How many credit cards?

[Bigum1969]

My wife and I have a debit card we use for everything and one credit card. I've also got one for work, but that's not my money.

As far as credit, it is a great idea to have good credit -- and have some credit. I think people would be surprised how much of your life your credit score affects. Obviously, you need good credit for a mortgage. But what you pay for car insurance can be affected by your credit. Some employers even run credit checks on employees.

 

[42769vette]

i know my credit score is my life if i had bad credit i couldn't buy houses you would be shocked at the people who got to buy there first house and say "well i didn't know paying credit card bills late would keep me from getting a loan for a house"

 

[bigcraig]

I'll buy that argument (cash only, of course). However, you can get a dependable used car for so much less money than a new car that the numbers usually work out better. I know a guy who never pays more than $300 for a car. They're always beaters, but they always last him at least six months. That means he's only paying $600/year in "car payments". A new car, by contrast, will cost you (conservately) $150/month. It's extremely difficult to find a new car for under $15,000. A $15k car, financed at 0% for 7 years is still $180/month. And if the car doesn't last AT LEAST that seven years, you've just compounded your debt problem because you'll need to roll that remaining debt into your new car payment when the old one dies.

If all you can afford is a beater, then so be it.

My last vehicle, the one that was totaled earlier this year, was purchased new in the fall of 2000 for $24,000. I put 62,000 miles on it, trouble free, I never even had to replace the factory tires on it, I did have some custom wheels and tires but that was just to stroke my ego, I also did all my own maintenace. I paid the loan off in 3.5yrs, the insurance company gave $14,000 when it was totaled.

I put the $14,000 in my investment portfolio and financed the enitre ammount of my new Chevy Avalanche, caveat the $4000 cash that I put down that I had around the house that I had saved for a NFA purchase. Why did I do this? Well, the loan on my new vehicle is only 6%apr, my investments do quite a bit better than that.

Look I understand, and for the most part agree with your advice, but for some of us that actually know how to manage our money, borrowing money can work to our advantage.

However, there is a big difference between a mortgage and car loan than there is with credit card purchases.

Martgages/car loans--These loans are for items that should be fully researched for the best product that you can afford with terms you can afford.

CC purchases--Last minute point of purchase buys or internet purchases for items that really are fairly inexpensive until you compound them all together.

Look, I am no expert and in my younger years I made some mistakes financially that I bad dearly for. But I recovered, learned from my mistakes and remembered the advice that both my grandfathers taught me.

So, for a 36yr single man with no college education, but one hell of a work ethic, I have the ability to get damn near anything I want, if I put my mind to it. I also have been putting money back for my retirement since I was 18yrs old, with the motivation that social security will not be there for me.

I have a mortgage, car payment and a really expensive hobby!

 

[rcuhljr]

I have 1 card, it's never had the balance not payed off in full excepting during it's initial 1 year no interest period. I don't see myself ever having more then two. This may be because I generally follow the 'don't buy it if you can't afford it' school of thought, even despite the evil whispers of EBR's to buy them all. The thing I really like about using the card is it makes it easy to examine my finances and monitor in and out flow, because EVERYTHING I buy goes on the card, I've got a very good feel for how much my monthly total should be, so if I see I'm up 200 for a month I can go over it easily online remember what I decided to buy.

 

[Panama]

i flip houses for a living and my banker has always said if your able to get 40000 from credit cards and owe 200 on them its much easier to get a loan for a house its always worked great for me having lots of avaible credit as far as "who cares what your credit score is" im not interested in paying 9% interested on a house so i defintally care what mine is you just cant go do impule buying and say ya i could buy ___ on credit but how will i pay for it and ya i could carry it on a card for awhile but am i interested in paying 300 (by the time i pay it off) for a 50 dollar item

If my banker told me that, I'd be lookin' for a new banker, pronto!
You NEVER help yourself in ANY way having multiple credit cards!

Those that don't know what their credit scores are, are probably happier for it! (I'm guessing they are real bad)
Me, I can tell you what my score is, my wife and I have worked hard to get it where it is, and we are quite proud of it.

A good credit score will never cause you any grief!
On the other hand, opening yourself up on multiple fronts for identity theft, is a nightmare waiting to happen!

 

[42769vette]

i do have to admit idenity theft is something thats never crossed my mind thanks panama my father and i bought a rabbit dog once and the guy carried a pistol so i could make sure the dog wasn't gunshy (so i thought) i didn't think anything or it till i got in the truck and my father said the pistol was in case we decided to rob the guy and steal his dogs and money and he was shocked that the tought of us robbing him or him using his pistol to rob us never even crossed my mind i guess i just grew up in a small town nieve thinking everyone is a honest person the only thing i thought of when the guy had the gun was "thats a pretty nice sig"

 

[Old Syko]

The point of the discussion isn't to be "off the grid", it's to be financially responsible. For the purposes of this discussion, a debit card and a credit card are not the same things at all.

The point of my statement is not solely to "be off the grid" but to inform that use of a debit card is as dangerous, if not more so than use of a credit card when dealing with identity theft. Ask your banker, unless it is the same guy 42769vette uses. Keeping your identity secure should be top of the list when talking financial responsibility.

If my banker told me that, I'd be lookin' for a new banker, pronto!
You NEVER help yourself in ANY way having multiple credit cards!

Those that don't know what their credit scores are, are probably happier for it! (I'm guessing they are real bad)


Me, I can tell you what my score is, my wife and I have worked hard to get it where it is, and we are quite proud of it.

A good credit score will never cause you any grief!
On the other hand, opening yourself up on multiple fronts for identity theft, is a nightmare waiting to happen!

Absolutely on the money, so to speak. That score, along with the acompaning report is your lifeline these days. If you don't know where you stand it's like playing poker while showing the opposition all your cards.

I also learned, some years ago, that in order to cancel an account you do it by way of a certified letter. Without this many accounts show as inactive but still open which is a huge black mark on your score. In some cases it is harder to close an account than to open one.

 

[slacker]

I have 2 credit cards. one Discover card account that the GF and I each have a card with (groceries, housekeeping stuff, dinners out etc) and I have my Personal card (chase).

2 seems like a good number to have.

 

[KDUBCR250]

I have no credit cards . If I cant pay $ I dont need it ! Had a few but the lil women had some isues with it so they got cut up never to be seen again

 

[antsi]

We will have to agree to disagree, most folks will be better served buying a new car with a warranty than they will with a used car of unknown history.

Depending on what you are driving and what you're comparing to what, of course the numbers can add up differently. But I don't think the blanket statement "buying a new car with a warranty is the most economical way to have transportation" really holds water.

We will have to agree to disagree, most folks will be better served buying a new car with a warranty than they will with a used car of unknown history.

No intent to be offensive. It has been my personal experience, for me, that when my mentality changed from "my car is a reflection of my worth and I want to make an impression" to "my car is a tool that has to meet my practical requirements," I started saving a lot of money. Buying a car to impress other people is a very expensive proposition compared to buying a car based solely on practical requirements. If you are basing your car purchasing decisions entirely on practical requirements, then I'm not talking about you. Really, the only person I am talking about is a "past me" who wasted a lot of money purchasing and maintaining sexy cars when a basic Honda would have served the same purpose much more economically.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I don't have any.

You should have money in your savings account for emergencies.

If you can't pay cash for something, with the caveat of a house or car, you don't need it.

That is bigcraig's advice of the day.

I'll second this but I'd include the house and the car.

 

[IUGradStudent]

Man, a lot of you guys are pretty hardcore...and I love it! My wife and I have 1 credit card since we got married almost 7 years ago (technically 2 cards right now since we're switching companies, but the 2nd has zero on it and we're waiting another few months to make sure no late bills come though before we close it out). We pay it down to zero every month.

 

[VN Vet]

I use my debit card for most everthing over 20 bucks. I do have one CC but I don't use it. I think most CCs require you use it at least once a year.

 

[longbow]

0 credit cards for us NO Credit card balance or need. WE are not doing that again......They are all closed or cancelled. At one time we had 8 credit cards.

There was a time when I was managing $25,000 in credit card debt - zero interest was tempting, but we got out of that.

1 debit card and checking for living life.

1 savings based checking account to provide emergency funds for debit card

1 short term savings account for major issues

investments

My mortgage is down to about $106,000 and the car payment is about 250 for another 14 months.

 

[drymartini]

I have 3. 99% of the time, I use my American Express cash no fee rebate credit card. I believe you should always get something back, whether it's airline miles, cash, gifts, etc. If you don't, someone else gets your money.