I use a credit card for about 98% of all my purchases. My husband and I rack up a $4k-$5k bill every month but we're always able to pay it off. We have a good credit score, in the mid 700's.
I haven't even had a credit card in 10 years. DH got rid of his about 5 years ago.
can i ask why?
We paid down the debt and decided, never again. We operate on a cash only basis now. It just works better for us. It may seem crazy, but our income is tight so emassing debt is not a wise decision.
Post by amberlyrose on Aug 23, 2013 15:37:20 GMT -5
We put everything on our Amex charge card and pay it off at the end of month, unless we can't that month and then it goes into our pay over time portion on the card. Currently, our pay over time is for frivolous stuff like our Broncos tickets. LOL. Total emergency!
I never carry a balance, but there are a lot of weeks where our checking account is close to empty (we do have an e fund, and put a little money towards retirement).
I use my cc for online purchases because I don't want to use my debit for that, but I always pay it off. I want it to stay close to empty so that if I'm ever in an emergency situation where I need to access money quickly, it's there. The last time that happened was when my car broke down and I had to have it towed. Yeah, there wasn't enough in my checking to pay for that.
Post by mrsjuleshs on Aug 23, 2013 15:53:13 GMT -5
We had to put the truck transmission and my medical bills on there. It's all paid off now but I didn't have $4000 for the transmission just laying around at that second. Now, just cheer goes on there or any other big expense but it gets paid off. It takes a few days to get money transferred from savings.
We literally put every single purchase on our amex for the points but we seriously do pay it off every month. Our Amex is a "charge card" not a credit card. Carrying a balance is not an option.
Change it to MC (and/or Discover, depending on what's on 5% rewards that month) and that's me. Every single purchase I make, even if it's a $2.13 iced tea at DD, goes on the credit card. I pay it off every month, and usually twice a month, because when the balance gets too high it'll affect my score.
Then I'll use Mint to look at what discretionary spending is getting out of hand over the course of a few months.
NEVER! Well never now. I am working on paying off CC debt and only have $3200 left which will be paid off very soon. I don't plan on ever ever charging anything again. I am so done with it. We do use a card for points but I pay that thing off every few days.
Post by dragonfly08 on Aug 23, 2013 16:43:40 GMT -5
The only time we don't pay the CC in full is when we have a special purchase outside of our regular budget, and we get an interest free deal from the vendor. Right now, we have a Best Buy card with a balance due to the new appliances for our kitchen reno, but as soon as the interest free period expires it'll be PIF if we haven't already gotten rid of it.
Last year, we put our new appliances on a best buy card because we got a discount and 0% for 36 months. We can pay it off now but are being lazy because it 0%.
Post by thatgirl2478 on Aug 23, 2013 17:12:19 GMT -5
we just had to charge $3k on our HD card - replacement cabinet doors & appliances for our home turned rental that's going back on the market ASAP (no interest for 18 mo)
then we put $700 on another card (no interest until Feb 2014).
I'm sure we'll have to put at least another $500 on that damn HD card...