They are very useful, just don't EVER carry a balance. Pay it off in full each week or each month. Don't use it, unless you got cash in the bank to cover what your buying.
I use a couple of cards where I get points for free stuff. Last year I got 600 dollars of free groceries, by points for using one of those cards tied to a grocery store. It is a mastercard.
I also have a visa, that gets me hotel points. I have not paid for a hotel room since 2013 as I use points to get free rooms on any trips.
Right now I have 180,000 points built up, a room is anywhere from 8000 to 24000 points on average, depending on peak, demand and quality.
In the last 30 days, I've ran 10k through my cards to get more points, just cause I had to spend all my savings on fixing things that broke down around the house. I could paid by check, EFT or other ways but no points that way.
Then protection, that is the best... debit cards tied to your account with a pin, get hacked... money stolen, it is gone forever. Someone gets your credit card number, dispute transaction and its charged back.
You may also have a whole slew of warranties and such, my visa has a clause that anything bought with it, that I register at that banks website if it breaks within two years is replaced or refunded. It is a pain though, cause I have to register everything I want covered.
The key though is no balances, I pay mine off every week when I do bills. I keep all my receipts and if what my receipt shows I paid does not match what posted, I'll dispute it.
That does happen, even got a girl in trouble at a local fast food joint cause she would tell me one amount, then charge a little more, say 5 or 10 cents... then refund it to herself.
Yeah I disputed a transaction for being 5 cents more than the receipt showed. She got fired by her boss and the police were investigating as this had been going on for a long time... she probably had stolen hundreds of dollars this way.
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Credit cards are useless. If you got money you shouldn't use them. You pay cash. If you don't have money you shouldn't use them. Because if you can't afford it now it's foolish to pay a larger bill later. So the only one that see the value is the person selling the credits to make you a work slave for them because of debt.
You can make a small amount of money every month if you do this correctly. Cards usually give you 30 days, after your statement date, to pay off your balance without attracting interest.
Get a monthly pay cheque. Put it in a high interest account. Live off your card. Get your next pay cheque. Live off your card again. When you get your statement, don't pay it until the very last day. Use the money in the high interest account to pay it off. You will have EARNED nearly two months interest on your money. Do this every month. You will earn money instead of losing it.
When you book hotels, resorts & car rentals, those establishments always authorize a large hold on the card you provide. You'll be sorry you gave them your debit card. That's your own money they're gonna tie up which might leave you less liquid to make purchases or cover expenses you pay out of the bank account that carries your debit card.
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1. building credit: which you mentioned, but this alone makes it not pointless. Having good credit means more freedom, more choices, lower payments if you borrow money, and the ability to make larger purchases.
2. delayed payment for items. Sure, it's just a month, and you want to pay your balance in full each month or you will end up losing money, which is how credit card companies make money. But delaying all your purchases by a month gives you more flexibility to use that money in other ways, including earning on investments. So you can actually make money.
3. Cash back. I have a bunch of different cards, and 3-5 of them at any given time are offering 5% back on something, be it gas, restaurants, amazon purchases, PayPal usage, or something else. So again, earning money, even if it is just 5% of what I spent, it adds up to 100s by the end of the year.
4. Other bonuses. For example, I got a Marriot Bonvoy card which gave a bunch of points for spending a certain amount in the first three months. The points give you free hotel room stays at Marriot hotels, and you earn more points if you spend money with the card at a Marriot. So when work put me up in hotels for training, I put it on the Bonvoy card. I got reimbursed by work, plus I got bonus points from Bonvoy and now have 6 free nights in a hotel whenever I want. It cost me literally nothing.There are a number of advantages with credit cards: you can borrow money conveniently (which is the main advantage), you may get "rewards" like extended warranties or cash back, and they are accepted as payment for many things where even cash won't be accepted - such as renting a car. You also have fraud protection, and, yes, you can build your credit.
It also has downsides: mainly the interest if you don't pay it off in full, and the annual fee for many cards.
Really, it comes down to discipline.They are good if you do not abuse them. I use one for all online purchases I make. I have another one that I use to make major purchases.
I pay the balance in full each month and incur no interest charges. The cards also give me a cashback feature where I actually make a little money using the card.
When I was young and poor the credit card was a good way to buy something in an emergency if I did not have the cash at the time.And if you don't have the money at the time for a purchase, a big/expensive purchase or emergency situation, it can be useful there. But otherwise you're right. But, you also can't get anything without credit (rating), so it's almost a must to have at least one.
Depends on you and your life style.
They've been super useful to me especially with my moves.
Rewards can be great.
People just need to make sure that they already have the money.
There are too many people who get credit cards and think and don't have the funds to back them up.Imagine thinking getting free money is pointless.
You can get paid just using credit cards only. Since the company gets paid by the merchant every time you swipe, they basically sharing some of that profit with their customers in-terms of reward cards. So if you pay every thing by credit card and can pay it off each month, you can rack up hundreds of dollars yearly.Aside from the security, it allows you to make on demand purchases and sort it out later.
Whereas with a debit card, the money comes out of your account immediately or very soon after.I've had a Master Card, credit card since March, 1983, I have gotten around $14,000 back from using it.
Only have paid $59 in interest since having this card, when I botched up an online payment a few years ago.
As has been said use it with discipline.
Pat it off in full every month.Credit cards are extremely useful, if used correctly, and you don't let them control you.
Mine is used 100% exclusively for my direct debit of my bills. All my bills automatically come off my credit card, which I then pay off in full every week.
Perfect use of a card - my bills are always automatically paid, I pay no interest, and it builds my credit.
I never use it to just "buy" things.Easier to get a refund, helps build up credit for when you want something big like a house or car, gives you a 30 day interest free loan
Credit cards are useful but if you stick them in an ATM & you think you win money think again. Credit cards are my friend & I swipe them for everything & make points & piss off the credit card company when I pay my bill on time.
I THINK YOU GET POINTS WITH THEM ALKL THERSE DAYS SO POINTLESS NO... IF YOU USE THGEM AND PAY THEM ON THE DATWE HYOU CVAN RUN THE, SO THEY ARE FREE FROM AND COSTS AND IF YOUR IN A AQUEEXE THEYU ARE VERY HANDY JUST BE SMART AND BE AWARE!
Not sure. Never cared to use one in life. So I don't know if i even have credit
Yeah other than using to be able to get loans and have a good credit score its useless. I wouldn't spend from a credit card, I would just use my debit card. I hate credit cards so much.
Its to make it easier to live paycheck to paycheck and justify cheap labor at a cost. Credit is just needed to buy things like cars and houses from a loan. Credit cards are expensive to have.
Are you that same dumb girl from that Youtube video where she mocked her date for using a credit card to pay for dinner, calling him broke? Your generation wears stupid with pride.
It’s a useful tool, to rent a car , order online, use out of country, reward points and borrowing money but remember to pay it off in full every month
If you ever want to buy a house you're gonna need a good credit score. it shows the banks that you are able to pay back a loan they give you
I've never owned a credit card, because I've always used cash. I don't believe in spending money I don't actually have.
Rewards and paying for stuff that you need and might not have money for at the moment too.
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