Credit Cards

Heineken Helen

TrixieCat wrote:

And an intelligent point that people are overlooking.
YOU CANNOT DISPUTE A PURCHASE MADE WITH A PREPAID CREDIT CARD.
End of story.
You lose your money, you are shit out of luck.
A credit card purchase can be disputed.
This is simple economic procedure.
And without a credit card, you have no credit history to back you when you apply for a loan or want to purchase a home.

Dunk, you don't like Ibiza???!?

ps...wth is a prepaid cc??? Is this one of those Visa cash cards???

huh? So first of all you come out with a 'fact' about a prepaid credit card... and then you ask what it is? None of you know what it is so stop making up stuff. You CAN dispute purchases. I've only used it for flights and hotels. I HAVE a debit card to buy stuff online... I just haven't bothered with the online shopping thing.


And you can get credit history by taking out a loan. I've said that before. I had a loan before I ever had a credit card. I know people who have bought houses without ever having owned a credit card. That's an urban myth and I'm not sure why people are coming up with that one

Heineken Helen

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

little story on using debit cards...my friend stayed at this hotel for 2 nights and they charged her *4 times* what they should of on her DEBIT card- her bank account was overdrawn and she had NO money. She eventually resolved the problem with the hotel but it took weeks and she was broke the whole time. That's why I use my credit cards for stuff like that.

I don't have an overdraft so my bank wouldn't allow that.

chromiam

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

has anyone ever transfered their balances to the card with the lower APR? I'm thinking about doing that.

yes but read all the fine print before transferring. Some cards stipulate that they can increase your miniumum payment if more than a certain percentage of the available credit line is from a balance transfer (discover is good for this one). Others (capital one) stipulate that you have to make a certain number of purchases a month to maintain the low balance transfer APR.

Indian Summer

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

has anyone ever transfered their balances to the card with the lower APR? I'm thinking about doing that.

I haven't done it personally, but I know you have to be careful with it. Once you tranfer the balance to say like a 0% card for 6 months or whatever....DON'T USE THAT CARD FOR ANYTHING! Even if you put 1 dollar on it, everything you pay on it will go towards the 0% stuff first. So you end up paying interest on that one dollar charge. And if the card isn't paid off at the end of the 6 months, they usually put a clause in there about backdating the interest. So Even if you have it paid down to one penny, you get back interest from what you started with. It's kind of a trap, just be careful about it, and it's a good way to help you get out of debt.

GreenTeaDisease

chromiam wrote:

yes but read all the fine print before transferring. Some cards stipulate that they can increase your miniumum payment if more than a certain percentage of the available credit line is from a balance transfer (discover is good for this one). Others (capital one) stipulate that you have to make a certain number of purchases a month to maintain the low balance transfer APR.

when you say "discover is good for this one" do you mean discover does this (increases the minimum payment)?

lalalalaaaaaaaa

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

has anyone ever transfered their balances to the card with the lower APR? I'm thinking about doing that.

Yes, that definitely helped me coming out of school. Usually you can get no APR for a year.

chromiam

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

when you say "discover is good for this one" do you mean discover does this (increases the minimum payment)?

yes, I read a Discover Card disclosure where they stipulated that they could change the way they calculated your minimum payment (basically doubling your payment every month), if more that 85% of the balance due was from a balance transfer. Now of course they would do this 6 months after you transfer at the introductory rate. So you'd become used to one payment and then have it double after 6 months but you'd keep the same APR. I think they would basically charge you 4% of your balance every month.

GreenTeaDisease

chromiam wrote:

yes, I read a Discover Card disclosure where they stipulated that they could change the way they calculated your minimum payment (basically doubling your payment every month), if more that 85% of the balance due was from a balance transfer. Now of course they would do this 6 months after you transfer at the introductory rate. So you'd become used to one payment and then have it double after 6 months but you'd keep the same APR. I think they would basically charge you 4% of your balance every month.

oh well my transfer wouldn't be that much. and I usually pay double the minimum anyway. thanks for the info.

LONGRD

tonadax wrote:

It's Credit Card really necesary? 9 of 10 people always tell me sad stories about their credit cards debts...... i'll always try to pay my payments Cash, of course i don't have issues like having babies, married thing, etx.........

I'm one of those 9 people :(

thatgirl

chromiam wrote:

yes, I read a Discover Card disclosure where they stipulated that they could change the way they calculated your minimum payment (basically doubling your payment every month), if more that 85% of the balance due was from a balance transfer. Now of course they would do this 6 months after you transfer at the introductory rate. So you'd become used to one payment and then have it double after 6 months but you'd keep the same APR. I think they would basically charge you 4% of your balance every month.

ah yes you are one of the smart ones that actually reads the terms that come with your card.....balance transfers are big trouble, UNLESS you plan on paying it off with in the 0% or whatever low rate period the new card has to offer.

since im in the "biz" and all, its important to have and build your credit but its also important to be responsible and not abuse it as many people do. just bc you have a credit card, doesnt mean you are in debt. not all debt is bad. i skimmed through this thread, so im sure im hitting on things that have already been posted, but by not having credit, you are just screwing yourself down the road. creditors like to see how you can manage your money, its what your interest rates and loan amounts are based upon. if your credit report is blank, creditors arent going to feel safe loaning you the money you might need or giving you the low rate, bc they wont know what your spending/repayment habits are like. people really arent educated enough about their own finances. i see it everyday. ignorance really isnt an excuse and predatory lending is nonsense.


i have spoken.

Heineken Helen

I get the point about managing credit being useful... but that doesn't HAVE to be a credit card. That was one thing my father told us... that no matter how much money he had, he always had a loan on the go to build up his credit rating. The first thing I got was a loan, then the overdraft, then the credit card... you don't need to have a credit card to build a credit rating.

MattCameronKicksButt

AmentsChick wrote:

I don't have any credit cards.

Me neither. I don't need them. I don't buy things online and I don't spend money I don't have.

I'm a barrel of laughs.

dunkman

Heineken Helen wrote:

That was one thing my father told us... that no matter how much money he had, he always had a loan on the go to build up his credit rating. The first thing I got was a loan, then the overdraft, then the credit card... you don't need to have a credit card to build a credit rating.

so to build up a credit rating in Ireland you have to get 3 debts??? i suppose that would only make sense in Ireland

when i went to buy my first house i had no CC, never had a loan in my life and an overdraft wasnt needed as we were saving to buy the house... this meant my credit rating was fantastic... i had no debts and i had a savings account with £8000 in it.

if i went now and said .. i owe a loan of £3000, i have cc debts of £822 and my overdraft is £2000 then my credit rating would totally plummet.. simple maths!

a loan is far more restrictive than a CC anyway.. you have to pay £150 a month say for 3 years... skint one month.. fuck you pay me... whereas a CC means you could pay £300 one month and then the minimum next month of say £23.

i actually dont understand why someone would take a loan out for no other reason that to build a credit rating... your dad was paying interest on a loan he didnt actually need?!?!? thats the worst piece of financial economics since Nick Lesson decided to buy some stocks and shares one morning.

Heineken Helen

:rolleyes: dunk, I didn't say a credit card would do nothing for your credit rating... I said there were other ways. The loan (which I never had any problem with) or the overdraft (likewise) alone would have worked towards my credit rating without ever having to get a credit card.

And like you said, getting a credit card simply for your credit rating is also pretty bad economics.

My dad isn't the kind to get a credit card anyway, he's pretty old school when it comes to banks. He has probably the same attitude I have. Doesn't like them and would rather not deal with them. I don't see why I should be put down for believing that. Why do people think there's something wrong in wanting as little as possible to do with banks? Banks deal with one thing, money. Money is pretty much everything that's ever been wrong with the world.

I've always paid loans back weekly, they come straight out of my account as soon as I get paid... so I never considered it money that I have and have to give away.

MattCameronKicksButt

Here we go. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT...

...Let me just get the popcorn...

dunkman

Heineken Helen wrote:

:rolleyes: dunk, I didn't say a credit card would do nothing for your credit rating... I said there were other ways. The loan (which I never had any problem with) or the overdraft (likewise) alone would have worked towards my credit rating without ever having to get a credit card.

And like you said, getting a credit card simply for your credit rating is also pretty bad economics.

My dad isn't the kind to get a credit card anyway, he's pretty old school when it comes to banks. He has probably the same attitude I have. Doesn't like them and would rather not deal with them. I don't see why I should be put down for believing that. Why do people think there's something wrong in wanting as little as possible to do with banks? Banks deal with one thing, money. Money is pretty much everything that's ever been wrong with the world.

I've always paid loans back weekly, they come straight out of my account as soon as I get paid... so I never considered it money that I have and have to give away.

you've totally misread my post but nevermind

i said i find it incredulous that someone takes out a loan and pays interest on that loan, even if they have money sitting in a bank, just to achieve a credit rating..

and if the money for your loan comes straight off your pay every week then you are still paying interest on that loan... so if you borrow £1000 and the interest comes to £129 over the course of a year then how is that better than a 0% CC where i spend a £1000 on a new TV and when i pay the money back each month say for 12 months i will have paid £0 in interest.

i'm scottish remember... being prudent with money is our raison d'etre

dunkman

MattCameronKicksButt wrote:

Here we go. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT...

...Let me just get the popcorn...

thread integrity please

South of Seattle

This thread has inspired me. I just paid off my Best Buy balance that has been raping me every month. Bye Bye $1700 :( although it does feel good

Heineken Helen

dunkman wrote:

you've totally misread my post but nevermind

i said i find it incredulous that someone takes out a loan and pays interest on that loan, even if they have money sitting in a bank, just to achieve a credit rating..

and if the money for your loan comes straight off your pay every week then you are still paying interest on that loan... so if you borrow £1000 and the interest comes to £129 over the course of a year then how is that better than a 0% CC where i spend a £1000 on a new TV and when i pay the money back each month say for 12 months i will have paid £0 in interest.

i'm scottish remember... being prudent with money is our raison d'etre

Dunk, I'm from Cavan, which means nothing to you. Putting it bluntly, we're worse than you! Ok, I may not be but my dad DEFINITELY is. I'm sure there were no 0% credit cards when he had them loans.

Also, I'd rather take a loan out and pay the interest then run the possibility of having any purchases I make tracked. I hate the idea of credit cards... all of it. And not all credit cards are 0% either. Come to think of it, I'd imagine my father would be of the same attitude towards them anyway. Hmm... I get a lot from him

South of Seattle

pjfan31 wrote:

haha, no pants? where is your wallet?

He still has his hip pack on though