In my whole life I've only owned one credit card. After that one I decided that it just wasn't for me. Instead I have a debit card, and that is better in my opinion. How many credit cards do you have, and are any of them maxed out?
I'm sad to admit that I'm either too cheap or too smart ( no offense ) to ever own a credit card. It's my understanding that most of the nation is buried in credit card debt and I've seen it ruin families. A debit card is about all I need and all I'll use. I can pay my bills online, shop online, there's nothing that I can't do with my debit card that I couldn't do with a credit card. Except of course accrue debt.
I don't know what cheap or smart has to do with it. You spend what you have and not anymore. I have three credit cards and never have a problem with any of them. I earn rewards on two of them which are a nice bonus and the third I use for business or online work and it is paid automatically every month. The other two I pay off like clockwork. The bill comes in and I pay if off through an app on my iPhone and it's done.
I have a couple of credit cards. I only charge small amounts and pay them in full at the end of the month. I went without credit for a long time. It didn't work for me. I had problems with renting cars, booking hotel rooms, etc.
We have 2 credit cards, both of which earn rewards. There is nothing stupid about owning a credit card, just stupid ways to use them. We only spend what we have. At any given second we could pay our credit card off in full and we do so at the end of each month. The cards earn rewards, so for spending the exact same amount of money we would have spent using a debit card or cash we also earned $127 in rewards last month. That's free money. Yes peopel are burried in credit card debt, yes people use cards stupidly, yes it ruins families. But only if you use them incorrectly.
I somewhat disagree. But this is coming from somebody who has been burned by banks and also fraud. You can't even imagine the mess that has happened to me and the worst part is that somehow I got sued for an account that wasn't mine and it has taken me over 2 years to get my money back. Yes I used to have a credit card with this company, but I had cancelled it and next thing I know I got sued for an account that was "in my name" but not really mine. No verifiable proof it was mine either, because I didn't sign up for it. I also ended up getting a % hike of up to 30% when paying the bill off each month in the past. They only ever gave me a run around and nobody could answer me. So I had cancelled and cut that one up too. I have also been taken for a ride on other credit issuing banks. If I can't pay cash, I don't need it. No more credit cards for me, no auto loans for me, no mortgage for me here. My monthly bills are the exact same amount each month and all is good here now!
Yeah, I was soooo happy to pay off my car loan. That was the worst thing ever to me. Never again will I get a car loan. I have an interesting story about credit cards. I knew some real estate investors that had a bunch of credit cards that they would use to buy properties with (low priced i guess). The would take cash out on all the cards to buy the property, fix up the house, sell it, and then pay off the credit card. Personally, credit cards are too risky to me... it makes it so easy to spend money that you do not have.
I own two credit cards and busy paying them off, I barely use them...I had to at one point for an emergency. It is my intention to keep one. I have payed off all clothing accounts though, those interest rates are very high and best avoided. One needs to know how to use credit...and many of us do not, but there are those of us who do. No, none of my cards are maxed but I keep them for back-up but I am reconsidering that after reading dconklin's reply, it has made me think a bit deeper.
I only have one credit card. I keep it just to have in case of emergencies or if I have to put a refundable deposit on it or something. If I had more it would be too much temptation for me and I already have a lot of student loan debt so I'm not interested in any more.
I only have 2. I have learned over the years that its all I need. I get paid once a month, so I pay all my monthly expenses with them, and pay them off every month. Feels good.
Hmm. I technically only have one credit card that is solely a credit card. It is not maxed out, although after a couple back-to-back emergencies earlier in the year, it's the highest it's ever been. I have two debit cards with different banks that also have a credit line attached that I could potentially use if I need to, but I've never used either.
We don't use credit cards anymore. We used to but always had them maxed out. We are slowly paying off all our debts to not have any type of loan or credit card. I feel so much better knowing what I am spending I have on hand and don't owe anyone money.
That is called credit card fraud and looks like a case of identity debt. You should not have paid that - you should have contacted the correct agencies and gotten that taken care of. Of course you say you cut of the card which means that you did have that account otherwise why would you need to cut a card? Either way that doesn't make credit cards evil, anymore then it makes people who have them stupid or cheap. I have 3 cards and at one time or another had 4. I have never had any real issues because I generally don't use them unless it's emergency or I need to rent a car or hotel room or it's a couple of days to payday and I don't want to try floating the charge. It all depends on knowing your limits and not pretending that you have money you don't. If you couldn't afford it normally, then you probably shouldn't be charging for it now.
I have six cards, but they are all ones which I needed to have because of the current situation I am in. My husband is on a disability pension and a few years ago our income was cut off completely so we had to use this to keep food on the table and the lights on.
I hope you can find yourself out of that hole as quickly as possible. I think credit cards can be a good thing, just don't get in over your head.
I agree that it is necessary to have a credit card. I need to work on my credit score, because right now it's not the best. I will get another credit card and hopefully I can keep this one in good standing. It's just difficult because you have no idea what can happen from day to day. You can lose your job and then you're buried in debt. That's why I want to avoid getting one, but I need if I want a home, car, or a loan.
Right now I own two credit cards. My goal is to keep paying off my credit cards in full and on time each month. I made some bad mistakes in my younger years concerning credit cards. I use to have ton with large balances but now I have self control and know the consequences of carrying around a large debt balance so I make sure to only use the card when I know its something I can pay off once the bill becomes due.
I only have 2 credit cards - and they are both rewards-based. One is the Capital 1 cash-back credit card and the other is an Amazon.com credit card. I do carry around my debit card but I never use it. I treat my credit cards like debit cards - only spending what I can truly afford and paying the balances off. That way, I reap all the benefits without paying fees like interest. The problem with credit cards is that people forget that they owe the money if they don't have it - credit isn't free! Some of my cards have gotten maxed out or gotten close to it, but that's because I bought a big purchase that I could actually afford. I've never maxed out cards carelessly, just spending money on whatever I wanted.
The key is to save your money. I never have more money on my credit card than I have in my checking account. So even if I lost my job tomorrow, I could pay the card of in full if need be.
