How much do you owe CCs?

[Disney-Kim]

And just to let you know, if you post on the DVC Board and say you have a loan on your contract, well, it can get you beat to heck over there. On that board, if you follow the trend, you will assume that very few finance their DVC when in fact the vast majority do. Again, I think people are loathe to admit debt around here because I am sorry, it can get ugly.

I don't drown in debt, and I don't just pay minimums. But yeah, I got flogged one time. And I know you weren't referring to me, but I have to say it can and does happen.

I still say the fact that over 900 people have opened a thread that has only a couple of pages of responses could very well indicate a lot of people do carry debt but have learned around here to keep that fact to themselves or just consider it too personal to post about. Which is probably smart!

I completely agree with all you said.

 

[paintnolish]

Zero, zip, zilch. XH handled our finances and secretly ran up a huge debt. We filed for bankruptcy. It was a long time ago, but I still prefer to use my debit card. I do have student loans, though.

 

[Ember]

Well, I have debt. Yep, I'll admit it. I owe about $11k on my low interest card from taking my mummy on one heck of a last vacation (and I don't regret a single cent of it!), and I have about $2500 in school debt left. Had I not taken that vacation I would be debt free (just like everyone else on the DIS) but it was the right trip and at the right time.

 

[NikitaZee]

Well, I have debt. Yep, I'll admit it. I owe about $11k on my low interest card from taking my mummy on one heck of a last vacation (and I don't regret a single cent of it!), and I have about $2500 in school debt left. Had I not taken that vacation I would be debt free (just like everyone else on the DIS) but it was the right trip and at the right time.

Good for you! A few years ago, we charged a Disney trip when my husband was out of work and we were living with my mom and dad. My sister thought it was the most irresponsible thing she'd ever heard of and let me know it. Well, we've paid it off and have our DD to show for that trip - it was the absolute best thing we could have done with that money - we needed it so much at the time and don't regret it for a moment!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I am at the point in my life (and I am young but within 3 short years my family has lost 3 people to cancer) that I just feel like I should just live for today because you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. When I was stressed about my cavity(s) and how to pay for them my mom just said there's worse things in life, and it is true.
Just be happy.

 

[SereneOne]

No credit card debt.

However, I have a new car that I should have paid off by this time next year, student loans, and a mortgage.

 

[marcyinPA]

I read through these posts, and it sort of hit me that although we don't have CC debt currently, that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. My DH was laid off a week ago, and although we have about seven months of living expenses in savings, it won't last forever if he doesn't find a full time job. We will continue to live within our means, and pray for the best.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I read through these posts, and it sort of hit me that although we don't have CC debt currently, that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. My DH was laid off a week ago, and although we have about seven months of living expenses in savings, it won't last forever if he doesn't find a full time job. We will continue to live within our means, and pray for the best.

Marcy, I feel for you.
We are now debt free but it took almost 5 years. My husband was laid off 2xs in 2 years when his field tanked. We did what so many people had to do or are doing now we lived on credit cards.

I will say a prayer for you.

 

[handinpocket]

Everyone commit this line to memory "There but for the grace of God go I". I lost my very high paying job and one of my dogs and children became ill. I had nothing to turn to except credit cards.

I am refinancing my house next week, and putting all the card debt into it. I would have had my house paid off in 5 years, but now it will be 30. It is sad, but atleast I won't be filing bankruptcy. God willing, there won't be anymore health problems or it will bankrupt us.

Before I get blasted , yes, I have great insurance, but my one child had a pre-existing condition that is not covered.

ETA: I have a very specialized job and right now the field is saturated, so I still don't have a job. Might have to start the local college next semester and build on my worthless degree.

 

[LoraJ]

I had CC debt most of my adult life. I was always able to manage it and it was just a part of my budget. But I am now finally debt free (except for the mortgage) and plan on staying that way. It really is a great feeling. We're building up our savings now.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I think a bit of revolving credit can be a good thing. We owe zero on our cars and my student loans are paid. We currently have 2 mortgages...one our "home" and one is a rental. However, I have several cards that I use for the various "benefits". I would say that our balances hover right around $2000. I pay next to nothing in finance fees. I could pay off the balance in a blink tomorrow, but I look at the finance fee on that balance to be the fee I pay to have a credit score of 800.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

Z e r o, nada, nuttin'

I owe a LOT every month. I put EVERYTHING on CCs. Then i pay it down to the statement balance EVERY MONTH, on time, and cash in the rewards. I'm making about $500 a year on credit card rewards last i checked.

 

[disykat]

Well, I wasn't planning on putting another 0 out there (I didn't see the need,) but now I have to or people will assume I'm another lurker with credit card debt I don't want to admit.

I use credit cards but pay them off monthly. I would only consider paying interest if it was an emergency.

We're fortunate that we haven't had emergencies that forced us to live off credit, but we also live that way specifically because of choices we've made. And yes, part of those choices is doing Disney less often.

 

[FireDancer]

Having worked in both collections in the past and the finance sector now I can say that $8K isn't all that uncommon. If I were you I would put as much of the refund into the CC debt as I can. If that means putting less down on a car that is fine. Unless you are financing the car through the mafia I can't imagine any car loan would have the same high interest as any credit card, unless the CC has a special rate and even then those rates are temporary and not going to be the length of a 3 or 5 year car loan.

As for me,I have no CC debt that is accruing interest. I have a car with a balance that is 0% through May and while I have the money to pay it off I am not about to pass up the free loan. It will be paid off before the no interest period expires.

I do have a card I use for everything I can because it gives me a cash refund of between 1% and 3%. I also have a Discover card that has a category that gives a 5% refund and the category changes quarterly. When I am purchasing something in that category I use the card. I pay both off when the bill comes so the refund is real cash as opposed to an offset of interest. It may not sound like much but 1% back on my cell phone, DirecTv, car insurance, DSL, and any other bill that doesn't charge to pay via CC really adds up.

Growing up my mom drilled into our heads how important good credit was, and I do mean drilled. Thanks to her I never made the somewhat common college age mistake of racking up credit card debt. At the moment the only debt I have that I am paying interest on is my car loan and mortgage. I worked my way through college and paid as I went so I managed to dodge that debt bullet.

 

[eliza61]

Our balances go up and down. Last year we were at zero, this year we're using our cc's. Right now our first is in college so we put tuition, books and incidentals on the cards. For our dvc we did finance 1/2 the amount but not through disney. didn't bother us one bit since we could afford it.
We're not big "credit is evil" supporters so we don't make having a zero balance our goal in life.

 

[charming23]

I do have some credit card debt, nothing to extravagent but there none the less. Most of it came when my dad was ill and making incredibly foolish choices (we ate out about 5 days a week after visits with him and did a lot of emotional spending). I finally had enough and owned up to it 2 years ago and have not used a credit card since. I also have paid my cc debt down by more than half and plan to have the rest paid off in the next year.

Yes I took a trip to disney but we used money that my father had left us through a small life insurance policy (he had 3 total) to pay for it. He had always dreamed of taking my mom and I there and we did it in his memory. I have no regrets.

 

[carmiedog]

me!me!me! I have a boatload of CC debt.

Although we're frugal, we do have 3 kids, I only work part-time as a choice to be with them more while they're small, and my husband was laid off last year and in the last 3 years has had significant time off work for injury-related surgeries. And yes, we STILL went to Disney last year!

But our mortgage is under $30K, our one auto loan will be paid off within a year, next year my youngest starts KDG so no more preschool and babysitting costs, and I'll go to work full-time in the fall, AND the kids have a HUGE jump on college costs and our retirement is set. We do have a plan and will be able to pay off our CC in the next 18-24 months.

Kids grow up, credit cards can be paid off. It's more important for me to do things with my kids NOW than wait until we can pay cash. If it was just me and dh, ALL our extra money would go towards the CC (although we probably wouldn't have accumulated it in the first place without kids!). I do think it's important to have some sort of plan/outlook - there's big difference between that and continuing to accumulate debt while having no foreseeable way of ever paying it down. Emergencies happen, but you still need to have a handle on it.

I agree with other posters - use your refund for dental and towards the credit card.

 

[Tantor]

$0.00.

We pay our cards in full EVERY MONTH.

We can't afford a 19% interest rate.

same here....we only spend what we can afford to pay each month

 

[Tinker74]

This is the DIS. No one has CC debt!

LOL...EXACTLY what I was thinking!

 

[lovemygoofy]

OP, you are obviously trying to be smart about your decisions if you are asking about the options with your refund and applying to your debt or savings or whatever.

You mentioned being young and having life issues. I'm not saying you can't enjoy life but you can be smart about it. Educate yourself about your credit card. Do you know how much your interest rate is? How much are you paying per month on interest rate charges alone? Look, really look, at your bill and see how much you are paying down your debt. Unless you are paying a big chunk every month on your bill, you may be barely making a dent. If you pay the majority of your refund to your credit card, it will decrease the interest charged every month, which will help you pay down quicker.

I'm not trying to lecture you. I talk to younger and sometimes not younger people about their finiancial issues and making their money work for them and tell them the same thing.

As for the car, is this a second car for your family? Have you thought about the extra money every month besides car payment to include gas, insurance and routine maintenance. Depending on the car payment this could easily be another $300-400 a month. If you do have that extra, I would take another 3-4 months and add that right now to your credit card bill.

I don't think credit card debt is a bad thing. People do need to be smart about paying it off though. Sometimes it feels like you are peeing into the wind because you are throwing all this extra money and not getting anywhere. In the end the $8000 you owe now can easily turn into $20,000 you paid when all is said and done. That $20,000 could have taken several vacations or heck paid for that car. Be smart and educate yourself.