credit cards: recreational user or addict?

[tbn.al]

I exploit the credit card companies.
I never pay an annual fee.
I pay the full balance every month.
I use one card at the gas pump because it offers a 4% rebate.
Elsewhere, I use my PayPal Debit Card as a Credit Card (no pin), and get a 1.5% cash rebate on every purchase.
I only use my Discover card when I go to the discount store that only takes Discover.

Rebate checks are not taxable income because they are a rebate.

You do realize of course that you are in danger of being cancelled by your card company.

[dmmorris]

Rec' User.

Dig-those-frequent-flier miles! Dig the high credit score >800! Dig those low tickler rates!

[TUBAD83]

Credit card debt is a worse habit than heroin and coke combined--it affects alot more people and is VERY destructive when people don't use sound judgment and exercise fiscal discipline. Im an "ex-addict" who had to learn the hard way--at one point I had 5 bank cards, 2 gas cards, and about a dozen different department store cards--about 15K of debt. It took some counseling, a big credit card cutting party with my mom (she and I shared the addiction-between us we had about 35 cards), and 8 years of using just cash and ONE bank debit card. Today I have one debit card and 2 bank cards that are paid off completely each month. The banks are VERY complicit in promoting this addiction (I can count on one hand the number of cards I actually applied for--the majority of them were sent to me "preapproved")--this means we must be more responsible and wary.

[ken k]

recreational. I use it for most purchases and don't carry much cash but I do pay off the balance every month and get my 1% cash back from Discover. I also use my AAA Visa for all my gas purchases because I get a 5% rebate on gas purchases every month.
Yes they would consider me a dead beat because they only get my 5% transaction fee. Unfortunately this probably makes everything we buy more expensive in the end, since most retailers just end up passing the transaction fee on to the consumer. Remember when gas stations used to offer cash and credit prices?

k

[tubashaman2]

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[tubashaman2]

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[TUBAD83]

One of the reasons for this economy being so bad, with so many companies going bankrupt, is because it is incredibly easy to get a credit card, and people don't pay them off.

When I worked at a McDonalds, 2 employees were talking to one another (next to me). One asked the other "how were you able to afford that? I thought the credit companies closed all your accounts ?" (it was a real nice phone for the time, and I don't remember the exact conversation). Anyways, the person with the phone said, "we got a credit card in our babies name, and this way we can afford this stuff and we buy diapers and stuff for her on it."

That is identity theft and fraud, but think about it. These people cheated the system back then, took thier baby and were able to get a credit card. They have the baby's social securtiy number, all the information, etc. I have bought other things on credit, mainly car repairs, which by the end of the month I will have paid off. (Loans are another story, but the interest rates on loans are around 6-8% from my undergrad, all my credit cards are 22%).

This is not ID theft--parents do have the right to act in their children's behalf and besides, do you actually think the bank cared that an infant was issued a CC?? Do you know how many family pets and DEAD people are issued credit cards? Last year, US banks made over 12 BILLION dollars just on the various fees they charge CC accounts and this year they will take in about 40 BILLION dollars in overdraft fees--they have made a huge fortune off people who should not have been given credit cards in the first place. Im not excusing people's poor judgment and irresponsibility, however I reject the idea that these multibillion dollar corporations have been "victimized" by the very class of consumer they helped create.

JJ

[Tubaryan12]

I am a grasshopper. I have a great time. I am getting more ant-like, but I will never be one.

signed, the silent majority.

Im not excusing people's poor judgment and irresponsibility, however I reject the idea that these multibillion dollar corporations have been "victimized" by the very class of consumer they helped create.

Ain't that the truth.

[tubeast]

I´m not entitled to appear in a CC-accountant´s wet dream, neither.
I got one simply because I found out you need one to cash in early-booking refunds from hotels and the likes.
It came in handy when my car broke down on a roundtrip through Germany last summer.
It´s convenient to pay larger bills with it and have six weeks notice to make sure my giro account is full enough to pay the bill.
After I went from university to employment, it took some time to figure out why, despite slowly increasing income, I tended to always have little savings on my account. With money coming in on a regular basis SEVERAL TIMES the amount I had at my disposal in university, of course there was much to make up for (or so I thought). And there´s nothing wrong with that, as long as there is an end to this phase.

What I do today to remain fluid is a no-brainer: People tend to use up exactly as much money as they have at their disposal every month. Double your income, and your spending habits will grow accordingly, trust me.
I´ve ordered my bank to transfer a manageable amount to a savings account right after my pay cheque arrives. As income rises over the years, SO DOES this automatic transaction.
Whatever may be left on the giro account right before the next cheque comes in is automatically transferred to that savings account, too.
What remains at my disposal will still keep me warm, fed and entertained, including an occasional round of beer for section mates after band practice.
No, I don´t own a fancy cellphone.
Yes, I DO buy used cars rather than new ones.
But yes, I WAS able to pay my new horn from what I saved in not too much time.

To those cumulating lots of change in their pocket, the answer is very simple: PAY IN COINS.
It´s not that hard to hand the guy at the cashier bills and coins to pay, say, 26.95.
If what I have is a 20 and 10 € bills, I might hand out 32 € and receive a 5€ bill and a 5 cent coin in return. It´s not INDECENT to pay tips in smallish coins, neither.

[tubeast]

Just a little note concerning my last post:
Of course I´m aware that many people simply don´t have the means to put some money to the side on a regular basis.
BUT... in former times people cut down their consuming habits to make ends meet, where necessary and if at all possible.
AND... in case You happen to suffer from a CC-habit, think about it: if You haven´t been able to spare some extra dough to spend on that item of luxury that waters Your mouth now, how do You think You´ll be able to pay off the rates for that "Buy Now, Pay Later -Service" a creditcard "offers" ?

But then again, most posters here already mentioned something to that end.

[Donn]

I got into credit cards because you have to, if you ever want to talk to a bank about mortgage loan. An ability to manage with credit is apparently not a substitute for a credit history. Got the Sears card, bought a couple things with it, then I could qualify for the credit union Visa, bought a few things, then I could talk to the bank. The ironic thing is, it seems clear enough from the above that if there's anything that could have prevented me from paying off our mortgage on time, it would have been that damned credit card!

I use it mostly for online transactions. In person, most things cash, a few checks where they take them anymore. If the card comes out a half dozen times in a year, it's a hot year. I hate to use it because the retailer then has to pay the bloodsucking financiers a fee - hence some retailers' cash discounts, good for them.

The retailers who take checks are the specialty shops - unusual car or motorcycle, small instrument repair, stuff like that, and I suppose that is in part because customer relations are so vital, but also I think because they get a better class of customer in general. Lumber yards, transmission shops, no checks please.

"deadbeat" conventionally means someone who doesn't pay his debts, so it would be sort of absurd to use it to describe people who don't "run a balance." But I have wondered how credit rating relates to credit balance, if there's some penalty for not having one.