I welcome comments, as they invite discussion and serve to illuminate some of the issues discussed on this blog. Today, I would like to address a couple of comments that seem to represent dissenting viewpoints.

Living Without Debt, An Extreme Example

My post last week about living without debt provoked this response from Jennifer:

“I’m a little surprised by the cynicism of this blog. Some people value other things other than money. I have a friend, who has no credit cards and is very happy, happier then his friends with credit who buy things and are still paying for things they don’t need or even want at this point. Earning power, is only important those who value money. And I would suggest, the reason for this cynicism is because behind this blog, credit cards are being sold. You simply can’t sell credit, if people are finding happiness without it.”

First, thank you for your comment. There are a lot of opinions in this comment, and I will try to address them all. First, she says that she is surprised at the cynicism of this blog. I hope she realizes that this is a collaborative blog, written by several authors with several points of view.

In fact, I have been so critical of credit card practices recently, that I almost thought that she was referring to my cynicism of the credit card industry. Please see my recent posts here, here, and here.

She then says that “Some people value other things other than money. [s.i.c.]” This is of course true, and it was precisely the point of my constructive criticism of the Economides family. I fear they spend all of their free time budgeting every last cent, and spend less time enjoying life. It is because, in Jennifer’s words, I “value other things other than money [s.i.c.]” that I wrote that ” I made the conscious decision to optimize my finances to maximize my ongoing enjoyment of live. ” My goal in life is not money, but happiness. Money is sometimes, but not always, a means to that end.

The reader tells of her “friend, who has no credit cards and is very happy, happier then his friends with credit who buy things and are still paying for things they don’t need or even want at this point.”

If her friend is happy without credit cards, that is great. Personally, I find that the many advantages to credit cards vastly outweigh their drawbacks. The chargeback option is an important tool that people who pay by cash or check simply do not have. I have been taken advantage of by companies that would have kept my money, if not for a chargeback or merely the threat of one. Companies, like airlines, frequently go out of business and cease operations without delivering a product or service. With a chargeback or dispute resolution, I am protected from dishonest or failed businesses. Those who pay with cash have no effective recourse. At the end of the year, I use my credit card statements to compile expense information for my taxes, a task that would be infinitely more complicated if I had to pay with cash and retain receipts. Because I make most purchases with my credit card, I rarely visit ATMs or carry much cash. ATMs frequently incur fees and are often the scene of violent muggings. If I were to be robbed or loose my wallet, I would suffer little monetary loss. The rental car insurance offered by credit cards is extremely valuable for those who travel. In fact, it is almost impossible to rent a car without a credit card. Using a credit card also helps me to build my credit rating for the one purchase that I did borrow money for, my house.

As a specialist in reward credit cards, I frequently travel with my family for free based on the rewards earned from my credit cards. In this blog, I hardly ever mention reward cards without saying emphatically that they are only for people who always pay their balance in full and on time. I have never purchased anything that I couldn’t pay for, and I never pay interest.

The reader then goes on to suggest “ the reason for this cynicism is because behind this blog, credit cards are being sold.”

I am not a bank or a credit card issuer. I make no profit or loss if you choose to use your credit card or not. I am merely a consumer advocate who has spent time learning about the credit card industry. I am proud to say that the host of this blog, MrCreditCard, has never interfered with my blog postings, despite my many criticisms of the credit card industry. As we have learned recently, such editorial independence is not the case with all hosted blogs.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 23:23 and is filed under Reader's FAQ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.