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View Poll Results: Do you carry a Credit Card?
Yes 80 86.02%
No 13 13.98%
Voters: 93. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-10-2010, 10:02 AM
 
11,154 posts, read 15,937,001 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bibit612 View Post
I carry several. I do a large proportion of my shopping online since I like to price compare, use online coupons, avail of free shipping, and generally don't like to drive, jostle for parking, wait for non-existent cashiers and other such inconveniences of shopping at a brick and mortar. Thus, the credit cards. Additionally, we have redeemed oodles of cash on one of them which we use on a regular basis for everything (groceries, gas, retail shopping, online shopping, medical bills & co-pays, travel, etc. etc. etc.). This year alone, I have already redeemed $400 in Amazon certificates which allowed me to purchase my camera lens with money we consider "free" since we would have spent the money that earned those points anyway. And yeah, we don't carry balances on this card. We have multiple cards since we are an accounting family and would like to keep business, personal, his and hers expenses joint or separate (as in our bank accounts) and merchants don't always accept the same cards.
Excellent points! I completely overlooked the online shopping aspect of the cash vs. credit card debate.
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Old 06-10-2010, 10:03 AM
 
3,650 posts, read 9,191,964 times
Reputation: 2787
I have a debit card which can sometimes be used as a "credit card," but it's not really.
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Old 06-10-2010, 10:14 AM
 
11,154 posts, read 15,937,001 times
Reputation: 29802
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq View Post
Did you read the articles I posted at all?
Yeah, I'm really impressed with the Farhats. And don't get me started on Dave Ramsey.

Now I have a question for you: Would you care to respond to any of the questions in my post? Since I don't impulse shop like the Farhats, where will my 24% savings come from?

Or is a flippant one-sentence non-answer the best that you can do?
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Old 06-10-2010, 10:29 AM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,148,919 times
Reputation: 30917
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq View Post
Arrogance usually hides personal flaws.
Wow. What a rotten thing to say to someone.

Look. A lot of people -- especially people that are attracted to a forum such as this -- DO know where their money goes.

I've had a spendy past few months. Wasn't in the plan, but it's life. My mother was diagnosed with bone cancer, things went downhill fast, I had to go back to see her while she was still cognizant, and then she went more downhill faster and in less than a week she died. Two fast plane trips in two weeks, rental cars and food..... and the memory of my dear mother looking me in the eyes and telling me she loved me and holding me one last time? Worth every friggin' penny I have.

So you want arrogance? Arrogance is reading articles that state things that may be true for some people and coming here and lording it over everyone else acting like it's now gospel that we all have to follow. Before you go around telling people they may be arrogant take a hard look at yourself.
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Old 06-10-2010, 10:32 AM
 
48,505 posts, read 96,582,961 times
Reputation: 18303
I think it just a matter of how much displended you are like people that overdraw checking accounts. We use credit cards for everything and like the accounting it gives of spending habits.Of course; the cash rewards are nice also.Cash may it seems be better for some that can't control spending or don't keep track of spending.
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Old 06-10-2010, 10:59 AM
 
9,855 posts, read 15,169,107 times
Reputation: 5481
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda View Post
Yeah, I'm really impressed with the Farhats. And don't get me started on Dave Ramsey.

Now I have a question for you: Would you care to respond to any of the questions in my post? Since I don't impulse shop like the Farhats, where will my 24% savings come from?

Or is a flippant one-sentence non-answer the best that you can do?
You have extremely valid points, I will respond to them individually if you really want me to, but I don't think I need to.

I have thought the same as you for years now. I am going to cash only as a personal experiment only, nothing more and nothing less.

If you would have caught me a month ago, I would have said the exact same thing as you. Personally, I read some articles and thought it was worth trying to pay only cash, and despite the fact that I had a budget I stuck to and lived within my means, I am shocked at how much less I spend cash only.

But again - this is an experiment for me. I want to know for sure which way of living saves me the most money. I don't want to speculate. I might very well be wrong, but how can anyone know unless they try for themselves?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallysmom View Post
Wow. What a rotten thing to say to someone.

Look. A lot of people -- especially people that are attracted to a forum such as this -- DO know where their money goes.

I've had a spendy past few months. Wasn't in the plan, but it's life. My mother was diagnosed with bone cancer, things went downhill fast, I had to go back to see her while she was still cognizant, and then she went more downhill faster and in less than a week she died. Two fast plane trips in two weeks, rental cars and food..... and the memory of my dear mother looking me in the eyes and telling me she loved me and holding me one last time? Worth every friggin' penny I have.

So you want arrogance? Arrogance is reading articles that state things that may be true for some people and coming here and lording it over everyone else acting like it's now gospel that we all have to follow. Before you go around telling people they may be arrogant take a hard look at yourself.
Did you read what I posted? I have claimed multiple times that going cash-only is an experiment for me. I have claimed multiple times that I don't know the best answer to this question. Before you talk down to me about arrogance again why don't you go back and actually read the thread?

I will say it again. I have always carried a credit card and I want to know for myself if the concept of people spending less with cash than credit holds water. I am testing it out right now. I have no idea what is really the smarter way to go - cash or credit. Again - read what someone posts before talking down to them.

On your point - Arrogance is assuming you are better/smarter than everyone else, when most likely you aren't. Here is what I was referring to.

Quote:
Yes, but the average person also carries thousands of dollars in credit card debt and pays monthly interest charges on that debt.

Needless to say, I am not the average person.
How much more arrogant can you get?


It amazes me that people who have never tried cash only will bash it and claim it is only for those who cannot keep track of their expenses. Most person's budget will decrease with cash only. Isn't it worth trying if that might be true?

Last edited by hnsq; 06-10-2010 at 11:13 AM..
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Old 06-10-2010, 11:23 AM
 
Location: southwestern PA
22,331 posts, read 47,289,110 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tallysmom View Post

so you want arrogance? Arrogance is reading articles that state things that may be true for some people and coming here and lording it over everyone else acting like it's now gospel that we all have to follow. Before you go around telling people they may be arrogant take a hard look at yourself.
+1!
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Old 06-10-2010, 11:39 AM
 
25,619 posts, read 36,551,530 times
Reputation: 23291
My wife and I use two credit cards only. We pay for about 95% of all monthly purchases and bills on the cards. Then we pay the balances off 5-7 days before the due dates every month. This way the balance that is always reported to the credit agencies is 0. We have maintained about an 800 FICO for 20years. We download our monthly statements to quicken to track our expenditures. High credit limits and 1-3% utilization is the name of the game. Always pay your balance off monthly. We have never used debit or check cards. Too much risk and much harder to dispute charges when an issue arises.
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Old 06-10-2010, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Chandler, AZ
5,800 posts, read 6,544,719 times
Reputation: 3151
Debit cards offer you substantially less protection than credit cards do, and can demolish your bank account very fast.

I would never use one under any circumstances; it's too easy to accumulate overdraft charges without being aware of it, as millions of folks have found out the hard way.
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Old 06-10-2010, 12:22 PM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,148,919 times
Reputation: 30917
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq View Post
It amazes me that people who have never tried cash only will bash it and claim it is only for those who cannot keep track of their expenses. Most person's budget will decrease with cash only. Isn't it worth trying if that might be true?
Once again -- YOU are assuming that those of us who use credit cards have NEVER tried cash only. Let me clue you in -- been there, done that. Probably how I learned to not overspend on credit cards.

But once the lesson is learned I don't need to go back to the well for refresher courses.

Glad it works for you, though.
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