Credit Card Debt

[chinaco]

Do you typically pay off your credit cards at the end of the month or carry a balance and pay interest?

 

[wolfbay]

I'm sure virtually everyone on this site pays off the card at the end of the month or doesn't use one.However if you have a big enough balance you may become eligible for a bail out here in Bizzaro world where bad is good and good is bad.

 

[Lakedog]

Pay off monthly and charge everything I can to rewards cards (penfed mainly) just to capture the easy money. One thing I never understood was why people pay cash or use checks when they can make money with every transaction (as long as no balance is carried forward).

 

[Bikerdude]

Surprise, surprise.

 

[FIREd]

I pay for everything with a credit card because: 1) it makes it easier to track all my transactions and 2) I get air miles for every dollar I spend and a free transatlantic ticket every 2-3 years. I always pay it off at the end of the month, off course.

 

[Texarkandy]

We put nearly everything on CC and have for years. Why deny ourselves the convenience. Only get 1% back though (hmmm, maybe I should look for a better card.)

Like most everybody on this forum we always pay off every month. Have never carried over a balance.

(On the rare occasion the subject comes up we sometimes get funny looks when we tell people that - some people think that's "odd" - I even get funny looks sometimes from salesclerks when they say "debit or credit?" & I say "credit", like they think I'm one of those folks whose life is CC charged to the hilt - seems they expect most cards to be a debit card - don't know why that is)

 

[W2R]

(On the rare occasion the subject comes up we sometimes get funny looks when we tell people that - some people think that's "odd" - I even get funny looks sometimes from salesclerks when they say "debit or credit?" & I say "credit", like they think I'm one of those folks whose life is CC charged to the hilt - seems they expect most cards to be a debit card - don't know why that is)

Debit Mastercards like mine look just like a Mastercard. If a customer answers that question as "debit", then the fee is assessed to the customer instead of to the store. That is why they ask - - they probably make a few bucks for the store this way during the day.

My bank sent debit Mastercard owners a letter several years ago, telling us to insist on having it processed as "credit", since that is perfectly legal and I guess is the intent in creating these cards. In fact, at one point several years ago they sued Wal-Mart about their refusal to process debit Mastercard purchases as "credit", and we no longer have trouble doing that with a debit Mastercard.

 

[ziggy29]

Looking at the results, you'd think this was a skewed sample or something...

 

[OAG]

PENFED paid off each and every month. Charge EVERYTHING to the card - current balance about $850 (expect about $20 "free" cash rebate credit too, for the month) for this month - will be direct debited from another PENFED account on or about 2/2/09- been doing it for years - basically automatic process.

 

[dex]

Do you typically pay off your credit cards at the end of the month or carry a balance and pay interest?

What prompted the question?
++++

I don't write a check for any payment except taxes.

Everything is set up for automatically deducted or automatic payment.

 

[W2R]

Looking at the results, you'd think this was a skewed sample or something...

At 35-0-1, I'd say your conclusion is correct! I am the "1" who doesn't use a CC.

Back when I needed one, right after my divorce and penniless but with a decent job, I couldn't get a CC. (Well, at least I couldn't get an unsecured CC without paying huge fees, amounting to over half of the ridiculously low CC limit)

Now, eleven years later and with credit scores in the 800's I could probably get one. I don't feel a need or desire for one at this point, though. So, I haven't got around to applying once again for my first credit card in my name only. The idea is such a huge turn-off to me.

Like Dex, all my regular bills are on automatic bill pay directly from my bank and I seldom write checks. My debit Mastercard is convenient for gas and online purchases. My bank refunds 100% of debit card purchases not authorized by me (and did so the one time that happened, back in 2001 - - that policy is written into the debit card contract small print).

 

[Goonie]

I charge everything I can to my CC...for the rewards....and pay it off monthly.

Only exceptions to the rule:

1) Illinois' DMV doesn't accept CC's "live & in person" at their offices for driver's license renewals or for license plate renewals...cash or check only. They accept CC's by phone or online....but charge a service fee, and homey don't pay no fees!!!

2) I pay cash for coffee runs, and some snacks/meals at a few local eateries.

Other than that, very little actual cash passes hands here, and only 2 or 3 checks per year (2 to IL DMV )! I normally go to the bank around the 1st of the month, and draw out about $100, just to have on hand. Usually have some left at the end of the month.....right now about $50 left on hand for December!

That's quite a change from the way it was not too many years ago! I used my CC's to the extreme, and racked up $50-60K in CC debt, and paid just a little over the minimum due. Woke up one day to reality, and paid it all down in a period of about 2 years. Decided then and there, to NEVER carry a debt load again!!!

 

[Nords]

Looking at the results, you'd think this was a skewed sample or something...

Maybe we should ask "When was the last time you had a credit-card balance?" with one of the options being "never".

It's been almost 30 years since my last cc balance.

 

[Dawg52]

Pay off monthly and charge everything I can to rewards cards (penfed mainly) just to capture the easy money. One thing I never understood was why people pay cash or use checks when they can make money with every transaction (as long as no balance is carried forward).

Ditto. Free money. At one time I charged everything to a GM card and racked up a lot of bucks toward a new car, but couldn't make myself buy one. I like buying one 1-2 years old while still under warranty. Great bargains out there.

So made the switch to Penfed. BTW, my c/c balance the last month or so has been greatly reduced with the lower gas prices. I had less than a qtr of a tank in my Trailblazer the other day and it cost just under $21 to fill up. Saw $1.29 at the pumps yesterday.

 

[SteveL]

I do quite a bit of business w/Schwab, but never a CC because the payback was poor.
Well, they just offered me a deal I couldn't refuse, with a Schwab Visa(really MBNA) 2% back on everything, no foreign transaction fees. ( I think you have to be a Schwab Brokerage Cust. to get the deal.)

I was using an AE Blue card, because that what Costco takes. The 5% back on gas doesn't get the price of gas down at a regular station to Costco's gas price with the 1.5% back from AE. So, now the best deal is AE for everything at Costco, and Visa for everything else.

I do automatic bank payments on some stuff, but when the payee, like the phone co. will take a CC, then I charge it to get the rebate.

I've never paid CC interest except when some bill got lost in the mail in the days before e-billing.

 

[bbbamI]

i pay off my cc bills every month. But if I live to be in my 70's...well, I just might carry a balance.....

 

[Gumby]

We pay everything possible with our Amex card and then pay that off every month, primarily to take advantage of the rewards points. We have gotten a free digital SLR camera and good vacation discounts over the years. We are about to order a flat screen TV, which will also be free.

I don't think we have ever carried a balance for our daily lives. On the other hand, we have been stoozing for several years now, although I think the 0% offers are coming to an end, so we will have to pay them off this year. We currently have about $48k on the stooze cards. The money is in cd's that will mature before the 0% period terminates.

 

[VaCollector]

I voted that I pay them off each month but as my DW is still gainfully employed, we are not of the same mind when it comes to credit.....and I know better than to attempt to convert her.....yet!!!

 

[bssc]

Costco True Earnings card and getting some several hundred dollars back. Never pay interest or late fees or over the limit fees.

Also, having a good credit history keeps my insurance rates down.

 

[RonBoyd]

We put everything we can on a CC. The exceptions are our Water and Energy bills -- each company charges $2-$3 for using a card and a check only cost 45 cents for the stamp.

We use the CC mainly for the convenience and, above all, because disputes are rarely settled properly with checks and never for cash transactions. Well... as I mentioned before, the $700 in rebates annually is a strong influence, I suppose.

 

[mickeyd]

The only surprise is that only 68 out of 69 voted for #1. Got my first BankAmericard (VISA now) in 1969 and have yet to pay a penny in interest on any CC even though we charge >99% of our expenses on CC, as many of you folks do.

 

[Khan]

Have been paying full amount every month for 20 years or so. Before that I would sometimes carry a balance.

 

[noworkethic]

I am the "1" who doesn't use a CC.

Do you never rent a car or reserve a hotel room? AFAIK a CC is necessary for these things.

Our CU pays 4% interest on our checking balance each month (used to be 6%) if we use their debit card 12 times. So we do that for 12 or so small transactions and CCs, paid each month, of course, for almost everything else.

 

[kumquat]

I voted 'pay every month' but since I don't use them much, I occasionally pay a couple of days late. If I bother to whine, they usually cancel the $1 or so in interest charges since I have a lot of cash with the issuing bank.

 

[calmloki]

Do you typically pay off credit card debt at the end of the month?

Nords: "Maybe we should ask "When was the last time you had a credit-card balance?" with one of the options being "never".

What is "typically"? 9 times out of 10? 4 out of 5? Over half? The gal reminded me that way back when -20 years or so ago - she would run a balance on her card for a month or two after Christmas. She feels that she would still have said that she typically paid her balance in full. For me, a card company caught me twice i think - once when they credited the payment a day late (reversed interest charge), and once on a big purchase that i paid well before the due date but was charged interest because the amount i paid didn't cover the full charge so they charged on the average balance - split billing cycle or something weird - don't remember, but it made me even more wary after fighting about the $36 for which they billed me.