Why I Don’t Have Credit Cards

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Why I Don’t Use Credit Cards

The Small Print -  Have you ever read one of those applications? There is A LOT of small print, all for the benefit of the credit card company. They can change your rate whenever they want for no reason at all. They can increase your minimum payment whenever they want for no reason at all. They can do almost whatever they want whenever they want for no reason at all, just because you signed your name to an application that you did not read. You think you rate is fixed? Better read the fine print. Oh, you don’t have a copy of the original credit card application you signed? Too bad for you.

The Credit Card Companies are Not Your Friends – If you run into financial problems and cannot pay your credit card bills, they will be relentless. They have no mercy. They will call you, call your workplace, threaten you, and harass you. They don’t care if what they are doing is legal or illegal.

The Incentives – If you had enough money, you wouldn’t care about the incentives you may get by using your credit card. And if you don’t have enough money, then you definitely shouldn’t be using a credit card in the first place. So called “free” t-shirts, 2-liters of pop, airline miles, cash back, and so on, these things are not free. Some day you will get burned by your credit card company and you will pay dearly.

Zero Percent – I have my own personal story to tell you here. Years ago we purchased a big screen television on a Best Buy zero percent credit card. We religiously sent in our monthly amount due. Much to our surprise, when we got down to the end of the payment schedule, Best Buy somehow “lost” our payment and it did not get applied to our account. The result? We owed over $800 in interest on a $2,000 television. Learn from my mistake.

Balance Transfers – I’ve played this game to. Every day a new application arrived in the mail. We would open every one looking for the one that had the longest zero percent period. I don’t even want to know how many hours we spent transferring money around, keeping track of when the zero percent expired, and gathering new credit card application. What a joke.

Grace Periods – The typical grace period is now 23 days. That barely gives you time to receive your bill and get it paid. Screw up just once and it will cost you.

I’ve heard all the excuses as to why people need a credit card.

I don’t buy the travel excuse. I travel with my debit card all the time. I rent cars, pay for hotel rooms, pay for airline flights and anything else I want to do. Yes, the rental car companies do reserve an extra $400 on my account while I have the car, but that’s no big deal. Bottom line is that you don’t need a credit card to travel.

Nor do you need it for emergencies. You should have an emergency fund setup so that you can have quick access to money if an emergency arises. But you also should be asking yourself, “Is this a real emergency or can this wait until I can save for it?”

Do you have credit cards? Why?

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