6/30 How many credit cards do you have?
\_ 4-6: I've carried ~$20,000 debt on different credit cards for
~4-5 yrs, APR: 0%, one card rolled over into the next. Had to be
careful enough to switch banks each time I roll a 0% apr into the
card. But I really only use one card for most of my purchases
that I do pay off every month.
\_ 3 but never carry any of them, use only one for making purchases,
and pay off the balance every month.
\_ I have 3 as well (BofA Visa, Citi MC and Amex Blue). I only
carry the Visa and the MC. I use the Visa for all my purchases
except for gas. I use the MC for gas b/c I get 5% cash back on
all gas purchases. I have the Amex Blue b/c it was free for
life when I was in school and they used to have the 1 time CC
number. I stopped using Amex Blue as my main card when the 1
time CC number program was discontinued. Now it just sits at
home gathering dust.
\_ does your 5% cashback offer have a cap of $300/yr (eg. $6k
in purchases) ?
\_ Not AFAIK.
\_ I bet it does. Not that it really matters though.
Also, Citibank offers 1-time card numbers.
\_ Do you know what the url is for 1 time cc numbers?
\_ There's a link somewhere on your account
details page.
\_ 2
\_ 1
\_ Related poll: Do you pay off the balances every month?
Yes: ...
No:
Both: .
Will eat out of dumpster before carying a balance, death to cc
companies: ..
\_ Good advice I once heard: "How can you tell if you are in
financial trouble? If you don't pay off your credit cards'
balance every month, you're in financial trouble.
\_ Not sure I agree with this. It's along the lines of
people who advise to pay for everything cash, including
big ticket items like cars. There are lots of times it
makes sense to carry debt. The most common is when that
debt is working for you, like if you borrow to open a
business or to pay for school. Debt-free is not
necessarily a good thing.
\_ Not lots. Three: School, business, home. That's it.
Anything else and you're a fucking idiot. I would
say that carrying debt on a vehicle you're buying for
work counts under the second item, though.
\_ Furthermore, you're also an idiot if you're doing
any of this ON A CREDIT CARD. If you can make debt
\_ More fundamentally, CC type debt (rolling balances)
vs. amortized loans are a huge pain. Getting back
on top of a rolling balance is HARD.
work for you at 21% intrest, I'm sure you can get
it to work harder at 5% intrest.
\_ A couple of friends work the 1.9% credit card balance
transfer deals. This is very cheap money, but you
have to be careful about making payments.
\_ No shit. Who is paying 21%?! In many cases
\_ Lots of people.
it makes a lot of sense to use a CC instead
of a secured loan.
\_ Interesting. I'd say you're an idiot to use up
valuable cash to buy a car, but that's me. Lots of
companies take loans out to buy things they can
pay cash for, so that the cash can do something
else. Cash is hard to come by. I try not to spend
it if I can help it, even if it means taking out
small loans. Lots of wealthy friends do the same
thing, which is where I learned it. They buy their
Porsches on a 24 month loan so that they don't
have to suddenly cough up $100K, even though they
have the cash, for example.
\_ If I had a billion dollars in the bank and
infinite credit, I would still never spend
100k on a car.
\_ How nice for you. You sound boring.
\_ You sound stupid.
\_ Stupid is having a billion dollars
cash and pinching pennies.
\_ Who said anything about pinching
pennies? I'd have a helicopter,
a boat, a truck, heavy equipment
and lots of land, but I fucking
hate cars. You'd have to *pay* me
to own a fucking car. A privelige
of wealth for me would be to own
land near enough to wherever I work to
never drive.
\_ If this is the case then your inane
comment was off topic and doesn't
belong here. I thought it's well
understood in the thread that we're
talking about car purchases by people
who _need_ a car.
\_ railing against cars is never off
topic. And no one is buying a
100k porsche because they *need*
a car. If you have the cash to
buy a 100k car you have the cash
to re-arange your life a little
to not be a fucking car driving
zombie.
\_ You need to seek help from a mental
health professional.
\_ Ride a motorcycle, way funner
than driving.
\_ So's running barefoot across sharp
rocks, but you don't see me doing
that to get to work either.
\_ And your chances of hurting someone
with your idiotic driving are much
lower. Of course, your own chances
of being killed by an idiot driver
are much higher...
\_ True, I'm just saying,
hatred of driving is what
got both me and my brother
on motorcycles.
\_ if you can get 10% money market, and your credit card
loan is 1%, where would you put your money?
\_ Show me a real life example of this. Not to
meantion, it's generic advice. That doesn't mean
there aren't strange exceptions.
\_ In my real life, American Express offered a lifetime
2.9% balance transfer option. So I charged new windows
for my house to my credit card, transferred it to
American Express and used the cash to buy 5%
government bonds. I get $300/year for free!
\_ This is pretty amazing. Just out of
curiousity though, don't you have to pay
taxes on the bond interest at the full 5%?
What percentage are you actually getting?
How much money did you have to use? I assume
if you miss a payment, AmEx screws you bad.
\_ No, it is a muni bond. $15k. Yes, if I
\_ No, it is a muni bond. 2.99%. $15k. Yes, if I
miss a payment, I plan on paying it all
off.
\_ How did 2.99% become 5%?
\_ Your question is unclear. What percentage
am I actually getting on what? The
percentage Amex is charging me is
actually 2.99%. I checked after
you asked. The percentage I am
actually getting on my bonds depends
on which one I am buying with borrowed
money. The one that most closely matches
the term of the credit card balance gives
me just over 5%. If you bought the same
bond today you would get about 4%.
CUSIP: 486375DS4
\_ FWIW, missing a payment nowadays is easily
avoidable as long as you have the funds in your
checking. Use your banks auto-pay ebill
system, or even the credit card might have an
auto-pay system.
\_ about 10: . |
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