SO, tell me about owning a credit card

let me here the little pigs side of the story, Im thinking about falling into debt myself and am hoping somebody can talk me out of or into it.

slightly, ready for a new adventure...

Im in your exact same boat.

yeah? visa or mastercard? that american express card is banging, baby blue...

whats up with caps lock and taking back the streets day?

Don't do it....it will ruin your life.

Originally posted by Dr. Dazzle

Don't do it....it will ruin your life.

exactly

2 years and still paying. dont do it. unless your gonna move away and its totally worth it, but if you buy a new exhaust for your civic, you should die.

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drd900/d981/d98107nty52.jpg'>

dont fucking do it. credit cards = the devil.

http://mycgiserver.com/~talicea/mastercard.jpg'>

well i kind of just want to do it to build good credit, and for a safety net when traveling. still not sure though. what companies have good rates?

Originally posted by slightly

well i kind of just want to do it to build good credit, and for a safety net when traveling. still not sure though. what companies have good rates?

Get a Mastercard and only use it once a month. And use it to buy shit like CD's, pizza, fast food, etc. Stuff that you can easily pay off when the bill comes. The problem is people use credit cards when they don't have the money to pay for stuff. If you can control yourself, you'll be able to build up a good credit rating....

Theo Huxtable

Come to Houston. I want to adopt you and make you my heir, give you free credit cards and teach you everything I know. Man, those are some pictures.

I scrolled down to there and thought, "Oh, great. Another sorry bastard burning the American flag." Oops--I guess he failed "Insulting Gestures to Superpowers 101." That's okay, he probably rushed right down to the airport and flew straight to the U.S. to get free burn treatment. What a dumb ass. Hope he's not too Extra Crispy.

Oh wow...Kabar....we haven't seen you around here in a quick minute....good to see you!

Slightly

Credit is good, but credit cards are like narcotics. When you really, really need one, they're great to have; but if you use it every day for fun, you'll soon be addicted and in way over your head.

Most credit cards for new users have a pretty high Annual Percentage Rate, usually between 9% and 24%. If you are very discriminating and have a decent job, you could probably swing one with a 0% APR, but the fine print on the agreement says "If you are late on a payment even once, the rate goes to 27%," or something pretty close to that.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS READ THE ENTIRE CONTRACT AND ALL THE FINE PRINT.

The best way to build credit with a credit card is to SAVE UP THE MONEY FOR A PURCHASE, then go put it on the card, then pay it off immediately. The more you turn down credit offers, the more they want to extend you credit---it's really kind of perverse.

If you pay off the purchase immediately, there is NO INTEREST CHARGE, because they always say "If you pay within the billing period, there is no finance charge." That means PAY OFF THE CREDIT CARD COMPLETELY EVERY MONTH. Diner's Club cards REQUIRE you to pay it off every month, or they cut off your credit.

The cards with 0% APR often play silly-ass games with the billing period. It takes three days USPS surface mail from their billing center to Your City. Say the due date is the fifteenth of every month. So, they mail out the bills on the eleventh of the month. If you're lucky, you get it ON the 14th. Even if you mail your payment back immediately, it will not arrive before the 15th, so they add the penalty charge to your balance, which, of course, you are paying interest on. It usually winds up being thirty-seven cents or something like that. No big deal, right? Multiply thirty-seven cents times eight million customers every month and what is the annual increase in profit?

Still, 0% APR cards are the best.

(Edit: 3/13/04--Many credit card companies will allow you to make payments via computer--direct from your bank account to theirs with an Electronic Cash Transfer. A lot of major banks like Chase Manhattan will let you do this on car loans and stuff too, but NOT on real estate loans. That's because they make a LOT of money every month on LATE FEES. Pay your bills as soon as you receive them!)

Do NOT get a whole raft of credit cards. If you MUST get one, make it ONLY ONE. Pay that bitch off like clockwork, EVERY MONTH, the entire account. Don't buy big ticket items on a credit card unless you already have the entire amount necessary IN CASH, so you can promptly pay it all off.

Debit cards are good for you (you pay up front, like putting money in the bank) but they have no positive effect on your credit rating. Paying up front does not interest MasterCard or VISA. They want you to mortgage your soul.

Buying bullshit that you don't really need (pizza, movie tickets, etc.) with a credit card is financial suicide if you do not pay the entire account off every month. It is SO EASY to get sucked into a credit whirlpool from which you cannot escape. The very first time you are tempted to make only the minimum payment, "just this once," you are setting foot on the Road to Serious Ass Credit Card Debt. DON'T DO IT. They will dance on your back for years, gleefully sucking your life's blood.

Hey, Lens

I been around. Check out my Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums thread. Stretch was in town. I been busy.

Well i think i will do just that. Once again, damn good to see ya again in these here parts.

Remember, you can only claim bankrupcy once.

So if you're going to do that, try to take out like

$25,000 in advancements over a year or so and

then file... sad thing is you'll have $25,000 in a

shoebox but you still won't be able to buy a car

or an apt. Pick your poison.

thats okay, ill be able to spend about 25 g's on paint and fourty's and groceries for the rest of my lifetime

Im actually looking for this credit card as a safety net when traveling, so i can buy a meal or paint without having any cash on me, then getting some fast food job for a little while to pay it off.

Ill probably roll with a mastercard, and Ill definitely be good about only pulling it out when i need to.

Excactly what kabar said: use that card like cash. If you don't have the money, don't use the card. A debit card has taught me that: I once got a $2 overdraft and had to pay a $25 fee; i check my balance and make sure before i buy something now.

i know some people way in over their heads with debt, one friend said 'nah im not payin em, im waitin til they take me to court' - dont be crazy with a CC.. if you cant pay for it now you probably shouldnt buy it

I've been playing the credit game for over fifteen years. And Kabar is right. If you're going to use your card to buy a big dollar item, make sure you have the cash to to pay the item off immediately. The way I handle things now is I have two bank accounts. One is a "Play" money account and one is a "Bills" money account. Whenever I get paid 2/3's goes into the bills account and the rest into my play account. That way I know the money isn't going to be touched unless it's for paying a bill.

If you must get a credit card, get one that works for you. Like a Alaska Airlines Mileage card where you earn flight miles for your spending. Of course... it could take a while to spend enough to get a ticket to go anywhere, depending on how much shit you buy. But you can also use the points you earn to bump you up to first class...

^^

yeah but joker, you can always just draw the credit card companies canvases and clear your debt that way :crazy:

http://www.kak.ru/images/archive/13-14/dom/DOMnovember05.jpg'>

YOU CAN NEVER OWN A CREDIT CARD BECAUSE CREDIT CARDS OWN YOU!!!