I got out of debt and cut up all my credit cards in 1993. My credit was so good that I could get anything I wanted, anything at all, on a signature, I realized then that was a BAD thing, because I (and more so my wife at the time) could "want" myself into slavery for life, so I got rid of it.
I got out of banks in about 2008 - they had just taken over the slavery reins when the Money Men realized I was no longer using credit. I banked with Bank of America at the time, and they did some truly underhanded shit to milk my pockets, so I told them to gimme all my money in cash and shut that account down. They kicked and balked, but in the end, it was MY money, so I made it clear they could just kiss my ass and gimme my money. Then I closed the account.
As an aside, I went to cash a check for a mere 12,000 dollars at Bank of America once, and I had to run all over town before I could find one with enough cash to cash it. Every one of them tried to get me to open an account "that's a lot of money to be carrying around" they said. I laughed at them and went on to the next until I found one that could cash it. Jeez - it was only 120 hundred dollar bills. If a bank can't handle that, then there ain't much they CAN handle. If you just have to have a bank, don't bank with BOA.
I've never looked back. Land and house is paid for, car is paid for. I've got a debit card, but that has to be loaded before any money can be spent off off it - no credit.
I don't care if the credit mongers choke to death on all their offers. They can kiss my ass, but thy ain't gonna own my soul.
Here's their gig - they lend you "money" that does not even exist, It's just bits and bytes created out of thin air. THEN they insist you pay them back with REAL money, money you had to actually work for to get So they trade aether for actual value, and then interest with actual value on top of that.
Must be good work, if you can get it.
ETA - I did default on a student loan. I paid back 27,000 dollars on a 9,000 dollar loan, and then they informed m I still owed a further 24,000 dollars, so I told them they could suck that money out of my ass, I was done with them, I'd already paid them 3 times the money they had loaned me, and the money I had given them had actual value as opposed to the bits and bytes they had "loaned" me. Loans are set up to keep you on the hook forever. No matter what you pay, unless you pay it and the interest in full all at once, it will just keep compounding forever. Fuck that noise! They did garnish my wages a couple times, but that didn't affect my credit rating because by then my credit rating didn't exist any more. So it wasn't any real bother. It usually took them about 6 months to a year to find me again whenever I changed jobs, but then I just quit working jobs for The Man, and they've not found me since. Those thievin' bastards can kiss my ass, too.
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I got out of banks in about 2008 - they had just taken over the slavery reins when the Money Men realized I was no longer using credit. I banked with Bank of America at the time, and they did some truly underhanded shit to milk my pockets, so I told them to gimme all my money in cash and shut that account down. They kicked and balked, but in the end, it was MY money, so I made it clear they could just kiss my ass and gimme my money. Then I closed the account.
As an aside, I went to cash a check for a mere 12,000 dollars at Bank of America once, and I had to run all over town before I could find one with enough cash to cash it. Every one of them tried to get me to open an account "that's a lot of money to be carrying around" they said. I laughed at them and went on to the next until I found one that could cash it. Jeez - it was only 120 hundred dollar bills. If a bank can't handle that, then there ain't much they CAN handle. If you just have to have a bank, don't bank with BOA.
I've never looked back. Land and house is paid for, car is paid for. I've got a debit card, but that has to be loaded before any money can be spent off off it - no credit.
I don't care if the credit mongers choke to death on all their offers. They can kiss my ass, but thy ain't gonna own my soul.
Here's their gig - they lend you "money" that does not even exist, It's just bits and bytes created out of thin air. THEN they insist you pay them back with REAL money, money you had to actually work for to get So they trade aether for actual value, and then interest with actual value on top of that.
Must be good work, if you can get it.
ETA - I did default on a student loan. I paid back 27,000 dollars on a 9,000 dollar loan, and then they informed m I still owed a further 24,000 dollars, so I told them they could suck that money out of my ass, I was done with them, I'd already paid them 3 times the money they had loaned me, and the money I had given them had actual value as opposed to the bits and bytes they had "loaned" me. Loans are set up to keep you on the hook forever. No matter what you pay, unless you pay it and the interest in full all at once, it will just keep compounding forever. Fuck that noise! They did garnish my wages a couple times, but that didn't affect my credit rating because by then my credit rating didn't exist any more. So it wasn't any real bother. It usually took them about 6 months to a year to find me again whenever I changed jobs, but then I just quit working jobs for The Man, and they've not found me since. Those thievin' bastards can kiss my ass, too.
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Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’