Paid off Credit Card Debit for the first time in 19 years. Reps until I'm out

[Redfish225]

Glad for you. Never go back. It is a shame how many people fall prey to the endless cycle.

Only thing I say now, is use them to your advantage. Also teach your kids to use them. (properly).

One thing many dont know is at 16 you can add your child as 'authorized user'. This automatically transfers your credit to them. So they can start building credit at an early age. Credit score has far reaching impacts these days. Auto insurance premiums...etc. If you dont educate your kids on how the navigate the financial system, they are doomed to repeat others mistakes and fall into the traps.

The schools teach all kinds of useless garbage to our kids. They should take a small portion of that time and educate them on how to navigate the world of finance and credit and how large an impact it will have on their lives.

Top notch advice

[OldFartTom]

This is super annoying but I can see why they don't want the hassle of counting cash, risk of robbery etc.

I have a debit card, and you can just by gift card with cash, works like a CC.

If someone had a debit card why would they need a gift card. In the USA is there any difference between Visa/MasterCard Debit and Visa/MasterCard Credit in terms of where they are accepted by people?

[DustinTheHuss]

This is fantastic news. To some, it may not mean much, to others, it may seem impossible. Paying off debt requires a lot of energy and focus, like bodybuilding.

Interest on 22k of cc debt isn't fun. I'm glad you've learned.

I had a divorce a few years ago and up until that point, I had carelessly spent and consolidated debt for years. The divorce and subsequent insolvency made me do a complete 180 on my spending and now I have better restraint. Glad to you do as well. That's the key. Not to mention how depressing it was to always have debt hanging over your head. I bet your lifts are much more enjoyable too, now that you're enjoying your new milestone.

Boooom

Yeah the interest was horrible and this was when interest rates were lower. I think it was $250 a month so I just cut back on my spending and slowly paid it off with a Discover Home Loan which had a lower interest rate. Then I was forced to pay $400 a month to reduce the debt from $22K to $8K over I think 3 years? I splurged on a trip to Spain so I had to add $2,000 to that loan.

That's what gets me is traveling as I'm trying to travel in my 50s before I have health issues as I have spine degeneration in my neck and back from years of tennis and 3 car accidents. I ended up in the wheelchair when I was in Rome last year, but I just returned from SE Asia and had no problems, but I checked my bags instead of trying to get one heavy on in the overhead bin.

But I forced myself to sell items on eBay to pay for my last 2 trips instead of credit card debt. I couldn't believe that people would pay me $1,000 for wedding silverware! China at $200 a pop, jewelry at $100. I ended up selling $4,000 last year on eBay! Plus 10% went to charity. I was fun to "clean house" of wedding gifts that have been used 2 times in 30 years, and many times people had broken an item so they were SO happy that I had a replacement.

I met really nice people on eBay and always ensured I included a thank you card. Then I had many repeat customers. Jewelry is best because it's easy to ship. One of my vases broke in transit so fragile stuff is a pain in the butt to ship.

If you don't have the cash on hand, finding a place that will give you 0% financing for a specified term is a good route to go. Just make sure it gets paid off within the term or you will get charged all of the back interest at a very high rate. People can still make smart financial decisions w/o having to be able to pay for items all at once. Granted you will need good credit to take advantage of these type of offers.



That's why it is important to plan for such things when times are good/better. Congrats on paying off your credit cards. It might be smart since that debt is no longer going out each month--to save all or a percentage of it going forward.

I've never had any credit card debt, have no student loans, and own all my vehicles. I think I owe it just to never trying to live above my means, but I really enjoy the simpler things in life.

-AJ

That's a good idea. For instance I bought my mattress with 0% financing for something like 15 months.

Wait until you pay your mortgage off. That's a very liberating feeling. After losing literally half of our retirement from the high of 2008 to the low of 2009, I shifted a lot of the new money that would have gone into the market into my mortgage, and we paid off our house in 2017.

Oh I bet! I still owe $200K, bought the house at $400K, but it's worth $2 million now so if we need to sell the $200K would be an easy payoff. Then perhaps I could buy my own condo for cash! I'm going through a divorce now so that's how my mind is thinking.

This is super annoying but I can see why they don't want the hassle of counting cash, risk of robbery etc.

I have a debit card, and you can just by gift card with cash, works like a CC.

Yeah it's annoying because I live in Silicon Valley so it's like no one wants to hassle with getting cash, making sure you have the denominations, etc., but then other places offer cash discounts? My nail place gives you a 5% discount so I'll just withdraw money from the bank account to pay them.

The problem with the debit card is my estranged husband doesn't like entering all of those purchases into Quicken, so a cash Visa card I think would be a better option for me.

I pay off my credit card in full each 2 weeks. Usually around $5k.

$10K a month in credit card expenses? Thanks for trolling

If someone had a debit card why would they need a gift card. In the USA is there any difference between Visa/MasterCard Debit and Visa/MasterCard Credit in terms of where they are accepted by people?

It's more for balancing your checkbook as using the debit card means you have to keep the receipts and enter them into Quicken, which is a pain.

[ajdahlheimer]

$10K a month in credit card expenses? Thanks for trolling

If you are one of those people who put everything on the same credit card (to accumulate points, miles, etc.)--10k a month is very easy to spend. My family of 5 spends well above that amount per month when you total all expenses.....

[DustinTheHuss]

If you are one of those people who put everything on the same credit card (to accumulate points, miles, etc.)--10k a month is very easy to spend. My family of 5 spends well above that amount per month when you total all expenses.....

I put groceries, clothes, online purchases and gas on my credit card to get miles as I travel often, but that comes out to $3K a month. What on earth would cost $7K moar???? Now I've been wearing the same clothes for years and I have a car payment but that's $400 a month and I'll pay it off next year.

That's just me though--not a family of 5. My estranged husband of course has his own credit card and so does my daughter. I think Kewbrah is single.

[Kewbrah]

I think Kewbrah is single.

I have a wife and 2 teenage kids.

[Bando]

If someone had a debit card why would they need a gift card.

I've been in some shady situations where I would rather use a gift card. One is concerts/festivals, these fly by night vendors make me nervous, so a gift card with $200 on it for food and a couple Tshirts feels better than my debit card which can drain my account.

Me and another OG member ordered from true nutrition dot com, which is Dante Trudeau, kind of a legend in the industry and got our cards hacked. In my case plane tickets were bought from like Syria to Istanbul on my card. I had to do a police report blah blah and got the money back, it wasn't a terrible process, just annoying.

To me cash has a closure that I like. I sold an old shotgun for cash a week ago, aint no one know about it but me and the buyer and that's just fine with me.

[LWW]

I haven’t had an emergency fund in a very very very long time. I guess the EF is what my damn credit cards are for really.

I used to care and worry but not anymore fuk it. I just tell my wife to not show me any bills which she gladly abides, if I don’t sees it I don’t care and she is the one who gets to see my student loan (that was her idea anyway).

If an EF means I skimp on meals, hell no, fuk that and that’s the only thing I spend is food, nothing else. All my clothes are decades old. LOL.

[LargePeter]

Yikes. No limit Amex Platinum is paid to zero every month, routinely gets between $8k and $10k a month on it

[Bando]

I haven’t had an emergency fund in a very very very long time. I guess the EF is what my damn credit cards are for really.

I used to care and worry but not anymore fuk it.

I used our EF once in like 25 years. My wife was with my Daughter in the Camry traveling behind me and my son on the way to a camping trip and T-Boned a truck. No one was hurt and the first responders said it was a weekly occurrence at that dangerous intersection, it's since been turned into a 4 way stop.

All 3 of them were crying. The feeling of saying "It's OK we have an emergency fund, and this is what it's for" was very liberating and comforting.

Having said that, Triple A has been worth every penny since then, towing that wrecked car was $380 and Triple A is maybe $155/yr for 4 service calls.

[DustinTheHuss]

I have a wife and 2 teenage kids.

You act like a incel Miscer with your trolling on the Main Misc. Weird.

[4Bertuzzi4]

I'm impressed, Huss. Looks like you made a good decision by paying your debt down. GJDM!


I have points cards including my favourite black Canadian Tire M/C, which gives me Canadian Tire money and free roadside assistance. No fee, paid off each month.

Also have a few 0% interest offers I've taken advantage of over the years. Just make sure you pay the minimum every 2 weeks (so you don't miss a billing cycle), and pay off the balance before the 0% offer end date.

Has worked well for me so far. Had a 900 Credit score last year for months, then used another 0% offer and knocked it back to 870ish.

A business office agent at a car dealership said they've never seen a perfect 900 before.

Feelsgoodman.

[DustinTheHuss]

I'm impressed, Huss. Looks like you made a good decision by paying your debt down. GJDM!


I have points cards including my favourite black Canadian Tire M/C, which gives me Canadian Tire money and free roadside assistance. No fee, paid off each month.

Also have a few 0% interest offers I've taken advantage of over the years. Just make sure you pay the minimum every 2 weeks (so you don't miss a billing cycle), and pay off the balance before the 0% offer end date.

Has worked well for me so far. Had a 900 Credit score last year for months, then used another 0% offer and knocked it back to 870ish.

A business office agent at a car dealership said they've never seen a perfect 900 before.

Feelsgoodman.

900 is amazing! Mine is at 820. GJDM.

[LWW]

I used our EF once in like 25 years. My wife was with my Daughter in the Camry traveling behind me and my son on the way to a camping trip and T-Boned a truck. No one was hurt and the first responders said it was a weekly occurrence at that dangerous intersection, it's since been turned into a 4 way stop.

All 3 of them were crying. The feeling of saying "It's OK we have an emergency fund, and this is what it's for" was very liberating and comforting.

Having said that, Triple A has been worth every penny since then, towing that wrecked car was $380 and Triple A is maybe $155/yr for 4 service calls.

My cars are paid off, which means they are old.

If I’m going on any road trip I’m renting.

[mtpockets]

[Deathstroke]

I had a perfect score < 2014. Divorced, I got into spending my one income and it got me through but now I still got a lot of outstanding debt to pay off . Again and again I spent a lot . So I’m admiring op. Hoping you can get approved for new credit cards in the future now and yunno build it back up.

[Deathstroke]

You act like a incel Miscer with your trolling on the Main Misc. Weird.

I can confirm. I post in a few subs and many of us behave in some forums while not restraining ourselves elsewhere like on main misc lol.

[DustinTheHuss]

I had a perfect score < 2014. Divorced, I got into spending my one income and it got me through but now I still got a lot of outstanding debt to pay off . Again and again I spent a lot . So I’m admiring op. Hoping you can get approved for new credit cards in the future now and yunno build it back up.

I have a high credit score: 820, with 2 incomes. But now I'm going through a divorce so I will really need to learn better spending habits in CA on one income, unless I move to Florida like I am considering. Thank you!

I can confirm. I post in a few subs and many of us behave in some forums while not restraining ourselves elsewhere like on main misc lol.

I think it's the gang mentality lol.