Does Anyone Here Actually Carry A Balance?

[Razors Edge]

...on their credit cards? 

Seems @Mr. Silly might be correct that we all are frugal, well invested, and smart with our money, but that would be pretty unlikely

[Dottleshead]

11 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

...on their credit cards? 

Seems @Mr. Silly might be correct that we all are frugal, well invested, and smart with our money, but that would be pretty unlikely

In July I join the group. But if you took an inventory right now, i would not be 'smart'. Happy but not smart.

[Guest]

On occasion for maybe a month or two. At 3.9% it doesn’t cost much. The only time we use a credit card is for booking travel like flights and hotels. 99% of the time it’s paid at the end of the month.

[sheep_herder]

Not on purpose

[12string]

never.  I'll only borrow for big items like cars and houses.  If I can't pay for it at the end of the month, I don't buy it

[donkpow]

Only for things I have no intention of ever paying for.

[Dottleshead]

Just now, 12string said:

never.  I'll only borrow for big items like cars and houses.  If I can't pay for it at the end of the month, I don't buy it

I put my car on it. I also had some expensive, unforseen attorney fees. It's not like I am just buying shit. Apart from the car, I use it for emergencies.

[Wilbur]

I had a 0% interest card for 6 months.  I carried a balance for 5.99 months. 

[Dirtyhip]

23 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

...on their credit cards? 

Seems @Mr. Silly might be correct that we all are frugal, well invested, and smart with our money, but that would be pretty unlikely

Carry forward? Nope. We do always have a balance, because we take advantage of the free money.  $350 last year in rewards.  No interest.

Do keep in mind the demographic of this group.  Cyclists tend to be affluent types. Also, we have an aging population in this place.  Aren't most of us over 50, and a few over 60?  By those ages, most have saved, paid things off, kicked the kids out of the house, etc. 

[Forum Administrator]

Yup....  0% interest on the kids' braces.  I had a car repair I had to put on a card....   

When I was younger, I remember putting groceries on a card.  Not the best plan, but you have to eat. 

[Dottleshead]

I don't think there is any shame in carrying a balance... but it must be calculated, paused, and reassessed. Mostly it needs to be paid off in a timely manner.

[bikeman564™]

I pay my CC off. I'm not sure what my APR even is because its irrelevant.

[Mr. Silly]

 

47 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Does anyone here actually carry a balance on their credit cards? 

Normally I don't carry a balance.  About 2 years ago our furnace died along with the air conditioner and cold water heater, ~$15,000.  I paid for that all with a credit card.   I paid it off in about 18 months.  I am now back where I like to be, paying the card off in full every month.

[Dottleshead]

1 minute ago, Mr. Silly said:

 

Normally I don't.  About 2 years ago our furnace died along with the air conditioner and cold water heater, ~$15,000.  I paid for that all with a credit card.   I paid it off in about 18 months.  I am now back where I like to be, paying the card off in full every month.

Yep. That's what I am doing. Be back to ground zero in July.

[sheep_herder]

10 minutes ago, Forum Administrator said:

Yup....  0% interest on the kids' braces.  I had a car repair I had to put on a card....   

When I was younger, I remember putting groceries on a card.  Not the best plan, but you have to eat. 

We definitely put groceries on our card, if we could buy on sale and pay the bill after the groceries were off sale.  We were frugal students that also needed to eat, but played the game.

[Prophet Zacharia]

I charge everything I can. Groceries, my cable bill, anything. But I pay it off when the statement is due.

[Square Wheels]

0

[UglyBob]

We put everything on the AMEX card to get the points, then pay it off at the end of the month. Only use the Visa if they don't take the other card. The Visa we use is from State Farm, and we get cash back on it that one. The only things we owe on are the house (almost paid off) and the new motor home (also close to paid off).

[Kzoo]

We always seem to have some balance on our main card.  WoKzoo has a couple cards from clothing stores that she pays off.

 

Interesting fact from the downturn of 2008.  Many accounts for people that paid off their balance every month were cancelled.  Banks had to decide who they made money from.  The Feds had increased the reserves that banks were required to hold for extended credit.  If you had a card with a $30k credit limit that you paid off every month and your neighbor had $30k mortgage that they paid interest on every month, you had a chance of getting booted.  They needed to reduce their credit lines to meet the higher reserves.  My business had a card cancelled - 20 years of paying off the balance was bad business. 

[BuffJim]

There is a good chance that I wipe out all my credit card debt this year. I've carried balances over the years, but am now in a position to erase them if income and health keep on current state,

[Longjohn]

I carried a balance when the kids were little and I was the only one bringing in an income. You do what you have to do. That was a long time ago.

[12string]

3 hours ago, Dottles said:

I put my car on it. I also had some expensive, unforseen attorney fees. It's not like I am just buying shit. Apart from the car, I use it for emergencies.

sorry, not knocking anyone, and I get everyone can't do it.  Years ago, there were some months that I couldn't pay it all of, even not buying stuff I could do without.  There have been big ticket things that have gone on the card (lots of points!) then paid off with the low interest equity line for a couple weeks while I moved other funds around.  I'm fortunate to be in a position to do that finally.

And by "balance", I mean when interest comes due.  I use CCs for everything.  I've got about $8K on the cards now, to be paid off next week on the due date

[sheep_herder]

We use them for many things, but not everything, as some here and elsewhere charge us a fee for using the card.

[Kzoo]

4 hours ago, Dottles said:

I put my car on it.

I remember seeing notices in car dealerships here that they would not accept credit cards for any portion of car financing.  I never thought that all the way through but I wonder who cared?

[Razors Edge]

7 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I remember seeing notices in car dealerships here that they would not accept credit cards for any portion of car financing.  I never thought that all the way through but I wonder who cared?

You hear stories of some people putting all or some on a CC, but when I tried, they nixed it.  I wouldn't mind the miles, but I wasn't likely to get them to change their mind.  1% or 3% or whatever they pay as a transaction fee is a lot to give up for them.

[Ralphie]

I think we have the option to pay property taxes with a CC, but there is a hefty fee. Don’t remember if it would be worth it or not. 

[Razors Edge]

1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I think we have the option to pay property taxes with a CC, but there is a hefty fee. Don’t remember if it would be worth it or not. 

Yep - for us, they use a third party vendor and it is a noticeable extra fee.  Checks are "free", though, and maybe debit or straight from a bank account?

[BR46]

We never carry a balance. Our theory is if you can't pay cash you can't afford it. 

[Dottleshead]

6 hours ago, UglyBob said:

The only things we owe on are the house (almost paid off) and the new motor home (also close to paid off).

Booooo!

[Airehead]

Yes, when planned. Sometimes better to carry a balance for a month or so than take money from your savings if the card is like 1.9 interest. I bought. A bunch of stuff before we settled on the old house—- like flooring and I think all the external lights. Put them on a very low interest card and paid off I. 37 days when we settled. It seemed way simpler than trying to move stuff around. 
 

and yes, in the old days, I put lots of crazy stuff on the card. I got paid once a month and my husband was a musician. Kids had to eat and guitar/mandolin strings were apparently mandatory.   When he got paid for a gig, we paid it off— if I knew he had gotten paid for the gig. If not, beer, I think lots of beer was bought. Those were the best of times,,Those were the worst of times. 

[Forum Administrator]

4 hours ago, 12string said:

sorry, not knocking anyone, and I get everyone can't do it.  Years ago, there were some months that I couldn't pay it all of, even not buying stuff I could do without.  There have been big ticket things that have gone on the card (lots of points!) then paid off with the low interest equity line for a couple weeks while I moved other funds around.  I'm fortunate to be in a position to do that finally.

I think most people have been there at some point.  Like most things in life, you learn from it and move on.  

Not wanting to go into debt for silly things is not always easy either. My brother wanted me to take my family of five on a 21 day vacation in Costa Rica with him back in 2015.  When I told him I could not afford it, it turned into a huge fight. We he gets drunk and calls to complain about what a terrible person I am, he always bring it up. 

[shootingstar]

Never. Paid off monthly. Dearie has different habits which I couldn't get into.  

[petitepedal]

I was without a balance til the last oh 6 mos..but I expect in 6 mos it will be gone again..if not sooner.depends on my ceiling repair.

[shootingstar]

5 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I think we have the option to pay property taxes with a CC, but there is a hefty fee. Don’t remember if it would be worth it or not. 

I just like to pay off the whole amount in 1 shot and then forget about it for the next 11 months.

[Dottleshead]

This thread is a bad idea because you won't get honest answers. 

[Square Wheels]

On 2/4/2020 at 3:52 PM, Kzoo said:

I remember seeing notices in car dealerships here that they would not accept credit cards for any portion of car financing.  I never thought that all the way through but I wonder who cared?

I put 3k on my card, wanted to do 20, but 3 was the limit.

[Ralphie]

On 2/4/2020 at 9:42 PM, shootingstar said:

I just like to pay off the whole amount in 1 shot and then forget about it for the next 11 months.

That would make me feel a little sick!

[Dirtyhip]

On 2/5/2020 at 7:59 AM, Dottles said:

This thread is a bad idea because you won't get honest answers. 

You think people lie about not having debt and credit card debt that incurs charges.

[Dirtyhip]

4 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

That would make me feel a little sick!

We do self impound monthly, to pay it in one whack.  You get a 3% discount if you pay in full.

[Ralphie]

35 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

We do self impound monthly, to pay it in one whack.  You get a 3% discount if you pay in full.

I don’t think we get that, but I could ask. 

[Razors Edge]

54 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

We do self impound monthly, to pay it in one whack.  You get a 3% discount if you pay in full.

I get my USAA home/car insurance bill, and it usually has three options - monthly, partial, and full.  Since it is the one bill I pay by check, I opt for full every time.  I still get a bill six months later since home is 12 months, but car is only 6 months (for some unknown reason to me).

Anyway, not sure why anyone would want to track or pay - especially if paying by check - monthly if not required to. It reminds me that I need to sort out an autopay for it.  That's the one downside to paying so irregularly - it is not an annoyance so I rarely follow through with "fixing" it.

[ChrisL]

We generally keep a 0 balance these days but we have put  a couple of grand on the card recently helping the MIL and our son. WOChrisL manages the finances so I’m not 100% certain if we are back to zero or carrying a balance.  

Yeah we lived on credit too early on, baby’s gotta eat & all... It took a while but we got out from under that debt burden.

[Dirtyhip]

2 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I get my USAA home/car insurance bill, and it usually has three options - monthly, partial, and full.  Since it is the one bill I pay by check, I opt for full every time.  I still get a bill six months later since home is 12 months, but car is only 6 months (for some unknown reason to me).

Anyway, not sure why anyone would want to track or pay - especially if paying by check - monthly if not required to. It reminds me that I need to sort out an autopay for it.  That's the one downside to paying so irregularly - it is not an annoyance so I rarely follow through with "fixing" it.

I think they do that, because the car insurance is usually double the cost of home insurance for a common household. 

Are they throwing us a nominal bone, here?  

Some people can't afford to pay in one installment on these larger home bills.

[Indy]

 

[Indy]

And yes, I am carrying a balance on a credit card at the moment.  Of course it's 0% interest and will be paid off before interest hits, time value money baby.

[Dottleshead]

3 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

You think people lie about not having debt and credit card debt that incurs charges.

I think people are less inclined to open up about their real use of credit card use because of shame or embarrassment... and yeah... especially in a crowd of folks that either have a lot of money or folk who have their financial situation under control.  Most people get into debt because they can't keep up.  Usually because they're living beyond there means -- maybe because they were hopeful they could afford that house or whatever and then come to find they bit off more than they could chew.  Whatever the reason, I think there are more people in here having bigger financial problems than what you and I are led to believe.  I think there are a lot of financial gorillas in this thread alone that are banging their chests about how awesome and smart they are and anybody having trouble isn't going to tell you or us.  They certainly don't come in here and beat their "I'm having financial trouble and I'm in over my head" chest.

I have no way of proving that of course.  It's just a hunch.

[Ralphie]

18 hours ago, Indy said:

 

Those ladies are very good at carrying a balance!  Interesting.

 

[Dirtyhip]

22 hours ago, Dottles said:

I think people are less inclined to open up about their real use of credit card use because of shame or embarrassment... and yeah... especially in a crowd of folks that either have a lot of money or folk who have their financial situation under control.  Most people get into debt because they can't keep up.  Usually because they're living beyond there means -- maybe because they were hopeful they could afford that house or whatever and then come to find they bit off more than they could chew.  Whatever the reason, I think there are more people in here having bigger financial problems than what you and I are led to believe.  I think there are a lot of financial gorillas in this thread alone that are banging their chests about how awesome and smart they are and anybody having trouble isn't going to tell you or us.  They certainly don't come in here and beat their "I'm having financial trouble and I'm in over my head" chest.

I have no way of proving that of course.  It's just a hunch.

8 years ago, I was complaining about the prospect of not making ends meet, as we exhausted our emergency funds to put my husband through nursing school.  Beans and rice was our lunch for about 4 years.  Some forum posters called me out for complaining about money, because I would buy bikes on our pro deal. People with money, feel that people with little means should dress like paupers, own no phones, and stop participating in societal activities. 

Also, I remember buying this house to remodel, and much was not caught during inspection.  At one point, I cried because the bills were mounting.  Some of the construction costs were carried on a personal loan.  

I was open about that, and I would likely have posted about it, in this thread too.  

That time of our life changed the way we felt about money.  Once we started to have more cash, we were even more careful with it. We started using some second hand stores for most of our clothes, and we still do that today. Recycling.  

There is a book I checked out called "Your money or your life."  It asks that you look at spending as hours of your life by working hours.   New phone = 6 hours of my life.   Is it worth it?

[Dottleshead]

14 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

There is a book I checked out called "Your money or your life."  It asks that you look at spending as hours of your life by working hours.   New phone = 6 hours of my life.   Is it worth it?

I just ordered it.  It goes along with my thinking -- though I don't always execute on my thinking. 

[BR46]

20 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

8 years ago, I was complaining about the prospect of not making ends meet, as we exhausted our emergency funds to put my husband through nursing school.  Beans and rice was our lunch for about 4 years.  Some forum posters called me out for complaining about money, because I would buy bikes on our pro deal. People with money, feel that people with little means should dress like paupers, own no phones, and stop participating in societal activities. 

Also, I remember buying this house to remodel, and much was not caught during inspection.  At one point, I cried because the bills were mounting.  Some of the construction costs were carried on a personal loan.  

I was open about that, and I would likely have posted about it, in this thread too.  

That time of our life changed the way we felt about money.  Once we started to have more cash, we were even more careful with it. We started using some second hand stores for most of our clothes, and we still do that today. Recycling.  

There is a book I checked out called "Your money or your life."  It asks that you look at spending as hours of your life by working hours.   New phone = 6 hours of my life.   Is it worth it?

Wo46 has always watched were every nickel went. Every week she will sit down with her book and every bill, store recite and pay stub and everything had to fit into the budget. She also knows what day stores like Walmart and Target drops off the cloths that were returned or didn't sell at Good Will. She's all happy when she finds a pair of name brand jeans for $5. There's plenty of times were I was going to buy something for the race bikes and she would ask if I could hold off for a week or two so it would fit in her budget. 

I would always look at spending money as how many hours would I have to work to pay for that idem. If I have to borrow the money how many hours will I have to work just to pay the interest on that loan and then figure out what's my cheapest option. Another way we would look at it is if you can make a  $400 car payment you can put  $400 in the bank and when you saved enuff then buy it.