Allen's Blog
Andy's Blog
I think Capital One just made me the President of the United States. Take that John McCain - it's my week now sucker! I would like to thank my beautiful wife I don't have for her amazing support. My wonderful children I don't have for their letting me ignore them during the campaign. Of course I have to thank the big man, the only one James Dobson listens to, Karl Rove for all the great advice. God bless each of you, and God bless America. Ok, that might be a bit far, but I seriously think George Washington is pissed.
Think about it. He took on the British. Forged the Patomic in freezing temperatures. Lead a new country in her infancy that in only 200 years grew to the superpower of the world. What is his reward for all this? He gets his face on every $1 bill.
It isn't just Washington though. Through out ages past, the only people that had their face on money were the rulers of the world. Queen Elizabeth. Caesar. Lincoln. And rightfully so.
But then some geniuses (*read self-indulged pricks*) in some (probably) New York marketing firm decided to take George and friend's glory from them when they realized Americans are self-centered and would love the ability to put their face on their money.
So sure enough, I saw an add during the Capital One Game with Michigan & Florida and knew I just had to go for it. After all, I am sure I am exactly the self-centered American those genius pricks were thinking of.
But I have to say I love it. Being the creative, pop-culture (*read loser*) person that I am, it is exactly how I want to pay for my Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich. I don't even sign the back. If anybody questions if it is my card, I am like...uhh look at the front dude!
But what does this say about our culture? Is this just that we are creative people and want to express that when we spend money? Or is it deeper? Does this have larger implications? Does this mean we think we are more important than our leaders? Or maybe that our money (*read economy*), is more important than true leadership.
We want CEOs that make the most money, not lead the best companies. We want Presidents that help our economy the most, not lead our country to greatness. One might argue they are one in the same thing, but when push comes to shove, which do you want? I think Capital One's marketing shows, to quote Jerry McGuire, "show me the money."
While Washington might be pissed I stole his glory, I think he would be saddened to see how his country evolved in her greed.
But I guess the only solace George Washington can take is that even though I am on MY money, I am not on YOUR money. So he still wins. But if you want to kick Washington in the balls, just go ahead and put my face on your new Capital One credit card.
Posts: 
Plane
Dead Sea
Rubbing Giant Buddha
Talladega After Opening Prayer
12 Apostles - Melbourne, Australia
Venice Bridge w/Steve Gerali
Farming in South Africa with Kiegan
Dome of the Rock
Riding in the Back of a Pickup Truck in Venezuela
I know, I know...Dave is on the 'competition' radio station. But dude...Capital One, Bank of A...they all just want to steal your soul!
Snakes! All of 'em! Don't pick 'em up (even if you can do cool photo montages on their cards) You'd be better off just buying a copy of Photoshop and doing it yourself!
I am very well aware what Dave teaches. Dave's producer Blake and I are colleagues. I even got into a discussion with him about it and he'd even admit what they teach "is for the masses," not necessarily true for each individual.
I am not the typical American that spends more than he earns. I have no problem with a credit card having a $22,000 credit limit and spending less than $700 per month on personal expenditures.
Since March of 2001, I have charged $156,540.15. In that same time period, I have only paid $339.11 in interest related to those transactions (most related to two months in college when it got tight). That is .2% - Not to mention, since March of 2006 I have received $700.00 in "Credit Card Reward Cash" - and that doesn't count the (essentially) free trip to Australia I took on my United Frequent Flyer Miles. So if anything, I am at least $360.89 up on them, and if you add the $1200.00 ticket to Sydney, that makes me up $1560.89
Trust me, I am not going to argue that credit cards are good for all people. But even Clark Howard suggests to use them over any other payment IF you are the type of person who can handle it.
I'll take my $1500 in free cash & travel, and an outstanding credit score, because I am able to control my spending.
Actually, my reasoning for not using credit cards and despising the 'giant monster mega-banks' as Clark would say, is that they can be a huge hassle for those that use them responsibly and pay every month. When they credit your payment late (which they do) inject junk fees you do not owe (which they do) you have to move heaven and earth to get them to treat you properly and adjust your bill accordingly. And woe to those folks (not you I am sure) that don't scrutinize their bill with a magnifiying glass because many people that pay it off every month just pay the balance and don't see the $10 here or 29.95 there that they banks simply STEAL from their customers (oh sure, it was a clerical error Mr. Borgman, we'll fix you right up....we are very sorry.) If they do that to 50 million customers and 49 million call to get it taken off, that is a pretty neat scam, wouldn't you say?
And the final nail in the coffin of MASTERcard and Visa is that, as I am sure your collegue Blake Thompson will tell you, when you spend with a credit card you buy 12-18% MORE than if you pay with cash. Not that you can't afford it, not that you EVER pay interest...just that you acutally purchased more than you needed...cuz it is soooo easy with that piece of plastic. This is not my figure or Dave's but a study by Dunn and Bradstreet. And by the way, at McDonald's (yeah, we take 'em) they found that their customers spent on average 35% more! That sure helps Visa pay for that 3-5% rewards cardholders get, doesn't it?
So by your figures, you probably overspent $23,481.03 in order to receive your $1560 in rewards. Now THAT is some voodoo economics! And if you only over spent by a quarter of the average, you still would be better off buying your own ticket to Sydney (don't fly Oceanic) and keep DISCOVER(bondage) or Capital One out of the equation.
Really, the only reason to want an 'outstanding' credit score is the be able to continue to go deeply in debt.
(No, you don't need a 790 score to get a good rate on a mortgage... manual underwriting which finds that you have a good job, pay your landlord on time or early and don't pay late on any obligations you DO have is all you need.) I will grant that many employers now (not TAHS I hope) pull a FICO score and see if they want to hire you. What a horrible practice....I refuse to service a debt load just to prove to some hiring manager that I would be a good worker bee by loving to pay Visa and Honda Finance every month. THAT practice needs to be eliminated.
But hey, when I was 25, making the big bucks in radio and working with Allen and Ron, I'd have been all about a 790 score too.....
Never had this happened. Also, never paid an annual fee.
I have never had a charge on my card that wasn't one I made, with the exception of once when my card was stolen (which to Chase's credit, they handled exactly as I would expect).
Now this you bring up is a good topic for discussion.
And yes, Blake did bring that up. And yes, I conveniently left that out above because it hurts my case ;)
But here's my problem with this study: it is surveying the same Americans that over-spend what they make.
I have spent long and hard trying to decide whether or not I spend more because I charge it, and I have come to the conclusion that I don't think so. In fact I think I spend less. Here's why...
Before fast food restaurants started taking plastic, I would inevitably go to the bank once a week or so and take out $20. Sure enough I would go to a fast food restaurant three times, spend $17.73 (2x @ Chick-Fil-A at 4.90 a visit, and 1x @ Subway at 7.73 a visit), and then that remaining $2.27 would mysteriously disappear on something. Now I pay exactly what I spend, and nothing more.
I will admit that I have a tendency to pick up other people's bill when we go out to eat. But I think this has more to do with trying to be generous, as well as my up bringing, as my dad always did that as well, than because I have a credit card. But I'll let you judge that one.
It is what got me the mortgage I got right now, even with the tightening of the loan market.
It also is what prevented me from having to have my parents co-sign on apartments, gas bills, etc...
It is also what has had me waived on many down payments for things like gas bills and electric bills.
And lets not forget that Car Insurance uses credit as the largest factor to determine your rates.
You just can't argue with given our society that having a good credit score SAVES money.
I hardly make big bucks working @ AHS, especially considering I have been offered 3x what I make to leave.
I am sure I'm tilting at windmills here (and believe me, little ol' me isn't going to stop State Farm from thinking I drive safer if I owe Visa $12,000 or convince Cox Radio that I am still a good employee even if I haven't used credit (aside from the mortgage) in 4 or 5 years...)
I suppose I'm trying to make a statement (like voting for Huckabee because of his endorsemnet of the fair tax, even if I might have thought Romney was a better overall candidate, but he was totally ignorant of TFT and refused to be educated on it.) Things like the Fair Tax would never get thought of or ever put before the congress if everyone just did the lock-step and paid the IRS with a smile.
And as for paying online...they can STILL credit your payment late. Yes, of course you have proof, and they will refund your late charge. But if 100% of the folks DON'T call them on it, then it is pure profit. Kind of like Best Buy sitting there with hundreds of millions of dollars in pure profit from gift cards folks bought but were never redeemed. Not much overhead on that one!
This is why I like you Chuck. We are similar in that sense. It's not that we are conspiracy theorists...no that is too crazy...we are skeptical and cynical, yet passionate, hopeful, and think we can make a difference.
We just disagree on using the Credit Cards.