How high is your credit card bill? What strategies do you use to pay it off/ keep a low balance.
I should get rid of my credit card, I pay it all off only to end up with a huge total @ the end of the month, so I'm forced to pay it off, leaving me with no money.
I pay it off when I think of it, once every couple of weeks or so.
How much do you pay typically and how much do you make?
I run all the groceries and hobbies and bullshit through it so it's maybe a couple grand a month. I don't have the bills on it. I guess I spend about $2k a month on it and a pay it all off as I spend it.
Damn, so how much do you save?
Currently have about $5500 on my credit card. I make good money, but have stupid buying habits. Also loads of bills pile up here and there and shit happens. I've gotten to the point to where I'm starting to pay it off. Spend $500 a month on it and pay $1000 towards it.
I'll typically get it paid off for a while, then make a big stupid purchase and rinse and repeat.
50% of what my investments return, whatever that is. Last year it wasn't a lot. This year maybe less. Maybe nothing, idk lol.
>What strategies do you use to pay it off/ keep a low balance.
Autopayment.
I pay it off every other week. I've had cards for years and they have never made a penny off me. I don't pay interest.
Well they do make money off you, it's just not you that's directly paying it.
How do you control what you spend then lol?
How much money do you have saved for you to spend 2k a month with the chance of having income?!
So you pay it off after like 6 months or whatever? How bad is interest when you don't pay off the entire bill?
Currently like 700something just bought a new over/under for sporting clays.
I just pay the whole thing off usually like a month after I make a large purchase. Most of the time it has a zero balance
I do similar to My card gives me 4% cashback on groceries so it's a decent churn that way.
Key is to know your finances and keep an eye on your cashflow. Be cheap to the point that /pol/acks would want to give you a set of (((brackets))) until you figure out where you're bleeding cash. Small stuff adds up. Make your own coffee, stop eating out as often, cut back the drinking/smoking. Limit yourself to one vice at a time.
I'm retired, user, it's a lot of money.
They make money from the merchant not me in anyway.
>How do you control what you spend then lol?
Budgeting.
I just paid over a grand in just one credit card payment today. Fml, I know how you feel man, it sucks push though it.
Where do you think the money the merchant is paying comes from?
How old are you lol?
right now I have literally $150 on my credit card. Wanna know how? Because I'm not a nigger who's a puppet to jew banks and swipes everything on the credit card. I'll pay through invoices and debit whatever I can, even if it's more inconvenient
41 this year
>all these babbies treating a credit card like a bottomless pit
I'm also the guy who posts "smoke that weedle-dee-deed every God damn diddly day you ninny muggins" but nobody cares about that either.
I'm sorry do you not understand how credit cards work? Unless your paying a different price for credit then I'll say again they are not making money off me. If I goto a store and it's 3.99 then I pay 3.99. If I pay cash it's 3.99. If I pay with a card it's 3.99. The difference is the store makes less money if I pay with a card unless it's debit then there's no transaction fee for the merchant.
I use a credit card extensively, but I don't pay a penny for the services it provides, because I pay off the full balance as soon as any payment is due by fund transfer from my current account.
The only reason I use it
is to piss the credit card company off, by ensuring that they can never make any money out of me, regardless of how much of their money I choose to use, before payment is due.
I spend £1500-£2500 a month in my card and have it set up to pay the whole thing off automatically before interest kicks in. It’s a good way to build up a solid credit rating.
my credit card bill is zero. because it's a debit card and, while i am not an excessively rich fag, i also don't fucking go in hock to the banks to spend money i don't have. stupid fucking pre-teens these days, really
Who has a 800 plus credit score?
I'm sorry do you not understand how pricing works? The merchant is taking credit card fees into consideration when they set their prices. It is true that customers paying cash / check / debit are getting screwed over, but the fact remains that you are indeed paying money that ends up going to the credit card company.
I do.
Same. Pay off every month. Get cash back. Charge everything I can on it. Make about 1000 cash back every year.
Between my wife and I, we are churning $3-$10k per month on the credit cards. Some of that is business travel expenses. I finally have her trained to swipe everything for that sweet, sweet cash back. We never carry a balance. It’s not hard to pay it off every month when it is due.
I have $0 on a crefit card because I have never had one. My only debt is a mortgage and autoloans when i need a different vehicle. Otherwise I set aside money and only pay for what I can afford.
What is is
Checking in
Me too
Non-American here :
-How the fuck does that work ? You pay but it doesn't comes off your actual money until you say it ?
-What is a credit score exactly ?
Mines £3600 :(
807
Credit score is used worldwide. It's a measure of your credit risk. Max is 900 which is essentially unattainable. If you have above 800 you can get almost any loan or credit card.
>How the fuck does that work ? You pay but it doesn't comes off your actual money until you say it ?
It's essentially a loan that you pay off.
>What is a credit score exactly ?
A number that is based on various factors to determine how likely you are to pay off your debts.
Feels good man
Ok thanks, the credit score is like the bonus you can get from your insurance then.
Also the whole point of a credit card is appealing, I don't even know if it exist here (France). People just go debit, this whole thing seems like a trap for dumb people.
Of course credit cards exist in France.
What am I reading? Kek
Just curious. What's your age and income? I'm 30
I know it exists but not a lot of people have them really, most have debit card, linked directly to your account.
Your age and income don't factor into your credit score.
Yes I know they don't. I'm curious how old he (or you?) Is to get a high credit score. Basically someone new to credit wouldn't have a high score and generally they are younger. It's not on the score but there is a direct correlation.
nah. credit score is more like that citizen score china is implementing now. you're basically fucked beyond repair if for whatever reason you get a low score. people will make a minimum score a requisite to even give you an appointment to look a house you're interested in renting
37, $150K in a city with a low cost of living, only have a mortgage. I grew up pretty poor and aggressively attacked my debt as soon as I started taking in money.
*only have credit card for emergencies.
*pay it off the next month.
If you live off credit you are an idiot.
Well yeah that seems a little odd. If you have a low score and I'm a bank I may still give you a loan since you won't repay it and could take all your stuff or make you yet another loan.
You'll be up for higher interest rates but it's not like you can't get a job if you have a low credit score unless you're going into a financial field.
How so?
This !
How so? I'm guessing this is with regards to the idiot statement.
If you are carrying debt on a cc you are literally paying a bank a HIGH premium just to do whatever bullshit racked up your cc. Either don't do that shit. Or pay for it at the time.
Good work. Nice to see some financially literate people on Yea Forums every now and then
Because you're ok living off money that isn't yours, and one day it's going to fuck you in the ass?
Churning credit isn't the same as living off of it.
You simply pay off your balance each month. If you do that, there's no reason why living off credit makes you an idiot.
I'm a Swede. We don't use cards any more. It's old tech.
>money is fungible
Why are you making up stories about the money? Just say money is fungible. We all understand that, why don't you?
Considering that poster said their credit card is only for emergencies, there's an implication there.
Agreed. I meaning those that carry debt. If you pay it off before interest accrues you are doing it right. I just paying everything in cash. And my cc is only for emergencies. And then i make sure to budget to pay off that emergency the following month, before interest accrues.
>We all understand that
The guy I'm talking to apparently doesn't.
I only put what I can afford to pay off before the next billing statement. It's actually beneficial to utilize some of your available credit regularly. This will help your credit score and make you eligible for increases in your credit line if you ensure your revolving utilization each month is kept low. This shows creditors that you are responsible with credit. If you Max it out try not to carry that balance, that will hurt your credit and result in paying interest.
>I only put what I can afford to pay off before the next billing statement. It's actually beneficial to utilize some of your available credit regularly. This will help your credit score and make you eligible for increases in your credit line if you ensure your revolving utilization each month is kept low. This shows creditors that you are responsible with credit. If you Max it out try not to carry that balance, that will hurt your credit and result in paying interest.
750 credit score fag btw. Was at 659 6 months ago
>being proud of playing the jew's game
Good goy, just pay cash.
Debit. Charges too.
My dad kind of set me up for failure... In my teens and early 20s he would pay my CC bill, and would not say a word about it.
>a Few years later
My mom gets really sick... he gets really sick... He can't pay my bill anymore.
>All me now
And now I owe 20k lolol.... I realize this is my fault because of my stupid spending habits - but holy shit why did my dad facilitate this crap for *years*?
So now on top of everything else going on in life I have a fat 20k bill...
I shuffle it around to keep a 0% APR when I can, but it is such a pain in the ass. Any suggestions on lowering my bill ?
pay your bills
Credit debt is calculated as principal (the amount you actually borrowed) and interest
Credit card companies have minimum monthly payments, which are typically pretty low.
When you make a payment, it's applied to the interest first, then any overage comes out of the principal.
So if you don't make large enough payments to cover the months interest, you never bring down the principal so the same amount of interest goes on every month.
It's literally designed to keep people in debt
Oh holy shit I didn't think of that Einstein. I guess that is the solution to the National Debt, and all of our unfunded liabilites also! Just "Pay my bills".. Fuck Thank you!
ok. how about buy less shit?
How about you get a card with cash back. Same spending up use card. Cash back grows up to where you have your emergency amount in cash back. Something comes up just pay your card bill using cash back.
Figure out your budget, make sure you are spending less than you make
If this isn't possible, decrease the former and/or increase the latter
It's basic financial literacy
Well the problem is I was going to school and most of these charges were racked up over that 4 year period. I don't even use the cards anymore.
It's funny. Paid off house years ago, buy cars with cash , never pay interest on credit card . My credit score actually is lower then most. It's still good though and don't give a fuck since I don't see me taking out any loans ever.
I mean, the solution is pretty straightforward: set up a payment schedule and stick to it. tighten your belt where you can, and pay as much of the debt as you can
The whole thing is still bizarre to me. Just pay with your money.
If you can't, then save up. If you can't save up enough, maybe you're living over your means.
Consider doing a balance transfer to another bank. Some banks will offer you introductory apr rates as low as 1% for if you open a new credit card with them. Transfer the balance over. Stop spending it and throw everything you can at it to pay it off.
I'll give an example.
Say you have a card with a $1000 limit, 6% interest rate, and a minimum payment of $48.
These may seem like arbitrary figures, but it's a very possible account.
If you max out this card to $1000 and don't pay any of it off before the interest compounds, you'll accrue the 6% interest, which in this case is another $60.
Now you can make your minimum payment of $48 so now you only owe $12 interest, but the $1000 principle is still there.
Next month, since there's still $1000 principle, you accrue another $60 interest.
Credit law in the US is so complicated and so few people understand it. These companies use these facts to their advantage and just make piles and piles of cash, all the while ruining people financially.
>make your own coffee
This right here. Even at 5 days a week DB was bleeding me out. 100 bucks a month on coffee is just dumb
It doesn't seems that complicated, but just enough to throw off lazy people and fuck them in the ass.
Just don't use a credit card (use debit) and learn common sense and budget ?
>be me
>early 2000’s
>get telemarketer call from cc company
>offers me a new card
>no thanks
>”is there anything that would make you reconsider?”
>hmmm
>yea no interest, no minimum payment, and no limit
>”sure we can do that”
>niggawhat.html
>find out more
>you have to use it every week
>theres is a minimum payment of one cent liar
>you cant use it to buy prepaid debit cards, but you can get gift cards
>otherwise all the your interest from previous payments comes back and compounds all at once
cont?
up to around $200 generally but it gets automatically paid off in full every month from my bank account
motherfuckers haven't made a single penny off me in interest in a decade
Close. 740
You may be right about it being laziness.
I've done financial coaching a few times and people always seem so surprised when I tell them some of these things.
I completely agree with you about using debit.
If you don't have the funds, you literally can't make the purchase.
Don't get me wrong, credit cards do have their place. But so many people use them day to day and don't think twice about it.
no
100% this
Pretty much use it like a charge card and don’t spend money you don’t have.
no
Another big part of it is people want to live beyond their means and credit is a way to enable that
I guess you're right but for me, getting a debt (because it's what it is) in an account just to pay it off with your actual money just seems to have a few unnecessary steps.
Why won't your debt be directly connected to your actual account ?
Now that makes sense, banks are just milking the fuck out of stupid people.
Write out a budget. Look at all the money coming in and going out and Cut everything out that you don’t need. Any extra money should be going to pay down the debt. I’d you’re aggressive with it you’ll be debt free faster
>What strategies do you use
I only use it for what I could pay in cash, but that cash amount is too high to carry.
Then I pay it off in one payment.
Part of the whole housing crash. Sure banks went after people because they were making a shit ton of money on it but people were also dumb enough to buy houses they had no business even looking at
Just be careful to read the fine print on this so you know all the rules. Note the keyword is "introductory" this can mean that your rate will severely increase after the first year or so. In most cases it's about 18% meaning that credit card is a ticking time bomb if you don't get your balance under control before then. Additionally you may end up losing that introductory rate if you miss a payment on time and the interest on the previous months MAY compound all at once. So only do this if you know what you're signing up for and are serious about taking care of business
True.
A lot of credit companies don't let you pay your credit balance with another credit card though.
The thinking being if you can't pay it here you won't pay it there.
0
Never had a credit card, nearly 40yo. No regrets.
My credit is trash at the moment due to a 9 month period where I lived off my credit cards..
But now that I am back to a stable job, my credit card gets paid off every month entirely. Working on getting my credit back up.
Here's a crash course on what my wife and I budget every month
>Each get paid weekly
>Each have $50 going to savings per check automatically saving $400/month
>Keep at least a few hundred in checking at all times to have an available balance for bills
>Set all the bills to auto pay
> Pull out cash every weekend for weekly personal spending (we each only take $25) do not exceed that
>Make coffee at home, brown bag lunch when possible
>When we want to go out or if something happens, use savings first, credit cards are last resort
>Accumulate a mass in savings and when tax season rolls around, use refund and savings to pay off debts rather than spending it
We live in PHX
We both only make $13/ hr
Our apartment is about $1000 per month
We're never broke
We go out regularly when we want
We own 2 cars and have credit scores in mid 700's
Hopefully in the next year or 2 we will be able to buy a house
I live in Sweden and use a debit card. Food for around 200 a month, bills and rent around 800 and salary is around 1100 so no savings usually. Only work 3 days a week
>France
>Never had a credit card
>Only debit
Yeah, that's it really, my banks never ever tried to get me a credit card and I don't now anyone with one.
Two ways to go about it. Since I hate banks and debt based system of rule across the world but understand credit makes the world go ‘round, I use the “smaller purchases” method. Which is I only use credit for groceries and gas. There’s the other “single large purchase” method which is you buy one thing that is very expensive and you pay monthly towards that. This method can get shakey as interest is sometimes very high and there’s always the possibility you’ll get hurt/lose your job. This is why I prefer the smaller purchases only method. Never go all willy nilly and buy shit with credit unless you have enough disposable income to pay it all off at once if something were to happen.
This is the method both my wife and I use. We each make 65-75k a year and save on average 800-1000 combined a month to put towards savings. We always pay our credit cards off on time and both have ~740 credit scores. You get a higher credit score by using your card a certain amount for a certain cost each month. There’s statistics out there for how to use it based on credit limit and your current credit score. Look em up. That’s how we got higher credit scores.
Whatever you do never use your credit card more than you are able to pay on it. This is how people become enslaved to debt. Good luck Yea Forumsro
0$
Credit cards are for poor people