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Why take a payday loan when you can do manufactured spending?

Why take a payday loan when you can do manufactured spending?

Old Dec 8, 2014, 2:01 am
  #1  
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Why take a payday loan when you can do manufactured spending?

Ever think of using MS as an alternative to a payday loan? I don't use it per se, but if you think about it, MSing something is effectively delaying payment for a month or more. So why don't people buy gift cards and load their BlueBird/Serve/RedBird, etc instead of using payday loans and paying outrageous rates/fees?
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 2:36 am
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Originally Posted by msp3
Ever think of using MS as an alternative to a payday loan? I don't use it per se, but if you think about it, MSing something is effectively delaying payment for a month or more. So why don't people buy gift cards and load their BlueBird/Serve/RedBird, etc instead of using payday loans and paying outrageous rates/fees?


People who often use payday loan isn't eligible for a credit card due their bad credits. Even if they had credit cards, they would already be taking out cash advances!
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 5:25 am
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I would guess the overlap of folks capable of doing MS and those who need a payday loan is small to non-existent. It seems to me that most folks MSing are those with above average incomes and with the mindset to to exploit the financial system not be exploited by it. There are some exceptions at least to the income because I have seen some mention of students/recent graduates MSing but on the whole these appear to be two nearly completely different groups of individuals.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 5:52 am
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Originally Posted by msp3
So why don't people buy gift cards and load their BlueBird/Serve/RedBird, etc instead of using payday loans and paying outrageous rates/fees?
those who resort/become preys to payday loans have either maxed out their CCs or are in a financial bind. And even if they can, if they bought GCs, they'd likely go on a shopping spree without realizing they have to pay the CCs they used to buy them.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 6:12 am
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Originally Posted by msp3
Ever think of using MS as an alternative to a payday loan? I don't use it per se, but if you think about it, MSing something is effectively delaying payment for a month or more. So why don't people buy gift cards and load their BlueBird/Serve/RedBird, etc instead of using payday loans and paying outrageous rates/fees?
I'd bet people who are running that close to the edge are working 8 hour shifts or two to three jobs. One walmart cashier told me they could only work 30 hours a week so he had two other jobs (and still no insurance). Maybe they have a family illness ans spend time with doctors.

I wager 98% don't have the time (between work and life) to run around buying gift cards, or are uneducated, lacking skills required to juggle all the details, or don't have any credit at all.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 6:39 am
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Credit cards themselves are payday loans....I guess some/most places you can't pay rent on a CC so there's that. But as mentioned, the only people by in large intelligent enough to understand the basics of MS and yet still find themselves in a financial bind are college kids.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 8:26 am
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Originally Posted by DeltaNeutral28
...the only people by in large intelligent enough to understand the basics of MS and yet still find themselves in a financial bind are college kids.
It's "by and large", and I don't think your claim is true. There are too many people in a financial bind for it to be likely that they are all unintelligent.

Also, the basics of MS aren't exactly rocket science. It's the bother of doing it that stops most people.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 8:36 am
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Ah...MS and Payday loan just doesn't belong in the same sentence. I do MS to travel the world and I pay off my credit card before the statement closes. As many of you have mentioned, it's a different demographics we are talking about.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 9:09 am
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Originally Posted by PaulMSN
It's "by and large", and I don't think your claim is true. There are too many people in a financial bind for it to be likely that they are all unintelligent.

Also, the basics of MS aren't exactly rocket science. It's the bother of doing it that stops most people.
Well disregardless, for all intensive purposes, it's hard to MS if you can't get approved for a credit card like us top notch English majors.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 10:00 am
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it's hard to MS if you can't get approved for a credit card
This is where it all start and even if approved, if given very low CL like $1.5K or less, that'll be difficult to MS especially with the 'ole blue card that was most desired by all until recent massive shutdowns(for those they deemed to "abuse" the rewards).

with activation fees for most GCs used for MS, that can stack up to huge amounts depending on volume of MS one does. for this reason, it takes money to make money/miles/points.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 10:00 am
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Originally Posted by DeltaNeutral28
Well disregardless, for all intensive purposes, it's hard to MS if you can't get approved for a credit card like us top notch English majors.
^
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 10:18 am
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surprised no one has mentioned what happens when you have a problem with the card you bought and you have no money to pay it back while waiting for the situation to get resolved (sometimes up to 4+ months!). What do you do then, just ms more? Get your financials in order, have discretionary fund, and then come back to us.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 11:13 am
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Due to my current unique employment / financial situation, I've successfully used my rewards CCs and various MS techniques to pay my tuition for my graduate program, and have been gradually paying down the balance each time I "balance transfer" by MSing on various cards. I'm not proud of it, and obviously would have preferred to pay in-full, upfront if that had been possible. My employer reimburses around 65% of tuition costs, so I will be receiving that money later this month (once I show them that my C's really do get degrees) to finish paying off my initial tution charges. I understand the risks involved with doing this, but so far this has been a wonderful opportunity for me to earn miles and cashback while managing my own short-term payment plan (<4 months) for tution that I would not normally be able to afford upfront.

Not exactly a payday loan, but I just wanted to share an example of a situation where MS can be useful in more than just earning miles / points.
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 11:57 am
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like a baby. making noise. don't know what to do. stupid. ignorant like a child..

the fact that such a thread even exists is emblematic of the downward spiral of FT:

business people/road warriors-> leading edge professional types-> bow tie and Emily types-> mommypoints-> students living off MS-> unemployed living off MS-> the indigent.

and this is the army of ahem... 'peers' who are out there saying and doing the wrong thing every day. think early scene in Avatar when the blue monkey is chastising Jake 'you're like like a baby. making noise. don't know what to do. stupid. ignorant like a child..'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9P5L3W_oQc
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Old Dec 8, 2014, 12:05 pm
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How would somebody who is in need of a predatory payday loan be able to float hundreds or even thousands of dollars with the risk of not having access to it for a month or 2?
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