credit card debt free!!

Octopus · Post by **Octopus** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:40 pm

10000 bucks paid to evil visa... not ever going down that road again until i make 10000 a day.
Do you have credit card debt? Here's an easy solution that may work for you! Give them money!

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:49 pm

2 cards, $500 total. I keep it that way for the reason you gave.

Bet51987 · Post by **Bet51987** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:58 pm

I have no debt. I never buy anything of any cost without thinking about it for a day or two. Then, I pay my card bill online every month without fail. They make nothing on me.

Bee

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:18 pm

I have never had a credit card. Then one day I checked into a hotel, and they needed a CC to put a hold on in order to make sure I didn't run up a $7000 mini-bar tab and skip town. I gave them my check card, as it was the only thing I had.

They put a $300 hold on it and wiped out my checking account in the process. I had to pay the overdraft fees and everything.

I came back and filled out an application for a low-limit credit card.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:10 pm

I generally avoid the problem by not buying anything with my credit cards that I don't have the money to pay for immediately. It's more a convenience thing than for actual credit for me.

Octopus · Post by **Octopus** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:28 am

Sirius wrote:I generally avoid...

Bet51987 wrote:I have no debt. I never buy...

Well at this point I'm toying with the idea of cutting my credit card with a sharpened stick, to see if evil spirits come out. I think the only thing I want my credit card account for is to have the ability to overdraft and be reimbursed with the available credit. If I pay it off before the next billing period it would be cheaper than getting that "overdraft protection" junk. But that's rare so I might just close the evil thing.

DCrazy wrote:I have never had a credit card. Then one day...

That drives me nuts. A cab will only take cash or credit and I hate carrying lots of cash on me... I might have to keep the card in it's present condition.

AlphaDoG · Post by **AlphaDoG** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:40 am

A prepaid Visa or Mastercard Debit card is the way to go.

Gekko71 · Post by **Gekko71** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:13 am

Necesary evils I'm afraid.

Try hiring a car without one - impossible!

grizz · Post by **grizz** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:28 am

My wife and I got credit cards our 2nd year of marriage (we're on year 25), as we couldn't rent a car when we traveled without one.

We pay them off every month, and in 25 years have only paid $1.76 in interest, when my wife didn't get the payment in the mail on time one month.

About year 3, we got a Discover card, which pays us money back at the end of the year. We put everything we can now on our rebate type cards, and pay them off every month. We get somewhere between $300-500 back at the end of every year, and that's our guilt free mad money we use to celebrate our anniversary every year.

snoopy · Post by **snoopy** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:16 am

grizz wrote:About year 3, we got a Discover card, which pays us money back at the end of the year. We put everything we can now on our rebate type cards, and pay them off every month. We get somewhere between $300-500 back at the end of every year, and that's our guilt free mad money we use to celebrate our anniversary every year.

NM

Richard Cranium · Post by **Richard Cranium** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:30 am

I always try and carry a small amount of cash, maybe 20 or 30 bucks, in addition to my CC and Debit Card. There are always places that you might need cash at like that gas station who's CC reader is broken and you don't have enough fuel to get to the next station. Otherwise most of my spending is done on my Debit Card but I never use it for on-line purchases. That is reserved for my CC. They have better fraud coverage than most Debit cards and if you are hit by some sort of fraud on your CC it doesn't directly affect your bank account balance.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:19 am

Internet credit card fraud is no more likely than having your card number swiped by a security breach at any of the dozens of card processor companies that handle everything for big box/retail stores, restaurants, gas stations and every other brick and mortar place you can use a credit card at. Although internet sites also use the same credit card processing companies so the only way to really avoid having your card number stolen is to NEVER use it.

When you swipe your card anywhere (even at an ATM), your card number will be transmitted over the internet and sent through a credit card processing company.

On my news sites that I read all the big credit card breaches that have been reported in the last few years have all been fraud at card processing companies and the vast majority of the numbers stolen were from brick and mortar establishments, not internet sites.

CORD · Post by **CORD** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:04 am

I have no cc debt, but do have a cc just for hotel/car rental type things. I also only have 7 years left on my mortgage.

Grizz, rebate/reward/miles CC's are bad news for merchants. How do think the rewards/miles/rebates are paid for. TANSTAFL Merchants foot the bill. I have a business that takes CC's but refuse to take those cards and also AE and Discover. The cost of taking those cards is skyrocketing for the merchant. AE demands 4 % of every sale. Discover is almost 4%. All the reward type cards charge 1-2 % above the regular rate of acceptence. So it's a great tool to get people to use CC's, but not good for themerchant.

Octopus · Post by **Octopus** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:11 am

Yup. There's a couple of good heads here.

grizz · Post by **grizz** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:19 am

I'm aware of that, Cord, but the marketplace is all about competition. I go a bit out of my way to shop where I can get the best value for my buck.

Using my AE at Costco, I get about 3% back on purchases, including gasoline, and their prices already beat most others. And with a family my size, I buy alot of bulk.

*edit* I keep a couple of non-reward cards for places that don't take reward type.

The bottom line is that credit cards are a useful tool, but like any tool can really hurt you if you don't use them right. *edit*

And I have less time left on my mortgage than you

CORD wrote:I have no cc debt, but do have a cc just for hotel/car rental type things. I also only have 7 years left on my mortgage.

Grizz, rebate/reward/miles CC's are bad news for merchants. How do think the rewards/miles/rebates are paid for. TANSTAFL Merchants foot the bill. I have a business that takes CC's but refuse to take those cards and also AE and Discover. The cost of taking those cards is skyrocketing for the merchant. AE demands 4 % of every sale. Discover is almost 4%. All the reward type cards charge 1-2 % above the regular rate of acceptence. So it's a great tool to get people to use CC's, but not good for themerchant.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:44 pm

Krom wrote:On my news sites that I read all the big credit card breaches that have been reported in the last few years have all been fraud at card processing companies and the vast majority of the numbers stolen were from brick and mortar establishments, not internet sites.

Yep. Amusing but true: the easiest way to steal others' information is to target the human, not the machines in between.

Kilarin · Post by **Kilarin** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:51 pm

Congrats Octopus!

I use credit cards all the time, but I pay them off every month. Well, to be honest, my WIFE pays them off every month. There are advantages to marrying a business major.

I was LOUSY at handling money before I got married. Now I live debt free. It has it's advantages. I don't have to panic when layoffs start happening.

Krom wrote: I read all the big credit card breaches that have been reported in the last few years have all been fraud at card processing companies and the vast majority of the numbers stolen were from brick and mortar establishments, not internet sites.

Yes, it's very frustrating to my wife. She runs a small business and the government has thrown so many "credit card security" regulations and fees at her that it is likely to make her shut down. And yet, she's NEVER lost a single credit card number. The big companies though, loose them by the hundreds of thousands at a time.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:15 pm

Sirius wrote:Yep. Amusing but true: the easiest way to steal others' information is to target the human, not the machines in between.

Did you hear about the idiot, who stepped out of a car with top secret info in his hand, face up…lol. I don’t know why but what you said made me think of that.

EngDrewman · Post by **EngDrewman** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:24 pm

http://www.mtvu.com/activism/economy/indebted-debt-ed/

Firewheel · Post by **Firewheel** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:46 am

I don't even have a credit card. I pay for everything with my Visa debit, and it works great. I've never been in debt and tend to make big purchases only after plenty of deliberation.

Sedwick · Post by **Sedwick** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:07 am

Congratulations! When I pay off my credit card debt, I'll be hosting a \"Back in Black\" party. There will be a BBQ cookout, statement shredding for the kids, a ceremonial sparkler bomb ignition to burn the cards, and a band, whose first song will be the AC/DC number. And oh yeah, you're all invited

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:42 am

New one on me Spidey, but it's a special kind of awesome.

CORD · Post by **CORD** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:42 pm

Grizz, stop repressing me...

grizz · Post by **grizz** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:44 pm

CORD wrote:Grizz, stop repressing me...

Nobody likes a crybaby, OK?

credit card debt free!!

credit card debt free!!

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