Debt

I'm not the only one worried about debt, but as most of mine is student loans, I'm in a much better situation than those who have sub-prime mortgages, who relied on being able to refinance later on, or those with variable-rate credit cards, or who relied on being able to transfer their balance to the next card.

I know a couple of people who played the credit card balance game and were successful in moving balances around to take advantage of low interest rate offers. What I don't know is whether they were able to actually reduce their debt this way; in any case, they found it shocking, after several changes, when the next card wouldn't play.

By that time, they had established the game on their credit reports and the bank realized they were going to keep the account open for six months. Of course, opening and closing accounts every six months likely had an impact on their credit ratings as well. I don't think that game exists any longer.

The credit card game people, at least those with good credit, play now is how to get the best deal on travel. Apparently, Capital One has better conversion rates. Which is fine if you use it and pay it off. My credit union card has a low rate for straight up transaction conversions but fees are higher for ATM's.

Not that I'm going anywhere.