Occupy Humour
While the original basis of the “occupy” movement has a very powerful and (I think) necessary message (anyone wanting to see it in stark clarity – I suggest watching a film called To Big To Fail – currently showing on the free SoHo channel in NZ) – it has spawned a huge amount of humour.
I got this from Motley Fool via Twitter. It’s not a new cartoon – but as they say you can always rely on Calvin and Hobbes as much as you can Dilbert for condensing complex issues that us mere mortals can understand. This clearly explains one of the main issues I see behind the original movement.
Then theres the calls to Occupy Sesame St
And OccupyMordor
And Occupy The Death Star
And on a slightly more serious note – because I really don’t believe that blaming all this mess on a few people when the rest of us have indulged in many years of rampant overspending and gleefully taken every bit of credit we can get our hands on to enjoy lifestyles we couldn’t hope to afford:
Paying off debt – still too hard for most people :(
Filed under: Banks, General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
According to a piece on the herald today, Kiwi consumer debt (that doesn’t include mortgages on property) still stands at a whopping $11.96 billion. That’s $11,960,000,000. Now the Stats NZ population clock stands at over 4.4 million, but census information says there are 895,000 people here under the age of 15. Which leaves an “adult(ish) population of 3.5million give or take. Which means on average every one over the age of 15 would be carrying a debt of $3417 each, all at high interest rates. This is debt on credit cards, store card and hire purchase.
That’s actually quite a lot really.
And according to the article, the most that people are thinking of doing to sort this out is not get further into debt. But there are very few people thinking of paying it down.
Now for the moment, we also have some consumer debt on a credit card – expenses from setting hubby up as a contractor. As you know, we swapped this to a “low” interest credit card, saving us about $250 a month in interest, and that is being paid off rapidly, and will be gone by the end of September. To be honest, I felt really unconformable having the debt there, and it just didn’t seem to be getting lower. So we took steps and have budgeted $2000 a month to pay the card off. Now most people will not have the income to do that, especially here in New Zealand. But the bottom line is – debt has to be paid off somehow.
It doesn’t have to be $2000 a month, but it does have to be more than the minimum payment, and having consumer debt means if nothing else – you have to stop buying things you cannot afford.
Its a pain – but its true.
Apparently the interest we are collectively paying on our credit cards (at an average of 18%) is $650 million in a year.Now shared amongst the same 3.5 million of us sharing the debt, that works out at a reasonable sounding $185 a year each. But when you consider that you pay that for the privilege of having the debt, and you actually don’t have anything to show for it – its a bit of a waste of money isn’t it?
Believe me – that $2000 debt repayment could be much better spent on us having some fun. Though actually because I’m completely sad – once the credit card is paid off, its going to be used to pay down some of our business mortgages. We may however be able to use 1 month of it to fund the purchase of a new laptop. In the meantime, I gain a huge amount of pleasure from denying the banks a fair chunk of interest each month.
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I’m a credit card tart and proud of it!
Filed under: Banks, General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
A credit card tart is someone who swaps the balance of their credit card to another card in order to take advantage of special low introductory rates on balance transfers.
This was hugely popular in the UK in the years before we emigrated, where it was not unusual to get several offers in the post each month from different providers, often with 0% interest on the balance transfer.
Now many people took these out, and ended up spending yet more money and ended up with a lot more debt. But people in the know used these rates to pay down debt faster and faster – including us.
Yet when we came to New Zealand, there was no such thing. With standard interest rates on cards at about 20%, “low” rates were about 7% at the cheapest. But now ANZ are offering 2.99% on balance transfers for 6 months. And while most banks won’t “lend” me money (because we have investment properties), one of our mortgages is with ANZ and they have decided to take our business. I am not taking on an extra credit card – I will be canceling the ASB card as soon as I have the physical new card – I just want to take advantage of a good offer!
This is the only credit card we have with debt on it – and it is associated with Hubby’s contracting business – so this is where all the set up costs, training costs and such went. The interest we are paying on the card with ASB is about $200 a month. On the ANZ card it will be about $30.
Not a bad saving.
Even better – one of those money saving options that results from not having to “give up” a single cup of coffee (or anything else!)
Of course the trick to being a successful Tart is to keep paying off the credit card at the same rate, and not see the $170 reduction as extra money you can spend! I will be aiming to have the balance paid off in full by the end of the 6 months introductory period, and then we can go back to not having a revolving balance on any of our cards.
So thanks today goes to ANZ bank – for not only helping me out with my finances and budgeting, but for making the process of getting the cards and transferring the balance an easy and pleasant one. I am very impressed.
In contrast to my opinion of Kiwibank.
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Making the most of your Credit Card Provider
Filed under: Banks, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
Did you know that when you buy good and services on a credit card – you automatically access one of the most convenient consumer protection services I have seen?
Most people don’t.
If you don’t get the service you paid for, and you are getting nowhere with requesting refunds – you can contact your credit card company and ask them to reverse the charge.
You get a nice credit on your card, and the seller has to take it up with the credit card. In the UK you can often do this over the phone, but here in New Zealand you usually have to fill out a form laying out the steps you have taken to resolve the issue with the seller. Often, an email or two that you have sent the seller, showing that you got no reply, is enough.
Please don’t be shy about using this service – especially if you live somewhere where you are being charged for your credit card. 
It can save you a lot of money – and to be honest – even if it saves you a little bit of money – better that money is in your pocket than the pocket of someone who “sold” you goods or services they didn’t provide. This also means you should try and pay for good and services with a credit card whenever possible, so that you do have this kind of protection.
Good luck – it works for me, and prevents dishonest businesses taking advantage of me!
(Note: I learned today that this apparently is not the case everywhere – such as Malaysia.)
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Arghhh – having to pay interest on the credit card!
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Cost of living, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
Well, for the first time in five and half years – I cannot pay off the whole balance on our credit cards, and we will be paying interest.
This is quite depressing.
I guess I should be happy that its only likely to be a few months where we have to pay, and that we have been able to organise our finances so well for so long that we haven’t had to do this thus far while we have lived in New Zealand. But still – its damned annoying.
Especially since the interest rate is a whopping 19.95%
So – from here on in – hard nosed budgeting and spending restrictions to get us back on track as fast as possible.
Why has this happened?
Some really big bills I’m afraid. Despite the emergency fund, which I still have some left of, we have had some really big expenses come through and no income. The emergency fund is coving our living expenses and top ups on the rentals, but it cant cover:
- Some large medical bills.
- Set up costs for Hubby’s contracting business.
- Legal fees
- Buying furniture for an apartment in the city. (and yes – even though we have 2 houses worth of furniture – it still turns out we need a few things – that was a depressing moment!)
Hubby has income coming in now, but almost all of it is paying the setup costs: new computer, travel, phones, internet bills, city pad – it all adds up.
And at least this time I actually know what I’m doing. I know how to work through the budgets, I know how to cut costs, and I know how to stick to the harder decisions. One thing I am sure of – that debt is not going to be there long. Ill be paying money into it as soon and as often as I can.
I’m just not sure how to cut my coffee budget
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Seriously- pay off your credits cards!
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Banks, Cost of living, Economics, General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
From Credit Cards on Cracked.com
You will find a very good explanation of who this works on the website. Although this refers to the US, its a cautionary take in any country. I believe in the UK the minimum payment has to cover the interest and charges, and your statement should now tell you how long it will take to clear the card if you just make minimum payments, but that does assume that stop spending. And not many people do that!
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KiwiBank Analysts – need to switch thier brains on.
Kiwibank asked their “analyst” to look again at our application for a Credit Card. Which if you think about it is a bit silly as he is hardly going to be admitting to be an idiot.
But the same analyst has said no – because yes – he is still an idiot – and can’t grasp that there’s actually a lot more at stake than a bloody credit card.
The thing which makes me want to scream with frustration is that its actually people like this who caused the collapse of the banking system and the recession in the first place – because they insist that money behaves in a vacuum.
You see money is just a number.
- X amount of debt is too much
- Y amount of debt isn’t enough.
Analysts and Economists tend to forget that it’s Human Beings who spend money, or don’t spend it, and do it in the main for emotional reasons. Analysts don’t tend to look at any other factor. This guy is only interested in the amount of debt. He doesn’t give a toss about excess income, savings, assets, or amount of debt paid off. He looks at one number in isolation and decides whether you are worthy or not.
They also tend to forget that when you piss us off – we can have very long memories, and bad customer service now will be remembered for a very long time.
Its also hugely frustrating that while we obviously can afford a credit card, never having missed a payment in our lives – we can’t get a new one, and yet people who have no hope of being able to pay off the balances will get offered them by the bucket load. And if anyone thinks that’s not the real reason we have been turned down – you could be dreaming.
The fact is people like us don’t actually make money for the banks on our credit cards, because we don’t pay interest. Credit cards only work for the banks if you don’t pay them off. The damage that has been done across the western world by banks insisting on giving credit cards (and mortgages) to people who cannot pay off the balance is staggering.
It should be said that I have been dealing with a very patient and understanding man at Kiwibank (the Analyst wont “front up” to a mere “customer”). It’s a pity that the humans aren’t in charge.
So, thats BNZ and Kiwibank who will never see a cent of our money.
The list of banks who haven’t right royally hacked us off yet is getting smaller. 
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Getting out of Credit Card Hell
Filed under: General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ, Property & General Investing, Retirement, Pensions and Kiwisaver, The Book and Website
I am now a firm believer in that you should never had a balance on your credit card that you cant pay off every month. But if you are the position of having a balance you need to find a way of getting rid of it as soon as possible. Credit card debts, especially now – are the sort thing you do not want to have in your financical life.
I was sent a link from one of my Twitter Followers to Mint.com with an amazing diagram showing you one of the ways you can do this. You start at the bottom of the Picture and work your way up to freedom.
This is slightly different to the method listed in Avalon’s Guide – but hey – there is more than one way to turn your life around – and it is up to you to check out which suits you best.
Click on the Picture to go to Mint.com and see the full version:
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