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Cash, credit or debit...what's your favorite


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I've gone full force with credit cards. In fact, I've taken to scouting out and memorizing every place around me that takes credit cards at lowest value possible. I've gone through phases now...I've found that just using cash actually makes me spend the least amount of money, debit the second least, with Credit cards swaying my ability to use them a tad more than average as I've recorded...BUT...I've changed some of my online banking behaviour as well in the last few months, and I'm finaly making some success. As long as I'm able to keep paying balance off completely every month end, I come ahead in the race.

 

You guys?

 

:)

 

gogo

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Cash or Debit, then I know exactly how much I can spend... I don't even own a credit card.

I prefer to use online banking for big transactions, like paying my rent.

 

Delta!

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Card on sales travels, else cash:

 

Baker, butcher, breakfeastvselling farmers wife at work, pub, ... All accepting only cash here on countryside. I even pay cash on supermarkets, selling with paper money, so I have some smaller money for the kids when they ask. Only oldest has a card, mainly to pay fuel.

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Cash is King!

 

 

You spend a lot less when you use only cash. Why? Because a Cash transaction is not only a money transaction, it's an emotional one too. It hurts to see that money leave your hands. So you are less likely to add that pack of gum at the check out, or grab the extra bag of chips that weren't on your shopping list. I started following Dave Ramsey last year, who is a radio talk show host here in the states, he teaches money management the old fashioned way.

 

 

1. Start every month with a written budget.

2. Spend less than what you make. And only what is on the budget.

3. Never buy anything you don't have cash for.

4. Get out of Debt and stay that way.

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Credit, only very large purchases. Home & Auto.

 

Debit, not since the college years. 1996 to be exact.

 

We use cash for everything. Every purchase, everytime. We even go as far as purchasing a money order with cash to make our mortgage & vehicle payments, along with various run of the mill monthly bills. ie: power, garbage, water, etc.

 

While on the subject, somewhat, I would like to take this conversation a step further. A form of currency as there are many. A bit off subject, but still very relevant.

 

Correct, Cash is King so long as the faith in that currency exists. I read a great book years ago titled, Money & Wealth in the New Millennium

 

In the book there is a very famous quote I would like to share...

 

"Gold is the money of Kings;

Silver is the money of Gentlemen;

Barter is the money of Peasants;

but, debt is the money of Slaves."

-Norm Franz

 

I find this quote to be profound on many levels. If anything, the quote provides food for thought.

 

I remain, :bye:

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I have started paying for things using cash or more accurately in dollar bills. So I always get change, I have been saving said change for about 4 months now and have save about $230.00 (going to use this to help pay for a trip to Florida and Disney for the fam.) Did this for two years prior to this and it helped me save enough money to buy a "new" car to replace my pick-up truck.

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Over the last several years I've gradually gone to almost all on-line/credit cards. A lot of it has to do with the job I have and the traveling. I could be gone a week and have bills due in that time. So now every bill possible is set up to be paid automatically on-line and my paycheck is automatically deposited into my account.

 

Sometimes it was hard just cashing the check...I could go a week without cashing it due to the hours I work so this is the best solution. I find I don't really spend more using credit cards but that was a hard lesson to learn. When I had the surgeries on my back, my credit cards got maxed out pretty quickly and I had a very hard time just making minimum payments let alone reducing the balance. I eventually got a consolidation loan through my bank and to get that I had to payoff and close just about all my credit cards. Now that I've got them all paid off I only buy something with the credit card if I know I can pay it off within 3 months. I try to keep my checking balance high just in case of emergencies so I know any credit card purchases won't ruin my finances.

 

Again it was all thru lessons learned the hard way. Like having only one credit card and no store cards. I hate when I go into a store and they try to entice you with a great APR or savings deal. Miss a payment and the 'interest hammer' will hit you hard. I had one where I was late by 3 days....had the card for 4-5 years and never was late before. Next thing I know my interest rate was at 33%. That started the end of any store cards.

 

I used to pay for everything with cash or check, but work and lifestyle changes forced me go credit/on-line payments...it just took awhile to be fiscally responsible doing that.

 

I would suggest anyone on a tight budget looking to get their first credit card get one with a low limit. Something like $500. Even if you max it out the monthly payments shouldn't be too severe and you can see what happens without financially ruining you.

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About nine years ago, circumstances beyond my control dictated that I start using automatic payments for bills. These days, the only bill I manually pay is my one credit card, and I pay that one online.

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Over the last several years I've gradually gone to almost all on-line/credit cards.

 

Sometimes it was hard just cashing the check...I could go a week without cashing it

I'm with Knuckles on both of these items.

 

I quit worrying about payment deadlines by going as automatic as I possibly could. I now take 6 to 12 months to use a book of 20 checks.

 

And I pay a huge majority of things by credit card, but, and this is the big thing, I treat it mostly like a debit card, meaning I pay it off in full on the due date (via an autopayment feature at my card company, of course).

 

Two reasons I like activity on my credit card account:

1) Points!! On my hotel reward credit card, over the past few years, I have earned over two weeks in free stays. On my other point card, which is strictly my backup card and gets very little activity, I get a choice of prizes and very soon I will be choosing a new digital camera. I will admit I haven't closely compared my 2nd points card against a "cash rewards" card to see which would be better for me.

2) A history of responsible useage is good for your credit rating. Last time I checked, my credit score was 806 (out of a possible 850). According to various articles about credit scores, one key is not going over 50% of your credit line too often; I'll typically be around 10-20%.

 

Note: I am perhaps more disciplined about money than most... I have a spreadsheet that is 1/2 checkbook register and 1/2 budget. I can tell you what I expect my bank balance to be on any day of the year, now thru New Years Eve.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Guys, everyone thanks for responding and writing so much, it was a great read for me! I have found myself so lately interested in just being steady with spending, being a responsible spender, looking for frugal moments, as my mom says :P I think I'm with Knuckles and Masteff with using Credit Cards. I used to use only debit, but was finding the charges to be outrageous! :viking: Years back when I got my first hsbc card, I remember just using it everywhere, and seeing charge after charge running down the page...there must have been about 30 bux PER month during that time till it finally "clicked" for me to change behaviour. I finally opted out for a 4.00 a month account from HSBC which I think let me have 8 transactions a month or something, while the unlimited online finally went to charge per use a few years in, which infuriated me.

 

I began to look

 

At that time, PC financial and ING were showing their noses around here in Eastern Canada...I looked at PC, but was not allowed to get a free checking account with them because of french regulations here...but, luckily...ING had just begun setting up, and the magic begun...

 

Free checking...really...all free! Unlimted number of transactions, NO MIN BALANCE ( I love that part) ...plus...just for me signing up, they gave me a hundred bucks. yeah I liked them. From there, another 50 bux paid to me for referring two friends...all this with no more pay outs for monthly fees, PLUS I could use my card anywhere I wanted to ....free...the only thing to pay for was if I used another machine other than the ones in the ING network...but I could work with that.

 

I had gotten satisfaction, and still do. I'd forgotten about interest. I was beginning to fall for the BS that interest is only for accounts with thousands of dollars in it.

 

Well, it's not

 

I actually only have money in my checking account now just for a single emergency withdrawal of 40.00 ever, and the rest is always in my regular savings account...which at this point is paying 1.5

 

Ayup

 

I started feeling not as angry any more, and this was beginning to inspire me to look closer at my real habits. Loco, I know exactly what you mean about buying being an emotional investment. I absolutely agree. For a while, when I was trying to keep expenses low, I would only take out x amount of money that I would calculate for the week, put it in a pile on top of my desk and then pull out bills from it as the week went by.

 

I've never spent so little in my life. It's a frightening to see that pile get smaller and have to feel like you've got to make it last till the next pay check. This is a very different experience from using debit or Credit Card. When you use plastic it's more difficult for to feel that connection to the amount of time that we had to spend in our limited lives to attain it. The new way to "buy" becomes an abstract thing of art almost. The flourish of a signature, the clickeity click of pressing a code..oooh, delight^^

 

That visceral impact of taking something away from us and giving it to someone else...the intuitive part that had used to make us keep money, a treasured and hard-worked for resource, transformed now into a glib experience, for then...to become stress, frustration, and potentially crippling debt years later.

 

My experience with the using cash on hand got me think that as long as I could feel "connected" to the purchasing experience. For a while, that was it for me, cash, and debit, and things felt "normal"...until I kept seeing those cash back credit card offers and points, and once again a paradigm shift came upon me...if I were the kind of person who was always able to pay my entire credit card bill at the end of every month...is there any value at all to this>

 

:devil:

 

gogo

 

 

 

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My experience with the using cash on hand got me think that as long as I could feel "connected" to the purchasing experience. For a while, that was it for me, cash, and debit, and things felt "normal"...until I kept seeing those cash back credit card offers and points, and once again a paradigm shift came upon me...if I were the kind of person who was always able to pay my entire credit card bill at the end of every month...is there any value at all to this>

 

:devil:

 

gogo

 

 

On average 80% of consumers who sign up for "Cash Back", "Points" or "Airline Miles" cards never cash in. And the Big banks know this, and count on it. After all, the banks have the nicest and most lavish building downtown because most consumers don't pay the balance off every month, or use credit "smartly". The fact is that most people borrow on credit rather than from savings in an "emergency". And credit gets so easy that "Emergencies" become... a new shirt for work, or a music download, or a McD's Big Mac. Again, the banks know this as well and they count on it.

 

My wife and I have been intense about money since I lost my job in Jan '09 ( thankfully back to work in March '10) . We were so intense and intentional about our money we were able to dump the debt that practically paralyzed us financially and emotionally. After 3 years and more sacrifice than my family deserves we are debt free and have 3 months of expenses in an "Emergency" fund. And at this point, an emergency would have to be something like a trip to the hospital to get me to pull out that account and spend any of it.

 

 

 

 

 

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I will admit that my Hilton hotel points credit card is a double edged sword. We've managed roughly two weeks worth of free stays BUT we're very tied to that specific hotel chain. And it only works because my friend is a flight attendant and we really like to travel.

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No real point system, but my card has several 'insurance' build in

 

Free transport home in case of an illness in a foreign country

First class in hospital in foreign countries if no transport possible

Lawyers in foreign countries

...

 

Never needed anything from this - toi toi toi -but a good feeling to have this backup.

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Over the last several years I've gradually gone to almost all on-line/credit cards.

 

Sometimes it was hard just cashing the check...I could go a week without cashing it

I'm with Knuckles on both of these items.

 

I quit worrying about payment deadlines by going as automatic as I possibly could. I now take 6 to 12 months to use a book of 20 checks.

 

And I pay a huge majority of things by credit card, but, and this is the big thing, I treat it mostly like a debit card, meaning I pay it off in full on the due date (via an autopayment feature at my card company, of course).

 

Two reasons I like activity on my credit card account:

1) Points! On my hotel reward credit card, over the past few years, I have earned over two weeks in free stays. On my other point card, which is strictly my backup card and gets very little activity, I get a choice of prizes and very soon I will be choosing a new digital camera. I will admit I haven't closely compared my 2nd points card against a "cash rewards" card to see which would be better for me.

2) A history of responsible useage is good for your credit rating. Last time I checked, my credit score was 806 (out of a possible 850). According to various articles about credit scores, one key is not going over 50% of your credit line too often; I'll typically be around 10-20%.

 

Note: I am perhaps more disciplined about money than most... I have a spreadsheet that is 1/2 checkbook register and 1/2 budget. I can tell you what I expect my bank balance to be on any day of the year, now thru New Years Eve.

 

 

I'm trying to get there as well. I don't travel a lot anymore, ore vacation that much. Mostly at home on the net, hanging with family, and so the best for me is cash back. Adore, and love the flexibility it gives me, plus it keeps me on my toes to always look for places that accept it.

 

 

No real point system, but my card has several 'insurance' build in

 

Free transport home in case of an illness in a foreign country

First class in hospital in foreign countries if no transport possible

Lawyers in foreign countries

...

 

Never needed anything from this - toi toi toi -but a good feeling to have this backup.

 

This is actually another big reason why I like to us Credit Cards (CC) on everything I purchase, to get the insurance and extended warranty.

 

 

My experience with the using cash on hand got me think that as long as I could feel "connected" to the purchasing experience. For a while, that was it for me, cash, and debit, and things felt "normal"...until I kept seeing those cash back credit card offers and points, and once again a paradigm shift came upon me...if I were the kind of person who was always able to pay my entire credit card bill at the end of every month...is there any value at all to this>

 

:devil:

 

gogo

 

 

On average 80% of consumers who sign up for "Cash Back", "Points" or "Airline Miles" cards never cash in. And the Big banks know this, and count on it. After all, the banks have the nicest and most lavish building downtown because most consumers don't pay the balance off every month, or use credit "smartly". The fact is that most people borrow on credit rather than from savings in an "emergency". And credit gets so easy that "Emergencies" become... a new shirt for work, or a music download, or a McD's Big Mac. Again, the banks know this as well and they count on it.

 

My wife and I have been intense about money since I lost my job in Jan '09 ( thankfully back to work in March '10) . We were so intense and intentional about our money we were able to dump the debt that practically paralyzed us financially and emotionally. After 3 years and more sacrifice than my family deserves we are debt free and have 3 months of expenses in an "Emergency" fund. And at this point, an emergency would have to be something like a trip to the hospital to get me to pull out that account and spend any of it.

 

 

Loco, first, a very sincere congratulations on your victory! I can imagine the kind of elation you feel, it's something you want to last forever and protect at all costs! nice work!

 

I was in a place once, saddled, my heart crippled, I had gone through two years of traveling, and purchases and had come home to collectors calling me almost every day with rude tones and insistant clipped voices asking over and over again for money. Getting free of debt is a complex pinnacle. It can mean having nothing let to pay anymore, or, as I am slowly discovering these days...finally not getting so nervous about having to pay a bill that takes months and becoming comfortable with it. I don't own a car, house, mortage, no kids, so my expenses are different and so many of the stresses that my friends with families have I don't experience. Doesn't mean I can't get into trouble, heh, I did...and took the banks 7 years to forget about my credit amount waives...but eventually they did. I finally got a new credit card, probation for oneyear, secured by my mom using a one year gic for 1500 (CD in america?) and at the end of that I felt reborn...

 

1- a gic with 1500 in it

2- a credit card with 500 credit

3- fledgling, nascient, clean credit rating`

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY... a new me...a "learned " me that was paranoid of ever making a single late payment in my life again. Funny cuz I hang out a lot with my aunt and we do a lot of talking about bills, and straegies on payments, etc. Same thing happened to her, her husband and family when they first came here Canada... loads of credit cards, crippling debt, horrible times, the "light' in their lives, the "learning" and then the fair road.

 

So after this...what's the fair road? We say no to credit forever? Is it something that absolutely can't be used well, or... once we get "learned", is there a new found respect for the power of credit, to "see" it and leverage it to bring about greater but sustainable impacts to our lives that our families can appreciate, and that we are comfortable with?

 

:)

 

gogo

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There are plenty of people out there that use credit "responsibly". The question is... do you need credit to meet your financial goals? Does credit make you more successful financially? Does credit make you more secure financially?

 

Almost every single person will experience a major life changing event every 10 years on average. An accident at work, a bad test result from a doctor, even a death in the family or the loss of a job, maybe a baby is born, or your house burns down... all of these are possible, but most of us live our lives thinking these horrible things happen only to someone else. Grandma used to save for a rainy day because she had the wisdom to believe it would actually rain someday. The fact is, it will rain. And these life changing events can be really scary, even disabling. Being extended on credit when one of these things happen can cause a ripple effect that leaves you always trying to catch up. Being debt free with 3-6 months of living expenses under your bed can make the difference between dealing with one major life event, or dealing with a series of emergencies all at once or one after another.

 

I don't (and won't) judge anyone's opinion or practices with money, I just know that I feel free for the first time in my life. Free from the banks and creditors, even free from my employer. I work to support my family now, not to make payments to my masters.

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