Man vs. Debt: Life without credit cards

[Peach8321]

This debate has been done but here's my 2 cents ;-)

I love having a credit card - I like the cash back, the ability to pay all the bills at once at the end of the month, the ability to track my spending, and so on.  I also think there are two school of "cash only" - those who use a debit card and those who use CASH (ie, envelope method).  I am not adverse to the debit card, and in fact we use one for all our groceries, fun money, etc because it helps us to keep on budget by seeing the money go bye-bye immediately, compared to at the end of the month.  But I think there is a very strong argument for having one "emergency" credit card.  Using it for flight booking, car rental, etc can give you protection, cheaper costs, and easy access to deals.  The trick to any card though is paying in full every month - if you don't have the funds available, you don't get it.  That's the psychology and the reason it can't work for some people.  But for anyone able to control themselves, it only hurts to not have a card.

[Anonymous]

I love having credit/credit cards.

We use our cards to purchase everything then pay them off end of the month.

I lived most of my adult life without credit but now that I have it I wouldnt willingly be without it.

[Anonymous]

"I like the consumer purchase protection that credit cards afford me, and zero liability if my cards are lost or stolen. If my cash is lost or stolen, I'm just out of luck. I love that I have irrefutable documentation of payment to my creditors in the form of credit card statements. I don't have to wait for the check to arrive in the mail, and hope that a clerk doesn't misplace it. And I love, love, love free $$$ in the form of cashback and rewards. I PIF every month, but I run just about every living expense that my family has through a credit card. I don't pay interest, I just collect the freebies. Unfortunately, cash doesn't let me do that.

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Couldnt have said it better...

[vanillabean]

Given all the money that's been printed during the post-recession recovery, it's not impossible that the rate of inflation may some day exceed the interest rate of your mortgage, which means you're earning money from using credit and so are better off than if you had paid your house in full with cash!

[Jstic]

No one will ever convince me that paying cash is better or not that big of a deal. I have done both and the simple convenience of paying with a CC card makes it worth any downside. Paying cash has several drawbacks that I  don't care to deal with. 1. The simple risk of being robbed, even if the perpetrator is caught, you will probably never get a penny back. 2. The inconvenience of making sure I always have enough cash on hand to do what I want. You can never ever plan for everything and inevitably will not have cash on hand and have to run to the ATM or bank. 3. ATM fees whenever I am not near my local bank. You can avoid them for the most part, but inevitably you will get caught in a situation where you have no choice but to pay the fee. 4. No rewards for spending. I typically get over 100,000/year in points from my CC rewards programs( I use my cards for business purchases). That is two round trip air fares to just about anywhere. 5. Not having to give up debit card info to make purchases. Debit card info is susceptible to theft just like credit cards and banks vary on the level of liability. Most good credit cards have minimum liability.6. You need a credit score in today's world! Like it or not, the system we live in requires a credit score to buy a house, a car, rent an apartment, get a good job, or make any major purchases on credit. God bless you if you can buy all these things with cash, my guess is 99.9% of us can't. It is possible to have a good credit score without credit cards, but responsible use of credit cards will boost your score.  7. Almost all of us will someday be in an emergency situation where we need to borrow. In today's economy, not many people have a large "emergency cash fund" sitting in their sock drawer. During the worst part of the 2007-? recession, my credit cards were a savior to myself and my family. And we had a pretty substantial emergency cash fund.

I could probably go on but the point is made. Bottom line, life can be a PITA without credit cards.