Frustrated with people who think credit cards are evil

[Anonymous]

Sadly I was one of these people throughout my 20s. Id use a card like free money until it hit 90% then put it on min payments and go back to my debit. After a bit the lender would close the acct and I was too naive to know why , so I'd get mad and quit paying them. They'd offer me a settlement after a few years blah blah blah.

I finally got tired of being treated like a deadbeat when my credit was run despite a 6 figure income, and thankfully ran into an older gentleman who took the time to explain credit to me in detail. That conversation led me to this forum. Now my utilization is nearly zero, I PIF every month, and I kick myself thinking about all the travel rewards I left on the table by playing the game poorly. I can't wait till the day when I use my future freedom, FU, and CSP for all of my purchases and can pay for that first round trip with URs.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@jason0618 wrote:
Sad thing about it is that my wife does this same thing. She swipes until it's maxed out and then makes minimum payments. Then she wonders why I won't add her as an AU on mine.

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It's a difficult tightrope to walk. I've been toying with the idea of adding her as an AU on one of my cards, but I haven't yet. 

She has an insane amount of debt, and granted, a lot of it is medical debt, but there are a fair number of card chargeoffs too. 

I manage the family finances, and I do so like a hawk, but it would still be very easy for her to swipe, swipe, swipe ... But I also don't like her being without an emergency card or something. Maybe our bank debit card was compromised or something, and she had no means to pay for anything. It's an inner struggle for me right now. 

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I feel sorry for you. The worst part is, once she passes away, her debt is also yours. Sorry to be morbid but that's the truth...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@jason0618 wrote:
Sad thing about it is that my wife does this same thing. She swipes until it's maxed out and then makes minimum payments. Then she wonders why I won't add her as an AU on mine.

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It's a difficult tightrope to walk. I've been toying with the idea of adding her as an AU on one of my cards, but I haven't yet. 

She has an insane amount of debt, and granted, a lot of it is medical debt, but there are a fair number of card chargeoffs too. 

I manage the family finances, and I do so like a hawk, but it would still be very easy for her to swipe, swipe, swipe ... But I also don't like her being without an emergency card or something. Maybe our bank debit card was compromised or something, and she had no means to pay for anything. It's an inner struggle for me right now. 

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I feel sorry for you. The worst part is, once she passes away, her debt is also yours. Sorry to be morbid but that's the truth...

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That debt will be long gone by then ... 

[medicgrrl]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@jason0618 wrote:
Sad thing about it is that my wife does this same thing. She swipes until it's maxed out and then makes minimum payments. Then she wonders why I won't add her as an AU on mine.

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It's a difficult tightrope to walk. I've been toying with the idea of adding her as an AU on one of my cards, but I haven't yet. 

She has an insane amount of debt, and granted, a lot of it is medical debt, but there are a fair number of card chargeoffs too. 

I manage the family finances, and I do so like a hawk, but it would still be very easy for her to swipe, swipe, swipe ... But I also don't like her being without an emergency card or something. Maybe our bank debit card was compromised or something, and she had no means to pay for anything. It's an inner struggle for me right now. 

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I added my 18 yo son as an AU on my Amex.  It's great because with Amex, you can give them their own CL.  He has his own app to access the card, it only shows his balance and his personal credit limit and doesn't show him any of my info so he has no idea what's really available on the account.

[RockinRay]

I think one of the biggest problems here is that credit cards makes it easy to spend - sometimes money you do not have.

It's much harder to pull cash out of your wallet and pay with that cash. Many studies have been done on this.

Credit cards can be a great resource if used in the correct manner.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I understand that many people have been burned by credit cards but that's because they don't understand how to use them before applying for one.

They talk about going into debt and how collection agencies are calling and screaming at them for their money back.

Well, of course, if I were to lend someone $X of money then I expect them to pay me back. 

Same thing with the credit card companies, you owe money that you borrowed and now, you've pissed someone off because you haven't paid them. Borrowing money is NOT free unless you understand credit cards. 

If you borrowed more than you can afford, then you honestly should not get a credit card because you will end up in a mountain of debt.

It's really simple: Borrowing to the amount that you can pay back, not potentially could possibly pay back but an amount YOU CAN PAY.

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My friend avoids them out of fear of paying what he doesn't have. I don't mind, as I like to pay for whatever when he is around and take his cash, so I get extra rewards for nothing. I have encouraged him to get one (I suggested the Discover Secured (for rewards), or Cap1 Secured (for acceptance and potential PC to QS later). But his concerns are reasonable, but he doesn't have an issue with people having them.

For me, it is the people who ask why I have so many credit cards (9, with 2 I SD and consider closing). I tell them I maximize rewards. These are people who have no or one card, and only one. And people who love/want the VentureOne. People don't understand credit cards at all. I tried explaining that "miles" are about 1 cent each on travel purchases only. That if they want a single card, get the Quicksilver (no FTF and no hassle redemption), but they, and I quote, "like the idea of miles and redeeming them for a free trip". Considering I clearly have experience with CCs, you would think that they would listen to me.

To the average consumer, I believe that CCs are too confusing, or a certain rewards method makes people feel good to really look into them. And AF cards are always considered bad, no matter what they give. Or people see AF cards as great for something they don't fully utilize to make it worth the AF. One example is people see 6% on the BCP, but spend less than $2500 on groceries and still think it is worth it because it is twice as much back compared to the BCE.

[jason0618]

She's in her 20s, I'm in my 30s. so I think we will be fine.

[simplynoir]

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@medicgrrl wrote:

I added my 18 yo son as an AU on my Amex.  It's great because with Amex, you can give them their own CL.  He has his own app to access the card, it only shows his balance and his personal credit limit and doesn't show him any of my info so he has no idea what's really available on the account.

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Sorry to hijack this thread for a moment but do you know of other cc companies that do this? I always knew about AMEX but don't know if there are others.

[medicgrrl]

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@simplynoir wrote:

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@medicgrrl wrote:

I added my 18 yo son as an AU on my Amex.  It's great because with Amex, you can give them their own CL.  He has his own app to access the card, it only shows his balance and his personal credit limit and doesn't show him any of my info so he has no idea what's really available on the account.

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Sorry to hijack this thread for a moment but do you know of other cc companies that do this? I always knew about AMEX but don't know if there are others.

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I do not.  He's also on my Cap 1 account, but I haven't found anywhere to set limits etc on that one.

[Anonymous]

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@Schwartzinator wrote:

These are the snowflakes who have little or no self control and don't want to accept their personal responsibility and cry foul about interest rates and "harrasment" from debt collectors. It is inredibly infuriating dealing with those people. There is little you can say to change their mind and get them off the Ramsey sham tram.

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Have you ever had credit problems? Some people get into trouble without choice.

I hope the sky doesn't fall on you and you have no choice but to get in trouble with your cards. Not all people are ignorant.