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From: psycler@netcom.com (Psycler)
Subject: Re: No employment available for mathematician/genius/programmer(LISP)
Message-ID: <psyclerD3BC6A.7Bp@netcom.com>
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Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 08:42:09 GMT
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James Nathan Durchenwald (jdurchen@icaen.uiowa.edu) wrote:
: psycler@netcom.com (Psycler) wrote:

: :Okay. I have an idea that might just work for you. You have
: :$30k unused credit on credit cards, right?  Most credit cards will
: :provide you checks that draw off of your credit limit but
: :function like checks from a regular checking account. Now,
: :assuming you have more than one credit account (you say visa
: :*and* mastercard), what you do is start using those checks to pay your
: :bills, including your credit card bills. Each month, you pay
: :your mc bill with a visa check and your visa bill with a mc check.
: :If you can minimize your overall spending, then your excess of
: :$30k credit should last you quite a long time. Now, by
: :paying off the full balance each month in this method, you
: :will be establishing an AAAA credit history. That will aid
: :you when your credit of $30k is reduced to $5k and you need to
: :open up more credit card accounts with $25k limits to pay off
: :the balances of the now existing accounts. But, believe me
: :it's a self-perpetuating access to money that's just sitting
: :around not doing anything useful and in all rights, you
: :deserve access to it. You can spend your life work free if
: :you're not afraid of debt. Go for it.

: This is NOT a good idea.  Credit card companies are not stupid.  These
: companies make money off of the interest on these cards.  When you pay
: them off everymonth by approximately the same amount, they know something
: is going on.  I say this from experience.  My brother played this little
: game for a few months until he got a nice letter from both of the credit
: cards telling him that they had revoked his cards.  So now he has some
: large bills that he cannot easily pay and he is in a worse situation than
: when he started.  Whats worse, the credit card companies continue to charge
: the normal interest on the balances.

Well, first of all, no interest is incurred if the balance is paid within
what is usually a 25 day grace period.  What you will get is a
cash advance fee varying from 1 to 4% depending, but usually
with high limits of not more than $10-20.
Read your credit cardholders' agreement-all this information
is in there. Warning: it's all very small, fine print so
just hallucinate into being an attorney and the understanding will
follow. 

I have done this on one occasion for a period of five months
with no problem. It was either that or be homeless. Someone 
emailed me that it was illegal, however I doubt it because that
would be stated in the cardholders agreement which it is not.
If someone extends you credit, by virtue, they extend you the
trust and autonomy to use that credit as you like. Another form
of this is simple bill consolidation where you have have your
bills payed by a single source that serves as a form of credit.
There's nothing illegal about that and the only major
difference between that idea and mine is the institution of
your independence from another potential bureaucracy. That is,
you are your own bank.

I do advise paying the balance in *full* however, not
by approximately the same amount, as you described.  That
little difference could cause you unwarranted investigation.
Another point-I use credit cards as a convenience, not for 
credit, and for years, I have been paying my balance off in full
every month and the only concern that has been brought
to my attention is would I like my limit increased. 
Oh, and nice letters commending me on my excellent history
and appreciation for being a reliable customer. I don't
think the credit card companies put too much time or effort
investigating *good* customers. They got too many *poor*
ones to look after.

-- 
          Psycler                                        
