Credit card debt

[K3Nv4]

I'm curious what it's like for other people with infamous credit card debt. If your credit card allows a $10,000 limit and you easily surpass it do you just say screw it and pay the minimum monthly amount due. Or do you limit yourself to never go over $10,000 as you can and make sure your cards are paid down to 0 as much as quick as you can.
Personally I enjoy living under my financial goals so I make it a stress to have everything paid off as much as possible. If I don't need something that's $500+ I constantly say to myself why do I need this thing that's $500. This way of thinking has helped so much in paying bills and making sure I can get by with grocery trips while still managing to wait on some electronic device I may want to get I can buy it later down the road.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Only spend on things you really need because that's money you need to pay back, and if you don't, they'll make it even more expensive to pay all back.

And as for using it for an "emergency", you'll have 30 days to pay it back so hardly a real emergency if there really was. Just put money in a separate account for such a scenario.

Some of it learned it myself, some thanks to Dave Ramsey (his show was great years ago, now it's other hosts who talk most of the time).

 

[MPRTwice]

I'm curious what it's like for other people with infamous credit card debt. If your credit card allows a $10,000 limit and you easily surpass it do you just say screw it and pay the minimum monthly amount due. Or do you limit yourself to never go over $10,000 as you can and make sure your cards are paid down to 0 as much as quick as you can.
Personally I enjoy living under my financial goals so I make it a stress to have everything paid off as much as possible. If I don't need something that's $500+ I constantly say to myself why do I need this thing that's $500. This way of thinking has helped so much in paying bills and making sure I can get by with grocery trips while still managing to wait on some electronic device I may want to get I can buy it later down the road.

I pay off mine in advance. I often get "overpaid; here's a few pennies back" letters from my bank.

how did people get _that_ sort of debt? I _never_ let my credit line hang above zero for long.

 

[Costello]

for as long as I was a teenager (and that was a hell of a long time ago) I have used debit cards
and then in my 30s I was lured into getting a credit card because they had all those cool benefits.
so I got one, I set up a full autopayment from my bank account every month
in the end, this doesn't feel any different than a debit card (there are no fees or interests or anything as long as I pay the debt in full every month) except I get those cool benefits
I wouldn't recommend getting one if you arent sure you can pay it off on a regular basis. Interests can get really nasty.

 

[DiscostewSM]

Honestly, I barely ever use my credit card. It's more for emergencies. I generally keep a monthly payment on it (like for my phone service) to increase my credit card score, which before the monthly report, I pay off the balance.

 

[K3Nv4]

for as long as I was a teenager (and that was a hell of a long time ago) I have used debit cards
and then in my 30s I was lured into getting a credit card because they had all those cool benefits.
so I got one, I set up a full autopayment from my bank account every month
in the end, this doesn't feel any different than a debit card (there are no fees or interests or anything as long as I pay the debt in full every month) except I get those cool benefits
I wouldn't recommend getting one if you arent sure you can pay it off on a regular basis. Interests can get really nasty.

I get that, honestly my money gets direct deposited into my debit card then I like using my credit card as a way to make monthly payments. It doesn't make much sense but in a way it's how I keep track of how much I actually spend a month even though both show transitions. If I pay $100 a week towards my credit card it makes me feel better knowing I only paid $100 that week from my debit account.
Also considering how crap most credit card companies are say if one gets stolen mines threatened to charge $15 for a replacement then spend another $15 for rush delivery if I have stolen information online. Given how sensitive and easy data gets stolen these days it should be free of charge no matter how many times it happens. Even the best of us gets our information wiped from under us without realizing it.

 

[retrofan01]

I only really use mine for buying more expensive things (especially from a company I haven't bought from before) or buying stuff in a foreign currency. My credit card is fee-free so gives a better exchange rate than PayPal.

 

[K3Nv4]

I only really use mine for buying more expensive things (especially from a company I haven't bought from before) or buying stuff in a foreign currency. My credit card is fee-free so gives a better exchange rate than PayPal.

If you're in the US most banks do offer secured loans aka money loans to where you pay yourself back over time. You pay for it but the money essentially gets locked in another account so over time you make payments to yourself and you get the money for the item back.