Credit...

 This article in my newsfeed this morning and the below quoted blurb led me to wonder how others manage their debt...

"Credit card balances surged from July to September as Americans continued to sink deeper in debt amid rampant inflation, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday."

My method of controlling personal debt is probably a little austere to most people, but once I got accustomed to it, it became manageable, and allows me to live within my Social Security income...I have zero ongoing debt in that my home is mortgage-free (not even a HELOC), and my truck was paid for before I drove it home that day...I use credit cards for whatever merchants and vendors will accept them without penalty...I've never had a debit card of any kind...

My five credit cards are "reward" cards which pay me a percentage of whatever I charge every billing cycle...None of mine have any annual fee or other associated use charges...If the balance is paid in full at the end of each billing cycle, there is never an interest charge...I use cash only at gun shows and garage sales when the occasional bargain surfaces, and the occasional lottery quick pick when the jackpot is big enough to catch my attention...

Each card issuer has it's own hook to justify its use...For instance American Express pays me 3% for whatever I buy at grocery stores...Two of my VISA's pay 4% at gas stations (even for a Slurpee) and 3% at restaurants including the fast food joints...My other VISA pays in "points" which equates to 2% of all charges which I apply against the monthly billing balance...My Discover Card (my very first credit card which I've had for 36 years) pays me 5% on certain categories which change quarterly...For instance I get 5% for Amazon buys right now, so I usually wait until this time of year for most of my planned Amazon expenses...

Therefore the CC companies pay me to use their services, and the only money they get is in merchant fees (which I fully understand is paid indirectly by us, the consumer)...But unless there's a cash discount by the merchandiser, there is no point in my paying cash...It's been many years since I carried a balance into another billing cycle on any of my cards, the last time in memory being when my ex-wife charged her divorce lawyer's fee on my Discover Card as a parting gift on her way out of my life...At that point I could not find the means to pay the balance in full, and was forced by the circumstance to pay the usurious monthly percentage for a short while...Since then, they've gotten nothing from me but the monthly balance...

So referencing the above news article, I see only misery in the future of those individuals and families trapped into carrying a balance on their credit cards...I know why they do it, and I also know what it will take for them to be released from the self-induced debtor's prison in which they reside...I also foresee the day when CC companies will get tired of people like me who contribute nothing to their bottom line, prompting them to eventually do away with paying cardholders anything...I'm curious how my readers here manage debt, and why your method works for you...Let me know in the comment section below...

A Small Niche in History...

One of the things I cherish most about owning guns is the history that accompanies each of them...I've written in the past of my being the direct descendant of a lineage of gunmakers whose fine firearms became a benchmark for accuracy and reliability, being put to practical domestic use as tools for stocking the larder in many frontier homes, to establishing and defending not one, but two nations...Prized for their accuracy Bean rifles were known to be used by marksmen in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 as well as by Col. David Crockett in his role in defense of the small Alamo Mission establishing the Republic of Texas...

Neither of the Bean rifles thought to have been taken to Texas by Crockett are known to have survived, but I continue to look for one to add to my own collection...In the meantime other paths are taken, and as paths do, they occasionally cross in time...On December 2, 1968, James C. Parrish, a US Navy veteran of WWII and now employed as a civilian mathematician at Holloman AFB, NM bought a S&W Model 14-2...This was a finely crafted target revolver with 6" barrel, and was purchased new at the nearby town of Alamogordo, NM...It is unknown how skilled of a shooter Mr. Parrish was, although his obituary in 2011 described him as a firearms enthusiast...Also unknown is whether his family shared his enthusiasm, but it is known that until last week his S&W Model 14-2 was for sale at a gun store in Albuquerque, NM where he lived his retirement years...

Following my finding the revolver in an internet search, and a 14-2 variant not being one I presently owned, I bought it and had it shipped...Yesterday when I received it, It was exactly as described...It has been shot, and obviously carefully cleaned and stored away from the elements...I suspect that Mr. Parrish not only understood the need for cleanliness, but also knew the value of storing guns separately from any boxes or papers with which they were originally shipped...The only marks on the gun are the carbon rings left on the front face of the cylinder from shooting it...There are no rub marks in the bluing to indicate it was ever in a holster of any kind...The cylinder has a very faint turn line...The walnut Magna grips are numbered to the gun's frame, indicating they were handfitted at the S&W factory during assembly and shipped on the gun...There are no marks anywhere on the metal nor wood to indicate any rough handling...

Inside the very crisp cardboard box which originally housed the revolver when shipped, I found the papers and seemingly unused cleaning tools and sight adjustment tool still packaged in the plastic wrapper from S&W...The anti-rust vapor paper with which S&W still wraps new firearms was still present in the box carefully folded...Under all this was the original invoice from which I obtained the information on Mr. Parrish, including his check number, and his promise to pay the balance owed, $50.00, within 30 days...Obviously his credit was good...At the time Mr. Parrish bought the S&W which I now own, I had been stationed at his place of work, Holloman AFB, for about six months, having returned with my wing to our new desert home from Spangdahlem AB in West Germany...At that time of December 1968 we were making preparations to return to Spangdahlem to support the Joint Forces War Games, an annual event...A few months later, we returned to Holloman where I received my honorable separation from service...

It is unknown to me whether Mr. Parrish and I ever saw or spoke with each other...It is possible since I interacted with many civilian contractors, both on and off duty...Either way I am glad that our mutual love of fine firearms allowed this second crossing of our paths in history...

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