FINALLY! YA paid off CCards thread, lived frugally

[Exterous]

The Sapphire is by far my favorite card. (its the metal one, not plastic).
I knew about moving points from there to the partners for free but they let you move it back to the Sapphire too ?? If thats the case, thats even better.
I like if I was to buy something I go to their ultimate reward site and see if there a link through it. A lot of times, you get 2x-10x the reward.

Heh - When I got a replacement card, destroying the old ones was not easy. Tin snips were required.

Transferring points from my southwest and continental card to Chase was a bit tricky because of fees (I waited and got a free transfer from Continental but Southwest cost me ~$10) To see what they currently were I tried to look up transfers back. It seems like this may no longer be much of an offer. United has dropped all US cards from their transfer points to list and Southwest has dropped the program all together. Sorry for getting your hopes up 🙁

 

[soulcougher73]

He had a Verizon contract. That's using credit. I know a lot of people who can't get on contracts because they have no credit.

That is sort of the point though. You dont want to be on contracts. Pre-paid/no contract is the way to go on phones.

 

[wirednuts]

He had a Verizon contract. That's using credit. I know a lot of people who can't get on contracts because they have no credit.

oh, i know! he uses credit all the time, he does get loans too. but when it comes to something he doesnt want to pay he just doesnt, and it hurts his credit and makes his future loans cost more. i never said he was being smart about it! 😀

i swear up and down though, i will never have a big loan again. anything i want will be at least backed by cash in a safe deposit box somewhere. credit card companies hate their clients who pay off their debts every month, and after the way they treated me and all of my neighbors i intend to use their services and not profit them anymore 🙂

 

[ch33zw1z]

oh, i know! he uses credit all the time, he does get loans too. but when it comes to something he doesnt want to pay he just doesnt, and it hurts his credit and makes his future loans cost more. i never said he was being smart about it! 😀

i swear up and down though, i will never have a big loan again. anything i want will be at least backed by cash in a safe deposit box somewhere. credit card companies hate their clients who pay off their debts every month, and after the way they treated me and all of my neighbors i intend to use their services and not profit them anymore 🙂

Using their service does profit them. The vendor pays fee's to the CC company every time you swipe it.

I don't have any credit cards. Yes, it hurts my score. Not enough to make me care. "Sir, no revolving credit?" damn straight. I operate under a similar principle as you, if you don't have the money then don't buy it. My only exception to this date is the mortgage. Man, was that painful to sign.

 

[Jaskalas]

FINALLY! YA paid off CCards thread, lived frugally

What kind of patriot does not wish to stimulate the economy?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

I pay mine off every month and get lots of reward points to spend at Amazon.

Are you talking about the Chase Amazon card? I know they push it hard, but you shouldn't spend your reward points directly to shop at Amazon. You are better off taking the cash, and continuing to charge the amazon purchases so you get the 3%. You won't get the 3% if you 'buy with points'. Its a minor savings, but why leave free money on the table!

 

[RearAdmiral]

Congrats to everyone who is paying/paid off their debts. My parents drilled me on CC's so now I bend them over to do my bidding. 1000's of dollars in money/free stuff with $.00 paid in interest.

 

[NL5]

That's awesome. It took several, several years for me to get to this:

That doesn't really include the house, which is still a pretty ugly mess (high interest, upside-down,) but the CCs have been under control for years.

feelsgoodman :thumbsup:

Just in case this applies - if your mortgage is backed by Fannie Mae (most are), you can refinance to below 4%. I just did, and I'm WAY under water.

 

[tfinch2]

I pay everything I possibly can with my Chase Freedom. About to cash out a $500 rewards check.

 

[Kev]

Hey congrats, credit cards are seriously evil. People use them when they don't need them to build the habit, thinking they are gaming the system for 1% cashback or whatever.

The CC company is of course just waiting and waiting for the day you actually need it. Then the very day you actually need it to make ends meet, is the very day they tweak your interest into debt enslavement.

I'm not dumb, so I've never had this problem you've described.

 

[kaerflog]

Heh - When I got a replacement card, destroying the old ones was not easy. Tin snips were required.

Transferring points from my southwest and continental card to Chase was a bit tricky because of fees (I waited and got a free transfer from Continental but Southwest cost me ~$10) To see what they currently were I tried to look up transfers back. It seems like this may no longer be much of an offer. United has dropped all US cards from their transfer points to list and Southwest has dropped the program all together. Sorry for getting your hopes up 🙁

I asked because when I got my 50K pts bonus I transferred it all to the Hilton.
Used that to pay for my hotel on my honeymoon in Bali.
Still got a some left just sitting in there. Wished I didn't transfer the entire 50K.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Come to think of it, why do people keep a balance on a credit card anyway? If anything at least use the credit line to pay it off since the credit line interest is much lower. Since I've had my credit card (I was like 18 at the time, 26 now) I don't think I've ever paid interest on it. The only time I put over 1k on it is when I make a big order at an online store such as when I build myself a system, but it is paid off the same day.

 

[Aikouka]

I will have everything paid off on Tuesday. I cant fucking wait. I will be leaving my cards at home from now on.

I don't get why you would do that. Sure, you may have made mistakes in the past, but you're ignoring possible rewards. Over about 3 months, I've made around $160 just using my Chase Freedom card.

I ran into credit card debt in my college days, and it was a GREAT feeling when I finally paid it off. It's an even better feeling now that I'm using credit responsibly and slowly, slowly making back in rewards the extra money that I gave them in interest back in the day.

I did the same thing during college, and I'm still paying it back. It isn't unmanageable by any means, but if that's the case, honestly... that means that I should be putting more toward the balance than I am.

Now WHY don't they have a finance/life skills seminar in the senior year of high school? Sure, people will always make mistakes, but warning people about some of the common mistakes would still avoid a lot of heartache.

I've mentioned the same thing in threads on schooling, and I definitely agree. People may argue that high school is for readying you for further education, but if that's the case... then why do we have health class or home economics? Hell, we learned how to sign checks in 7th grade math class. You could easily spend at the most a week on discussing credit cards, interest, etc. Make it really hit home with the kids by having them choose a relatively expensive item that seems manageable on a credit card (e.g. a xbox 360 + a few accessories). Since a lot of people fall into the minimum payment problem, have them calculate how much that item will end up costing them after all of the interest and how long it will take to pay it off.

He had a Verizon contract. That's using credit. I know a lot of people who can't get on contracts because they have no credit.

In my experience, if you don't have sufficient credit, you will simply have to pay a deposit upon signing the contract. A friend of mine had to do this a few years back, and it pretty much made the phone as expensive off-contract (~$300 security deposit). Although, it's still better to pay that than to just buy it off contract since you'll pay the same monthly price anyway and you get the deposit back.

 

[sze5003]

Come to think of it, why do people keep a balance on a credit card anyway? If anything at least use the credit line to pay it off since the credit line interest is much lower. Since I've had my credit card (I was like 18 at the time, 26 now) I don't think I've ever paid interest on it. The only time I put over 1k on it is when I make a big order at an online store such as when I build myself a system, but it is paid off the same day.

What's the point of using a card then? If your just going to pay it off the same day? I only use cards if there is 0% for a couple months and I make sure to have it all payed by then.

 

[Aikouka]

What's the point of using a card then? If your just going to pay it off the same day? I only use cards if there is 0% for a couple months and I make sure to have it all payed by then.

Just because your card has an APR doesn't mean you can't reap the rewards by paying your card off each month. As I mentioned, I've made ~$160 over 2-3 months, and I've paid $0 in interest. If I just used my debit card, I would have made no extra money and spent the same amount.

 

[Red Squirrel]

What's the point of using a card then? If your just going to pay it off the same day? I only use cards if there is 0% for a couple months and I make sure to have it all payed by then.

Most online services only take a credit card. That and if you don't have the money in your account now but you are getting paid in 2 weeks and will have the money then. CC's are only really meant for short term credit.

That, and rewards as mentioned.

 

[sze5003]

I usually have low Apr so I don't mind carrying a balance. Once it gets low like 100-200 bucks left I just pay it off right then. If I'm getting a computer order I do the same thing using intro rates to pay it off before the promotion.

Buying everything from my debit card would mean no money left for student loan payments stupid loans.

 

[jagec]

I usually have low Apr so I don't mind carrying a balance. Once it gets low like 100-200 bucks left I just pay it off right then. If I'm getting a computer order I do the same thing using intro rates to pay it off before the promotion.

Buying everything from my debit card would mean no money left for student loan payments stupid loans.

OK, if you're buying a house and cant afford to put 100% down, it makes sense to take out a loan rather than save up until you CAN put 100% down.

But for a computer, it makes more sense to save up until you can afford to buy it outright. By then the technology will be better anyway. You'll have money AND have a better computer than you would if you charged everything, even at a low APR.

Low APR isn't zero APR.

 

[sze5003]

Yeh makes sense but at that time I had no computer at all and needed it as I worked from home simetimes but if you are just buying because you want to saving it up is the way to go.

Most of us tend to have the gotta have it soon or now mindset which can't be too good.

 

[Svnla]

What's the point of using a card then? If your just going to pay it off the same day? I only use cards if there is 0% for a couple months and I make sure to have it all payed by then.

What's the point of using a CC over a debit card? May I? (speaking of using my Visa Signature and not regular Visa and all of these benefits for no extra cost/fee).

Here are my top 10 reasons:

1. Double the warranty..ie..instead of 1 year for my Dell laptop, I would get 2 years.

2. Ability to dispute or charge back of any merchants for any reasons.

3. One time use "virtual" credit card number - for not well know web merchants.

4. Half price/discount for various items - such as 2 for 1 movie tickets on Friday.

5. Rental car/collision damage waiver - many won't let you rent with debit card or they would put a big chunk of your money on hold.

6. Hotel - same as rental car.

7. Travel insurance.

8. 90 days replacement of merchandises due to fire/thief/accident/ect.

9. Travel/Roadside Help.

10. Lost Luggage Help.

More = http://usa.visa.com/personal/visa-signature/benefits/index.jsp

And of course as I said before, 1% to 5% cashback every month. Debit cards would not able to provide similar benefits. Don't get me wrong, if you can't handle CC, then use debit and be happy, I won't bash you for it. But for all of the above benefits, I would be a fool to turn them down.

All I have to do is pay off the WHOLE balance before the due date (20 to 25 days after closing date of a particular month).

You do NOT have to pay the balance right away. As long as you pay off the whole balance BEFORE or ON the due date, you are good to go. Also, even the APR is low, it is still not zero, therefore, you need to pay the CC balance ASAP. Think of this way, pay off the CC balance = you earn that interest money instead of the bank/CC issuer.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Are you talking about the Chase Amazon card? I know they push it hard, but you shouldn't spend your reward points directly to shop at Amazon. You are better off taking the cash, and continuing to charge the amazon purchases so you get the 3%. You won't get the 3% if you 'buy with points'. Its a minor savings, but why leave free money on the table!

Yes, I have the Chase Amazon card and my strategy is to use it to accumulate points to spend on toys. I've never looked into converting the points to cash, but maybe I should.

 

[JoeyP]

By not using a credit card or even a debit card, you can usually talk the price down at least 3%. In addition to the normal haggling, I've also shaved 3% off a washer and dryer set, a TV, a bike, hot tub, furniture.

The only thing I use credit card for is online purchases. Everything else, cars included, is cash (I include official bank checks as cash).

For most people, credit card means paying money to use money.

 

[Corporate Thug]

By not using a credit card or even a debit card, you can usually talk the price down at least 3%. In addition to the normal haggling, I've also shaved 3% off a washer and dryer set, a TV, a bike, hot tub, furniture.

The only thing I use credit card for is online purchases. Everything else, cars included, is cash (I include official bank checks as cash).

For most people, credit card means paying money to use money.

What do you negotiate for? Groceries? Gas?

 

[JoeyP]

What do you negotiate for? Groceries? Gas?

I negotiated for the items I listed. I didn't mean to imply every cash (non credit card) purchase can be negotiated.

Also cash/haggle/-3%: lawn tractor this year.

 

[sze5003]

That's pretty good to haggle I've done that only when financing my car but most other things I pay cash. For example a car maintenance bill or a house item that's quiet expensive I pay cash. I need the car to run or I need the microwave or vacuum.

For items that I would like to have but don't want to save up I use a card. It's not the right mindset I know.