Credit Card debt

powernoodle said:
Mrs. Powernoodle and I are debt free. No mortgage, no cc, no car payments, no nothing. Paid off house, '08 Honda and '09 Suburban. Good stuff. We aren't (financially) rich. We just buy stuff when we can afford it. Like the FFG Blue Delica that I ordered today. :thumbup:
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That's the way my wife and I do it too. We don't buy what we can't afford. The idea of making payments on a car is ridiculous to me. I save up and pay the full amount when it's time to get a new vehicle and I keep it for 10 years or so.
 
No credit cards? It's difficult to stay at a hotel or fly on an airplane without a credit card. I guess that a debit card would work.

We have a few credit cards. AMEX from Costco and a Chase Freedom card. We pay them off every month. We haven't carried a balance for 10 years. That reminds me..... I have to collect the $100 that Chase pays me to use their card. :D
 
Debit card has always worked fine for hotels/motels for me. I haven't found anyone willing to pay me enough to fly commercial, so that's no problem, either.
 
No debt. I ran into CC debt while I was in college and learned my lesson early on (I got myself out of it). When I lost my job, I unloaded my condo and savings took a hit but I got out from under the mortgage. Truck is paid off. I worked my way thru college and paid for it while I went (employer tuiting program helped). Currently keeping my head above water and living paycheck like most folks.
 
I could be wrong, but I was told to use a credit card (vs. debit) for mail order items and hotel/motels. Reason being is there is more fraud in these two areas and with a credit card you are better protected. Is this hogwash or truth?
 
Most of the larger companies, I've heard at least Visa from someone I trust, require merchants to afford all the protections to debit card purchases that they do to credit card purchase. So if your debit card from Wells Fargo is like mine and says Visa on the front, you should be covered.

Just remember: you're dealing with two banks. :confused:

Other than the house I've got about $20000 left. A little more than $4ooo of that on credit cards. Self-garnishment sucks but do you want to be debt-free or not? I'm looking forward to some overtime this summer so I can pay off more of it than the $175 every two weeks I do now.
 
I read the average American owes $10,000 in credit cards. Just from the replies so far, most people are doing well. This just motivates me to pay it off quicker. I also heard its best to pay for gas at the pump with cash or a credit card. One important note USAA provided, when you reserve a room at a hotel and cancel, make sure you get a receipt. I was billed over $800 for a canceled room at a 3 star hotel. I was lucky the Manager was honest, and returned the money.
 
about $1,900 for me on a cc..... damn big screen!! and it never gets smaller if u just make min payments, other than that about 40k mortgage and thats it, but im only 24 so ill have plenty of time to pay it off and retire early!:rolleyes:
 
As much as I hate debt, we still do have a credit card, but pay it off each month. That is not optimal from a debt purist's perspective, but when we were using a debit card, someone got the number and drained our checking account. It was ultimately resolved, and our funds restored, but it is better to get scammed - if at all - while using a credit card as your checking account remains safe. JMO.
 
I live of about half my income and still mange to have plenty of toy money. No kids / wife and an engineer salary helps. I know people who make a lot less and seem to have a lot more (stuff).
 
I got into pretty bad credit card debt while I was in college, and it took me years to dig myself out of the hole. I actually paid off the majority of it within the past couple of years, and it feels great. I still use the cards occasionally, but they are paid off before the end of the month.

About the only substantial debt I have is my student loan. Thankfully, I don't owe anywhere near what some people I know owe.
 
new to the forum,might as well start here, about $20.000.00 in dept,2/3 medical bills,motorcycle wreck head on,multiple surgeries,insurance money didnt last.i"m still alive to play with my kids though.
 
bargs said:
new to the forum,might as well start here, about $20.000.00 in dept,2/3 medical bills,motorcycle wreck head on,multiple surgeries,insurance money didnt last.i"m still alive to play with my kids though.
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Glad you're ok.

Had a guy at work that had a diabetic emergency. Bill ended up being 93,000 dollars. He's married and a student, around 25 years old.
 
bargs said:
new to the forum,might as well start here, about $20.000.00 in dept,2/3 medical bills,motorcycle wreck head on,multiple surgeries,insurance money didnt last.i"m still alive to play with my kids though.
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You are fortunate to be alive.
 
After my divorce, I had about $120,000 on credit cards. It took a few years to get that paid off. Another year and a half and the mortgage will be paid off too.

Now I still buy almost everything on credit cards, but I pay them off in full every month.
 
I've slowly weaned myself off of credit buying over the last few years. It was just a part of life for many years, but you get tired of the companies, the fees, the interest, and finally you decide, "screw this!!" I have one card left with a balance, which is just around $4000 like the op's. I'm working on it and haven't made any charges to the account in several years. The only way I use credit these days is if I need something (appliances, electronics, furniture) and I get an offer for zero interest for at least 18 months. The companies want your business and are willing to make that offer because they think you'll screw up and make a late payment or not get the item paid in full in time and you'll end up getting stuck with a huge interest charge. But if you're diligent, you can afford some nice things this way. My last desktop computer from Dell and my LCD tv from Best Buy were both bought with credit promos, and they are both now paid in full, not a penny of interest on either one. That's the way to do it:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Working at a hotel I can say they hit up your debit card for some odd charge, like it holds WAY more money than the room costs, we STRONGLY recommend using a credit card for hotels. I don't know the whole deal because I don't work the desk.

It's good to have a credit card just never put too much on it, only use it when you have to. Debit cards rule.
 
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