Credit Cards

Captain Ahab Jr · Captain Ahab Jr's Garage

Just reading Jeff's post about being asked for a credit card while paying cash which got me thinking......

A simple debit card has worked for me for years now, I've had no problems booking rental cars, hotels, buying stuff online, filling my gas tank etc

Guess I was brought up and live the old fashioned way by spending within my means, saving up to buy stuff or not buying it at all

Anyone else on here able to get through life without a credit card?

OldSpool87 · 04-07-2019, 02:12 AM

Amex. Paid off everyone month. Works great.

tabs · 04-07-2019, 02:15 AM

Unfortunately you have been totally dependent on the national credit card for most of your life. Without using that credit your standard of living would have been a lot lessor.

You have borrowed against your and your children's future. It doesn't matter how solvent you are, the nation you live in has striped any value out of your assets, the cash you have in your pocket is monopoly money.

tabs · 04-07-2019, 02:19 AM

The US debt is 40T greater than its assets..

OldSpool87 · 04-07-2019, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabs

Unfortunately you have been totally dependent on the national credit card for most of your life. Without using that credit your standard of living would have been a lot lessor.

You have borrowed against your and your children's future. It doesn't matter how solvent you are, the nation you live in has striped any value out of your assets, the cash you have in your pocket is monopoly money.

FYI- The two posts before yours support a strategy of pay as you go with what you got. Not borrower and punt.

Sooner or later · 04-07-2019, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabs

The US debt is 40T greater than its assets..

You have a link to support?

epbrown · 04-07-2019, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Anyone else on here able to get through life without a credit card?

Like most things, it's not about using credit, it's about poorly managed credit. I've got a high limit credit card, but I use it for piddly day-to-day like gas stuff and pay it off before any interest accrues. No debt and keeps my credit score up.

I was raised to live below my means and still do, but I learned in my 20s that paying cash for everything is a sort of red flag. Even writing checks is seen as shifty.

herr_oberst · 04-07-2019, 04:16 AM

The credit card gets paid off every month. No fees, no interest.

drkshdw · 04-07-2019, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Guess I was brought up and live the old fashioned way by spending within my means, saving up to buy stuff or not buying it at all

Anyone else on here able to get through life without a credit card?

My parents taught me 'if you don't have the cash, you can't afford it'. That worked well until I wanted to buy a house.

In todays world trying to save faster than housing prices just isn't realistic. After 10+ years of chasing home prices I decided to put my cash away and put everything I bought onto a credit card. Paid it off every month and 'played the game' until a bank gave me a loan.

So while I didn't 'have the cash' at the time because I couldn't save fast enough, I ended up paying 4 times the price of what my home sold for 20 years prior. All because I was paying for everything with paper instead of plastic.

What I'm trying to say is that cash is great but at least have one credit card to stay in the credit game 'just in case'.

onewhippedpuppy · 04-07-2019, 04:35 AM

We have two, one for business and one for personal, both get paid off monthly. Also have debit cards for routine purchases. Another benefit of a full credit card is the fraud protection, it’s much harder to get your drained checking account balance restored than it is to reverse purchases on a credit card. I very rarely use my debit card online, only on trusted websites. I have no debt so I don’t care about the credit score aspect, my goal is to never borrow money again.

Alan A · 04-07-2019, 04:38 AM

Cash is great until you have an emergency that you can’t cover.
Credit isn’t the issue. It’s irresponsible use of credit that’s the issue.
You couldn’t pay me to use a debit card. If there’s an issue the money is gone and you have to try to get it back. With a credit card (or better Amex, which I pretty much use exclusively) you dispute it before you pay.

Would anyone here seriously pay cash for a new car if they could finance it at 0% over 3 years? That’s still using credit, but it’s an obvious example of a place where cash isn’t king.

KFC911 · 04-07-2019, 04:42 AM

When debits appeared, they were treated vastly different than today...one still needed a CC for travel, etc. I cancelled my one (personal) long held CC over a decade ago....use one debit with overdraft and I don't sweat it....works for me...YMMV.

javadog · 04-07-2019, 04:44 AM

I haven't used a credit card in 10 years. I've never had an issue with a debit card but I don't make large purchases over the 'net, nor have I traveled much in those years. I have multiple accounts and can move money around as needed, and I don't keep doodly squat in the one I use for PayPal and internet purchases. Still, no issues...

KFC911 · 04-07-2019, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabs

The US debt is 40T greater than its assets..

BS....we're selling CA to China and Sarah's yard back to Putin....flpping it for a $chitload of Vega$ $$$ too....watch yerself....next

!

KFC911 · 04-07-2019, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by javadog

I haven't used a credit card in 10 years. I've never had an issue with a debit card but I don't make large purchases over the 'net, nor have I traveled much in those years. I have multiple accounts and can move money around as needed, and I don't keep doodly squat in the one I use for PayPal and internet purchases. Still, no issues...

Yep...I keep track and nuthin' of significance stays there....fraud protection seems excellent imo.

cabmandone · cabmandone's Garage

I use a credit card for everything and will not have a debit card because there seems to be less fraud protection with a debit card that comes directly out of your account. Using a credit card isn't financially irresponsible as long as you do what my parents taught me to do early on... "never spend more than you can pay off at the end of the month". The only time I have ever carried a balance on a credit card was when they were dumb enough to give me a zero percent interest rate for 6 or 12 months. Heck yes I'm going to use their money interest free to grow my money and when the 6 or 12 month period is up, I pay it off because I always had enough in my account to pay off whatever I put on the card... plus some.

KFC911 · 04-07-2019, 05:26 AM

I will NOT feed the beast as y'all do....

I know this stuff a bit too

Lots of way to do it...debit is the ONLY way that works for me...we've btdt...

My debit protection is awesome...now.

All of you guys are sharp.....most aren't

Starless · 04-07-2019, 05:32 AM

We use a CC for EVERYTHING that doesn't have a surcharge on it for using a card, like our electric bill and taxes. Pay off every month in full and at the end of the year we average @ $1500 in cash back. Why would i use cash?

jcommin · jcommin's Garage

I went thru a very ugly period from 2006 to 2010. That included a very expensive divorce. I had over $20K in CC debt plus owing the IRS $14K. I never, ever want to see CC debt again. Paid off both - it took awhile.

I have a debit card for most purchases. I have a CC with a low limit $6K and use that when I travel.

pete3799 · pete3799's Garage

I don't have a debit card but do have 1 credit card that I've had for 35 years. It was used quite a bit in the 38 years I was in business. Now not so much.
Wife has a debit card and no credit card.
Still pay all my household bills by check. May be dumb but i'm old school.