Posted on 05/11/2024 9:21:52 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Borrowing money at 21% interest.
Terrible, terrible idea.
You have to do this. Either you know where your money is and where it is going or it is waving bye bye.
Do they include people who buy everything on the card to get cash back or convenience and pay it off every month before interest comes due? Those cards will always carry a balance, and the credit agencies record as such, but no interest is paid.
>> Do they include people who buy everything on the card to get cash back or convenience and pay it off every month before interest comes due?
An excellent question. That strategy defines the Tick household to a “T”. We have $5K to $10K CC bill every month, and we pay it off in full. We have zero other debt.
The credit card interest on my cards are obscenely high and I do not care. I pay them all each month and do not accrue a penalty. In the credit card industry the call us “DEAD BEATS” because we pay our cards on time with no penalties.
In my Antique shop we always give a discount for those that pay cash or by a local check. They get what the credit cards company would have gotten by only shifting electrons in their payment system that cost them little. Actually, we give them more than the credit cost to us. It is good business. They come back later to buy more.
Banks are not your friend but a necessary evil, as most of our sales are by credit cards.
The really devious thing is to run up huge credit card debt, make the absolute minimum payment, file for bankruptcy, get all that debt wiped out and immediately get new credit cards and start the process all over again because an individual can file bankruptcy every 8 years I think
I'd then like to see these adjusted figures juxtaposed with political orientation / voting preferences in the given state.
Q: Are staunch conservatives truly more judicious in their spending habits than leftists?
Regards,
As you say, terrible idea. They're not forced to use them to stay afloat, they will likely sink into deeper debt. Best way to stay afloat is to force yourself to pay off any credit card debt immediately, and not carry debt with 21 to 29 percent interest charges on the carried debt!
I live in a low-property-tax state, but I still don’t like it when my property tax bill come in once a year. We have no mortgage, so this arrives like a bill, in the mail. I can pay it online in one or two installments.
Because I don’t particularly like paying property tax, I decided long ago to let the bank credit card issuers pay my property tax for me, every year.
And they have! I have not paid property tax for almost two decades. My plan continues to work perfectly.
This year, American Express and Chase will team up to pay it. I am most grateful to both banks. Wondering how? That’s right: credit cards, in combination with new bank accounts from those same banks. All it takes in my case is four to five big cash sign-on bonuses (Chase Ink, Amex Plat, $900 from Chase for savings+checking) and that bill, our biggest, is paid. And, where I go, my lovely wife follows, so every bonus we get we get twice. How can the banks give me so much money? They get it from the people in this article who pay interest and fees. It’s a transfer from those folks to people like us who are far more ‘affluent’. I recommend this method for everyone. Use your good credit score to your advantage. It really works.
Most people don’t pay the full balance each month.
And money habits seem to matter more than income level.
Some high-income earners carry CC debt from month to month.
Some low-income earners have no debt at all. (I’m in this group.)
Budgeting isn’t fun, but it’s necessary.
Paying interest is just throwing money away.
If I can’t pay something off within two to three months, I’m not buying it.
Just made my. monthly payment and my balance is now $135.00. I basically keep it alive if and when I ever really need to use it.
Somehow some way, responsible people with savings will be forced to pay off the debts of others.
I do use my credit card for some expenses, but pay off some of it with each paycheck so that I won’t have the debt piling up. Some people, unfortunately, cannot do even that. Thanks, Brandon.
Our first, and only, credit card for nine years was an American Express card. When we did get other cards we were in the habit of paying the balance every month.
I haven’t paid a penny of interest since we paid our house off years ago.
And who has a stake in credit card companies? the bidens
That amazes me. Less than half even make a budget or track their expenses???
Somebody needs to introduce them to the concept of zero based budgeting. Figure out what you HAVE TO spend money on - rent, utilities, food at the grocery store, gas, insurance, etc. Now how much of the rest can you strip out?
For most people its a good bit.
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