you should try to... it is very valuable...
um, no... just no...
maybe paying high interest rates is his/her thing...?
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Though I had an iPad Pro
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you should try to... it is very valuable...
um, no... just no...
maybe paying high interest rates is his/her thing...?
In the US, my Credit Card doubles the manufacturers warranty and has lots of benefits. I purchase things, and then pay off when the bill arrives, never carrying a balance. I also get air miles and free flights, so it's just icing.
If you think some Europeans don't buy things they can't afford or don't abuse their credit cards, there's a word for that -- naive.
Credit cards are useful.
But yes, paying off the balance at the end of the billing cycle...is prudent.
As far is the OP is concerned...buying something like an iPP when you have other, more important things on the list, isn't wise.
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I disagree. I have a Citi card which gives me 2% back, price matching, accident protection, extended warranty, and fraud protection. I pay it off every month, so I carry no balance and pay no interest.
How's cash better than that again?
I get financial aid but not enough to cover other expenses like books, supplies and other things. So the rest comes out of my pocket. I finishing up my bachelors and then go to Physician Assistant program then I'll get all the loans I apply. As of right now, I'm 54K in the hole so I really try to limit how much I can borrow for my bachelors.
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From what I can see it says "too many inquiries" I don't know what that means.
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I don't know how it is in Europe but here in the States you need credit to have a good credit score. Most of the time whatever you decide to buy: house, car or whatever they look at the length of your credit history. you need to develop credit in order to establish a good credit history. I don't like it but I had to get credit cards to pay for things that I didn't have the money right there and then for school.
Department stores are a good source of a good credit history: GAP, Old Navy......
There are other options to cover the total cost of attendance (beyond tuition expenses) even if you exhausted your sub/unsub loans. Go to your financial aid office and they will show you what options are available. I would also try and roll your credit card debt into the student loans as much as possible, because the interest would be much less.
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lol, I think we have a right answer in these 3 comments. Using a line of credit to get benefits out of your purchase and build your score is a great idea, but using it to buy things you want, that you can't realistically pay for, even over time, isn't a good idea. Better to save and pay cash and avoid the interest.
Bottom line: credit cards are fine if you know how to use them wisely. Unfortunately, most people in the USA don't know what that means.
And buying any luxury item on credit that you can't afford to pay cash for right NOW is never a good idea.
And buying any luxury item on credit that you can't afford to pay cash for right NOW is never a good idea.
Once you have a card, you have given them permission to do a soft pull of your credit report. They use this to assess your status as a payer.
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And, Technically you are of no value to Citi. Over time your account could also be closed because they make no money unless your card as a yearly fee.
If paying off your card each month, it is the same as cash in my opinion. I say best to pay cash instead of running up a credit card that is not paid off each month. I also charge and then payoff the same month.
If you have enough cash on hand to pay for a house, car, or any other large purchase without the need for a credit history, sure.
Otherwise, credit cards are a means to show you have the ability to pay for those large purchases by way of lenders giving you the “cas” to do so.
I've only had a credit card for a couple of years so don't know if this is 'normal' or country specific. Here we have the option of choosing to pay for things in one go or monthly.
I always pay in one go, so I get my bill for the whole price of the item and then take my cash to the convenience store and pay it off at once. I don't pay monthly. Then again, I'm not rich, so I physically save up to buy the item over the course of the year and wouldn't buy it if I didn't have enough money to pay for it in full, in my hand.
I basically pay by credit card so I have some protection, am building up a credit history, and am actually using the card so they don't cancel it due to lack of use. It makes sense to me. I'm not going into debt to pay for my new things, I'd be too afraid I wouldn't have the money to pay it off one day as my income isn't stable.
I always pay in one go, so I get my bill for the whole price of the item and then take my cash to the convenience store and pay it off at once. I don't pay monthly. Then again, I'm not rich, so I physically save up to buy the item over the course of the year and wouldn't buy it if I didn't have enough money to pay for it in full, in my hand.
I basically pay by credit card so I have some protection, am building up a credit history, and am actually using the card so they don't cancel it due to lack of use. It makes sense to me. I'm not going into debt to pay for my new things, I'd be too afraid I wouldn't have the money to pay it off one day as my income isn't stable.
Haha. Ok. I’ll believe that when I see it.
Regardless of that never happening, it wouldn’t be an issue getting another high balance card from another lender.
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While that may be what you mean, I don’t think anyone else would count that as “cash.”
Yeah, my goal of course is to pay off all my credit cards or at least get them all down to 30% of my limit. From what I'm told this will boost your FICO score up. Once I get them low then I can put them away and not use those, but keep 2 to develop credit. I rather pay everything in cash but of course when it comes to a house then I would need that credit score nice and high.
Paying cash for everything isn't always wise simply because it would require you to always carry the ready cash on your person. As long as you pay the balance off at the end of the billing cycle, there is no harm.
Every week, I withdraw $60-100 at a time to cover what I need to pay cash for.
Limits the potential loss I may have if my wallet gets stolen/lost.
As far as your bank maybe closing the card because they make no money off you because no balance is carried forward each month (as ZipZap posted earlier), that is a fallacy.
For years, my VISA is dormant. I'd like to see Chase cancel my card.
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Debit cards are a pain when it comes to disputes and other matters. Google it.
Debit cards are only recommended when you can't get a credit card.
Avoid them if you are smart.
This is utter poppycock. Sadly, as so often in credit card related discussions on the Internet, there is complete nonsense being spouted off in this thread. The above comment is one example.
I have not paid any interest on my various credit cards for over a quarter of a century and not a single one has been canceled by the issuer. I don't pay annual fees.
Even if you use the credit card solely for convenience (purchase protection, extended warranty, rewards programs, travel insurance, merchant dispute protection, cash back, etc.) you are still beneficial to the card issuer because of merchant fees. For every $100 you charge, you are probably generating $2-3 in merchant fees.
The average American has something like $10,000 in consumer debt. That doesn't mean that every credit card holder has $10K in debt. That means for every person who has a zero dollar balance, there's someone else owing $20K. Credit card issuers don't give cards only to people who are going to carry a balance; they never have.
If you add up all of my credit card limits, I have about a $90,000 consumer credit line. My credit utilization at this moment is about 0.15%.
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Indeed, the traditional Amex card *required* that you pay off the balance every month.
A.
Yup, every transaction on a credit card results in the card issuer getting a percentage of the sale, regardless if you as the card holder pays off the balance every month.
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I found out the hard way when I was in my early 20s. A charge card (amex), is the same thing as a credit card
That is an outdated comment. American Express has issued credit cards in addition to their charge cards for over twenty years now. Also, that was just American Express; they issued their own cards, unlike Visa and MasterCard who have always had some sort of finance charge.
Also, if you had good payment history, American Express will defer certain charges on their traditional charge cards and allow you to pay over time. This program used to be called "Sign-and-Travel," it's probably called something else today. It was intended for people who might be traveling for several months and not get home to pay off their bill.
Today, it's easy to pay online, takes less than a minute.
I was specifically talking about credit cards, not charge cards. They are two different things although they often share some common features.
Look back at post #43. I wrote "credit card issuers" and my comment was focused on the value of a cardholder who is not paying interest nor is paying an annual fee. I certainly know the difference between a charge card and a credit card.
Try not to muddle the discussion any further. There are already too many people here who don't understand how credit cards operate.
Thank you.
Look back at post #43. I wrote "credit card issuers" and my comment was focused on the value of a cardholder who is not paying interest nor is paying an annual fee. I certainly know the difference between a charge card and a credit card.
Try not to muddle the discussion any further. There are already too many people here who don't understand how credit cards operate.
Thank you.
No, if Citibank thought there was fraud, they would have sent a snail mail letter alerting the card holder, cancelled the existing card, and issued a new card with a new number. They wouldn't just revoke the card for this reason.
For legal purposes, all of the most important communications is done by post. A credit card issuer won't silently cancel a card. They basically have to let the card holder in writing why they are revoking the privileges outlined in the cardholder agreement and cancelling the card.