Credit Cards

[Lon]

I am curious as to why someone would want to carry more than one credit card like Visa or Mastercard as long as they have a sufficiently high limit. Years ago, I had many credit cards but soon found that having one with a fairly high limit that gave Frequent Flyer Miles worked best for me. I am able to get one round trip ticket from California to New Zealand each year and one domestic flight anywhere in the U.S. EVERYTHING goes on the card, groceries, gasoline, clothing, medical expenses, all retail purchases. Paying off the balance each month eliminates any charges.

How many cards do you carry and why?

[Nomad]

Credit cards are evil & theyll get you in big trouble. Heres a tip for anyone with an unacceptable balance. Sacrifice something, several things if your serious about eliminating your debt. The cell phone, cable, whatever. Take that money & apply it to the card with the highest interst. This will reduce the interest you pay in the long run and accelerate your debt on that card.



When that card is payed off in full take the entire amount you were paying on the previous card and apply it to the next card. By the time you get to the last card you should be making a several hundred dollar payment and its unbelievable how fast it will get paid off.



Oh yea...in the meantime stop using your cards and eliminate the absolutely un-essential ones. The faster you pay the motivation factor alone is exhilerating.

[minks]

1 and hate it. And anymore would be a test of my courage ahahahaha

I don't like debt hanging over my head, I divorced that 2 years ago, hehehehe

[BabyRider]

I carry exactly zero credit cards. I have never had a credit card and I never will. My debit card works fine for anything I would normally need a credit card for, (ie: renting a car, etc) and I can never go over my limit. Credit cards are a trap I will never get caught in. Cash for everything.

[Lon]

[quote=Nomad]Credit cards are evil & theyll get you in big trouble.

They are only evil and will get you in trouble in the hands of the undisiplined, otherwise, they are an invaluable financial tool.

[Bez]

Keep Transfering balances to short term NO INTEREST cards. Pay off as much as you can possibly afford each month.... shop around for the lowest interest cards...plenty of 'on-line' info. Once paid off, cut up card and never use again. I learnt the hard way. (Nearly finished paying off...it's a long slog)

[cars]

I carry two, Capital One VISA, & American Express. In addition to daily/weekly cash purchases, I alternate between using the two cards as needed, when paying for large purchases, renting cars, Hotels, Plane tickets, Dining out, etc. Reason is, the two cards are on two different billing cycles, so that way it allows me to pay the entire balance for each card every month, no matter how much is charged! System has been working great for me over the last eleven years! (Retired almost 9 months now, & system is still working just fine!)

[minks]

Bez wrote: Keep Transfering balances to short term NO INTEREST cards. Pay off as much as you can possibly afford each month.... shop around for the lowest interest cards...plenty of 'on-line' info. Once paid off, cut up card and never use again. I learnt the hard way. (Nearly finished paying off...it's a long slog)


Or pay them off with your bank line of credit at a lower interest rate. Credit card interest rate here currently 19.9% LOC 7% big difference.

I don't think we here in canadaland have any no interest cards.

[Bez]

minks wrote: Or pay them off with your bank line of credit at a lower interest rate. Credit card interest rate here currently 19.9% LOC 7% big difference.

I don't think we here in canadaland have any no interest cards.


You can only get 0% for say 6 months, so you have to keep changing. Obviously you will run out of companies in the end.!!!

[Valerie100]

I think it's stupid to carry everything that you have on you when you go out somewhere. What if you get robbed and/or pick-pocketed? Here's an example. This happened to me this morning, actually. I was waiting to take the trolley to the office, and I was sitting on a bench. On the bench next to the bench that I was sitting on was a young black girl in her 20's. She was all primped up and fussing with herself, you know, a kid. She saw one of her friends and got up and walked away to go talk to her friend. The two of them were jumping around excitedly. I guess it was a big day for them or something. Anyway, she left her pocketbook sitting there on the bench that was next to the bench that I was sitting on. Along comes this other black woman in her 30's. She sees the lone pocketbook sitting there and decides to sit down next to me on the park bench, but putting herself the closest to the lone pocketbook sitting there. The black woman sitting next to me and nearest the pocketbook holds up her own bags -- a carry bag, a lunch box, her pocketbook -- and kind of spreads them out, you know, looking as to how she could fit the lone pocketbook into her managerie of bags. I could literally see the wheels turning in this woman's head, you know. Then the young black girl comes back to the bench and sits down next to her pocketbook. She picks it up and starts fussing with herself again, unaware of what this other woman had in mind. The older black woman was startled and jumped a bit -- she didn't even know that the pocketbook had an owner nearby -- and says, "Darn," just like that. I'm sitting there looking right at her, thinking you're a thief. I couldn't believe her. The point is the young 20-something could have lost everything she owned because her head was elsewhere. (I wouldn't have let that happen to her without trying to grab the pocketbook back off of the woman and/or making a scene, though.) Do not carry all of your credit cards with you. At least be smart and take some precautions because the crooks are out there.

[minks]

Good tip Val