How do you stay Credit Card debt free? (loan, payment, company)

[Rose Red]

I say credit card debt because I do have a small mortgage and a auto loan but no credit card debt. Amen.

I stay debt free because I don't live near mooching relatives who need to borrow a couple dollars for cigs. Buy only what I can afford and can tell a want from a need.

Didn't jump on the bandwagon when everyone was taking cash out of their homes to buy stuff and go on a fancy vacation. Which a lot of my friends did.

Eat at home 98% of the time and stay away from the mall.

[Nepenthe]

Originally Posted by Rose Red

I say credit card debt because I do have a small mortgage and a auto loan but no credit card debt. Amen.

I stay debt free because I don't live near mooching relatives who need to borrow a couple dollars for cigs. Buy only what I can afford and can tell a want from a need.

Didn't jump on the bandwagon when everyone was taking cash out of their homes to buy stuff and go on a fancy vacation. Which a lot of my friends did.

Eat at home 98% of the time and stay away from the mall.

I almost always have a balance. I go back to $0 once a month for a couple of days. I haven't payed interest for a decade. I get a small cash reward. The card is what I use for everything. I never have cash. I haven't had a bill in my hand in years.

[kickchick2000]

I'm 27 and have stayed credit card debt free by simply not having a credit card. My DH and I have a small home mortgage and a small car payment. Anything else we simply DO NOT BUY unless we have the cash for the item.

[stock66]

I have two credit cards both tied to the same airline FF account. One is personal use, one is for our business. I use them for everything and pay them off in full every month. We get enough awards to fly us home for the holidays and on summer vacations.
No car debt, no debt other than a mortgage.
I have everything I want but then I have never wanted much

[Jaxson]

Very simple...... don't use them.

Folks that have large balances, with the wall street bail out, housing market failing and now the big 3 auto problems, better wake up from those examples. We need shelter, food, clothing and transportation we want so much more without regard how to pay for it so most use plastic.

[SFDreamer]

It's very simple. We have them, use them only when we know we will pay off the balances each month, ACTUALLY pay the balances (if any) off each month, and never rely on these as a source of income. We are on the same page about debt, and that is the first step in remaining debt free: being on the same page as a family/couple!

[Huckleberry3911948]

listen to dave ramsey like your life depended on it. most of the evil cursed on the american household can be traced to 1974 anti discrimination credit act.

[christina0001]

I don't have credit card debt because I don't buy what I can't afford. I have one credit card, I had two for a long time but canceled one this summer - my credit rating is outstanding and I didn't see the point. I use the card maybe once every month or two for online purchases, and I pay the balance electronically as soon as it appears. I use my debit card for just about everything else but I don't like to use it on the internet.

I had my share of credit card debt when I was younger. It took years to learn:
1. there was nothing so necessary that it required going into debt to have, and
2. it is better to save your money, then buy the item, instead of first buying the item and paying it off later.

[golfgod]

We ALWAYS lived below our means! We never had cable TV, high speed internet or a NEW car until after we retired! We never felt as though we were deprived of anything.

We both worked so we ate out a lot, but we always made sure that we paid our CC debt ON TIME, IN FULL every time. We never concerned ouselves too much about the airline miles or points, they came when they came.

Beginning in '95 I quit my high paying corporate job and started a new company, that meant I "needed" a "new" car (I was driving a 10 year old Chevy and getting ready to start putting 50K+ plus a year on my car), a computer, a cell phone and enough miscellaneous "stuff" to set up my home office and start spending all that time on the road. Outside of the computer and printer/fax/copier I don't think I spent $50 on the office.

I bought a year old car with 15K miles on it for about 60% of new price.
I bought a used 6' folding table to use as a desk
I used a dining room chair until I found an office type chair at a yard sale
I "recycled" my paper by using both sides of every piece of paper for receicing faxes (I received a lot of faxes due to the nature of the business, 50-60 pages per day)
I used coupon books (available often at Mickie Ds or Denny's) to find deals on hotels in the towns I traveled to a lot. I was usually paying about 60% of what my competitors paid for hotels.
I would take customers out for lunch on the road but would go to the grocery deli department and get some turkey and cheese and a couple of bagels, a qt of milk and a banan for dinner and have the rest for breakfast.

I did the regimen for the first 3 years to keep the expenses way down, even with this they averaged about $2K/month due to the nature of the business. However, I was making a profit by the 3rd month and doing very well within 8 months.

I wasn't depriving myself, I was just living like I normally did!

golfgod

[MoNative34]

I payed off my cards, but did a few behavior changing things to keep it that way.

I learned to cook, how to plan meals and how to shop. I put everything down on paper. The stress is much lower now!