one at a time.
Jamie, you have that right about BOA . They must be hurting. I'm going through a decision right now to get rid of BOA altogether. We just got them to repay us for about $300.00 in fees that we were not supposed to be charged. See you on Sat

In fact I do have a B of A C.C. had a perfect track record with them, one day went from 17% intrest to 24% they are trying to recoop the $ form peps that filed BK.

B of A

Jamie said:

Great decision, Bret. All things in due time. I probably agree with you about our friendly neighborhood creditors, which is why I haven't paid them a dime of interest in more than 10 years. If you are careful enough you can learn to use them for your advantage. Let me explain.

I had an MBNA credit that I purchased almost everything for my RV on. I didn't buy anything unless I could pay the full balance of the credit bill at the end of each month. MBNA had a great points program and I racked them up. Bank of America bought MBNA so of course my card converted to a BoA card. BoA, in an effort to convert customers over to their points program offered DOUBLE points if you cashed out. I did just that. I had $900.00 cash value in points and with the double points I received a check for ~$1800.00. Soon after, BoA gave me a 35 day billing cycle, then a 15 day, then a SEVEN DAY cycle in an attempt to make me late on my payment, so you have to be careful with them (BTW: if you make a credit card payment at a Bank of America branch is takes 7 days to post to your account...another dirty trick). They play dirty. I don't tolerate that and of course cancelled my card for their devious behavior.

Click to expand...

I had exactly the same experience. I ran a lot of money through my MBNA account without an issue and collected a bunch of points by always paying the bill. Then came the B of A. I bailed out of that silliness and got a Visa card through my credit union. Superb service, zero fees. As Jamie said, the trick is to take advantage of the system, not pay any interest and get the "perks' that you would miss by paying cash.

In 1970 a group of protesting students torched a BofA branch in Isla Vista, near the Santa Barbara Airport. I don't condone the behavior but I was amused a little later when an older, very wealthy, conservative friend of mine said "I've been wanting to do that to those bas**ds for years." I am a big fan of the movement to use local banks and credit unions.

John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

Great move, Bret.......

The airplane will be much easier and less of a burden in the long run....

Keep after the debt and hang on to the dream of the 7.

Congrats on a good decision.
Phil

what's in the cards?

..Bret, just another angle on the CC debacle.
I went from 14% to 8 on my card just by asking!
..told them I could do better elsewhere, and they changed me to a 'line of credit' VISA. NO airmiles, no points, no fees, just a way better rate.
YMMV
it's tough NOT to use the CC for all the online and distant purchases involved in building, so you really have to stay on top of it.
treat it like a little side business, pace those expenses, and pick up bargains when you can.
..of course, I am like many other guys, and have 3 headsets for a 2-place plane, but I'm working on making smart timely purchases.

( mmmmm but they're so SHIIIIIIIINNNEEEYYYYY! MUST BUYYYYYYYYY

Setting a goal...

A while back, I needed surgery. As a self employed business owner / telecom contractor, income nearly stopped for two months while trying to recover. I think the meds were worse than the surgery.

I used my credit cards to pay my bills and house for over three months to recover from being unable to work, and a few months to recover lost business and accounts.

I used to be the type that paid the balance in full or in two payments. It snowballed.

My wife, knowing I really want to continue with my life before all that suggested we set a goal, get some help and get it fixed. We worked with a credit counseling service (highly reccomended) and in 3.75 years we will be back to zero from a 60K nightmare. This July we "hit zero" and we are planning to have a small "Zero Party" and unveil a small shadow box glass frame filled with the shredded cards we closed entirely. The shadow box engraved plaque is still being made that says "Never Ever Again." At that point, it was suggested I save for my tail kit and continue with my goals again

Brett, you really chose wisely. Don't worry, the freedom from the evil plastic giant will fuel the freedom of flying your dream.

Happy Birthday Bret!

Be healthy! Care of the family. And the kit will come, all this financial stuff is relative...

Happy BD and great decision.

My CC automatically pay off the balance every month so I don't have to worry about the rate; in fact, I don't know it. Going to 7 day is ridiculous, especially for those that are not on automatic payment. I would suggest using debit cards in that case.

In Europe, CC as we know it don't exist. A credit card is really a debit card, although they also have debit cards (only used at the bank).

Way to go!

Great decision, Bret! Hang on!

Bret,

Difficult choice, I know, I?ve been there, but you made the right one. I have been lurking on this site for longer than I would like to admit and have wanted to build an RV for much longer than that. My family made a similar decision almost 2 years ago. One of the things holding me back from building was the financial aspect. With all of the other bills, I didn?t see how I could afford it. Now we are debt free (except for the house) with a 6 month emergency fund and I just received my RV-10 tail kit a couple of weeks ago. Life is good. The wait was worth it.


Hang in there,

2 items of interest...

A touch off the beaten path, but worth a mention.
Look at BB&T for consumer banking and credit card. Very fair player, no gimmicks, no tricks. Strong company. Not a place to get a loan you can't repay.
I have used them several times for aviation financing, and found them very airplane friendly.
And....they broker aircraft insurance at competitive rates!

Regards,
Chris

After dealing with the "ALL hassles" card for about a year, we switched over to BB&T for a Visa card and it has been smooth sailing since. The other folks cancelled my card twice within a year for no reason. The last time, they told my wife (that is, after she finally got transfered to someone who speaky English) that I had called them and cancelled the card. Rubbish! Anyway, we wanted a card where if there was a problem, we could walk in to a local location and speak with someone face to face. We have our home loan and other accounts with BB&T as well. The only surprise has been when I withdrew $500 from an ATM once there was a $100 bill in the stack of $20's. Yeah, I took it back.

So, to answer the question they like to ask "what's in your wallet?" It ain't your credit card, that's for sure!

And, like someone else on this thread said, it is great if you get cash back or points or whatever with your card. You can make a lot of your RV parts purchases with the card and the savings really add up. We routinely get $100 gift cards to Target. When we use the cards I like to remind my wife to thank the airplane project! Just make sure to always pay in full each month. CC's are expensive money! Our's is set up to automatically draft our checking account each month. That way we don't forget.

Well, it sure dose feel good to see 0s on my CCs this morning.
Got an invite yesterday to see a real RV in final build stage from Abrandt here on the Forums. Thanks again Andrew, really got excited to get started on my own one day. I think I am going to like this group of people here, where else can you go on the INTERNET and have a complete stranger invite you into there home. very nice experience, I think Ill stick around here for a while.

I've been a lurker on this site since '06. It's like therapy.

Anyway, I just had to break cover and post in this thread because debt has been my #1 hurdle for soooo long. I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, finally.

Now all I need is to build a workshop that can be used as a garage when the plane is done.