Money Talk

[nick_tiger]

I really hope everyone reads this. If you really think I'm wrong, then just skip it - don't reply and tell me how you do it... it doesn't work. I hope you can read this and listen with your heart and understand that I'm trying to help

Comments

[graemelion]

Ah. The 0% interest , $0 payments forever plan. I like that :)

I too have cards. Too many of them. But I am closing them out. Be careful, though, that if you have a card that you close it out quickly. Soon, companies are instituting three interesting sets of fees.

1. A no balance fee. Some companies are talking about instituting a fee for not having a balance.

2. A no activity fee. Some companies are talking about having a fee for not using the card in a given time period.

3. A minimum balance fee. Some companies are talking about a fee , smaller than the no balance fee, for being under a minimum account balance.

They'll get more than your $2 in the future :)

As I've been paying off and closing out cards, I've found I have more free money to do things with :) WHEEEEE!

[nick_tiger]

I've found I have more free money to do things with

Awesome. It's working! Don't go back.

I agree, We had one that had a no activity fee. We called them and asked them to remove it. They did. We then closed the account ;)

-Tiger Nick

[bucktowntiger]

Keep in mind, also, that each time a credit account is closed, your credit score drops.

[nick_tiger]

I will have no credit score in just a few years. It will be 0. I will not borrow money again, so it won't be an issue.

Besides a mortgage (which done correctly I'm not against), which will need manual underwriting (ie, someone with a brain that can look at my assets and say "He's good for it" Versus some dumbass looking at some fictional number and saying "Sorry").

..But you're correct. It will drop.

-Tiger Nick

[cloudpouncer]

I actually just started using my credit cards more. I was tired of buying things with the business and personal stuff and not getting anything in return. Now I have almost 2 free flights on southwest with my business card and one on the personal. But we do pay them off each and every month. Paying interest or having debt just sucks. Congrats on kicking so much ass on those school loans, thats pretty impressive. The only big thing I have to deal with are my medical bills atm but hopefully that can be dealt with over a few years. And that's interest free. I do keep cash set aside too. I sometimes forget that I have some in Omaha from when I sold my crappy mini van I bought as a fix up project. I just left the money with my folks in case I ever had a emergency so I wouldn't spend it lol.

[dasoslukos]

I have learned the hard way about credit cards myself and am still paying off my mistakes. Once that is done I will have one card with $1,000 for pure emergency. Thats it. Done with that BS. Funny part is, people wonder why the economy blows. Its because people have misused credit and lending.

[johnwallaby]

Credit cards are NOT for emergencies, thats the job of savings or money market accounts.

[crssafox]

I'd have to disagree with this to a point. Yes, it's better to have savings than to have to go into debt BUT life doesn't always work like that. In my case, and I know many others as well, emergencies tend to stack up, one right after the other. The car needs repairs, then the dog gets sick and needs treatment, then after exhausting your savings you find yourself needing to take a last-minute trip across the country for a funeral. This is how things happen for me, and also why, despite having paid down our debts, I will keep our credit cards open. If I get a finance charge, I would rather waste my twenty minutes calling them to take it off, than not having that option available if absolutely necessary

[nick_tiger]

I disagree with this wholeheartedly.

You have to make a decision that you WILL NOT BORROW MONEY. Car breaks down? That's what the emergency fund is for. If the dog gets sick, perhaps you can't afford to take care of an animal right now. If someone dies, I think they'll understand my not being there at 30% interest.

I'm not saying your wrong for doing those things (We have a Dog, and we get it), but it's got to be a conscious decision to not go into debt.

The funny thing is, when you have an emergency fund, it tends to keep Murphy away. Things that were big emergencies before become minor inconveniences. The problem is, no one restocks the emergency fund. You have to STOP SPENDING in order to build it back up after an emergency.

-Tiger Nick

[johnwallaby]

Sure, you got burned by touching the boiling pot. Doesn't mean that the boiling pot is evil and should be cast into the landfill, it just means you should be a little more careful next time.

Either the card doesn't have a grace period, or you didn't pay the full balance before the end of grace, triggering the minimum finance charge. Double check the agreement, pay monthly (not as-you-go or biweekly), pay before the end of grace, and you shouldn't see another finance charge. (For added assurance, old-fashioned no-interest-ever charge cards still exist, such as Amex Zync)

Kudos on your debt paydown progress!

[crssafox]

A lot of times the card's web site won't reflect the actual current balance, and in the case of my Capital One card I paid off last month, they only allow you to pay the last statement's posted balance plus ten percent - and the interest rate on the card is 15%. Hmm, sound fishy to you? However, the day after my next statement posted I paid off the remaining balance plus ten percent - even though no finance charges could have been assessed at that point - and so that card (along with our two other cards that were paid in full) had a POSITIVE balance.

It's all a stupidly tricky game, and they are willing to squeeze out as many extra dollars as they can get. :\

[graemelion]

Actually, that's not true. You can pay the full balance, before the end of the grace, and still have a finance charge for the next month.

And that finance charge can have a finance charge for the following.

And so on, and so forth, each time getting smaller and smaller.

I'm quite the expert on paying off cards lately, and so I've found that if you want to pay off a card to close it, it's better to pay about ten to fifteen percent above the balance. Then, close the card when you get the negative balanace bill, and they'll mail you a check in 30 to 60 days.

[nick_tiger]

More careful.

It's not like we were willy nilly watching it. We were VERY conscious of it, because I didn't really want to be using it in the first place.

If it's your opinion that credit companies are good, I have no problem with that.

-Tiger Nick

[bucktowntiger]

Even if you pay off your credit card in full each month (as I have for four years), the credit card companies still get a percentage of each transaction from the merchants you use your card at. Which the merchants then pass on to you (me). And everyone else.

You are 200% correct. The only way to get back at the credit card companies is to stop using credit cards. Altogether. This means debit cards too. And I plan on going back to such a plan, after I get my credit card paid off (this will be the first month in four years that I will fail to pay the entire balance in full--incurring a finance charge of much more than $2--and I will not stand for it any longer. Going back to cash-only.)

[nick_tiger]

THIS!

You just gotta be sick and tired of being sick and tired. We said, "NO MORE STUPID TAX!" Which is all that is. We make too much to not have any money, and we're changing our life to win.

Moving to cash only is not a bad idea at all!

-Tiger Nick