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Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover (Read 2597 times)
whiteknight
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Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Jan 11th, 2018 at 6:11am
 
Australia wakes up to $30b credit card hangover   Sad

Canberra Times
January 10 2018

Jessica Wright is considering shifting her credit card debt to a balance transfer card with zero interest after a blowout over Christmas plunged the family finances into the red.

The Brisbane-based woman is facing a predicament shared by many Australians – the nation collectively spent about $30 billion on credit cards in December.   Sad

Ms Wright, 36, usually puts $4000 a month through a Coles Mastercard to earn Fly Buys points. But last month there was an extra $5500 in spending – she bought her parents flights to Hawaii for her mother's 60th birthday, bought Christmas presents for her three young children, and then the family's washing machine broke down.

On top of that the household income slumped because her husband, the family breadwinner, unexpectedly had less work than usual.

"I usually pay it off in full but there's no way it's going to happen this month," Ms Wright said. "There's a little bit of remorse because when I decided to buy the tickets for my parents, I didn't realise my husband's work would be all over the place – he usually earns good money but he had three weeks off over Christmas that we hadn't planned for so that made it hard. I knew it would be a struggle but not as bad as it got and the washing machine – well, I didn't see that coming."

Ms Wright said it made no sense to pay high interest on the Coles Mastercard so she'd look for a balance transfer deal. She believes she can pay it off before the higher interest kicks in, as long as the interest holiday is longer than six months.

Reserve Bank figures show a total $27.45 billion in credit card purchases for October 2017. Over the previous three years, December spending was on average 10 per cent higher than October of the same year. If that trend holds this year, the December spending on credit cards would have exceeded $30 billion. The Reserve Bank will release the official figures in February.

Four out of five credit card holders plan to pay off their Christmas-induced debt in three months or less, according to a survey of 1450 Australians by comparison site Finder in December. One in five will take longer than three months to service their debt.

Finder estimates the splurge could cost Australians $230 million in interest payments alone, taking into account a typical 55-day interest-free period.   Sad

Graham Cooke, insights manager at Finder, said a balance transfer to a card with an interest-free period was a good way to minimise interest charges.

"This over-reliance on credit cards in December means the cost of Christmas is carried well into the new year and could take a toll on household budgets throughout 2018," Mr Cooke said. "A balance transfer could give credit card holders the chance to make more headway on their outstanding balance, especially if they're having difficulty making repayments." Mr Cooke said there were more than 100 balance transfer cards offering zero per cent and more than half of them offered an interest-free period of a year or more. However, Gerard Brody, the chief executive of Consumer Action, which runs the Victorian side of the government-backed National Debt Helpline, urged caution.

"Credit card debt is the number one reason people contact us for help with unmanageable debt," Mr Brody said. "For some people who can demonstrate the capability and discipline to pay the debt in full before the interest-free period is up, the balance transfer deals can work but in the main most people are better off taking steps to pay down their existing debt rather than taking on new credit. The problem is credit cards are a product where if the bank wins, the consumer loses."

Mr Brody said there's a lot of marketing for credit cards at this time of year and the balance transfer cards can seem like a good deal, promising zero interest for a period of time, but it can exacerbate people's problems because most people don't pay it off before the interest holiday ends, and the cards then revert to high rates of 20 per cent or more.

Another problem was people don't always close the previous card and then they wind up with two credit card debts.   Sad

"We see people with four or five credit cards, sometimes up to $100,000 debt, which can be really stressful and cause a lot of anxiety especially if they get referred to debt collectors," Mr Brody said.

He said it was free to call the helpline and speak to an independent financial counsellor.

National Debt Helpline: 1800 007 007
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whiteknight
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #1 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 6:17am
 
Did they put Christmas on the credit card?   Sad
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President Elect, The Mechanic
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #2 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:09am
 
you will find that most of them are stupid leftwits...

next they'll want a banking RC because they can't handle their own finances...

oh wait...  Undecided

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Q

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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #3 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:05am
 
Just another blip in the modern fantasy that you can have, indeed deserve everything you want whether you have the means or not.
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Know the enemies of a civil society by their public behaviour, by their fraudulent claim to be liberal-progressive, by their propensity to lie and, above all, by their attachment to authoritarianism.
 
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issuevoter
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #4 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am
 
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #5 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 9:24am
 



By the time we come to adulthood, every sensible person will have learned, that we always need to live within our means.

It is a good philosophy to adopt in life.

If you want something, and are unable to save the money for it, then you shouldn't commit buy it [until you can and have].

Common sense.



Saving [money] for what we wish to buy, teaches us patience and self-restraint.

Good personal qualities to aspire to, in every human being.


antonym of patience

impatience = =
1 having or showing a lack of patience or tolerance.
2 restlessly eager.



antonym of self-restraint

self-indulgence = = indulging or tending to indulge one’s desires.


pander = = gratify or indulge



'Pandering' to their 'i want',       is the 'accommodation' from others which so often, is seen in small children and very 'weak' adults.


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"....And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
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Setanta
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #6 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:39pm
 
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Sure, and if you die before you pay it back it's an unsecured loan and your estate pays nothing. I'm looking forward to paying for my funeral that way. Wink

I have a credit card, it's a handy thing to have but it should be used properly not as a "Hey! I've got 5, 10 or 20G to spend, yay!, gotta get down on Friday, weekend, weekend, party, party"
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Aussie
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #7 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:48pm
 
Setanta wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:39pm:
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Sure, and if you die before you pay it back it's an unsecured loan and your estate pays nothing. I'm looking forward to paying for my funeral that way. Wink

I have a credit card, it's a handy thing to have but it should be used properly not as a "Hey! I've got 5, 10 or 20G to spend, yay!, gotta get down on Friday, weekend, weekend, party, party"


I suggest you get advice from a better qualified person than whatever idiot told you that garbage.
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Gordon
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #8 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:52pm
 
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Are you aware that a CC can be used as a financial tool which allows you to use the banks money for a month then the entire balance is swept clean automatically?

I've never paid a cent in CC interest.
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Sir lastnail
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #9 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:14pm
 
President Elect, The Mechanic wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:09am:
you will find that most of them are stupid leftwits...

next they'll want a banking RC because they can't handle their own finances...

oh wait...  Undecided



but isn't mal relying on mass immigration to apply for credit cards and fuel mal's fake services economy with more debt ?
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In August 2021, Newcastle Coroner Karen Dilks recorded that Lisa Shaw had died “due to complications of an AstraZeneca COVID vaccination”.
 
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cods
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #10 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:21pm
 
Setanta wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:39pm:
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Sure, and if you die before you pay it back it's an unsecured loan and your estate pays nothing. I'm looking forward to paying for my funeral that way. Wink

I have a credit card, it's a handy thing to have but it should be used properly not as a "Hey! I've got 5, 10 or 20G to spend, yay!, gotta get down on Friday, weekend, weekend, party, party"



dont like that attitude at all.. I do hope you are not passing that on....

so many people dodging their obligations  and someone else ends up picking up their bills....NOTHING is EVER FREE.....
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Setanta
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #11 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:36pm
 
Aussie wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:48pm:
Setanta wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:39pm:
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Sure, and if you die before you pay it back it's an unsecured loan and your estate pays nothing. I'm looking forward to paying for my funeral that way. Wink

I have a credit card, it's a handy thing to have but it should be used properly not as a "Hey! I've got 5, 10 or 20G to spend, yay!, gotta get down on Friday, weekend, weekend, party, party"


I suggest you get advice from a better qualified person than whatever idiot told you that garbage.


I got it from a friend who's wife died with CC debt in her name and no he didn't have to pay it back.

It's unsecured debt, that's why the interest is so high. Feel free to share if you know better.

edit: You may be right...
https://blog.creditcardcompare.com.au/what-happens-to-credit-card-debt-when-you-...

Perhaps she had no assets in her name and because it was not a joint card...

Quote:
DEATH AND CREDIT CARD DEBT
If you think that leaving your death to take care of your credit card debt is a solid plan – after all, you would stop spending on the card – you could actually be leaving your family to pay for the costs of your bad debt. The way that credit card debt is handled after death changes with legislative differences across our borders, however, in most cases the amount needed to clear your credit card debts when you die will be taken out of your estate or the assets you wanted to leave to your family.

Once the amount of your credit card debt has been deducted from the value of your estate, your beneficiaries will be given access to whatever is left – if anything. Alternatively, your estate and assets won’t be enough to cover the total of your credit card debts when you die, in which case the bank has to write off the debt as a loss. Of course, the bank wants to avoid writing off the debt, and will look at every other possible avenue, as they may also be the same institution which holds your savings account, transaction account, home loan or other controllable assets – a commonplace scenario in Australia. However, before the bank can start using your assets to pay off your credit card debt, they must first go to court to obtain an order to allow your assets to be sold to pay off your debt.


That last highlighted may be subject to a cost/benefit analysis on the banks behalf, I suppose.
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« Last Edit: Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:47pm by Setanta »  
 
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Baronvonrort
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #12 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:40pm
 
Aussie wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:48pm:
Setanta wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:39pm:
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Sure, and if you die before you pay it back it's an unsecured loan and your estate pays nothing. I'm looking forward to paying for my funeral that way. Wink

I have a credit card, it's a handy thing to have but it should be used properly not as a "Hey! I've got 5, 10 or 20G to spend, yay!, gotta get down on Friday, weekend, weekend, party, party"


I suggest you get advice from a better qualified person than whatever idiot told you that garbage.


Perhaps he should ask the taxi driver who frequents this forum.  Roll Eyes
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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.
 
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Baronvonrort
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #13 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:41pm
 
whiteknight wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 6:17am:
Did they put Christmas on the credit card?   Sad


I don't know how people can live without a credit card, do they let people like you on Newstart have Credit cards?
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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.
 
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Aussie
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Re: Australia Wakes Up To A Credit Card Hangover
Reply #14 - Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:49pm
 
Setanta wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:36pm:
Aussie wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:48pm:
Setanta wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 7:39pm:
issuevoter wrote on Jan 11th, 2018 at 8:42am:
Have not needed one in years. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it.

Just a thought: can you put life insurance or funeral insurance on a credit card?


Sure, and if you die before you pay it back it's an unsecured loan and your estate pays nothing. I'm looking forward to paying for my funeral that way. Wink

I have a credit card, it's a handy thing to have but it should be used properly not as a "Hey! I've got 5, 10 or 20G to spend, yay!, gotta get down on Friday, weekend, weekend, party, party"


I suggest you get advice from a better qualified person than whatever idiot told you that garbage.


I got it from a friend who's wife died with CC debt in her name and no he didn't have to pay it back.

It's unsecured debt, that's why the interest is so high. Feel free to share if you know better.

edit: You may be right...
https://blog.creditcardcompare.com.au/what-happens-to-credit-card-debt-when-you-...

Perhaps she had no assets in her name and because it was not a joint card...

Quote:
DEATH AND CREDIT CARD DEBT
If you think that leaving your death to take care of your credit card debt is a solid plan – after all, you would stop spending on the card – you could actually be leaving your family to pay for the costs of your bad debt. The way that credit card debt is handled after death changes with legislative differences across our borders, however, in most cases the amount needed to clear your credit card debts when you die will be taken out of your estate or the assets you wanted to leave to your family.

Once the amount of your credit card debt has been deducted from the value of your estate, your beneficiaries will be given access to whatever is left – if anything. Alternatively, your estate and assets won’t be enough to cover the total of your credit card debts when you die, in which case the bank has to write off the debt as a loss. Of course, the bank wants to avoid writing off the debt, and will look at every other possible avenue, as they may also be the same institution which holds your savings account, transaction account, home loan or other controllable assets – a commonplace scenario in Australia. However, before the bank can start using your assets to pay off your credit card debt, they must first go to court to obtain an order to allow your assets to be sold to pay off your debt.


That last highlighted may be subject to a cost/benefit analysis on the banks behalf, I suppose.


I may be right?  I haven't said anything other than to tell you what you posted was rubbish.  It seems you have now realised that yourself.  I guess you must have asked Mr Rort's Taxi Driver.
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