Maxed Out - A great DVD to rent!

by Elsewhere 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  Elsewhere

  I just watched a great DVD called "Maxed Out". It's about the less-than-honest lending practices used by banks and credit card compnies.

  http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Maxed_Out/70058892

  Investigating both the personal and the national debt owed by Americans, this thought-provoking documentary explores the staggering financial burden we live with every day and exposes how the contemporary financial industry is set up in ways that can harm unwitting customers. With both sobering facts and black humor, Maxed Out unveils the consequences of our debt addiction, including its contribution to the vanishing of the American middle class. Check it Out!
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  littlerockguy

  I watched it yesterday, and copied the DVD . Very sobering and eye opening. I got out of debt last year. No more credit cards. Ever. The banks are the biggest racketeers in the US. Mob loan sharks are more ethical.

  LRG
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  misanthropic

  No more credit cards. Ever. The banks are the biggest racketeers in the US. Mob loan sharks are more ethical.

  
  exactly. I've decided with any purchases I make if I don't have the cash then I don't really need it.
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  Elsewhere

  Actually, I came up with a better plan that will allow me to make money off credit card companies.

  When I want to buy something expensive, I save up the money and put it in an interest bearing account (Such as Paypal - 5%). Then I buy the product and sign up for the store's "so many months no payment and interest free" credit card.

  I sit on the free credit card account while the money I saved up sits in the Paypal account earning 5%... then when the "so many months no payment and interest free" deal comes to an end, I will quickly pay off the entire balance and owe nothing.

  I end up walking away from the purchase having made money.
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  CaptainSchmideo

  I saw this movie last year in a theater where the film-maker was present. I was just finishing up my personal bankruptcy, so the subject was real close to home for me. It was an eye-opener, for sure.

  Oh, the guy who bought the "abdomenizer" was there, and so was his dog. Seems the dog enjoys it more than the owner did. (If you've seen the movie, you "get" the joke).

  The people who committed suicide over their credit card debt (two of them were college students, and the debts were not as bad as mine were) were really sad cases. One woman who had been juggling a severe debt load between several cards just drove off and vanished. The last time she was seen alive was when she stopped to buy gas (with a card). The police theorized she might have driven her car in the river, but the level was so high, they had to wait until later in the year, when it would lower. The scene with her kids looking out over the river, wondering if she really did kill herself "out there" is especially sad. And yes, by the end credits, they find her car, with her body inside, just yards from where the earlier scene was filmed.