Credit cards good/bad

W

whisteria

Member
Good morning to you all,
I was talking to my wife this morning and the subject came up about credit,
Now im from the old school ref credit and as soon as i was able to look after my own finances i made it a mission not to think i owned something because i used a credit card to buy it and so ive steered clear of them and the use of them.
My grand parents never had the credit cards because they just hadn't been invented when they first started off in their married life etc And so it was thanks to them i was told if you cant pay upfront then save and if by the time you've saved enough and you still want the goods!!! (then you'll own it at the correct price and not at the added interest price)
All very good advice and ive never found any thing wrong with it "it's worked for me".

Whats your thoughts on how we live today and how we spend spend spend "on credit" Are these cards and credit in general a good thing for every day items ,????

Or are they the road to ruin:mad::mad:

Lets have your thoughts on this one.
 

I have never had a credit card , I hate debt and if I don't have the money I don't buy as simple as that !!
The only debt I only debt I ever had was the house mortgage ...Been debt free since 2004
 
No credit cards now. We use our own money with debit cards.

In years gone by we had a mortgage with a building society and when necessary a small second mortgage with the bank to buy a second hand car, or a piece of white goods. When the first credit cards appeared in OZ we had one but paid it off every month. The interest rates were, and still are, usurious.

We've been debt free since 1985.
 

Never have, and never will use a debit card... Ithink it would be too easy to screw up.. I prefer using my credit card and paying the balance in full each month. I don't want anyone or anything dipping into my checking account but me..
 
We use both credit and debit cards. with the credit cards we make sure we pay it off every month, but it is so useful. we use it to buy things online, and don't forget, your money is protected by buying with a credit card, should anything go wrong.
I do understand why some people don't want to use them, in the past there was the ' live now, pay later' lure of hire purchase, but things have moved on a bit since then. yes, some people do get themselves into debt with credit cards through buying without thought and using store cards, I suppose that some people have always been irresponsible with money.I have often thought it would be useful to have a class in school dedicated to financial living for 14 year olds upwards.
 
My wife and I both use credit cards as much as possible and we pay them off when they come in every month. We use them to accumulate mileage for air travel. Even though I get free air travel, I use the miles to purchase upgrades to business or first class. It makes the flying experience that much more pleasant. I don't consider it debt, since we do pay them off every month. Our new home was bought and paid for at settlement 15 years ago, (wow, I can't believe that it's been that long already), and we never make car payments. I have a great pension and so does my wife, so we have no credit or debt worries whatsoever.
 
Money is obviously no problem for the wealthy folk on here - but if life is a hand-to-mouth existence, the lure of instant credit is very strong when the kids need new shoes, or the next meal. That´s where the greedy banks make their money from - the poorest people pay the highest rates for credit. And we call that civilisation. With our adequate pensions and paid-for housing, we can all afford to be smug about credit cards - lucky us!
 
It seems that our social service safety net is available rather than relying on credit cards...
 
We use credit cards for everything. We earn airmiles with them. The previous cards gave us cash back annually. Debit cards earn us nothing. We always pay off the balance every month. We do not pay interest!

I got in trouble with credit cards way back in the 80's and learned my lesson. I've had A1 credit ever since.
 
I think all of us here might have experienced having days left over after the purse is empty and before the next pay cheque arrives. That's when you dig deep into the cupboards to make up something filling to feed the family. Pasta, rice, bread and butter pudding, soup made from dried soup mix and whatever vegetables you have in the bottom of the fridge and so on. They did it during the Great Depression without the aid of credit cards.


My mother in law raised 4 children on her husband's quite small wage and they never went hungry. They had nothing in the bank and no source of easy credit.

It can be done, as it was in the past.
 
Traveling without credit cards is impossible. Airline tickets are purchased with credit cards, hotels booked, you can't rent a car with debit card.
 
Ameriscot, we've used our overseas to make purchases, pay for hotels and cruises. Never a problem. It is a VISA and can be used as a credit card if we wish but we always use the savings option.
 
Dame Warrigal said:
Ameriscot, we've used our overseas to make purchases, pay for hotels and cruises. Never a problem. It is a VISA and can be used as a credit card if we wish but we always use the savings option.
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Our debit cards are also Visas but we earn airmiles on our credit cards. In Thailand we use cash only, so hit the ATM's frequently. My US debit card reimburses the ATM fees so we use that one the most.
 
Yes, I understand about the flyby cards but we don't worry about them. We aren't frequent flyers and by booking well ahead of time we manage to get good discounts. Our cards attract minimal fees which I prefer to an accumulation of points.
 
Dame Warrigal said:
Yes, I understand about the flyby cards but we don't worry about them. We aren't frequent flyers and by booking well ahead of time we manage to get good discounts. Our cards attract minimal fees which I prefer to an accumulation of points.
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We don't use our airmiles to get airline tickets, we use them to upgrade to business class. And on very long flights it's well worth it. We don't pay any fees on our cards, but we should switch to the one with an annual fee as we earn twice as many miles. We finally got an American Express a few years ago with Emirates which is the airline we use for long haul flights.

My sister buys everything with her American Express and she pays the annual fee. She earns enough miles to pay for her airline tickets when she visits us for a month every 2 or 3 years. She just loves a bargain!
 
I use credit cards not because I need credit, just for convenience. I don't care to carry around a lot of cash. I pay the cards off completely when due so never have any interest. Plus I get a 5% cash discount applied to my card on all gas purchases, less for other purchases. Cash applied monthly, not incentive points.
 
I use credit cards also because they are quicker and more convenient. I don't like carrying around a lot of cash either. When I get the bill, I pay it in full so I don't have to pay interest. I have used my debit card before but I wasn't confortable with people standing behind me while I was using it. There's too many crooks out there.
 
AprilSun said:
I use credit cards also because they are quicker and more convenient. I don't like carrying around a lot of cash either. When I get the bill, I pay it in full so I don't have to pay interest. I have used my debit card before but I wasn't confortable with people standing behind me while I was using it. There's too many crooks out there.
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We have to put in our pin whether credit or debit. I thought the US had chip and pin now? We've also got the cards where you just tap them on the shop's card terminal but is only on purchases under £20.
 
Ameriscot said:
We have to put in our pin whether credit or debit. I thought the US had chip and pin now? We've also got the cards where you just tap them on the shop's card terminal but is only on purchases under £20.
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I don't know about the rest of the US but here, we don't have to enter pin numbers unless we're using debit cards. I have heard them talking about switching over to that type but I haven't shopped where they've done it yet or heard of anywhere close by that has. I think we're a little slow about upgrading.
 
AprilSun said:
I don't know about the rest of the US but here, we don't have to enter pin numbers unless we're using debit cards. I have heard them talking about switching over to that type but I haven't shopped where they've done it yet or heard of anywhere close by that has. I think we're a little slow about upgrading.
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I've been hearing the US is supposed to get them. We've had it for years. I have seen tourists here before who had to say to the clerks that they needed to sign for a purchase, not use a pin.
 
I have heard of the Chip.. and a few of my cards have it.. However, people here are very Leary of it as we have concerns that it will make it very easy for high tech thieves to use a pocket scanner to lift your credit card information right through your purse or wallet. Many have started carrying their cards in a lead lined case to prevent this. Has that been a problem in Europe?
 
Credit Cards are excellent if used properly. Using card that has no annual fee makes it convenient to not having to carry cash around. Avoiding interest charges by paying the bill as you receive it is the only way to go. Cash discounts for some items is another plus that you don't get by paying with cash.
 

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