noisycheese
Normal(ish) Human
Food for thought...
Don’t Go into Debt For Your Photography
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Godfrey
somewhat colored
It's a relatively obvious notion, and something I've been preaching to friends for a long time now.
I don't buy anything on credit, ever, unless it is property. If I can't take the cash out of my pocket and pay for it, I either can't afford it or don't want it enough. If I do want it enough, it's easy to wait until I have the money to pay for it.
🙂
I don't buy anything on credit, ever, unless it is property. If I can't take the cash out of my pocket and pay for it, I either can't afford it or don't want it enough. If I do want it enough, it's easy to wait until I have the money to pay for it.
🙂
cz23
Well-known
Eric is a sensible guy and there's not much to dispute here. His point about investing in experiences is particularly valuable. I think it was HCB who said, "Live your life and life will give you pictures." So true.
John
John
FrozenInTime
Well-known
Sound like it must be tough trying to make a living from photography.
I don't think I've ever paid cash for a new lens or camera.
Credit is a very useful thing for spreading expensive purchases over a few months.
However if that credit card balance only keeps rising month after month - thats a debt problem.
I don't think I've ever paid cash for a new lens or camera.
Credit is a very useful thing for spreading expensive purchases over a few months.
However if that credit card balance only keeps rising month after month - thats a debt problem.
Steve M.
Veteran
I agree, photography and financial advice are two different things. Having said that :]
There's nothing wrong w/ credit as long as one understands that it's not money, it's debt. When we were rennovating a Galveston home, the contractors wanted cash, so I bought photo gear w/ low interest credit cards, sold things at a small profit to cover the interest and eBay and Paypal fees, and had cash for the contractors (they also gave a discount if you paid in cash, so we made money actually).
There's nothing wrong w/ credit as long as one understands that it's not money, it's debt. When we were rennovating a Galveston home, the contractors wanted cash, so I bought photo gear w/ low interest credit cards, sold things at a small profit to cover the interest and eBay and Paypal fees, and had cash for the contractors (they also gave a discount if you paid in cash, so we made money actually).
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
Don't read petapuxel for your photography.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
FrozenInTime
Well-known
Closely related to debt is profit - why is the somewhat ephemeral electronic copy a 50% uplift over the printed book.
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Addy101
Well-known
No it isn't. It is much cheaper to save up the money before buying the item, then paying the credit costs. Just set some money aside every month for your next GAS fix 🙄
In general, it is a sound but not eye-opening article - hardly "food for thought" IMHO. I at least hope everybody already figured that getting a loan for a hobby usually is not that good an idea.
Ronald M
Veteran
Our economy runs on debt. I recommend you not follow the flow or keep up with jones.
The downside is uncle sam can confiscate bank accounts, stock holdings, 401K, decide you have enough money you do not need your social security. Roosevelt made all the people turn in all their gold and paid them peanuts.
They already tried to take your 401K in 2009 I believe by executive order. It was stopped by a federal judge. who was shot and killed at a political rally along with rep Gabby Gifford. Thank God there was as good guy with a gun to stop the carnage.
The government was going to invest it for you to keep it safe !
Bottom line is if you own a bunch of stiff , it is not easy pickings for the government. Read jewelry, gold, art, diamonds, etc.
Not fun to be on the bottom of the 19 trillion debt pile. Wall street and hedge fund guys will be immune , wait & see.
The downside is uncle sam can confiscate bank accounts, stock holdings, 401K, decide you have enough money you do not need your social security. Roosevelt made all the people turn in all their gold and paid them peanuts.
They already tried to take your 401K in 2009 I believe by executive order. It was stopped by a federal judge. who was shot and killed at a political rally along with rep Gabby Gifford. Thank God there was as good guy with a gun to stop the carnage.
The government was going to invest it for you to keep it safe !
Bottom line is if you own a bunch of stiff , it is not easy pickings for the government. Read jewelry, gold, art, diamonds, etc.
Not fun to be on the bottom of the 19 trillion debt pile. Wall street and hedge fund guys will be immune , wait & see.
x-ray
Veteran
Exactly the way my wife and I live. It's amazng how much money you can have if you don't have any debt/payments.
robert blu
quiet photographer
Huss
Veteran
No kidding. I have an excellent credit rating but it has dropped a bit since the loans I had were paid off. The tips I get to improve my credit is to take out new loans i.e. get in debt again.
So essentially I am being penalized by being debt free. This whole credit rating scam is to pump up the economy and keep people forever owing.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Debit is not the same thing as debt.
An electronicly delivered book is just as real as a printed book.
I don't set the pricing. Go ask Amazon.
G
Roger Hicks
Veteran
x-ray
Veteran
No kdding. I've not been late on a bill (utility and insurance or anything) , haven't had a credit card balance in 22 years, paid cash for the last 6 cars and paid a major house off in 4 years and 10 months and I still don't have perfect credit. What a scam! The upside is I have cash in the bank and were buying another house with cash this week. In a couple of months I'm buying a new car too.
My ex wife taught me this. She spent money like a drunk sailor and almost ruined me financially. She took care of the finances and when I discovered something was wrong she had 30 credit cards maxed out and a balance of $225,000. At that point I vowed to take controll and never have another credit payment. It's a great way to live.
goamules
Well-known
No debt = no worries.
I have an engineer friend I used to work with. He bought his first house with cash, saved up after about 10 years of working. Cash....paid for the house. Then he instructed his wife to make a "house payment" of what their mortgage WOULD have been, going into their bank account. He invested, and at one time had hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then his wife left him, taking the kids and extorting a house and a lot of cash out of him up front "so I don't have to get alimony payment for life...(the lawyer line). He got depressed and lost his job. At 50, he couldn't find another one in the Southwest. He went from $90K/yr to about $9k, just doing odd jobs. Ironically, he wouldn't have had to pay much alimony when his salary plummeted. It's been about 15 years now. You know what? He's happy, healthy, has a great girlfriend, does lots of fun stuff. Because he never had debt, and refuses to ever borrow a dime. He's proven to me that if you don't owe anything, you can live VERY cheaply. You just need food, and a little shelter. He lives better than a lot of couples I know where both work, with big, important jobs. But they have debt for their cars, furniture, homes, boats, cameras, vacations, etc.
I have an engineer friend I used to work with. He bought his first house with cash, saved up after about 10 years of working. Cash....paid for the house. Then he instructed his wife to make a "house payment" of what their mortgage WOULD have been, going into their bank account. He invested, and at one time had hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then his wife left him, taking the kids and extorting a house and a lot of cash out of him up front "so I don't have to get alimony payment for life...(the lawyer line). He got depressed and lost his job. At 50, he couldn't find another one in the Southwest. He went from $90K/yr to about $9k, just doing odd jobs. Ironically, he wouldn't have had to pay much alimony when his salary plummeted. It's been about 15 years now. You know what? He's happy, healthy, has a great girlfriend, does lots of fun stuff. Because he never had debt, and refuses to ever borrow a dime. He's proven to me that if you don't owe anything, you can live VERY cheaply. You just need food, and a little shelter. He lives better than a lot of couples I know where both work, with big, important jobs. But they have debt for their cars, furniture, homes, boats, cameras, vacations, etc.
Highway 61
Revisited
goamules
Well-known
No, he's more practical than that. Not about posing or bragging, he just gets the job done with things that are a better value. I know he loved an Olympus OM-1 for years. His wife got that too.
KM-25
Well-known
+1, I have very good credit, balances on cards associated with my photography business go up and down from $1,000-$15,000 every year and I have plenty of operating Capitol to do that, never upside down. I leased my Hasselblad CFV50c back and will buy it outright for $1 at end of term, got a fantastic rate on it due to the credit.
I stopped reading the article after the first paragraph:
"I remember when I was sitting in my cubicle at work, dreaming and lusting after a digital Leica M9."
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