Can you live without credit cards?

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: hatt
The cash back doesn't add up to much. It doesn't make up for the extra money you spend by using cards vs cash.


Someone that can't control their spending because they have a CC doesn't mean the cash back doesn't add up to much. 2% - 5% off every purchase is still 2% to 5% back in your pocket.
Nothing to do with people who can't control their spending. If your computer/device has the googles, look it up. You spend more with CC than with cash. It's just how the human mind operates. I'm also pretty sure just having the cash back feature will cause you to spend more. "The more I spend the more I save!!!!"

A person my come out if they only use then for fixed expenses, or to make required business purchases. The people who take it everywhere to get a % back are losing.

 

[qwerty1234]

Most of the people who rave about their great credit cards are "penny pinchers." 2% cash back, not a real big deal. I'd rather have credit and live life than be a penny pincher.

 

[jhellwig]

Chasing the cash back and points will bite you in the butt eventually. It isn't worth playing their game. They are not going to loose money by letting you use their money. It will always cost you.

I don't have any credit cards and never carry cash. I just use my debit card. The places that you make multiple thousand dollar transactions at still take checks.


Ps. My goal in life is to have really bad credit score.

 

[Leo99]

Credit cards are more convenient for me. Why make life harder on yourself.

 

[99Saturn]

Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: hatt
The cash back doesn't add up to much. It doesn't make up for the extra money you spend by using cards vs cash.


Someone that can't control their spending because they have a CC doesn't mean the cash back doesn't add up to much. 2% - 5% off every purchase is still 2% to 5% back in your pocket.
Nothing to do with people who can't control their spending. If your computer/device has the googles, look it up. You spend more with CC than with cash. It's just how the human mind operates. I'm also pretty sure just having the cash back feature will cause you to spend more. "The more I spend the more I save!!!!"

A person my come out if they only use then for fixed expenses, or to make required business purchases. The people who take it everywhere to get a % back are losing.


Your statement is my point - if a person walks into a store and thinks that because they have a CC they can spend more, then they need to control their spending.

If someone is going to go into a store and buy a gallon of milk, and because they are charging it are going to decide to buy a candy bar, then they need to rewire how they think about spending money. If they are going to save 2% on the gallon of milk and pay it off when their CC bill comes in, they are going to save 2%.

Personally, if I'm going to buy gas, I'm not going to buy an extra gallon or two because I'm charging it, but I'm going to enjoy getting 5% off via cash back.

 

[RedOakRanch]

I buy everything I'll admit to on them and I always pay in full when the bill comes. I keep a few bucks in the wallet for kicks and always have several k close at hand. My rewards pay for all the Christmas gifts for my family. No cost to me and not liable for fraud, I don't see the downside.I actually spend cash faster because I know there's no bill associated with it!

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Everything I buy goes to a credit card, I appreciate the rewards and purchase protection. I never have cash on me, and I am not about to use a debit card that pulls directly from my checking account.

I do exactly the same as you, but I have few dollars in my back pocket.

 

[901Memphis]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
They're getting ready to do away with cash and put a barcode on your wrist. They'll be able to monitor your every transaction and take money out of your account whenever they want to. Protest the government ? They'll take money out or your account or shut you down entirely.



In Time (2011) Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wild

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: hatt
The cash back doesn't add up to much. It doesn't make up for the extra money you spend by using cards vs cash.


$500-$2500 a year in free money sure sounds better than no free money.

Amazon card 5% cash back
Target card 5% cash back
Lowes card 5% cash back
Chase freedom 5% back on rotating categories (grocery stores, gas stations usually)
American Express 3% back on groceries, 2% gas back on gas

If you are like me and put ALL of your bills, pay for everything on credit, use the proper card to get the most cash back on that transaction, than it's free money coming in. I put at least $40K a year on credit cards and I get 2-5% of that back as cash back - it adds up. During a 10 year span, using credit cards, that is over $10,000 in FREE CASH BACK! It would be pretty stupid to leave that on the table.

 

[Ducked]

Have to. Foreigners aren't issued with credit cards here, and my UK sourced ones are all dead.

Don't find it a particular problem. VISA debit cards seem to work for most things, though there may be instances where they don't.

It was a real pain going back to the UK (before I had the debit cards, which might have worked.) Since I couldn't buy travel tickets online it added to the costs quite a bit.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Yeah, I'm apathetic and I don't care.


You have no idea how much control they'll have over you when cash goes away.


I guess not because I don't think they have any control over me. I'm not even sure who "they" are.

You sure know a lot. I'm sure that gives you great comfort.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: jhellwig
Chasing the cash back and points will bite you in the butt eventually. It isn't worth playing their game. They are not going to loose money by letting you use their money. It will always cost you.


The problem here is that you have a forest and trees problem. In the aggregate, about 2/3's of the people carry a balance. Those are the ones the credit card companies are targeting. The other 1/3 that pay off their balance every month are the ones they refer to as deadbeats. If you are disciplined to pay off your credit card every month, you can take advantage of their system. They do lose money by letting you use their money. To them it's a numbers game, a certain number of people they'll make a lot of money on, some they will make a little and some they will lose a little. But overall, they'll make money. That's the nature of business. No business is ever batting 1000. Most people just don't really understand it so they think something else is up. They don't actually lose that much money anyway, it's the merchant that pays a percentage per transaction. It's actually the people who pay cash who are subsidizing those that use credit.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
You sure know a lot. I'm sure that gives you great comfort.


Quite the opposite! Sometimes I wish I was a clueless sheaple like everybody else and and focus all my attention to my favorite football team. Life would be so simple and worry free.

 

[surfstar]

Gee, (last month) we got two roundtrip plane tickets to Curacao and 6 nights at the Marriott (stayed four more in Westpundt) - all for free ($130 in airport taxes total) from CC point/miles. Last September we flew to AUS/NZ for $150 in taxes/fees. Flying to BOS this month (1st class even!) with miles.

Why in the [censored] would I only pay with cash? I always have exact change, and earn 2% MINIMUM (5% at Amazon, groceries, gas, ...) cashback.

$0 fraud liability. OP, you don't pay for it. CC companies pay for the fraud out of all the cash they collect from point of sale fees and idiots who pay interest.


Cash only people are weird, likely believe internet conspiracies and so on...

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
You sure know a lot. I'm sure that gives you great comfort.


Quite the opposite! Sometimes I wish I was a clueless sheaple like everybody else and and focus all my attention to my favorite football team. Life would be so simple and worry free.


Well turn on the TV, watch Game of Thrones and some football and soon you too will know nothing.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I buy what I need not what I want. Now, how do I pay for it ? Credit card or cash ? What are the advantages of either method ?

Credit card advantages: some percentage cash back, extended warranty, price warranty, fraud protection, reserve hotel and car rental for a vacation, no interest if paid off balance every month ...

Cash advantage: None

Cash disadvantage: Can't buy gas at Costco, at other stations you need to see cashier twice, first to pay and second to get change. If you loose your cash you never see it again, if you loose your CC you will have another one in few days without cost.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Yeah, I'm apathetic and I don't care.


You have no idea how much control they'll have over you when cash goes away.

They did quite well with bank holidays in the past.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: hatt
The cash back doesn't add up to much. It doesn't make up for the extra money you spend by using cards vs cash.


Someone that can't control their spending because they have a CC doesn't mean the cash back doesn't add up to much. 2% - 5% off every purchase is still 2% to 5% back in your pocket.
Nothing to do with people who can't control their spending. If your computer/device has the googles, look it up. You spend more with CC than with cash. It's just how the human mind operates. I'm also pretty sure just having the cash back feature will cause you to spend more. "The more I spend the more I save!!!!"

A person my come out if they only use then for fixed expenses, or to make required business purchases. The people who take it everywhere to get a % back are losing.


Your statement is my point - if a person walks into a store and thinks that because they have a CC they can spend more, then they need to control their spending.

If someone is going to go into a store and buy a gallon of milk, and because they are charging it are going to decide to buy a candy bar, then they need to rewire how they think about spending money. If they are going to save 2% on the gallon of milk and pay it off when their CC bill comes in, they are going to save 2%.

Personally, if I'm going to buy gas, I'm not going to buy an extra gallon or two because I'm charging it, but I'm going to enjoy getting 5% off via cash back.
I guess you're not going to do any research on the subject.

Gas is a good cash back option. You have to buy gas, and you have to have a card to pay at the pump. Walking around inside the Walmart, supermarket, mall, restaurant, not so much.

 

[jhellwig]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: jhellwig
Chasing the cash back and points will bite you in the butt eventually. It isn't worth playing their game. They are not going to loose money by letting you use their money. It will always cost you.


The problem here is that you have a forest and trees problem. In the aggregate, about 2/3's of the people carry a balance. Those are the ones the credit card companies are targeting. The other 1/3 that pay off their balance every month are the ones they refer to as deadbeats. If you are disciplined to pay off your credit card every month, you can take advantage of their system. They do lose money by letting you use their money. To them it's a numbers game, a certain number of people they'll make a lot of money on, some they will make a little and some they will lose a little. But overall, they'll make money. That's the nature of business. No business is ever batting 1000. Most people just don't really understand it so they think something else is up. They don't actually lose that much money anyway, it's the merchant that pays a percentage per transaction. It's actually the people who pay cash who are subsidizing those that use credit.


You can think you are going to be on the winning end all you want but all it takes is one time for something bad to happen and all that money you made is gone in a flash. One way or another everyone with succumb to an impulse and wind up on the loosing end. Might not happen with credit cards but it will happen in some way shape or form. It is a multi billion dollar industry to figure out how to separate people from their money. No one is immune. Life happens.

The 100% fool proof way to never loose money to a credit card company is to never have a credit card.

I have tried to play the game and lost. Luckily I wasn't in that deep. My wife kept insisting on playing the game till one day she looked and saw that the credit card bill was bigger than what was in the checking account. We had the money in savings to cover it but that was all it took to convince her.

Now if I could just get those losers to stop calling me to reduce my credit card interest when I have no credit cards or debt other than the mortgage life would be good.

 

[IndyIan]

We use credit cards mostly now, pay wave is convenient and 1% or 2% back adds up. We never carry a balance and only use no fee cards so it the whole thing is free.