Current Events > Why don't you use a credit card instead of a debit card?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Name one reason
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See I knew it, not even one reason
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Sounds like a "pay later" vs "pay now" option.

Anyway my credit card has been deactivated for several months.

Sometimes they even bother to send me a bill to tell me that I'm credited $0.00.
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PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

Sounds like a "pay later" vs "pay now" option.

Anyway my credit card has been deactivated for several months.

Sometimes they even bother to send me a bill to tell me that I'm credited $0.00.

What do you pay with regularly?
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PatrickMahomes posted...

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

Sounds like a "pay later" vs "pay now" option.

Anyway my credit card has been deactivated for several months.

Sometimes they even bother to send me a bill to tell me that I'm credited $0.00.

What do you pay with regularly?

Cash from a money clip because it makes me look cool.
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I generally use my CC because I get better perks. Then I just pay it off every month. Most of my bills are paid this way to get essentially free cash back. It adds up.
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I've been learning more and more about credit the past few weeks and have eventually stopped using my debit card entirely. Theres just no reason to anymore over credit.

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I use my credit card so much that BofA started sending me deals to incentivize me to start using my debit card more lol fuck that.
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There's no good ones in Aus. Why would I want to pay $100 a year in credit card fees for fuck all in rewards?
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I do. There's no reason not to use a credit card when you get 2% back on every thing.

Rika_Furude posted...

There's no good ones in Aus. Why would I want to pay $100 a year in credit card fees for fuck all in rewards?

Is applying for a US credit card with no foreign transaction fees a option a for you?

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I've never had a credit card. but I would like to get one. every once in a while I bring it up to my parents. my dad finally is starting I think to come around. I recently had to buy an expensive phone outright instead of monthly payments and I think he wished I had a credit card for that. if I had had a line of credit, I could have saved a lot of money

Only reason to use debit instead of credit is if you have credit card debt. Or you dont trust yourself not to pay it off in full
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Too lazy to get one.
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I like the points, and whilst it's not a big amount, using the interest-free period up to 30 days is still interest saved which I use in my mortgage offset account.

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Grew up with my mom taking out pay day loans and maxing out credit cards, and even though I have a stable job that would let me pay one off monthly, they still scare the fuck out of me. Seeing how stressed and anxious the debt made her caused me to never want one.
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justaguy3492 posted...

Grew up with my mom taking out pay day loans and maxing out credit cards, and even though I have a stable job that would let me pay one off monthly, they still scare the fuck out of me. Seeing how stressed and anxious the debt made her caused me to never want one.

It always amazed me at the credit limits in the US where in other modern economies there are regulatory limits and now comprehensive limits. I landed in the US as a young 23 year old and got a $35k credit card (guaranteed by my employer though) without even asking for it.

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I do now that my credit isn't totally in the toilet.
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Sometimes I'll use debit if I'm purchasing from a vendor that I like to save them the fees. I like to keep my balances low compared to my limits as well
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I use both

I pay for something on my Velocity Amex credit card, then just pay it off straight away so my balance is always equal and I get those sweet frequent flyer points
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I used my debit card for the longest time but I made the full shift to credit card a year ago and it's been pretty cool. Just used my card to pay for some home renovation work, adds one extra step to paying that invoice but all those reward points mmmm.
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PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

PatrickMahomes posted...

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

Sounds like a "pay later" vs "pay now" option.

Anyway my credit card has been deactivated for several months.

Sometimes they even bother to send me a bill to tell me that I'm credited $0.00.

What do you pay with regularly?

Cash from a money clip because it makes me look cool.

Is looking cool really worth missing out on literal free money from the credit card rewards points?
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Cash is literally worthless to me from a "how much money do I have" point of view. If I have cash, to me it's already spent/bonus money.

My money is what I have in my bank account. On the rare occasion I have cash (gambling, birthday/Christmas present etc), to me it's free money.
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justaguy3492 posted...

Grew up with my mom taking out pay day loans and maxing out credit cards, and even though I have a stable job that would let me pay one off monthly, they still scare the fuck out of me. Seeing how stressed and anxious the debt made her caused me to never want one.

this is such a stupid reason

like, you know why it was problematic for her

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it's incredibly easy to keep track of your balance and make sure it's paid off regularly
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Good credit scores are pointless when everything you'd get a loan for are still extremely expensive monthly even with good interest rates
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PatrickMahomes posted...

Is looking cool really worth missing out on literal free money from the credit card rewards points?

A fancy metal credit card like the Amex platinum, or chase shappire reserved is arguably a cooler display of wealth and status.

That and in my opinion only a drug dealer or somebody shady in general would ever have or what to carry around so much cash for display nowadays.

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Irony posted...

Good credit scores are pointless when everything you'd get a loan for are still extremely expensive monthly even with good interest rates

You should tell this too those millionaire real estate investors.
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Irony posted...

Good credit scores are pointless when everything you'd get a loan for are still extremely expensive monthly even with good interest rates

You might miss out on some sweet 12 month / 18 month interest free shit though.
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I'm sick of my bastard friend who is eager to pay with his credit card so he gets some sort of loyalty point to get special offers or freebies.

Then we have to pay him back our exact split in cash and have to work out the right change and everything.

The shitty thing was, one time, I was the one treating them to the meal. So instead of me paying the waiter, it becomes my asshole friend waving his credit card about, then I pay him afterwards.
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Hexenherz posted...

You might miss out on some sweet 12 month / 18 month interest free shit though.

arent those usually on balance transfers only and you also have a FIFO repayment structure so if you do this you cant rack up new debt otherwise you still end up paying interest?

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If I can't afford it I wont buy it.
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I heard a pretty good point about this the other day.

Credit cards are the single most advertised product of all time. They have spent billions and billions not just on advertisement but on doing the psychology research that allows the advertisements to be profitable. They know your psychology far better than you know your own.

So it's really kind of bold to suppose you can game them.
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I've been considering it now that my credit tanked a bit from my recent car loan applications.
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cavalierking posted...

justaguy3492 posted...

Grew up with my mom taking out pay day loans and maxing out credit cards, and even though I have a stable job that would let me pay one off monthly, they still scare the fuck out of me. Seeing how stressed and anxious the debt made her caused me to never want one.

this is such a stupid reason

like, you know why it was problematic for her

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it's incredibly easy to keep track of your balance and make sure it's paid off regularly

To be fair you made a stupid post, it's easy to say it's something like that when you never grew up in the environment he did
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I actually do but only when I need to
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I still use gold doubloons
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BilalPowell posted...

Only reason to use debit instead of credit is if you have credit card debt. Or you dont trust yourself not to pay it off in full

This is it. There is 0 reason not to use a credit card and build your credit while earning points.

Only reason is if you are not good at planning or irresponsible with being able to charge

DevsBro posted...

I heard a pretty good point about this the other day.

Credit cards are the single most advertised product of all time. They have spent billions and billions not just on advertisement but on doing the psychology research that allows the advertisements to be profitable. They know your psychology far better than you know your own.

So it's really kind of bold to suppose you can game them.

I pay my monthly balance in full every month. Try again

cavalierking posted...

justaguy3492 posted...

Grew up with my mom taking out pay day loans and maxing out credit cards, and even though I have a stable job that would let me pay one off monthly, they still scare the fuck out of me. Seeing how stressed and anxious the debt made her caused me to never want one.

this is such a stupid reason

like, you know why it was problematic for her

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it's incredibly easy to keep track of your balance and make sure it's paid off regularly

I dont agree with calling someone stupid for a very real fear. Hes cautious, I would suggest maybe trying a smaller basic card to see how you behave before getting bigger.

CruelBuffalo posted...

This is it. There is 0 reason not to use a credit card and build your credit while earning points.

Only reason is if you are not good at planning or irresponsible with being able to charge

Pretty much. It's actually a really useful tool to have as long as you don't fall into the temptation of "convenient" credit... but with plenty of BNPL schemes out there which appeal to the next generation, maybe credit cards will need to reinvent themselves again.

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BignutzisBack posted...

To be fair you made a stupid post, it's easy to say it's something like that when you never grew up in the environment he did

nah, shit is straight stupid regardless

CruelBuffalo posted...

I dont agree with calling someone stupid for a very real fear. Hes cautious, I would suggest maybe trying a smaller basic card to see how you behave before getting bigger.

and some people have "very real fears" of black people

gotta call a spade a spade
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cavalierking posted...

nah, shit is straight stupid

yes, your post definitely was
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@TC i do.

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DevsBro posted...

I heard a pretty good point about this the other day.

Credit cards are the single most advertised product of all time. They have spent billions and billions not just on advertisement but on doing the psychology research that allows the advertisements to be profitable. They know your psychology far better than you know your own.

So it's really kind of bold to suppose you can game them.

You can make this kind of argument about literally anything I pay my balance off in full every single month without fail. Meaning I have never paid even one cent in interest. Explain to me in detail how I'm the one being gamed in this situation?

About the only thing that could be said at that point is that there are indeed studies that show that some people might spend more money with a CC than with a DC because they "don't really think of it as money".I'd wager that the vast majority of people that think like that are the idiots that run up a lot of debt. So what it really requires is the correct mindset. When I swipe my CC, I think of it as money coming directly out of my pocket, it feels just as bad as cash to me because quite frankly, it will be coming out of my bank account within 30 days at absolute most. Additionally, those same studies show that if you keep constant track of your spending (which I do, multiple times a week) you are less likely to over spend.

Yes it's true, a very large percentage of the population are idiots and will run up a bunch of debt, and those are definitely the customers that CC companies want. It does not take a lot of brains to say "Hey, that's not a good idea even a little bit"

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Yeah I pay my shit in full all the time. Plus if you have the money to back big purchases up front you're kind of missing out on opportunities when you don't use a card.
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Twin3Turbo posted...

You can make this kind of argument about literally anything I pay my balance off in full every single month without fail. Meaning I have never paid even one cent in interest. Explain to me in detail how I'm the one being gamed in this situation?

About the only thing that could be said at that point is that there are indeed studies that show that some people might spend more money with a CC than with a DC because they "don't really think of it as money".I'd wager that the vast majority of people that think like that are the idiots that run up a lot of debt. So what it really requires is the correct mindset. When I swipe my CC, I think of it as money coming directly out of my pocket, it feels just as bad as cash to me because quite frankly, it will be coming out of my bank account within 30 days at absolute most. Additionally, those same studies show that if you keep constant track of your spending (which I do, multiple times a week) you are less likely to over spend.

Yes it's true, a very large percentage of the population are idiots and will run up a bunch of debt, and those are definitely the customers that CC companies want. It does not take a lot of brains to say "Hey, that's not a good idea even a little bit"

Assuming no annual fee then yes youre right, youve financially come out ahead by using a CC. You dont revolve any balance and hence its the merchant who ends up paying for your convenience through their fees. This is what I would consider the financially responsible way of utilising a CC.

Once youve hit this point it becomes a matter of choosing and spending in a way which optimised youre benefits whether its be points, cash back, etc. I have noticed it definitely varies a lot between countries and markets as to how complex those reward schemes can be in terms of specific spend criteria and hurdles (presumably aimed at helping reduce number of people who actually benefit from them whilst still using the cards to rack up merchant/acquirer/issuer fees).

The only other argument though around whether youve been gamed or gaming the system could be around what data is gleaned from your spending. Some would put a value on this and fight it. For me though I dont really care TBH.

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gloBal enemy posted...

The only other argument though around whether youve been gamed or gaming the system could be around what data is gleaned from your spending

I mean, I figure they already have our data
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I like to use my Ally CashBack credit card (which has been discontinued) to make purchases, thanks.

I use cash a decent amount(I am a currency collector so I always have cash on hand) but otherwise it is my credit card I pay off every month.

I am willing to take a bit of a loss in credit card cash back to use cash, though the odd rarity I find makes up for it, and I also do have a bit of savings as a result of my currency collecting(870 bills saved in my collection. some worth more than face value, a lot of fluff, zero I have paid over face value for) I wouldn't have had strictly using credit. Though I could not use cash at all, but still get cash from the bank to hunt through, and then turn it in later but on my end its just easier to use some of it for smaller purchases so I have less to turn in to the bank when i go.

also I like cash for smaller, local businesses and tipping at restaurants and other places.