Jump to content
IGNORED

Do you carry credit card debt?


Rhindle The Red

Do you carry credit card debt?  

257 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you carry credit card debt?

    • Yes, quite a bit.
      41
    • Yes, but only a relatively small amount.
      38
    • Yes, but I pay it off regularly.
      11
    • No, I pay off my card(s) every month.
      105
    • No, I don't use any credit cards.
      62

  • Please sign in to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

Two kids in daycare.

 

Hell yes I have credit card debt.

 

However, by Fall, both cars are paid off and our son starts kindergarden.

 

With that money alone, we will be able to pay off the debt in 10 months, so we can deal with it.

When my daughter is out of daycare we will be sitting pretty.

 

They are a necessary evil right now.

 

Also, if we have savings accounts, stocks, IRA's and 401k's, money in our home that all equal way more than our CC debt, so while I hate to

carry the debt, we are not officially 'in debt' as we could pay them off if we had to.

 

Also, we constantly move all the debt to the lowest APR. We only have two cards. Whenever we see 2.0% interest cards, we move it all and cancel the

old card. There is always a card company willing to give you ridiculously low rates to get your money. As soon as the happy low interest rate period is over, move it to another one until you pay it off. Don't keep yourself stuck with a card that has a huge intereste rate. Shop around, because there is always a low rate out there.

Edited by therealred5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two Yankees season ticket packages.

 

Hell yes I have credit card debt.

 

Fixed ;)

:rolling:

Fair point.

 

Actually, they pay for themselves because I sell the Old Timers, Boston and Mets games on StubHub.

Believe it or not, those games alone allow me to break even.

 

This year with the All Star Game, I will be waaaayyyy ahead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to have about $5000 in credit card debt. That was the total after all the interest from years of not paying. I have bad credit, but am working on it slowly.

 

My Girlfriend (saint that she is) co-signed for a new car for me when mine died, so that'll really help my credit because I'm older now and pay it on time each month.

 

I still probably have a few thousand of credit card debt left. It's so old though some of it probably isn't on my credit report anymore.

 

As for the thing you said you're too young to have a credit card, not really. Anyone can get one. CVS, Rite-Aid, Walmart, etc all sell them. The one I have costs $14.95 fee to have a Visa or Mastercard. Then, you load money on it when you want to use it. Basically you're spending your own money so there's no interest just a $4.95 monthly fee to have it. I think it's a good deal for people like myself with bad credit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm paying four of my credit cards off as of right now & am saving the fifth for a rainy day. I pay $250.00 a month in credit card bills. It has to come to an end eventually. I would rather use cash for my major expences & just keep the $300.00 card for a rainy day for small expences ;) ...

post-12493-1210299614_thumb.jpg

post-12493-1210299646_thumb.jpg

Edited by Atari~e
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For those of you who have managed to stay debt free....have you always had the savings to cover a catostrophic event?

 

I personally don't have a large savings but I do have access to large sums of money from multiple sources just a phone call away if needed. I might be stuck at lower-middle class income but my parents and other loved ones are quite wealthy and willing to give me alot of money if I actually needed it if something aweful or unexpected ever happened.

 

 

Hi Guys:

 

Ditto!! On my pops side, I have extremely wealthy relatives that have so much moolah, that its coming out of there ears.

 

Local Politicians, Oil Barons, Truck Servicing, Real Estate Tycoons, Judicial Court Judges etc. So money is great on my daddy-o's side.

 

However, their is a slide issue. They can't stand my father. Years ago, my father quarreled with his side for years. Plus they had a personal grudge with his father (my grandfather), & that it only help make the situation much worse.

 

I have a old saying "An enemy of my dad, is a enemy for me as well"!! In other works, their a bunch of "C--ksuckers". They can keep the wealth & shove it up their "You Know What"!!

 

he-he,

Anthony....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmmmm....begs the question whether a certain % of those who claim to be debt free are that way from familial bail out?

 

I don't mean to insult anyone, especially those who have worked very hard to be debt free....but the thought does occur to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anything I'm the one that they might come to, and I am by no means rich.

 

The main reason we have a decent savings is just because we are super cheap.

 

Lets see.....

 

Never owned a new car,

car insurance is cheap as I have a great record and don't drive much,

take lunch to work every day,

never buy new games at retail,

walk and/or take bus to work,

only buy groceries that are on sale and use coupons,

only eat out once a week,

don't smoke, rarely drink booze,

 

of course, having two incomes and no kids obviously makes a big difference as well....

 

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anything I'm the one that they might come to, and I am by no means rich.

 

The main reason we have a decent savings is just because we are super cheap.

 

Lets see.....

 

Never owned a new car,

car insurance is cheap as I have a great record and don't drive much,

take lunch to work every day,

never buy new games at retail,

walk and/or take bus to work,

only buy groceries that are on sale and use coupons,

only eat out once a week,

don't smoke, rarely drink booze,

 

of course, having two incomes and no kids obviously makes a big difference as well....

 

:)

 

I'm cheap too and do all those frugal things. I have an old car. No car payment. BUT I am divorced single parent. So that make's the difference right there. One income and 2 kids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anything I'm the one that they might come to, and I am by no means rich.

 

The main reason we have a decent savings is just because we are super cheap.

 

Lets see.....

 

Never owned a new car,

car insurance is cheap as I have a great record and don't drive much,

take lunch to work every day,

never buy new games at retail,

walk and/or take bus to work,

only buy groceries that are on sale and use coupons,

only eat out once a week,

don't smoke, rarely drink booze,

 

of course, having two incomes and no kids obviously makes a big difference as well....

 

:)

 

I'm cheap too and do all those frugal things. I have an old car. No car payment. BUT I am divorced single parent. So that make's the difference right there. One income and 2 kids.

That's rough man, no doubt. My points were directed more at the folks who just live to dispose of their income. I know people who choose to rent an apartment 45 miles from work, then complain about gas prices. They eat out for lunch every day, then are broke three days before payday, that kind of stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anything I'm the one that they might come to, and I am by no means rich.

 

The main reason we have a decent savings is just because we are super cheap.

 

Lets see.....

 

Never owned a new car,

car insurance is cheap as I have a great record and don't drive much,

take lunch to work every day,

never buy new games at retail,

walk and/or take bus to work,

only buy groceries that are on sale and use coupons,

only eat out once a week,

don't smoke, rarely drink booze,

 

of course, having two incomes and no kids obviously makes a big difference as well....

 

:)

 

I'm cheap too and do all those frugal things. I have an old car. No car payment. BUT I am divorced single parent. So that make's the difference right there. One income and 2 kids.

That's rough man, no doubt. My points were directed more at the folks who just live to dispose of their income. I know people who choose to rent an apartment 45 miles from work, then complain about gas prices. They eat out for lunch every day, then are broke three days before payday, that kind of stuff.

 

Yea...I'm jealous of those have that kind of income to blow. Shoot, even here at work there are people who eat out everyday for lunch. That's gotta add up. I brown bag it everyday. I'll buy my lunch, maybe once every two or three months.

 

It's really amazing how some of my family members have the cash to burn. Docking nice boats on Lake Erie and all that kind of stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys:

 

Come to the Bronx/ Manhattan Amigos!! I can get ya enough Chinese, Tex/Mex food for $5 that is delicious & can last ya all to Christmas!! No fibbs here. All facts.

 

Plus, foot long heroes for $3 even. !!Ho-baby!! (^_^)

 

Anthony....

Edited by fdurso224
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did have some high credit debt thanks to my never ending hunger for Atari 2600 items but now I have it under controller and come January 2009 all will be paid off and I will never go Ebay crazy again. ( Unless something i just have to have for my collection comes up then to hell with bills!!!!!)

 

:ponder: :roll: :grin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No BS credit cards for me. If you don't have the cash you don't get it.

 

Same here baby!

 

That'll certainly keep you from getting into trouble and if I don't have the money in the bank to pay for something, I'm right there with you: I don't buy it. I have several credit cards used for convenience and the for the little perks as mentioned by others. I never carry a balance. Not sure where y'all live, but in the US (only place I've ever lived), it's nigh on to impossible to rent to a car or reserve a hotel room without a credit card. Do you guys have to work around those inconveniences somehow to get by without credit cards?

 

100% debt free here. Thankfully, we avoided the consumer debt trap as my wife was raised to manage her money wisely and I grew up poor and am such a cheap ba... er, I mean I'm so frugal as a result that I have a huge aversion to paying interest.

 

Credit card debt is a nasty pit of financial despair that seems so very easy to fall into in the American "buy now, pay later", instant gratification consumer credit mentality. (Sounds like a theme for a hack of Pitfall...). Personally, I find the gratification of paying outright for everything out of money I've saved over time to be far more gratifying that paying double the price (or more) by making payments in the future for something that'll probably be in the landfill before it's paid for.

 

Here's an incident that helped me understand how our view of credit and savings differ from some other peoples':

 

My wife conversed with a twenty-something regularly on her bus commute to and from work. Seems this young lady had been wanting to purchase a car for quite some time (years). Her biggest hangup was that she couldn't come up with the down payment. When queried about saving up for it, the young lady explained that with her financial situation, she just couldn't save up that much money. My wife found out that the car payments involved would be around $300/mo. It was a true "light bulb" moment for the young lady when my wife pointed out that if she could make $300 payments to the finance company once the car was purchased, she could certainly make $300 monthly payments to her savings account to save up a down payment.

 

 

I have a debit card ,which means that I can only spend what I have in my bank account... I've never rented a car or rented a motel room :) Actually I really like the idea of motels...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to have a couple of thousand £ in debt that I couldn't shift, but luckily a lucrative bit of artwork for some PS2 game covers wiped it out all in one go. Since then I've kept the credit cards empty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No BS credit cards for me. If you don't have the cash you don't get it.

 

Same here baby!

 

That'll certainly keep you from getting into trouble and if I don't have the money in the bank to pay for something, I'm right there with you: I don't buy it. I have several credit cards used for convenience and the for the little perks as mentioned by others. I never carry a balance. Not sure where y'all live, but in the US (only place I've ever lived), it's nigh on to impossible to rent to a car or reserve a hotel room without a credit card. Do you guys have to work around those inconveniences somehow to get by without credit cards?

 

100% debt free here. Thankfully, we avoided the consumer debt trap as my wife was raised to manage her money wisely and I grew up poor and am such a cheap ba... er, I mean I'm so frugal as a result that I have a huge aversion to paying interest.

 

Credit card debt is a nasty pit of financial despair that seems so very easy to fall into in the American "buy now, pay later", instant gratification consumer credit mentality. (Sounds like a theme for a hack of Pitfall...). Personally, I find the gratification of paying outright for everything out of money I've saved over time to be far more gratifying that paying double the price (or more) by making payments in the future for something that'll probably be in the landfill before it's paid for.

 

Here's an incident that helped me understand how our view of credit and savings differ from some other peoples':

 

My wife conversed with a twenty-something regularly on her bus commute to and from work. Seems this young lady had been wanting to purchase a car for quite some time (years). Her biggest hangup was that she couldn't come up with the down payment. When queried about saving up for it, the young lady explained that with her financial situation, she just couldn't save up that much money. My wife found out that the car payments involved would be around $300/mo. It was a true "light bulb" moment for the young lady when my wife pointed out that if she could make $300 payments to the finance company once the car was purchased, she could certainly make $300 monthly payments to her savings account to save up a down payment.

 

 

I have a debit card ,which means that I can only spend what I have in my bank account... I've never rented a car or rented a motel room :) Actually I really like the idea of motels...

 

 

Hi Guys:

 

Hahaha..... Good One Jonny!! In bed by 8:00, home by 11:00!!! OH BABY (-_O)

 

Anthony....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got into too much trouble with credit cards, so now I use debit cards.

 

It makes it hell when you have to get a rental car though. You get treated like a second-class citizen.

 

A regular American Express card (the standard green one) is a good solution.

 

To quote their terms:

"The Preferred Rewards Green Card makes it easy to manage your finances because it is a charge card rather than a credit card."

"All charges made on this Charge Card are due and payable when you receive your billing statement."

 

 

The only negative - it costs $90 per year. (yeah, that's a big negative)

 

At my old job, though, they had a discount where you got one for free if you did *any* traveling at work, or even if you didn't and it was possible that you might travel in the future. It was still my card, of course, and I was the one responsible for paying it. You might want to check at your work to see if they have a similar deal.

 

http://www201.americanexpress.com/apply/Fm...mgmID=undefined

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I carried debt for a while a few years back when the job I was at decided to stop paying everyone.

 

Needless to say, I also got another job.

 

Once I paid that debt off, I vowed never to carry a credit card debt again. I still use them, but I pay them off at the end of the month. I live frugally (I admit, being single helps), I have a savings account, and I only splurge on big ticket once in a great while. Heck, even my car is paid off.

 

Funny story: In November of 2006 I decided to splurge on a new HDTV. I went to Best Buy, picked out the model I wanted, and was ready to pay when the salesman pointed to another employee and said something like, "And she will help you work out the financing." I answered that I was paying for it up front. The finance lady looked disappointed. :)

Edited by skunkworx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...