I'd rather have debit card or rather than a credit card.

I used to charge way too much stuff but I eventually wised up. Paid everything off and now if I cannot afford to pay cash for it I do not buy it. Not being on the hook for money to someone else is a wonderful thing.

i just pulled this yesterday

http://www.jupzchris.com/score.png
http://www.jupzchris.com/credit.png

i only have i thin like 3k in credit cards TOTAL
always been sorta a cash guy only.
I own my own house out right ... never really bothered to build credit it seems but i think i need to start

also my wife is 47, been divorced, has good job, has nice money saved but been horible with credit...I mean like 500ish BAD..can't get a loan unless banks rape her with rates...

So she has plenty of cash but because she fucked her credit she's fucked (if she was single that is). Good DEBT (mortgage, low interest car loans, using credit card but paying off every month) are all keys to good credit...

I owe 3 k on credit card ...bah

I pay for almost EVERYTHING with a credit card, but pay it in full when the bills comes in. They are all reward cards (I think I have 12 or so).

Right now I owe money on my house, a car lease and Discover has 0% interest until August so I've only been paying the minimum for that bill and have the money to cover it when August comes around.

I'm also getting some dental work that will be 0% for a year that I'll use.

So really, the only "interest" I'm paying is the house and car. I have another car that's paid off and have seriously thought about driving it for a year and saving $$$ on gas, payments and insurance. But then I'll get to the dealer and see something pretty and shiny and all bets are off..............

I have more equity in my house than I owe on it and if I planned on staying here forever, I'd pay it off faster, but I go back and forth on that daily.

Yup, it will be paid off by the time the wedding happens (in July) so I am not deeply worried or anything it just reminds me how much I hate credit. I think one important thing I have learned over the years that if I *have* to use a credit card that I only allow myself to do so if I can draw up an exact plan of when it will be paid back and stick to it.

$0 being earned from me by credit companies.

Last thing I owed interest on was my car, and I paid it off in 1998 or so (2 yrs early).

I don't really do the credit thing. If you can't afford it up front you shouldn't be buying it unless it's a very large purchase, such as a car or a house.

The only credit I have is for the house. We also have an account with Dell, but I haven't used it in a few years and pay it off the following month when I do.

Cash and carry is the way to go.

You got it! I owe for the 1st time on a new car. It sucks as this is the 1st time I didn't pay cash for it.


:(

i have no debt to anyone or any company and i like it that way.

just have a cc for 'just-in-case' situation, when abroad and no cash, 55 days grace period so its ok.

Only idiots get into debt... :2 cents:

90 percent....its a bitch

:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

I currently owe $320 on my CC, I rarely use it.

Being in debt and having credit are two entirely different animals. At least in the US, more and more companies are running credit reports on new hires. Ditto with insurance companies. Many times having no credit can be just as bad as having poor credit.

Get a couple of cards, use them a few times a month, pay them in full when the bill comes and build up your credit.

Yeah it's an evil truth.. you have to establish credit even if you never use it. IMHO someone with no credit history who is over 30 should get a FICO score of 800, but the world isn't mine.

Thankfully I don't have that much debt.

Zero. Pay 'cash' for everything. Should be breaking ground on my house next summer. why pay 200k for something that costs 150k and why buy more than you really need?

I used to hear i was living on borrowed time a lot when i was a teenager.

Yeah, I have had some issues with that in the past because I always paid by cash or debit. Which is why I have a card at all now but I hate having it.

right now I owe 56k on my mortgage, $500 on my credit card and $5k to a credit company, but all of that will be gone in the next 2 months. Sold the house and will pay off everything.

I bet that will be a relief.

You can't really count a mortgage in this surely.
I know some people are maybe going into negative equity, but over a long term property generally increases in value.
I think alot of the people who have 'investment' properties who are in trouble at the moment deserve what they get, but then as an ex UK IFA thats maybe just the way I see things...
At the moment I have 15 years to run on my mortgage of £100k and after the recent falls in property values I have around a 30% LTV, so generally I don't even think of myself as being in 'debt'

A mortgage is debt but I can understand how it is an acceptable debt for some. That said, in the UK a lot of people reach too hard for a mortgage that is really beyond their means. For example, when you hear of 100 percent or more mortgages that is just something that would feel uncomfortable with having.

a huge relief for sure.

If your assets are less then your liabilities you are on credit.

If you can't pay for it don't buy it!

forgot to mention the $18k that I owe the tax man. This will also be paid in the next 2 months. I will have no debt at all and I will keep it that way.

no debt for me, pay off my CC monthly

Beside the about 30k left on the mortgage, none.... :)

Credit is a fantastic thing if used wisely. I have turned around fantastic deals using credit lines, etc. but it's not something I exercise in my daily life. AmEx and cash are the only things I use.

I don't even have any credit.. lol

Well said... all debt isn't bad. I'd rather be in debt with multiple properties, rather than not being in debt and not building wealth :2 cents:

I fell into credit card debt once. I vowed to live on the street before I ever owe those fuckers money longer than I can pay off in less than a year.

Absolutely nothing.

If you have $10k cc debt making minimum payments post here so I can laugh at you. (Not You O.P but anyone)

My mortgage is the only thing I've put on credit in that past 5 or more years. Cars are paid in cash.

I use my Am Ex for everything but I pay it off immediately so I never carry a balance. I just get the hotel points :)

I would probably have a heart attack if that was me.

Laugh at me then. That's about how much I have on my 0% Discover card while the money is sitting in an interest bearing account. My dental work will be another $5K - 12 months, zero interest, while the money sits there making more money.

There are ways to play the credit game. Each of my CCs has rewards. I save 5% on BP gas using my BP card, 3% if I can't find a BP station and use my AAA card, $25 Amazon gift certificate for every $2500 charged, 10% off a day of purchases with $2500 on my Target card, etc. I don't even know what the interest rates are for these cards because I never pay interest on them.

Be responsible and credit is a good thing :)

Credit is a serious issue in the UK.

Personally, I dont have any credit cards and I own all my possessions outright (including my car and properties). I didnt think I would ever consider taking out a mortgage for any future purchase but im now beginning to understand that in business some kind of leverage can be immensely powerful in making a business grow.

Debt is awful. Way too many people live beyond their means.

No debts at all... I paid back the house I own in 3 yr to the bank I hate debts so much.