Credit cards good/bad

Kitties said:
I think a major credit card is a good necessity. As mentioned for traveling, renting a car. Some shopping on the internet (I prefer to use Paypal) I have two major credit cards. One I've had about 20 years. I got a second one when I got a notice from my credit card company that they were cancelling my credit card and issuing me a new one due to some kind of breach. Not sure what it was but they seemed to be right on it. I got the second one after that because I thought 'what if I were planning to leave on a trip and that happened. I'd be without a card.' So I got a second one through my bank which I think I have used once. Both cards have zero balance right now.

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That's the same reason I keep two credit cards active. In case I lose one on a trip or it has to be deactivated, I have the other one. I charge something small on it a couple of times a year to keep it active. The main one I pay off each month.

I remember when I got my first credit card. It was in 1972. We had returned to the US and my late husband was working on his doctorate. I had a good-paying job and was the only one actually working (he was getting money from the GI bill). I applied for a credit card and was granted one.....the only provision was that it had to be in my husband's name. I was the one with the job but the card had to be in his name. One of those things I would scream bloody murder about today, but I accepted it as SOP back then.
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I use both a debit card and credit cards. I pay off the credit cards every month if I use them, and I keep one with a large available balance that I can use in case of major disaster (like if my roof fell in or something). I can't even remember the last time I wrote a check.
 
Butterfly said:
I use both a debit card and credit cards. I pay off the credit cards every month if I use them, and I keep one with a large available balance that I can use in case of major disaster (like if my roof fell in or something). I can't even remember the last time I wrote a check.
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I write a check about once a year. Last one was to send to my son in the US for a family xmas gift.
 

Ameriscot said:
I write a check about once a year. Last one was to send to my son in the US for a family xmas gift.
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I write so few checks, when I do, I realize I'm out of practice. I pay bills online and when I shop, I pay by credit card so I rarely write a check.
 
Call me an old timer, but I absolutely refuse to have anyone dipping into my accounts.. that includes debit transactions or direct withdrawals for anything. No One gets that ability only myself and my husband. I tell vendors, if you don't want my check, you don't want my business. I like the ability to control what comes out. All it would take would be one computer glitch to empty an account..
 
AprilSun said:
I write so few checks, when I do, I realize I'm out of practice. I pay bills online and when I shop, I pay by credit card so I rarely write a check.
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I have to hunt for my checks. I have some for £ and some for $ and obviously I had to write one for $ to my son. Occasionally we have to send a check to make a deposit on a B & B here for those who aren't yet in this century. So we average about one check per year.

All our bills are paid online as well and have been for about 15 years. The banks are talking about phasing out checks here, but some of the elderly who don't use computers are objecting.
 
QuickSilver said:
Call me an old timer, but I absolutely refuse to have anyone dipping into my accounts.. that includes debit transactions or direct withdrawals for anything. No One gets that ability only myself and my husband. I tell vendors, if you don't want my check, you don't want my business. I like the ability to control what comes out. All it would take would be one computer glitch to empty an account..
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You old timer, you.

I reckon direct debits and automatic periodic payments are the best thing since sliced bread. Initially I set them up for my mum and auntie when I was acting as their POA. Since then I've done the same thing for the church accounts and for my own personal finances. I even contribute to the church by means of periodic payments that I have set up myself.

One thing I haven't bothered to do yet is use Bpay over the computer. I prefer to do what I did today when I wanted to pay two car insurance bills as annual payments. I had been paying them monthly by direct debit. I simply phoned the company, talked to a nice young man called Warrick and he made the necessary changes for me. I saved $286 in the process and won't have to worry about it again until next year. By then I may decide to use Bpay.

I do withdraw cash to carry in my purse but when tap and go becomes available on my card I will probably carry less cash.
 
I am trusting, that is true, but my trust is founded on a lifetime of experiences that show me that most people/institutions are actually trustworthy.
I believe that trust is the grease that oils the machinery of a truly civil society.
 
Three times in my life I simply forgot to pay my credit card bill by the due date. First time it resulted in a hefty fee plus interest. The last two times were more recent and one was a whole month late. I have a card that has accident forgiveness (no wait, that's Allstate insurance), anyway whatever they call it there was no penalty. After that I put them on autopay because I don't trust myself anymore. In fact all my monthy bills are on autopay now.
 
QuickSilver said:
I have a fear of having all my business out there online.. for anyone to hack. Does that not cause you concern?
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No. Sometimes we've paid plumbers and other workers by transferring the money directly to their bank account - so they have to give us their account number. Not a problem. It's not like we can access their bank account and take money. All our normal bills are direct debit. Never had an issue and don't know anybody who has had an issue.
 
Dame Warrigal said:
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.
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True. And my mother and grandmother used "layaway" - something I rarely hear about anymore. Essentially, you chose items, paid a deposit, and paid something every week. The items were set aside then given to you after you paid them off.
 
applecruncher said:
True. And my mother and grandmother used "layaway" - something I rarely hear about anymore. Essentially, you chose items, paid a deposit, and paid something every week. The items were set aside then given to you after you paid them off.
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My grandmother was the Layaway Queen. She would start buying Christmas presents in January and keep everything in layaway all year. Come the first week of December, we'd go downtown and get everything out. She always had more than she thought she did. Once I remember five clerks having to help carry the bags out of the store and we ended up having to have two cabs to get home.
 
jujube said:
My grandmother was the Layaway Queen. She would start buying Christmas presents in January and keep everything in layaway all year. Come the first week of December, we'd go downtown and get everything out. She always had more than she thought she did. Once I remember five clerks having to help carry the bags out of the store and we ended up having to have two cabs to get home.
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aaawww, such a sweet story jujube. :)

Amazing how in those days moms/grandmas were so excited to get their things out of layaway! (and so were us kids) At atheir things were PAID for in full before they took them home.
Now people just swipe a credit card, whether they can afford to or not.
 
Christmas and some birthday times were the only times I paid off my credit card using 2 or 3 installments for many, many years. I lived carefully yet had all I needed. The past 2 years after some illness (with recovery) I went hog wild! Now I owe over 5,000.00. The heck with it, I had a great time, got things that were not really frivolous and mostly needed to make my home nicer, helped out family and went out to lunch alot!
 
Called layby over here and my daughter used it to buy Christmas presents for her four children. She shopped when the specials were available mid year.
 

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