Does anyone live without using credit cards?

[QVCshopper]

Congrats on paying off your CC debt. To be honest, I don't think CCs are all that evil. Sure, if you come upon hard times (laid off, illness, divorce, etc.) they can add up to bad news when used as a lifeline. But, when CCs are used with prudence, they are a good tool in your investment portfolio.

I grew up very poor and learned financial management at a young age. My parents were borrowing money from me when I was a teen. I paid for my own college education and have never had CC debt. I owe my home and cars outright, and strive to buy what I need and have the money to pay for.

I charge everything--utilities, insurance, groceries, you name it. $20 can last over a month in my wallet. But, I get good benefits from charging, namely 2% into a 529 plan for my kids. That's 2% that I don't have to make.

Just learn to use your CCs like cash and pay them off every month. It takes stubborness and discipline, but it can be done. I'm sure I have my impulse buys (like the Target 75% off toys sale), but I probably would have them anyway, even if I was paying with cash.

Just offering another viewpoint.

 

[Go Saints!]

We are credit card free. I could not tell you the last time I used a card. Actually, it was probably for Hurricane Katrina. We did not know what we were going to come home to and did not want to use up all of our savings. (We were gone for a month before we could return home.) We do keep a card for times like that, but have not used it in four years. DH does have a debit card, but I do not use that either. I find those to be too easily accessible. I try to use cash where ever I go so that I do not spend more than I had planned to. It really does help when you want to save money.

 

[disney1990]

We have no credit card debit. That said, I charge everything that I possibly can on our Disney Rewards card. The card is then paid off at the end of the month. We haven't carried a credit card balance in over 20 years. But, I love those Disney Reward Dollars.

 

[bonoriffic]

I will charge everything I possibly can. There are two main advantages that cash can never match, reward points and conflict resolution.

I have earned enough frequent flier points from my credit card to travel to Europe and Hawaii multiple times first class. Cash certainly never earned me a trip to London. If you pay with cash, the transaction is done, and if something goes wrong you are more than likely not going to win. I've had two issues before and a simple call to the credit card company was all it took and they fought the issue on my behalf. They always win.

As I've never carried a balance in my life I don't see how credit cards are anything but good.

 

[jodifla]

There are lots of good reasons to have credit cards. They aren't evil. They are just tools. It's all in how you use them.

We use ours for on-line shopping, travel, and major expenses, mainly. I don't like to give out our debit card online...you are giving people access to your entire bank account.

They've come in handy for extra car rental insurance, too.

Also, we have major lines of open credit. So in a crisis we could tap that money if we needed immediately.

 

[enchantingodin]

Gotta ask. For those who have never had a CC - how the heck do you get a loan to buy a car or house with no credit history?

 

[disfan07]

My parents have credit cards but we dont use them normally. We use them for the major bills (mortgage, car payments, electrical bills, etc) but thats it. We dont use them for groceries, medical bills, vacations, gas, etc.

We have used debit cards for hotels in WDW, DL, california, virginia, NC, etc and have never had problems. We have used them for plane tickets and for cars and have never had a problem with those either.

 

[charming23]

I have not used a credit card in 3 years (2 mores years and I am debt free ). We pay for everything with cash so if we do not have the cash we don't buy it. It is nice to know that when we went to Disney last year the entire trip was paid for ahead of time and we could spend money of souveniers more freely as we had a set amount aside.

I have noticed our savings grow more as the amount of cards left to pay off lessens.

 

[luvdisney00]

It's usually between $200-$500.

Personally, I see no reason to ever use a debit card to pay for a hotel. You are just asking for trouble. Use a cc, and then pay it off with your checking account linked to your debit when you get back.

CC is not a bad thing when used properly.

I agree with this. We use our CC for everything that allows us to including car insurance, utility bills, tuition etc... At the end of the month we have a list of all of out spending broken down into catagories, buyer protection and some nice reward dollars as well. If you can "discipline" yourself not to overdraft on a debit and spend money you don't have, you can do the same with a cc. In 17 years of marriage, my husband and I have never carried a balance on a cc. We only charge what we already have the money to pay for.

Last month DH bought a used car and the dealership allowed him to put $4500 on his Discover card. We had the money in the bank, but we used the card, got 45 rewards dollars from Discover and I will cash that out for a $50 GC for Longhorn, Olive Garden or TGI Fridays and we'll get a free dinner just for that one transaction. Last Disney trip, thanks to some big home improvements as well as all of the regular household expenses plus some unplanned travel expenses that DH's company told him to "put it on your card and we'll reimburse you" we took over $900 in Disney GC cashed out from cc rewards.

So although I think it's great to live debt free, it is not one of my goals to get rid of the cards.

 

[shortbun]

I have one and use it from time to time so it's an active card. The only time I charge things is when I have the money but the company allows 90 days same as cash or as in the case of my new furniture-18 months, same as cash. I make 18 equal payments and let my money work for me while I pay it off interest free.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I will charge everything I possibly can. There are two main advantages that cash can never match, reward points and conflict resolution.

I have earned enough frequent flier points from my credit card to travel to Europe and Hawaii multiple times first class. Cash certainly never earned me a trip to London. If you pay with cash, the transaction is done, and if something goes wrong you are more than likely not going to win. I've had two issues before and a simple call to the credit card company was all it took and they fought the issue on my behalf. They always win.

As I've never carried a balance in my life I don't see how credit cards are anything but good.

ITA. The incentive programs are very nice if managed correctly. We don't carry a balance.

 

[JoShan1719]

My husband and I have no credit cards right now. We may get one in the future for emergencies, but right now it works for us not to have one.

When using a debit card at a hotel how much of a "hold" do they put on the card? I know they do something for incidentals. Do I need to have a certain amount available in the account to cover a hold?

It varies depending on the hotel. I work at a resort in South FL and we take room, tax, resort fee and $100 for incidentals for everyday of your stay up front. Most hotels that I know of only take for one night. It would probably be best to call the hotel and ask them directly.

Gotta ask. For those who have never had a CC - how the heck do you get a loan to buy a car or house with no credit history?

You can build your credit with your cell phone provider, the power company, when I bought my first car I didn't have any credit and they were willing to work with me. Haven't bought a house yet, but I imagine that's a whole different story, especially now.

 

[MomtoGKC]

We went over three years without them. I kept one and just this year we used it to rent a car - they wanted to do a credit check if I used my debit card and i didn't want them doing that. I don't think I will ever use the card again except for situations like that - I've got about two months to go to get rid of all of our credit card debt and I don't ever want to be in that horrible situation again!

Oh, and I am glad that I kept one because there were at least two situations i can recall that my DH had borrowed my debit card and all that was left in my wallet was the CC. It was nice to know it was there and I was able to pay it off as soon as I got home.

 

[MsDisney23]

We have one and we keep a zero balance... everyone needs to go back to good ole days of cash and carry!

 

[wdwfan16]

At this time I would not get rid of all my cards. We have not CC debt. When a situation, like the one above, occur it is not your money but the CC companies money that is held.

 

[Swimalie]

We have no credit card debit. That said, I charge everything that I possibly can on our Disney Rewards card. The card is then paid off at the end of the month. We haven't carried a credit card balance in over 20 years. But, I love those Disney Reward Dollars.

Same here except we use the Costco American Express card and get over $300 cash back each year. It's a nice little bonus that is just fun money for us. We charge a lot and pay it off every month, never carry a balance. Everyone should have at least one credit card for emergencies like renting a car. And I don't believe in debit cards. They are not secure enough.

 

[punkin]

I have many many cards. Most of them I got when it was possible to transfer account balances from one 0% card to the next with no fees. I also have two cards that I use daily and pay off monthly. I never carry a balance and earn lots of free goodies. For example, last year I stayed in Orlando (off site) in a nice one bedroom condo completely on Amex points. I like credit cards. They are convenient and they offer protection when traveling or in case of fraud. As long as I pay them off each month and incur no finance charges, I look at them pretty much as "cash plus"!

 

[nunzia]

We used our debit card for everything at one time in our life. Until....we used it to pay for hotel ressies and trip tickets...etc and when we got to Florida no room for us It was going to take them 3-4 business days to get the money credited back and this was on a Friday, they couldn't just give us cash back so we could find other hotel reservations and we had enough for gas back home, food and such....and maybe enough to get 1 or 2 nights at another hotel but not a whole week as we'd originally planned. Add to that we were traveling with our little dogs so we had to find a hotel that was pet friendly, on a weekend, last minute and it was getting late! It was soooooo upsetting. Thankfully we bank with a chain that has branches in Florida and so we hurried to one of those branches and explained our situation and they were nice enough to rush the credit back through, my mom also lived a town or so over so she was able to call around to a lot of hotels while we dealt with the bank and found us one.

Now we always have some sort of backup that's not tied to our regular money, and keep enough cash hidden to get us back home if something were to go wrong. Oh and we did also have a savings account....but it was through ING and there are no branches, and no debit features so pretty much useless in this situation.

Just a note to OP..ING now has a checking account with a debit card, and you can instantly transfer into it from other ING accounts. Ijust got mine and there is a $50 bonus available if you sign up and use the card a minimal amount in the first 45 days.
As much as I hate CC and don't owe on them, I will always have one because of travel. I worry about the 'hold' on my debit card...

 

[Colleen27]

Gotta ask. For those who have never had a CC - how the heck do you get a loan to buy a car or house with no credit history?

There was a time not too long ago where it wasn't that hard. I bought my one and only new car at 19, when I got my first adult job, and I'd never had a credit card. The records from that car and the small student loans that DH & I both had, along with an absence of negative information, were all we needed to qualify for our mortgage in '04.

 

[kmvand1]

If you are staying at a WDW hotel, they authorize $1. Most other hotel chains it varies. Sometimes it's $50, sometimes $150.

I have never had a hold put on my debit card at Disney resorts, ever.