Over the past 12 months, for most of us those little non-descript envelopes which contain credit card solicitations aren’t showing up in our mailbox as often. However this doesn’t appear to be the case for a Chicago-area family. They decided to save all their credit card offers they received in the mail over the course of a year. The result? 23 lbs of wasted paper, over 445 different envelopes containing credit card applications. Whether it was an airline reward card, 0% balance transfer credit card offer, or virtually any other type – it was all there.

The father and husband of the family, Gary Silbar, observed that the biggest peddlers were Chase, Citi, and Amex. In fact, roughly 25% were from Chase alone. In the third quarter of 2008 there was a 28% decline in credit card offers when compared to the year before.  However that still leaves over 1.34 billion card offers that were mailed out during the third quarter this year. The difference is that now, creditors seem to only be targeting those with the best credit, like the Silbar family.

And what did these banks get in return for spending several hundred dollars on sending the Silbars these credit card offers? Absolutely nothing – no new card signups. No wonder the banks are broke when they’re wasting money like that!

Well, now you can take comfort in knowing that you and I are not the only ones feeling the credit crunch.  The mega rich and billionaires are getting squeezed too.

For a long time, James Packer was the richest man in Australia.  His father, Kerry Packer, was a media mogul. They were so rich that every year, for 21 years straight, either James or Kerry were numero uno on the rich list in Australia.

Over the past year James Packer has seen his assets cut in half, from AUD $6 billion to $3 billion, and that number is still falling. His playboy lifestyle isn’t quite what it use to be. Up until recently he owned the world’s largest open yacht – complete with 9 bedrooms and even an onboard Aston Martin V12 Vanquish – but that’s now been sold. So has his $38 million luxury condo. As for his $60 million custom Boeing jet that he ordered? Well let’s just say delivery of that has been postponed. Not even his black Amex can bail him out of this one. Although he still has a lifestyle we can only imagine in our wildest dreams, at least you can take comfort in knowing you aren’t the only one who has been feeling the credit crunch.

Home to over 20 million people, Sri Lanka is an island country located about 19 miles off India’s southern coast in South Asia. The island’s central location makes it the crossing point of many sea routes, and as expected, that makes Sri Lanka a thriving player in the industrial economy.

Over the years American Express has continued to strengthen and expand their operations in the Asian markets for obvious reasons – they are growing economic hotspots. Continuing the trend, Amex and Nations Trust Bank of Sri Lanka have teamed up with SriLankan Airlines to issue the first airline-branded Platinum card in the country. SriLanken operates in 25 countries with 45 destinations, including Hong Kong, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, Rome, New Delhi, Dubai, and many more. The agreement also means Nations Trust, one of the biggest banks in the country, will now exclusively issue American Express credit cards.

Gold… Platinum… Black… and snake skin? Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, in collaboration with Corpcom, will be launching the a Cavalli credit card globally on March 1st, during Milan’s women’s fashion week. The card can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted, but besides some special treatment at Cavalli stores, this card doesn’t sound like it offers any real features or benefits. They’ve coined it “The Cavalli Card” but here at Credit Card Forum, we’ve coined it “The Ugly Card.”

How do you think your credit habits compare to other Americans? Today CNN.com’s “Quick Vote” question is “Are you leaking cash by carrying credit card debt?” As of right now, 229,380 people responded – nearly a quarter million – and although this poll is not scientific and only covers CNN.com readers, I believe it’s a fair representation of the credit card debt in America. Here is how people responded:

• 50% responded “No I pay my balance monthly”… so half of Americans have zero credit card debt.
• 8% said they do have a balance, but it’s less than $1,000.
• 14% replied say they have a balance of less than $5,000.
• 9% responded they have less than $10,000.
• 20% said their credit card debt is more than $10,000.

Are these figures bad or not? Well of course, less debt the better. But it is important to note that many people today finance “big ticket” items like cars, medical procedures, and others on their credit cards entirely, because they are able to score a lower interest rate than, say, a traditional bank loan like they did in the past. Others merely float debt that they could otherwise pay off, because they have it on a 0% balance transfer credit card… so for strategic purposes they do not pay it off even though they have the money. In those ways, these figures may be inaccurate since they are including quasi auto loans, home renovations, and more which are on credit cards.

Whatever the case, one thing is for sure and that is that the above numbers are another example of how the working middle class is being squeezed, and often find the need to resort to credit to pick up the slack.

Ever wonder how long it takes for things to disintegrate after you throw them away?

Paper takes 2 to 5 months.
Orange peels can are up to 6 months
Wool socks will take 1 to 5 years
Cigarette butts will take anywhere from 1 to 12 years
Aluminum cans will take at least 200 years
The biodegradable plastic rings that hold a 6 pack of soda pop – 400 years
Glass bottles are around 1,000,000 years
Plastic bottles will virtually never disintegrate.

Fortunately, Discover credit cards have now started offering biodegradeable versions for most of their credit cards beginning last month. The cards are made out of biodegradable PVC which will disintegrate 99% in 9 months to 5 years in landfill conditions.

To read about Discover’s most popular card which offers 5% cashback and is biodegradable, check out our Discover More review.

Disclosure: This site has an advertising relationship with Discover.