Going to the world with no CC.

[donalduck]

I wouldn't say I am in love with it, just that I am intelligent enough to see the pros and cons of using the instrument and acting rationally with said information in mind. To dismiss something out of hand as evil because there is a correlation between reckless spending and credit cards is logically fallacious.



The title of the articles is the only way in which the articles suggest cards are inherently evil. The substance of the articles discuss how individuals may use a credit card poorly to amass debt and how marketing and psychology may influence an individual's spending habits with a credit card.

All of that requires human interaction. Correlation does not equal causation. Just because the amount of debt increases for Americans as the number of credit cards increase does not mean that the credit cards caused the debt. Just as ice cream sales and suicides both increase in the summer, yet ice cream does not cause suicide.

You don't know for sure if ice cream can cause someone to commit suicide do you?
Keep on playing with snakes one day they will bite you.

 

[bettymae1121]

I no longer carry a balance. I have changed my financial thinking. They can raise the rates all they want. It costs me nothing and I get free hotel rooms and air miles. My debit card does not give me that.

Yes, I just enjoyed a lovely free first class upgrade on my trip to Disneyland, curtosy of Chase. We earned the miles buying things we buy anyway, like gas, groceries, and our never-ending home improvement projects. We earned more miles by putting the trip itself on the card. Money is sitting in checking right now, just waiting for the statement to close so I can pay it off in full.

As for traveling to Disney using nothing but cash...at the very least I would recomend using traveler checks. You can cash them at any Disney hotel front desk and at Guest Relations at the four parks, so you can easily just cash them as needed. As far as I know, AAA still offeres fee-free traveler's checks as part of your membership, so if you're a member I highly recomend that route. It's the cheapest and safest way to travel if you don't want to use CC's for whatever reason. Just be sure to not keep all checks on you, split them up between the adults traveling and the room safe. Also don't keep the receipts along with the checks, if they do get lost/stolen then you need the receipts to get the replacement checks.

 

[ICF]

All this time I thought I was talking to a brick wall.

no silly that only happens when you looking into a mirror and start talking!!

So, were you abused by a CC as a kid? Did one break your heart in highschool?

Why so much animosity torwards them??? Have you discussed this with a therapist? I dont think all this anger is healthy.

 

[mhsjax]

Late to the party that's been going on for the last 3 pages of the thread or so, but what I really find funny is that when people poke holes in donaldduck's assertions (if they can be called that), rather than refuting anything substantive, he attacks the form, arguing that it's his opinion, and he's not presenting it as fact, etc..

The only evil inanimate object of which I've ever heard is Talky Tina.

To argue that credit cards are evil is contrary to logic. As others have said, there are plenty of beneficial uses for the cards (I have made a chargeback this year and a warranty claim last that I could not have made with cash or a debit card, and currently I have $246 in rewards sitting in one account while I have never paid a cent of interest or any other charges on any cards; nor do I ever buy impulsively) just as there are poor uses for the cards. That both can exist simultaneously necessarily means that the card cannot be either "evil" or "good". Again, this should be patently obvious to most individuals, as objects cannot possess any trait of morality.

True objects cannot, but the people that run the credit card companies can. I don't care to use them, I have friends that do for the rewards, I just don't trust credit card companies, I worked for one, A big one. This is why Universities are starting to not allow CC companies on campus. They love to come in and hook students that , in the cc companies hope, don't have real knowledge of how to budget and they end up charging a huge amount and Bam the cc company gets tons if interest, I have seen it where I work and the parents are usually furious. True , in the end it is a personal responsibility, but these companies know that the students will spend irresponsibly, that is why they were bombarding campuses.

 

[pintamino]

You don't know for sure if ice cream can cause someone to commit suicide do you?

Oh my goodness. You obviously missed the point.

Correlation does not equal causation means you do not know that one causes OR does not cause the other. It means that just because two variables are changing at a related rate, they are not necessarily related.

Example: people who read Cosmo tend to be more afraid of walking alone at night. There is more than one variable at work here BESIDES just reading the magazine (generally accepted as "readership is mainly female")

You do not know that ice cream could cause somebody to commit suicide. Conversely, you don't know that it wouldn't.

Similarly, while in general people with credit cards may have more debt, you do not know that the cards themselves cause the debt. You don't know that they don't. There are more than two variables in play.

 

[pintamino]

I am not the only person that thinks cc are evil. http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/credit-cards-evil-by-nature-11867.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Credit-Cards-Are-Evil&id=198462

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

 

[Aristomommy]

I made the mistake of using a debit card for rental car and hotel and had about $800 tied up as reserve btw. the two reservations. Once you check out and return the vehicle, it takes 2-4 days to get your money back. With a CC they just reserve a bit of your credit line, they don't tie up your hard earned money. DH travels with our Disney Visa with his work and we get hotel rewards, disney rewards and no money is taken out of our account.

 

[jgates]

1. Without reading every page & all the bickering here first to see if someone posted it, you cannot get debit cards on savings because savings accounts have transactional limitations. You cannot do 'transactions' at merchants. You CAN get a standard ATM card & make withdrawals from ATM machines for cash. I did spot where someone has all their bills taken out automatically from savings- be careful. Regs limit savings to 6 pre-authorized transactions per month & if you exceed that your account can be closed.

2. AAA does NOT sell TC's any longer as of I believe last October. You can purchase a 'Travel Card', however, upfront fees, reload fees & inactivity fees after 6 months can eat away at your balance. (There are some new regs with those fees etc, going into place but I hadn't seen any changes on Travel Cards the last time I checked). And really big fees if you want to use that at an ATM. You MAY be able to still find a bank that carries them but the only one left in our town charges $2.50 per hundred.

 

[sabrinadv1]

I second the green dot card at WM. I could have written the OP first post. We to got into trouble in the beginning with credit cards and checking accounts (we were 18 and 20). We chose to close all of them and live off of cash also. We have a savings account and two of the green dot cards. We have never had a problem using them anywhere that accepts Visa debit cards. They are cheap and the fees are low. We pay our bills either with cash in person or with the card.

We are going at the end of May and have paid for our entire vacation with the green dot card. We will split up the majority of the money we will be taking between the two cards. We will also carry some cash. As far as medical emergencies we have excellent insurance. We will be carrying extra money with us that is for emergencies only. We will probably put it on one of the cards.

Living without checking accounts or cc can be done and done easily. We save more and, make less impulse buys. It's much easier to pull out plastic than to pull out cash to pay for something. If I am willing to make a special trip to the bank to get money out to purchase something I have had plenty of time to think about it and, make sure I am making the right decision. With this approach also me and my husband discuss finances more with each other.

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

I second the green dot card at WM.

This is great advice for the OP. Regardless of the emotions that this CC subject always stirs, those prepaid visa/green dot cards are a great alternative for those who choose to live CC free.

no silly that only happens when you looking into a mirror and start talking!!

So, were you abused by a CC as a kid? Did one break your heart in highschool?

Why so much animosity torwards them??? Have you discussed this with a therapist? I dont think all this anger is healthy.

 

[donalduck]

True objects cannot, but the people that run the credit card companies can. I don't care to use them, I have friends that do for the rewards, I just don't trust credit card companies, I worked for one, A big one. This is why Universities are starting to not allow CC companies on campus. They love to come in and hook students that , in the cc companies hope, don't have real knowledge of how to budget and they end up charging a huge amount and Bam the cc company gets tons if interest, I have seen it where I work and the parents are usually furious. True , in the end it is a personal responsibility, but these companies know that the students will spend irresponsibly, that is why they were bombarding campuses.

Thank you mhsjax

 

[donalduck]

no silly that only happens when you looking into a mirror and start talking!!

So, were you abused by a CC as a kid? Did one break your heart in highschool?

Why so much animosity torwards them??? Have you discussed this with a therapist? I dont think all this anger is healthy.

LOL I almost was on the floor laughing HAHAHAHA Yes ICF I was abused by cc when I was little. That's why I think they are so EVIL.

 

[donalduck]

Oh my goodness. You obviously missed the point.

Correlation does not equal causation means you do not know that one causes OR does not cause the other. It means that just because two variables are changing at a related rate, they are not necessarily related.

Example: people who read Cosmo tend to be more afraid of walking alone at night. There is more than one variable at work here BESIDES just reading the magazine (generally accepted as "readership is mainly female")

You do not know that ice cream could cause somebody to commit suicide. Conversely, you don't know that it wouldn't.

Similarly, while in general people with credit cards may have more debt, you do not know that the cards themselves cause the debt. You don't know that they don't. There are more than two variables in play.

NO ice cream can cause death

 

[donalduck]

Cash is king

 

[donalduck]

Thank you

i second the green dot card at wm. I could have written the op first post. We to got into trouble in the beginning with credit cards and checking accounts (we were 18 and 20). We chose to close all of them and live off of cash also. We have a savings account and two of the green dot cards. We have never had a problem using them anywhere that accepts visa debit cards. They are cheap and the fees are low. We pay our bills either with cash in person or with the card.

We are going at the end of may and have paid for our entire vacation with the green dot card. We will split up the majority of the money we will be taking between the two cards. We will also carry some cash. As far as medical emergencies we have excellent insurance. We will be carrying extra money with us that is for emergencies only. We will probably put it on one of the cards.

Living without checking accounts or cc can be done and done easily. We save more and, make less impulse buys. It's much easier to pull out plastic than to pull out cash to pay for something. If i am willing to make a special trip to the bank to get money out to purchase something i have had plenty of time to think about it and, make sure i am making the right decision. With this approach also me and my husband discuss finances more with each other.

 

[LoraJ]

Cash is king

It sure was to the couple I just saw on the show 'Til Debt Do Us Part. They were in bankruptcy yet continued to withdraw $2600 from their accounts each month and then did not track it in their budget.

It is not a smart idea to carry cash around in my neighborhood.

It's good that you are able to only use cash. it is just not a reality for everyone. I love my debit card, and I love that it makes it much easier to track my spending in YNAB. If I just used cash, I would never be able to keep track of everything.

 

[donalduck]

It sure was to the couple I just saw on the show 'Til Debt Do Us Part. They were in bankruptcy yet continued to withdraw $2600 from their accounts each month and then did not track it in their budget.

It is not a smart idea to carry cash around in my neighborhood.

It's good that you are able to only use cash. it is just not a reality for everyone. I love my debit card, and I love that it makes it much easier to track my spending in YNAB. If I just used cash, I would never be able to keep track of everything.

O ya I use my debit card also. That is like using cash also.