I think that people that use credit cards are sad people. If you can't afford something then perhaps you should think twice about buying it. If you follow that simple rule then your life gets to feel a lot more relaxed and the people around you start to seem a bit more nicer.
This bit of advice is worth more than just about any other advice you will ever get about how to manage your finances
Well continue to think that I am sad then, whilst I earn cashback on one card, AirMiles on another and have a perfect credit rating, as I am intelligent in that I can manage my finances perfectly.
Joe
Do you have an opinion on using a credit card for purchases of a certain size where the merchant could go bust? What do you pay with under those circumstances?
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TROLL!
You mean those people who use credit cards and don't pay off the full amount each month, surely?
I don't think he thought that far, if at all. Admittedly, it is all too easy to get into trouble with CCs so it's fair enough to be wary of them... but as the wise GSV noted, it could have been an attempted troll.
Putrid poetry, dismal doggerel, extrava-stanzas...
At 14:13:30 on 12/10/2005, jon delighted uk.finance by announcing:
I'm terribly sad at the amount of cashback I earn, yes. It should be a lot more!
Paying the full amount each month does'nt really amount to credit, its more convenience I would think. I'm sure various people can think of convincing reasons why using a credit card as a normal way of going about their purchases is acceptable. In the final analysis though its borrowing money and being in debt. I always thought being in debt was not a good thing, for some strange reason its now considered the norm. Forgive me for saying this, but I do feel a certain pride that the material goods that I have and the holidays that I have are truly mine and not something that I am going to have to pay over the odds for.
Why would anyone consider my posting to be a "troll". I thought what I said was something that a lot more people should have the guts to stand up and say.
At 22:33:25 on 12/10/2005, jon delighted uk.finance by announcing:
I could go on.
Having unmanageable debt is not a good thing. Having manageable debt is no great problem.
Several weeks of interest-free credit. Up to 2% cashback (or up to equivalent of 6% with Tesco). What's over the odds?
My 2% from amex paid for a nice long weekend in prague recently ;-)
It's still credit - you are still permanently in debt to the credit card company.
Like you said, convenience. I find it an efficient way to manage my finances - I can't predict exactly what I'll need to spend every month, I don't need to with a credit card - when I get paid I deduct last month's credit card bill, usual DD's and a few hundred spending cash and plough anything remaining into my mortgage. If I didn't have a credit card I'd need a crystal ball to predict my month's spending, or have a big overdraft which would cost me in interest.
Paying high interest on debt isn't a good thing. Not being able to repay your debt isn't a good thing. But many people make money out of debt (eg 0% credit card balance transfers). The vast majority couldn't afford to buy a house without a loan.
True. But it won't be after the peak or trough of the current K-wave.
House?
If you borrow wisely you could pay *under* the odds!
You're being too simplistic.
Sure - like the way most folks are permanently in credit with their employers untill the end of each month.... ;->
rgds, Alan
I'm in debt to mine for some of the month (they pay me before the end of the month).
troll or stupid?
Your first sentence contradicts your third ('paying full amount each month isnt credit', OR, 'using a card is borrowing money and being in debt')
At 12:19:03 on 13/10/2005, Andy Pandy delighted uk.finance by announcing:
I'm permanently in credit with mine. I always carry 5 days' holiday over.
Safety when buying over the net, handy proof of purchase, cash back... yeah, it's pretty easy.
Not always.
You were obviously brought up with a very one-sided view of credit cards then.
You wouldn't be saying that if you'd bought a computer from Time just before they went bust. I, on the other hand, would shrug and order one from somewhere else with the same `money` I `bought` the first one with. Does that make me a bad person.
You insulted people ("I think that people that use credit cards are sad people"), in a way which was likely to provoke a possibly negative response - textbook trolling.
Ok everyone, I get the general idea. Guess I was not being that smart. So am I right in assuming that I can get 90% of the benefits that you folk have detailed, simply by buying with a credit card and paying the full amount back in full at the end of the month? Does it matter very much which credit card I use? Is a Barclaycard as good as any other?
This is not a "troll" or a windup, I really don't use a credit card. I'm not wealthy, but I am financial solvent and usually bin everything the banks send me that are not statements. I don't like banks and I really am very old fashioned.
At 22:35:07 on 13/10/2005, jon delighted uk.finance by announcing:
Yes.
No. Compare the features of various cards. Barclaycard doesn't really have much to recommend it.
Various examples:
Tesco (RBS): 1% 'cashback' in the form of Clubcard points. 1.5% on everything spent in Tesco stores. Use the points to buy deals (RAC membership, Tussauds attractions entry, Blockbuster rentals etc. See website for details) and you get the equivalent of 6%.
Sky Card (Barclays): get reward points to spend on Sky services
Virgin card (MBNA): get reward points to spend in Virgin
Amex: get various percentages of cashback up to 2%, or up to 1.5 BA miles per pound depending on the card
Nationwide: 0.5% for 6 months, 0.25% thereafter and commission-free purchases abroad
etc.
You can combine different cards, obviously; e.g. Have a Tesco card for use in UK, and a Nationwide card for use abroad.
Also be warned. Like me, you're unlikely to have much of a credit history. Paradoxically, never having been in debt makes you a worse credit risk (according to the scoring mechanisms which are automated these days) than someone who's tens of grand in on multiple credit cards. Also, if one of them ever refuses you, you have to say so on the future credit card applications and it counts against you.
FoFP
I use credit cards. Doesn't mean I can't afford the things I buy.
I can't afford to buy a house without taking out a mortgage. Does that mean I'm irresponsible for buying more than I can afford.
The point behind your rant is a good one, that we shouldn't abuse credit in order to live beyond our means. However it is hidden by your ignorance of reality.
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