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Credit cards aren't evil. Humans who abuse credit cards are another thing.
Credit cards can protect you if your wallet is stolen- credit cards will refund your account if $1,000 is fraudulently charged. If you have $1,000 cash in your wallet, you're SOL.
Credit cards allow you to book travel. How are you going to book airplane tickets, hotels/motels, rental cards, etc when you travel? What if the girlfriend doesn't have enough available credit or doesn't want you charging on her cards all the time?
Credit cards allow you to finance emergency purchases (say, $3,000 of dental work or $2,000 to repair your car or $1,500 for a new fridge) if you don't have thar money in your savings account. Not ideal, but better than having no car/ no food/ rotting teeth until you save up the cash.
Credit cards aid in showing prospective landlords, employers, etc that you are a responsible human being that isn't a risk for a rental or a jon opportunity.
Living on cash 95% of the time is a GREAT idea. But there are some situations where using credit is prefered and for that reason, you should really re-think keeping 1 card open for true emergencies and travel.
Credit cards aren't evil. Humans who abuse credit cards are another thing.
Credit cards can protect you if your wallet is stolen- credit cards will refund your account if $1,000 is fraudulently charged. If you have $1,000 cash in your wallet, you're SOL.
Credit cards allow you to book travel. How are you going to book airplane tickets, hotels/motels, rental cards, etc when you travel? What if the girlfriend doesn't have enough available credit or doesn't want you charging on her cards all the time?
Credit cards allow you to finance emergency purchases (say, $3,000 of dental work or $2,000 to repair your car or $1,500 for a new fridge) if you don't have thar money in your savings account. Not ideal, but better than having no car/ no food/ rotting teeth until you save up the cash.
Credit cards aid in showing prospective landlords, employers, etc that you are a responsible human being that isn't a risk for a rental or a jon opportunity.
Living on cash 95% of the time is a GREAT idea. But there are some situations where using credit is prefered and for that reason, you should really re-think keeping 1 card open for true emergencies and travel.
If you have the ability to repay that borrowed money (Credit card) then you have the ability to SAVE up the money ahead of the need.
Once AGAIN... rendering Credit Cards pointless. (Except for those making money off of you)
Cash and the demonstrated LACK of a need of credit also work fine for Landlords and work.
I've taken several month-6 week vacations and never needed a credit card.
I use a debit card for online and booking however.
For a car, maybe not, but for a house it depends on where you live. Median home prices are around $800K here (SF Bay Area), and I don't know many people - even millionaires - who can pay cash for that! As for myself, I have no interest in owning a home anytime soon. I do have & need a car, but it was paid off last year... and being a Honda, I expect it'll last for many more years. If I buy another car in the near future, I do plan to go used and pay cash.
Btw, I only have one credit card for emergencies, and it has a low limit of $300. I've learned my lesson with high-limit cards, and actually still paying for a few of those mistakes. Never again! As for debit cards, I don't see the point in tearing those up, since you can't spend money you don't HAVE. Not to mention, how do you withdraw money from your account? So I do keep debit cards from my checking accounts, and use them more than cash on a daily basis. I live in a big city, and it's just safer & easier that way.
Credit cards aren't evil. Humans who abuse credit cards are another thing.
Credit cards can protect you if your wallet is stolen- credit cards will refund your account if $1,000 is fraudulently charged. If you have $1,000 cash in your wallet, you're SOL.
Credit cards allow you to book travel. How are you going to book airplane tickets, hotels/motels, rental cards, etc when you travel? What if the girlfriend doesn't have enough available credit or doesn't want you charging on her cards all the time?
Credit cards allow you to finance emergency purchases (say, $3,000 of dental work or $2,000 to repair your car or $1,500 for a new fridge) if you don't have thar money in your savings account. Not ideal, but better than having no car/ no food/ rotting teeth until you save up the cash.
Credit cards aid in showing prospective landlords, employers, etc that you are a responsible human being that isn't a risk for a rental or a jon opportunity.
Living on cash 95% of the time is a GREAT idea. But there are some situations where using credit is prefered and for that reason, you should really re-think keeping 1 card open for true emergencies and travel.
It won't let me rep you, but nobody could have said it better than you just did! Kudos!
For a car, maybe not, but for a house it depends on where you live. Median home prices are around $800K here (SF Bay Area), and I don't know many people - even millionaires - who can pay cash for that! As for myself, I have no interest in owning a home anytime soon. I do have & need a car, but it was paid off last year... and being a Honda, I expect it'll last for many more years. If I buy another car in the near future, I do plan to go used and pay cash.
Btw, I only have one credit card for emergencies, and it has a low limit of $300. I've learned my lesson with high-limit cards, and actually still paying for a few of those mistakes. Never again! As for debit cards, I don't see the point in tearing those up, since you can't spend money you don't HAVE. Not to mention, how do you withdraw money from your account? So I do keep debit cards from my checking accounts, and use them more than cash on a daily basis. I live in a big city, and it's just safer & easier that way.
Went out there a couple years ago for a buddies wedding.
I was SHOCKED at what a half-million $ house was (I've lived in Bigger Appartments)
I don't know WHY you would BUY such an overpriced atrocity!
As for Emergencies... Are youy telling me that a $300 limit Credit card will cover an actual emergency?
We must think of emergencies differently, that won't cover more than a couple nights and meals while you DEAL with the emergency (Like your car imploding on a trip etc.)
If you have the ability to repay that borrowed money (Credit card) then you have the ability to SAVE up the money ahead of the need.
And has been stated many times, there are many of us who have the cash to pay for what we buy and never carry a CC balance. That piece of plastic is just a tool used to pay for goods and services; it does not mean that we do not have the money in the first place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Themanwithnoname
Once AGAIN... rendering Credit Cards pointless.
Its a lot more convenient to simply buy what I need as a I go and, once a month, pay for every purchase with a single bank transfer. I don't want to worry about having cash on hand, or tracking every single debit card purchase; in the latter case, I have better things to dow ith my time.
Nice to see some objective commentary in the favor of credit cards.
You can't argue with some points re: efficiency and convenience and consolidation of your purchases.
Yes, because spending 2 minutes running down the column of debit card uses is SOOO much less convienant than getting another bill, making sure it is paid, or checking the SAME transactions online on a different (credit card) account!
Well, to be honest it's a discipline issue. I use cash because it's easier to limit myself. If I only have 5 bucks on me, then I will buy less than 5 bucks of groceries for dinner (and maybe breakfast too) and guess what, it's doable. If I have 10 bucks, or a credit card, then I'll likely spend more. When the utility of feeding myself can be satisfactorily accomplished with less money. It's not every day that I need to eat especially well, some days a cheap can of tuna is perfectly fine for dinner.
I think the solution for me with a credit card, if I used one, would be to leave it at home and only take it out on designated shopping trips, in which the aforementioned aspects of all the bills in one place could be convenient. But it's all the little purchases that can really add up if I'm not careful and that's why it's better to carry a limited amount of cash.
Why is it that the same people who are pro-credit card and talk about how responsible they are are the same ones who say you need one for an "emergency". It seems to me that having an emergency fund of 6 months expenses is far more fiscally responsible. Once you have that, you'll never need a credit card again for anything. A debit card serves exactly the same function.
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If I buy another car in the near future, I do plan to go used and pay cash.
