ORIGINAL: RCKen

I do much better with the local banker than I do with any credit company. We bank both our personal and business banking with a local bank and have had the same banker for the last 12 years. Last summer when my wife got rearending we needed to get her a new car (arrrgghhhh, I hate having a car payment now. Her old car was paid off). We went shopping, found the car, I called the banker on the phone, told him what we wanted, we put the dealer on the phone, the banker said we were good for the cash, we drove the car home that afternoon, and signed the loan application and loan paperwork 4 DAYS LATER. How much did they finance?? Close to $20K. All on a phone call to a banker that we've known long enough for him to know we were good for the cash.

Chuck,
Please DON'T shred those credit card apps. What you need to do is take that blank application, stuff it into the postage paid envelope that came with the application, seal it shut, and drop it in the mailbox. Or even better yet, save up your junk mail and wait for those credit applications. Stuff the postage paid envelope with all that junk mail (just make sure your name isn't on any of this) and drop it in the mailbox. Why??? Because those companies have to PAY for every envelope that comes back to them. Consider it the little man's way of sticking it to the greedy banks!!!!

Ken