The only value of a credit card is to keep a high credit score by having a large available balance, only charging a tiny amount occasionally and then nearly paying it off, only keeping a balance less than 10% of the limit.
Anyone who seriously owes high credit card balances is screwed in the coming months as the economy collapses.
A little tip I learned from listening to Clark Howard. Use a credit card to pay for all monthly expenses and pay it off every month. Credit card users are only responsible for up to $50 for unauthorized purchases. Use a debit card and there is no limit to the amount you would owe if used fraudulently. And with the right credit card, you’ll also get cash BACK every month.
This is true. I don't even have a debit card. Everything goes on an Amex Hilton card. You won't get a better return in points. I stay permanent diamond status and accrue 1-2 weeks worth of free nights/year.
Depends on the bank. My debit card has liability limits just like a credit card no matter how it's used.
The only difference is it'll suck a lot more having my checking account borked while it's sorted out than just not being able to use a credit card for a while.
You don't really need a credit score. If you don't owe anyone money, you can save up for everything you want to buy. I will be in that position soon. At that point I will pay cash for cars and everything else. I'm already at that point, except for the current car loan. But that will be gone soon, a few years early. I'm good with my current house, so I won't ever be buying another one. But a family with a decent pay and no credit bills shouldn't have much trouble saving up for a house in just a few years.
Pay it off every month, if you don’t, it will constantly cause you problems. Making minimum payments is very bad, to prove it, look at the balance owed after each month, it didn’t go down much. Why? Because the interest is added back to what you owe each month. Get rid of the bill as quickly as you can, it will really help you improve your standard of living when you have some extra cash every month!
That's about what you have to pay the merchants extra for everything you buy with plastic. Local restaurants here charge 3% extra if you use plastic instead of cash. And that even includes debit cards.
They charge everyone that accepts your plastic more than you get back. It's a neat little scam, gets you to pressure merchants to accept the card, but then you don't want to pay extra to use it... So the merchant distributes the card processing fees across all their transactions. Now cash customers (and everyone really) pay more, the bank makes money and you get a little piece.
Congratulations! You just made life a little worse for everyone. Except the bank.
Dave Ramsey is right about credit. You need to get rid of it all as soon as possible. You don't need a credit score for anything but getting more useless credit. You can even get a home loan without a credit score if you need to. You might have to shop around for a lender who's willing to manually check your income and debts, but it can be done.
I will be done with all of it in 4 years, and the mortgage in 5. Never again. The current and only card is going away in a few months. They are up to 27.49% now. They can only get away with that because they're based in Biden's home state of Delaware, as almost all credit cards are.
What's an extra 2% of virtually a zero balance?
The only value of a credit card is to keep a high credit score by having a large available balance, only charging a tiny amount occasionally and then nearly paying it off, only keeping a balance less than 10% of the limit.
Anyone who seriously owes high credit card balances is screwed in the coming months as the economy collapses.
Exactly. Always paid off before bill arrives and quarterly cash in the reward points.
A little tip I learned from listening to Clark Howard. Use a credit card to pay for all monthly expenses and pay it off every month. Credit card users are only responsible for up to $50 for unauthorized purchases. Use a debit card and there is no limit to the amount you would owe if used fraudulently. And with the right credit card, you’ll also get cash BACK every month.
This is true. I don't even have a debit card. Everything goes on an Amex Hilton card. You won't get a better return in points. I stay permanent diamond status and accrue 1-2 weeks worth of free nights/year.
Depends on the bank. My debit card has liability limits just like a credit card no matter how it's used.
The only difference is it'll suck a lot more having my checking account borked while it's sorted out than just not being able to use a credit card for a while.
You don't really need a credit score. If you don't owe anyone money, you can save up for everything you want to buy. I will be in that position soon. At that point I will pay cash for cars and everything else. I'm already at that point, except for the current car loan. But that will be gone soon, a few years early. I'm good with my current house, so I won't ever be buying another one. But a family with a decent pay and no credit bills shouldn't have much trouble saving up for a house in just a few years.
Wise moves 👌
Dave Ramsey may be hard to take for some people, but he's correct in his snowball plan to eliminate all debt.
No credit cards here. The borrower is slave to the lender.
I haven't known my credit card rate in over 20 years, I pay it off in full every month without fail, so it costs me nothing.
Haven't had a credit card in over a decade.
After spending a decade to pay off old debt to get it to zero, I don't intend on going back. It isn't worth it to me.
Pay it off every month, if you don’t, it will constantly cause you problems. Making minimum payments is very bad, to prove it, look at the balance owed after each month, it didn’t go down much. Why? Because the interest is added back to what you owe each month. Get rid of the bill as quickly as you can, it will really help you improve your standard of living when you have some extra cash every month!
I never pay interest because I pay it off every month. The bank pays ME in the form of 3-5% cash back every month.
That's about what you have to pay the merchants extra for everything you buy with plastic. Local restaurants here charge 3% extra if you use plastic instead of cash. And that even includes debit cards.
Yeah. They're just handing you free cash!
They charge everyone that accepts your plastic more than you get back. It's a neat little scam, gets you to pressure merchants to accept the card, but then you don't want to pay extra to use it... So the merchant distributes the card processing fees across all their transactions. Now cash customers (and everyone really) pay more, the bank makes money and you get a little piece.
Congratulations! You just made life a little worse for everyone. Except the bank.
Amex and pay off monthly or get a zero percent for big purchases.
we just got one .... after the first 3 months.... 26.75% !!!! wtf???
I just checked my savings account interest and it is 0.3 percent.
I'm old enough to remember when you could get 5-6% and you had your pick of 8 different quality rifles or shotguns for opening an account.
Those were the days my fren!
Yes. This has not been covered enough. DS push people to use cc's and then the fed in lock step bumps the rates.
Dave Ramsey is right about credit. You need to get rid of it all as soon as possible. You don't need a credit score for anything but getting more useless credit. You can even get a home loan without a credit score if you need to. You might have to shop around for a lender who's willing to manually check your income and debts, but it can be done.
I will be done with all of it in 4 years, and the mortgage in 5. Never again. The current and only card is going away in a few months. They are up to 27.49% now. They can only get away with that because they're based in Biden's home state of Delaware, as almost all credit cards are.