Should I pay off my credit card before vacation?

[Disneyluv111]

I have a credit card with a big balance. The interest free promotion ends June 2016. My vacation is coming up and I'm wondering if I should just pay it off and start our vacation and the new year with no debt or if I should just wait to pay it May?

Any suggestions would be great.


As of today, I have paid off the entire balance thanks to the encouragement in this group. No one judge me, just encouraged me to pay it off so I don't have to worry about it later. Thank you!

 

[wilkeliza]

Just a heads up you are probably going to get flamed for this.

Now, I would say if you can pay them off pay them off. The vacation shouldn't really matter. Waiting until May just means you could forget and then are stuck with a ton of interest.

 

[Disneyluv111]

How come I will get flamed for this? For carrying a big balance? Sorry, I'm still a little new to this group. That's okay, I'm willing to hear suggestions.

In my heart I want to pay it off because the balance is staring at me in my budget! We are able to pay it off. I just didn't want to go on vacation with a huge burden. Thank you so much!

 

[wilkeliza]

How come I will get flamed for this? For carrying a big balance? Sorry, I'm still a little new to this group. That's okay, I'm willing to hear suggestions.

In my heart I want to pay it off because the balance is staring at me in my budget! We are able to pay it off. I just didn't want to go on vacation with a huge burden. Thank you so much!

Some people on the budget board believe fiercely that you should never carry a balance let alone a big one on a credit card.

 

[kamik86]

We messed up for a little bit and have a bit of a balance on one card. We recently also had our garage door break and because it was old and faulty chose to get a whole new door and door system structure. Both are no interest until mid next year.

Personally I'm going on vacation. It was a cheaper vacation we got a good deal for the debt is being paid off quickly and will be paid off before we have interest payments. We stopped the budgeting problem that got us in this mess to begin with... that was the bigger issue.

So if you will be able to pay off the balance before the interest is due I say go and enjoy yourself.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

I look at it this way: will you be clearing your credit card balance only to end up charging your vacation on it? If yes, will you be able to pay off the new balance by June 2016?

If you have enough to pay off the card AND not have to charge your vacation, I say go ahead and pay it off. If you are just freeing up room on the card only to use it again, I personally would keep the cash on hand for vacation and apply whatever you don't spend to the remaining balance and focus on paying off the old debt when you return.

 

[Disneyluv111]

You all encouraged me to pay it off and so I did. I just pressed the submit button! Such a relief.
We will not be charging it when going on vacation. We have cash in checking and savings. At least that's done and over with. I just needed a little push.

 

[Clawdya]

As long as you know you will not spend the money that you have to pay off your credit card, then I would just wait until the month before it is due or the latest you can get away without paying without owing any interest. Never pay interest. I like hanging on to my money as much as possible and I will hold on to it until as long as I don't have to pay the credit card company a cent (well other than what they already get from the purchase transaction).

Edit: Lol, never mind...I just saw your update.

 

[LJSquishy]

Glad you paid it off. It's the smart thing to do to avoid paying unnecessary interest.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Not only is it good so as to not pay interest but it affects your credit score as well if you have a balance. Your utilization goes up which is HUGE for your credit score.

 

[disneychrista]

No flames from me...but if you have the money I would pay it off. Personally, I see no benefit, unless it is in a HIGH interest account, to waiting.

 

[supersnoop]

There are lots of folks who carry balances on 0% offers for the sole purpose of earning interest on the money. I see no problem with carrying a balance at 0% as long as you have a plan to pay it off before interest accrues.

 

[hsmamato2]

In my heart I want to pay it off because the balance is staring at me in my budget! We are able to pay it off. I just didn't want to go on vacation with a huge burden. Thank you so much!

If you are able to pay it off I vote for pay it off now. I dislike having debt staring me in the face, and I like things neat and tidy. Yes, that's why I like it here at the budget board,not a fan of carrying debt anyway.

 

[Albort]

pay it off, last time my dad did this, the credit card company froze his credit card due to non-payment.

 

[tvguy]

Pay it off.
I always like to have the largest possible amount of available credit when I am away on vacation in case of an emergency. Even with travel insurance, you will have to pay for everything up front, and file a claim later.

 

[Disneyluv111]

Pay it off.
I always like to have the largest possible amount of available credit when I am away on vacation in case of an emergency. Even with travel insurance, you will have to pay for everything up front, and file a claim later.

Great idea! I will be bringing three cards with me and they all have a large available balance. It's nice to have that so you don't have to dip into your checking and savings.
My friend went on vacation, only to find out her debit card was compromised!

 

[crisi]

I'm glad you paid it off.

The reason so many of us don't like credit card debt is that interest can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Credit card interest tends to be high - and if you have the discipline to leverage a 0% card, that is awesome and will work to your benefit.....many people don't have that discipline, or like to believe that they will and then find themselves in a hole. As an enemy, interest is an expense every month that sometimes you picked up from necessity, but you shouldn't let it hang around any longer than you need to.

As your best friend, interest (or dividends in the stock market), can add to your income. So if, instead of paying interest, you managed to take that same amount of money and put it in AT&T stock that generally pays about 5% in dividends, you'd do a lot better over the long term for very little effort. People on this board will go to a lot of effort to coupon, Swagbucks, and stack discounts into a little extra money - once you switch from paying interest to investing for dividends, its easy extra money (not a lot at first, but over time it can be quite a bit.)

(Leverage is a different conversation, but it will come up in a conversation like this. Leverage is when you get a low interest rate and then use that money to make more money than you are paying on the interest. A 0% card is leverage - if you have the money to pay it off sitting there being useful. I have my house leveraged - a low interest rate, plus a tax deduction - and that money in the stock market - there is risk, I don't have much of my house leveraged and I can pay it off several times over. You have to understand the risk and your risk tolerance.)

Understanding that, and understanding that young enough to make compound investment gain REALLY work can mean financial security. And a lot of us on the budget board want everyone to have that feeling of financial security. Sometimes people have been a little mean about it. (Sometimes people have been a lot mean about it, but on the other hand, some people have been offenders of amazing self inflicted financial trainwrecks over the years).