@Anonymous wrote:
@chwebb1 wrote:At the risk of getting flamed, I don't completely agree with this. It's possible to have an unexpected expense pop up, and you don't want to dip into your savings account to pay it (for whatever reason). I have and will in the future pay small amounts of interest, although I will only use my Barclaycard Ring to do so (this was a big reason for getting this card for me, with another being the lack of FTFs). I don't feel that at 8% you're getting screwed as much as most cards with 11%+ APRs (my next lowest APR is 11.99% APR on my BOA BBR). It seems to me that for a few dollars per month, I've made way worse purchases than a little bit of interest on the Ring. But that's just my opinion. I personally only carry a balance for a couple of months before paying it off, only having a balance for less than half of the year on that card, just for when the unexpected happens.
The reason would be "you are not thinking clearly," or "clearly, you are not thinking." One of the two.
p.s. BTW, would if bother you if I refer to you, in the future, as "exhibit number one?"
Why do you care what other people do with their money? If I feel that it's worth 8% APR to carry a balance, it really doesn't affect you. It's not as if I'm asking you to pay my like $1-$3 in interest monthly, but seriously, if $1-$3 is going to break the bank, then you have bigger problems than I have.
@Anonymous wrote:
I know that the thread headline may sound disrespectful, and I apologize for any offense, but I think a blunt, tough message on that one is appropriate. I have been browsing these forums and I have been stunned to see people talking like this as if it is anything other than truly dire circumstances.
Running a balance on a credit card is digging yourself into a hole. The interest rates are ludicrous.
Anyone who has a balance on their credit card, regardless of how low, should be figuring out how to get rid of that balance this month -- ideally by paying it down, if not, by taking out a loan at a better rate, or remortgaging. Once paid off you should never, ever carry a balance again.
Do people just not know this?
I pay off my credit card balance in full every month. I use the cards because they are a convenient way to pay, and I like earning the rewards points and such, but I would do anything possible to avoid carrying a balance.
People make choices in their lives. A wide range of choices. Just because you decide not to, doesn't mean it is not an appropriate choice. Those choices also derive from circumstances you may not have full knowledge of.
I went through a divorce and started building my own separate credit again. There was never a problem with payments, we just cut up all the joint cards. The banks in the early part of this century were fond of giving high limits and sending out permanent low rate cash advance offers on those high limit cards. I took advantage of them, moving existing balances around to line up such things as $30,000 at 3.99%, on a Forever offer. I ended up with several of these large balances. My high balance was $96,000 in January 2010 on limits of $122k when I resolved to start paying this down, with a little help from Chase changing terms on all those legacy low interest loans to myself and thousands of other people they found they had. My monthly interest that month was $727, or an annualized 9% rate. Included in that open balance is a new 4Runner in 2003, so a form of an auto loan. I take very good care of that vehicle. A used truck for my daughter, a used motorcycle. A huge portion of that open balance was in the form of cash in the bank. Cash advances, well managed, allows one to do that, so the main part of bringing that otherwise scary high balance down was drawing from those reserves.
Due to 0% BT offers, which have been appearing for a year and a half, my monthly interest (exclusive of the periodic 3% or 4% BT fees) is an annualized 3% now. Three of those low interest balances I'm still working down. $102 in December for monthly interest. It's going up a bit because I'm deciding to use some higher interest locations for these balances, but those are temporary.
You are correct that outstanding debt is something to be avoided. I'm able to adjust and am paying this down, and it does affect what I am able to do for the time being. But is my balance any different from someone who takes out vehicle loans? Somewhat, but not too far off from that.
Would I do it again in the same circumstances of 2000 - 2003 that got this started? Yep.
Are you going to change my mind about how CC debt should be handled? nope. I will continue to kite amounts among the 12 to 18 month 0% BT offers that I keep getting. The CCC are convincing me to pay these down faster, due to the feedback on apps that get denied, but I've gotten two good cards and some others in just the past few months.
Am I going to convince you to let a balance report on your CC? I hope not, if that isn't what you want to do, or you only get a card with 15% APR.
The point of my reply is not to change your mind, but to perhaps open your eyes to other possibilities of how things work.
Cheers!
