High dollar comics and high interest debt (was Comic Conspiracy...)

[Rob]

Please tell me no one is paying hundreds of dollars on comic books, and carrying credit card debt too!!!! Surely you're not serious.

 

You're kidding, right?

 

Hundreds of dollars would be a lowball estimate. Don't you realize that we live in a credit culture? I make a very nice living... I'm not rich, but well above the national average. Yet, everyday I see people I know don't make half what I do, driving more expensive cars, wearing expensive jewelry and watches, wearing more expensive clothes and shoes, ... the list goes on and on. A scary amount of people are maxed out and mortgaged up to their eyeballs.

 

Do you think it's any different in comic collecting? I have a sneaking suspicion that many BSDs have maxed out credit cards to match their graded slabs.

 

Those fools need to reveal themselves, so we can ridicule them. I too make a decent living, but thought I was out of my league when I would hear board members talking about their latest multi-thousand dollar purchase. I just figured I was proud of my $200 purchases because I was poorer than you guys.

[Fan4Fan]

$200?

 

Wow! The most I've spent on one comic was $30 and the most I've spent at any one pop is $90.

 

The only debt I'm carrying at this time is mortgage... but that is enough.

 

While I'd love to get a nice FF #2, there is no way I can justify the expense to myself (and even less to my family).

 

Thanks,

Fan4Fan

[MK Ultra]

Oh, you are all buying these? I just give myself a five finger discount. Seriously though, I worked at CCCS and saw people all day that had maxed out all sorts of credit cards and needed help. The biggest problem, IMHO, was a lack of budgetary skills. Credit card companies aren't entirely innocent either. They give more credit than people need/deserve and bombard people with offers. I was lucky in that my dad was instrumental in instilling certain values in me. I only owe for my mortgage too. I did owe for my car at one point, but got a three year loan and have had no payment for two years now.

[joe_collector]

I buy everything cash, owe nothing, and my only liability is my mini-me $500 Paypal-only credit card. Live like that and you'lll sleep well my friends.

[deathlok]

I buy everything cash, owe nothing, and my only liability is my mini-me $500 Paypal-only credit card. Live like that and you'lll sleep well my friends.

 

I buy all my books with money on hand, not credit. Larger purchases I try to work out a payment plan.

[buttock]

I have $160,000 in student loans.

[sfilosa]

I try to buy everything on my credit card to get Airmiles.

 

This way when I take my family on vacation, I can say this vacation is because I collect comics. Unfortunately that does not stop my wife from complain how much I spend on a book that sits in a closet.

[Mr. Zipper]

I buy everything cash, owe nothing, and my only liability is my mini-me $500 Paypal-only credit card. Live like that and you'lll sleep well my friends.

 

Since I stopped using Paypal, my purchases have gotten much wiser. Paypal makes it too easy to spend. If you have to write out a check or hoof it to the PO for a money order, you tend to cut back on the impulse buys. And, the "under $10" impulse buys can really add up over the course of the month.

[Murph]

shrug, I'll use my CC when the opportunity warrants it. The one I'm currently using is at 5.79 percent interest. Would rather use that sometimes then use cash. There's a time value of money, you know But given, most of the time I'll pay in cash. Especially with Ewert or Comiclink....

 

Brian

[OldGuy]

I give my self an allowance every two weeks. If I want to buy a book that's more then my allowance then I have to save up to get it. I use a separate bank account at a separate bank and do almost all my transactions via Paypal or debit card tied to that account.

 

I leave my credit cards at zero so I can pay for emergency stuff like flying my wife and daughter out of town for a funeral this week. It'll take me about 8-10 weeks to pay that card back down to zero. Credit cards are good, but only if they are used correctly.

[CompleteRunComics]

 

Heck, I'll rack up several hundred dollars or so on the credit card for a book(s) that I can't drop that amount of cash for. Mostly, but not all, for personal collecting where the extra charges don't play into any business figures. Just think of it as building your credit score, that way you won't get the blank look when applying for a home/toy loan.

 

 

CRC

[Mr. Zipper]

I too make a decent living, but thought I was out of my league when I would hear board members talking about their latest multi-thousand dollar purchase. I just figured I was proud of my $200 purchases because I was poorer than you guys.

 

Nope, just wiser.

 

Most of my purchases are under $100, but I buy a handful a year over $100 .... usually around tax return or bonus time. Certainly there are some affluent folks who CAN afford multi-thousand dollar books, but there are probably just as many who are maxed out.

 

I could afford to buy much more than I do, but I sleep better knowing that I put money in savings, stock purchase plan, mutual funds and IRA every month.

[CompleteRunComics]

 

...Holy Martha Stewart Batman.

 

CRC

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

Desire-Timing-Knowledge

 

IF I want a specific book badly enough... that is available NOW at the right price... and I'm fairly certain it won't be offered again in the near future...

 

That's when I break out the plastic.

 

It's all about priorities, people.

 

It boils my blood when I see those late night commercials with over-leveraged bozos crying "How can I get my creditors to stop harassing me?!" Uh, paying them back the money you got from them would be nice. Hello, budgetary discipline Hotline!

 

Rick

[greggy]

[Solar]

This thread just reminded me to pay my credit card bill...

[deathlok]

Just steal Greggy's credit identity and charge the hell out of it.

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

 

 

Applause from "The Man?"

 

HEY EVERYBODY...GREGGY MUST'VE GOT SOME RECENTLY!"

 

 

Rick

[drbanner]

 

 

Applause from "The Man?"

 

HEY EVERYBODY...GREGGY MUST'VE GOT SOME RECENTLY!"

 

 

Rick

 

Ok, but what does that have to do with his credit card debt?? ... ...

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

 

Rick