Bailouts Options

[woody]

Since i don't see a topic for this. What do you all think of the bailouts going on right now?

[Spectatrix]

Great post, nickluto.

I think I learned some valuable lessons from growing up in a house with persistent, mounting credit card debt and daily calls from collection agencies. I didn't get a credit card until I was almost 21 and even then, I used it responsibility. I did carry a balance when I got out of school and was jobless for a couple of months, but I paid it off within 2 or 3 paychecks once I got a real job. Paying off my car loan followed shortly thereafter (paid it off in 2 years when the loan term was for 4).

Nowadays, I'm debt free. No school or car loans, no mortgage (yet). I use an AmEx rewards card (no annual fee), but I've never carried a balance. Better yet, I'll have earned around $200 cash back rewards for the year.

My bf and I may be buying a house sometime next year (assuming it's not completely impossible to get a mortgage), but our goal is to have a mortgage payment that's around 10% of our gross income, largely so that it's still affordable if one of us goes back to school full time.