I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? I shall only engage in commerce if books are the coin. -- Catherynne M. Valente
DH and I paid off our credit cards completely about a year ago and we have not carried a balance since. We have quite a bit of money in savings for this reason and would use that to pay off the card in an emergency.
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
I use my cards mainly for business travel. However, up until last year, I carried a balance for YEARS. We had a couple of bad years and it was tough to pay it off.
After we close on our house (IF OUR INCOMPETENT MORTGAGE BROKER GETS HIS FUCKING ACT TOGETHER BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY), I do plan on getting a Delta card and using it for EVERYTHING.
We used a cc to buy a grill in May. We had money to pay most of it up front but it was easier to put the whole thing on the card. We paid it off when our first statement came, which was about 6 weeks after we bought it.
I think that's the only time we've had a balance. I had CC debt in college and it gave me so much anxiety so I try really hard not to have it now.
We have a card that we use almost everyday but we always pay off the entire balance.
I don't really anymore, but that's only because this summer I paid most of it off. I went from utilizing almost 80% of my credit to being under 7-10% now. The one card I still have a balance on that I am still paying off is my CareCredit card for some dental work that had to be done. This is coming from a person who at one point had all credit cards maxed out. While I am trying to be better at not charging things to my CCs anymore, if I had to, I would. I was actually debating possibly getting another laptop since mine is going to be dead fairly soon. I don't have the immediate money for that but would have no qualms with charging it. I am also very, very nest poor and real people poor.
Post by snipsnsnails on Aug 23, 2013 9:58:18 GMT -5
When I lost my job, we did for the first few months while we reigned in our budget and made appropriate cuts. That was for necessities like, uh, food and gas.
And I spent my early 20s going nutso with my CC, so I've had my time to be crazy with it, too. Ha.
I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? I shall only engage in commerce if books are the coin. -- Catherynne M. Valente
I really do try not to use mine much anymore, but, for instance, I got some pictures taken off Lilly the other day. I bought the sitting through a cheap Groupon deal. But, I wanted the CD so I could own all the cute pictures. I put it on a credit card, because it's not like I'll have another chance to get these pictures.
I guess sometimes I feel like some things are more important than being debt free? life is short, y know?
Not often, but large purchases or bills where it may not be possible to part with the cash all at once without dipping into savings. We put two sets of tires on my cc this summer, and the fees for my youngest son's tube surgery. Our tires are a little on the pricey side so it's easier to split up paying for them over two or three months as opposed to dropping $800 at once. The baby's surgery fees were over $500 and it was at the end of the month, so I just put it on the card and paid for it when we had the cash to spare. I keep the balance under $1,000 as a rule, though.
We have an AE H uses for work travel and that's it. We don't use it for personal use.
If we're a little short, we dip into our line of credit from our bank account, which is credit. Obviously, it gets paid back right away when we get paid.
I prefer paying cash. It's easier for me than keeping receipts and checking statements each month for accuracy. When I'm trying to budget, I spend less if I spend cash. However, with the kidlet sometimes I don't make it to the ATM when I want and end up using it. (I'll only go if the parking spot beside the machine is free. Getting her out of the car is more annoying than tracking receipts.)
We carried a 0% balance on some furniture when we first moved to NYC (purchased before we started working, paid off after those pay checks came in). We also carried a balance one other time (the month we bough the house, I think) because we wanted as much money to be liquid as possible. In general, I'm big on having a fund of savings that exceeds monthly and emergency expenses. I have been lucky enough to achieve that.
Whenever I consider carrying a balance, I mentally double the sticker price on any items I buy. It curbs my spending a lot. lol.
never. My husband and I each have one credit card that we have for emergencies. The last thing we charged on it was some car repairs a year or so ago. Every now and again we cahrge somethign and take two months to pay it off so that our credit is established. I am NO GOOD with credit cards. I would buy anything I could get my hands on if I didn't refrain. I am a shopaholic. I legit have a problem with shopping
I really should know better than to ask this question on here. lol. Everyone pays it off, always! No debt, ever! We bought a house with cash and have a 900 credit score!
not me. I was horrible with my cards.. got into a ton of debt right after we were married. My credit score was shit. My husband and I went to a financial planner and don't use our cards. Believe me, its hard. We aren't rich and we live on our income only. There are times I want to totally use my card to get a treat for something but I have a problem with spending I suck with money.
That being said my credit is getting better and better every year. Right now I charge occassionally so that I can establish more credit but we dont' carry big balances. Not cuz I am good with money so I don't want you to feel alone. I brought a ton of debt into the marriage..
"Why would you ruin perfectly good peanuts by adding candy corn? That's like saying hey, I have these awesome nachos, guess I better add some dryer lint." - Nonny
Post by mrsukyankee on Aug 23, 2013 11:27:00 GMT -5
Not since I moved to London. I built up a lot of debt in the States due to some poor choices but also having to fund a large portion of my ACL surgery. I vowed that I would never get into that situation again if at all possible and now won't use my credit card unless the money is in the bank to pay it off (yay for air miles).
Polls like this always end up making me feel like crap. LOL
Too often.
I know. I immediately regretted asking.
We had a lot of credit card debt twice. First when we got married. We paid it off in a couple of years. It built back up after we bought our house and had David, again, we paid it off. I'm not saying I've NEVER had it, we just don't have it now because it was a bitch for us to pay off and I don't want to have to do that again.