Debt Dumpers 2025

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just realized I'm contradicting myself somewhat. Telling others that fees are dumb while I'm paying some myself.

To me, when you need to pay off debt, ALL bank fees are funneling your snowball away from paying down debt and the sooner you can pay them off and get rid of them, the better. In those cases, you're paying the fees because that's the only way you can have a card at all, so you accept them. Once your debt is gone and your credit score gradually rises as you pay off the debt, you can be more selective about which card/s you want.
Ironically, our kids are not that into travelling and their cards are the no fee, cash back type. That's what makes them happy, so be it. I still love to travel and love it even more when several aspects are free such as flights or hotels. I'm not forced to have these cards. I could choose the Chase Freedom card with no fee but I love the rewards and feel that what we get in return for those fees, far exceeds what we pay.

I wouldn't recommend doing what we do unless you know for sure you can pay it off monthly.

 

[Tygerlilly]

You’re doing a fabulous job! Very impressive how you’re handling your mom while homeschooling and raising the kids and working. No way I could handle all of that.

It has definitely been a long few years since my dad passed. Things are finally starting to even out (I hope), so I'm optimistic 2026 will be the year I can breathe a bit and really focus on just us.

 

[pblack]

I also have 2 credit cards with annual fees. A Southwest Premier (or whatever the highest tier is) card and a Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Like @ruadisneyfan2 I find the Chase Sapphire card well worth the minimal annual fee. I'm even considering moving up to their stupidly expensive annual fee card - but i'm not quite ready to pull the trigger on it yet. Most of the time I end up transferring my Sapphire points over to Southwest for free flights, but sometimes I use them to book hotels. You may be wondering why I bother to keep my Southwest card if I use my Sapphire card for the Southwest points. Well originally I kept it around because it gave me 4 upgraded boardings in a year, plus a $75 annual credit, and points on my card anniversary, but now that they're switching up how they do things at Southwest and they've jacked up the annual fee, my plan is to keep the card for another year and see if these new "perks" will benefit me at all. With a card you do get a free checked bag per person, which is worth it to me. With the card I have you're also supposed to be able to select a better seat for free. I don't have any flights booked for next year as of right now, so we'll see if the perks end up being worth it for me and i'll re-evaluate at the end of the year. Southwest is also my "preferred" airline, mainly because they're the only airline that has non stops from my area to southern CA and Vegas.

 

[DanceDisney23]

I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but with the ridiculous new annual fee, I’m planning on downgrading it to the Preferred. I first got it when the fee was much lower.

It has been my best card in terms of rewards though. I got a free flight to Europe and two free Universal hotel stays out of it.

 

[pblack]

I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but with the ridiculous new annual fee, I’m planning on downgrading it to the Preferred. I first got it when the fee was much lower.

It has been my best card in terms of rewards though. I got a free flight to Europe and two free Universal hotel stays out of it.

The annual fee is definitely high! While I am debating it, I really need to make sure all the perks and what not would make it worthwhile for me. Luckily im in no rush to upgrade/change cards and im ok with my sapphire preferred for now.

 

[DanceDisney23]

The annual fee is definitely high! While I am debating it, I really need to make sure all the perks and what not would make it worthwhile for me. Luckily im in no rush to upgrade/change cards and im ok with my sapphire preferred for now.

I can tell you that the airport lounge benefit is no longer worth it. So many cards have priority pass now, it’s hard to get in anywhere. And if you do get into a lounge, it’s usually super busy.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

The annual fee is definitely high! While I am debating it, I really need to make sure all the perks and what not would make it worthwhile for me. Luckily im in no rush to upgrade/change cards and im ok with my sapphire preferred for now.

Yes, it is crazy high. A friend of ours who had one broke down all the benefits to me years ago and it made sense if you'd otherwise be paying for those things anyway. I can't even wrap my head around that high of a fee.

 

[trenty]

Just want to say: If you are in debt, do not play the credit card points game. Get out of debt, learn YOUR budget and how to live without using credit cards, stay out of debt for 6-12 mos or more WITHOUT using CC. Then SLOWLY begin to learn how to use credit cards to your advantage.

ETA: I was one in a lot of debt. Now I live debt-free, no exceptions at all. I use credit cards and strategically accumulate points, but do not carry a balance. For the most part, I don't churn or chase bonuses. I have a set of cards that I use on a regular basis - some more than others.

Respectfully, I think we should keep the CC points, AFs that are "worth it" comments on the CC thread. People needing to get of out debt don't need to be tempted. LOL I know from experience.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I disagree a little. I feel like our thread is more than just dumping debt. We also discuss a lot of ways to do things in a more financially smart ways, and using credit cards responsibly to reap rewards is one of those ways to do things without accumulating additional debt.

I think it's kind of fun to see all the things that you can start doing once you finally get out of consumer debt. We still have some but it's fun to hear everything that we will be able to do once we get our cards paid off and can qualify for the more lucrative cards.

But, I definitely think you need to be financially responsible BEFORE chasing all these things. We plan to start slowly with adding our auto pay things (Netflix, YouTube TV, etc) to a card and paying that off monthly for 9ish months first BEFORE we even try playing the rewards game. It has everything to do with your self control, but it's definitely fun to discuss even while in debt to see what *could* be once you're out of it.

 

[afan]

I disagree a little. I feel like our thread is more than just dumping debt. We also discuss a lot of ways to do things in a more financially smart ways, and using credit cards responsibly to reap rewards is one of those ways to do things without accumulating additional debt.

I think it's kind of fun to see all the things that you can start doing once you finally get out of consumer debt. We still have some but it's fun to hear everything that we will be able to do once we get our cards paid off and can qualify for the more lucrative cards.

But, I definitely think you need to be financially responsible BEFORE chasing all these things. We plan to start slowly with adding our auto pay things (Netflix, YouTube TV, etc) to a card and paying that off monthly for 9ish months first BEFORE we even try playing the rewards game. It has everything to do with your self control, but it's definitely fun to discuss even while in debt to see what *could* be once you're out of it.

I agree. I started before I had all of my cc debt and student loan paid off because I wanted my regular spend to work for me. I haven't carried any new debt since starting and have paid both of those two debts off, student loan last year and the CC 4 or 5 years ago. I still don't carry a balance.

Most/all of my travel outside of Disney trips, the hotel and airfare is paid for my points or credits offered by my hotels. I wouldn't get to travel as much (I get 3 weeks a year and can roll it over) or to the places I do without the points.

It also is what someone considers debt they are concerned about. I knew my cc debt would be gone soon enough and I could work around it. My student loan had a low interest rate, I made more in my hysa which is part of why I wasn't throwing all the money at it until it was almost gone.

If I had a lot of cc debt, I wouldn't do it because that needs to be priority to get rid of. But I wouldn't consider a mortgage or car payment as deterrent as long as you can pay your cc off each month.

The most important thing to understand in the points game is you aren't spending more and you shouldn't spend more, you are just shifting paying with your debit or cash to a card that helps your money work for you. If using a credit card is going to cause you to overspend your budget then it's not a game that should be played.

There are also cards that don't have annual fees that offer cash back or points. Cash back can be used to pay for debt. Take it as a statement credit on your card and then the money you would have paid to the card goes to the debt. Or you collect points until you're able to get a travel card and can transfer those points over to use for stuff. It also doesn't have to be cards with huge af's, they aren't for everyone.

 

[pblack]

I also disagree with not discussing credit cards on this thread and agree with tygerlilly and afan. We don't discuss credit card rewards/annual fees/etc to great lengths on this thread and if someone cant handle the few times they do get mentioned, then im sorry but maybe they shouldn't be on the internet at all. I feel like thats like saying people cant talk about X topic out in public because it might be triggering to someone they don't know.
(Im assuming) we're all adults here. If something is truly that triggering then id like to think that they'd see themselves out.

I find great value in discussing non debt dumping topics in this thread without it being overwhelming. The credit card thread moves fast and honestly its quite overstimulating, so i tend to stay off it. The 2 credit cards i mentioned do not carry balances on them. My southwest card only gets used when it benefits me and my sapphire card is my every day card and gets paid in full every month.

 

[Tygerlilly]

The credit card thread moves fast and honestly its quite overstimulating, so i tend to stay off it.

I tried reading it once to try and learn and between the lingo and how fast it moved I got overwhelmed and never went back to it. It's a lot. Lol.

Credit cards themselves aren't bad, it's all in how you use them.

 

[DanceDisney23]

I tried reading it once to try and learn and between the lingo and how fast it moved I got overwhelmed and never went back to it. It's a lot. Lol.

Credit cards themselves aren't bad, it's all in how you use them.

It’s moving too fast for me too. I’m not a serious churner. I just use my credit cards as a payment method that also gets me some perks. I pay them in full every month.

We only have mortgage debt, but I’m interested in personal finance and I like this community here.

 

[afan]

I tried reading it once to try and learn and between the lingo and how fast it moved I got overwhelmed and never went back to it. It's a lot. Lol.

Credit cards themselves aren't bad, it's all in how you use them.

We aren't as bad at going off topic as we used to be so that part has made it slow down. I also only read stuff that's relevant. I don't fly SW so I skip those posts along with other stuff.

We're a welcoming group and always help with questions. The stickied posts at the front help too. It's a way better place to learn than reddit . r/churning will down vote things so quick.

 

[Tygerlilly]

We aren't as bad at going off topic as we used to be so that part has made it slow down. I also only read stuff that's relevant. I don't fly SW so I skip those posts along with other stuff.

We're a welcoming group and always help with questions. The stickied posts at the front help too. It's a way better place to learn than reddit . r/churning will down vote things so quick.

Reddit is a rabbit hole I only read on because I do not have it in me to fight with the internet as hard as they do. Lol. But I love reading things there.

 

[afan]

Reddit is a rabbit hole I only read on because I do not have it in me to fight with the internet as hard as they do. Lol. But I love reading things there.

I love being able to down vote stuff. I'm glad we can't do it everywhere but it's nice to take my frustrations out on fake internet points