banktime.com

Once upon a time, frustrated credit cardholders had one well-known, reliable way of ending their dependence on plastic… a trusty pair of scissors. The cathartic process of snipping your credit card into tiny pieces and disposing of it for good was a time-honored right of passage for consumers wanting to take a new and responsible step towards financial independence. Nowadays, there are more Americans frustrated with credit cards than usual. The recession economy has taken a real toll on United States citizens’ financial welfare as a whole, and irritation with credit card companies is running high. Interest rates are up, credit limits are down, and the whole country is waiting on baited breath for the enforcement of the so-called Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights, a set of laws that is expected to change a decade of predatory practices and polices perpetuated upon consumers with no other options.

Today’s economic situation has given rise to a whole new set of ways to destroy your credit cards. Scissors? Those are old news. Try: blowtorches, lawnmowers, microwaves, and shotguns. Today’s consumers don’t want to part ways peacefully with their plastic. They want it good and dead. A story from MSN money related the comical tale of North Carolina district court judge Robert Cilley, who is now retired. He was asked recently to preside over a mass funeral staged for fifty consumers’ credit cards. Cilley made a small coffin from scrap pieces of wood, and interred the cut-up remains of many, many plastic corpses as their former owners celebrated their independence from eighteen percent annualized interest rates. The folks gathered all pledged to live their lives as “cash only,” and buried the casket in the back yard. As the cherry on the proverbial sundae, Cilley and the assembled company also broadcasted the solemn event on video-sharing web site YouTube in the hopes of inspiring others to do the same.

If you look up Cilley’s video on YouTube, you might see another humdinger as one of the recommended suggestions. It’s called “Citibank vs. 12 gauge,” and it’s exactly as advertised: one tiny rectangle of plastic versus a big old shotgun. You will also see personal financier Kevin Surbaugh’s cinematic depiction of he and his buddy Sean Thorton subjecting their much-hated credit cards to the blades of their gas-powered lawnmower.

Experts are already predicting that Americans will never handle their money the same way again after living through this recession. An end to widespread reliance on credit cards is expected to be one of the biggest, lasting effects. Consumers are changing the way they live, and that means eliminating the harmful mentalities of “I deserve to have this item now” and “I’ll pay for that later.” Spending is down, and saving is up. With skyrocketing unemployment, foreclosures, and repossessions, we all have a vested interest in building up and maintaining our cash reserves. If you haven’t come up with a creative way of destroying your own plastic, in other words, you might want to dream one up and get around to doing it! (Or you could stick them in a locked safe and hold onto them for a rainy day. It’s not as dramatic and it requires a lot more self-control, however.)