Are you in credit card debt?

[Amber St. Clare]

We're not. When our son was very small we got into trouble with cards, but we have spent the better part of 16-20 years trying to stay away from credit cards. I do use them, but pay off wheverer balance there is at the end of the month. My husband will use them only in an emergency {like when his car eeded a new transmission}. When our bathroom unexpectedly fell apart we hard to take a HELOC to get it renovated, but paid it off when husband's bonus came in. Altho there is a LOT of jewelry I would like, if I can't pay for it at the time I see it, I don't get it. I have a friend who is so far in debt she doesn't think she will ever be out from under.

Care to share?....

 

[sctsbride09]

No. We use it to get points, and pay it off every month. I only use our CC at places that give me double points, then when my points get to X amount in cash, I cash out and add it to our vacation account.

I also know multiple people in debt, and I grew up poor, so I think between the 2 Im petrified of ever being "broke" in my adult life. Because of that, Im extremely aware of budgeting, and that goes with CCs too. Even though DH and I are fine financially speaking, I will always be aware of things like that.

 

[Imdanny]

Thankfully, no, because been there, done that.

 

[RhubarbPie]

I'm not in debt (other than student loans lol...but they aren't for very much). My parents were so good about teaching me about money from a young age. They use credit cards but my father has never made a late payment on anything in his life. I don't really use credit cards but its more that I just haven't had the need (because I can use my checkcard like a credit card). But I'm sure we'll get one eventually.

My first roommate in college was crazy in debt, and she had a crazy family situation. Her parents would use her credit cards because they were also in-debt and then she would get bills for their stuff. People had placed liens on her name and would call her dorm phone about it - it was crazy. Yet she would come back on the weekends with bags and bags of lingerie, clothes, she loved shoes and would buy a new pair of stuart weitzman's every week. It was pretty crazy. And to top it off, she was a b****. I paid for our dorm fridge in our room because she said she didn't have any money, but she would pay me back (even though she was buying clothes and shoes on a regular basis) and when I asked her for the money back, she said "I don't know what you're talking about". Ugh. She deserved what she got.

 

[Kaleigh]

No. We pay the bill in full. Our kids have been raised to do the same, so far so good.

 

[Cehrabehra]

There have been times we have held a balance and even now occasionally we'll hold one for a couple or a few months depending on our situation. It's never very much and years go by when we don't. It's a temporary thing that we try to avoid. We did it more when we were younger, we did when we moved to ireland and again when we moved here JUST IN CASE to make sure our cash flow was okay. Other than that I don't think we have for several years. It's a trap!

 

[Arkteia]

Not really...Although I am sometimes late with paying my bills. But what's the deal, we paid off the mortgage in 5 years so I do not think there is a way I can spoil my credit history.
I owe it all to my husband - he was so keen on paying off the mortgage in 5 years, he did not even allow me to buy a piece of furniture in a new house. He refinanced 5 times, used ARMs, but we were totally clean 6 mo before the crisis struck. So I guess now my spending on the stones is justified.

 

[Dancing Fire]

nope,been debt free since we paid off our mortgage 7 yrs ago. i'd use CCs but them off every month.

 

[zhuzhu]

No.
Debt free except for mortgage.

 

[Rhea]

No, we never have been. We're entirely debt free. We don't earn a lot, but we also don't spend a lot.

 

[Jennifer W]

I have had some cc debt in the past - a steep learning curve for me! Now, I don't have a cc. Neither does DH. Since we don't use credit, we don't need to worry about credit history / scores whatever either. We did keep a cc until we had enough of a cushion in savings to mean that we wouldn't need to use credit in an emergency, but it's gone now too.

Jen

 

[Nashville]

Ditto Jennifer W. I got in trouble with credit cards during college. Now I refuse to have one. I use a debit card that's prepaid. I refuse to get one with overdraft "protection" (learned that the hard way after my morning latte cost me $35).

Any luxury purchases/sparklies are paid 100% in full from money saved. I have 3 savings: rainy day, college fund for my daughter, and colored stone projects (my passion and hobby that I'm not willing to give up!) I don't finance, and if I can't afford to buy it outright I don't buy it at all. Sounds like a simple concept, but it's one it took me years to fully adopt as a way of life.

 

[diamondringlover]

Yes I am

 

[elle_chris]

No debt on our joint credit cards. On mine alone i keep it at under 2k at all times. Sometimes paying off the full amount, other times, it depends on what's going on that particular month.
What I always make sure of though. is having enough in my account to pay off all the debt should I need to.

 

[missy]

I am averse to debt of any kind and have never not paid our bills in full each month. In fact, I cannot wait to be done with our mortgages (finished one and working on the other) as soon as possible as I consider that debt as well. If it were up to me we would have paid them both off ASAP but unfortunately my dh and I had to compromise on that issue as he felt investing for our future and retirement was just as if not more important. Ofc, after the recession hit he regretted that decision. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Just wanted to add that the most important thing IMO is to keep at least a year or 2 (preferably at least 2 if you can swing it) of living expenses in a savings account or other form of easily accessible investment for the just in case life emergency scenario. If the last 2 years have reinforced anything it is that.

 

[elrohwen]

Nope. We use our credit card for every purchase and rarely carry cash, but everything is always paid off at the end of the month. I love the travel rewards we get from using it all the time.

 

[JSM]

Yes.

I had some cc debt in college, but through graduate school worked very hard to pay it off. I was thrilled!

...then DH and I were both unemployed for three months. Gone went our meager savings and up, up, up when the credit card balances.

We are working to pay them off, but it will take time.

 

[mayerling]

Yeah, by about £100. I'm really not bothered by it, though. I usually just make the minimum payment, about £5, as I consider it to be too small an amount to be bothered by.

 

[lelser]

No debt, no mortgage. We spend on rocks (OK, so that's technically for work) and travel. Everything is paid in full each month.

Sometimes I get requests to finance a stone for someone, and my usual response is "if you need to finance it, you shouldn't buy it." It's one thing to carry debt when an emergency strikes - like the furnace or the car dies - but quite another to go into debt for a luxury item.

 

[rosetta]

nope. do use credit cards but pay them off every month in full.

debt is not my style so i live within my means

 

[FrekeChild]

No debt, no mortgage. We spend on rocks (OK, so that's technically for work) and travel. Everything is paid in full each month.

Sometimes I get requests to finance a stone for someone, and my usual response is "if you need to finance it, you shouldn't buy it." It's one thing to carry debt when an emergency strikes - like the furnace or the car dies - but quite another to go into debt for a luxury item.

Wow. I have to say that that "policy" of yours rubs me the wrong way. I'd rather finance the luxuries and have plenty of money for emergencies and life stuff than financing an emergency. I can live without luxuries, but medical care or something similar? I'll pay for it right away and forgo the luxuries.

 

[movie zombie]

no cc debt: paid off each month and been that way for years and years.

mz

 

[mary poppins]

FI and I don't have any credit card debt. The only time I've carried a balance was years ago when I was unemployed for a couple of months and wanted to preserve my cash flow. I made it a priority to get rid of the credit card debt upon getting a new job. FI and I use cards now to earn travel points and cash rewards, but pay the balances in full each month.

I think it's extremely important to have good credit and I don't like to waste money on interest and fees.

 

[that_someone_special]

No debt, no mortgage. We spend on rocks (OK, so that's technically for work) and travel. Everything is paid in full each month.

Sometimes I get requests to finance a stone for someone, and my usual response is "if you need to finance it, you shouldn't buy it." It's one thing to carry debt when an emergency strikes - like the furnace or the car dies - but quite another to go into debt for a luxury item.

Wow. I have to say that that "policy" of yours rubs me the wrong way. I'd rather finance the luxuries and have plenty of money for emergencies and life stuff than financing an emergency. I can live without luxuries, but medical care or something similar? I'll pay for it right away and forgo the luxuries.

I agree. I'm a little disgusted that someone would say that to a potential client as well.

 

[luckynumber]

eh? i thought lisa was saying "dont finance luxuries. carry debt only if you really have to, ie if your savings doesnt cover it, and you REALLY have to go into debt"?

have i got that wrong??

i'd never finance a rock!!

 

[BeachRunner]

I have two more yrs left with student loans and a car payment.

I have one CC which has about $1000 left to be paid, interest free mind you.
Hubs and I are in the process of buying a house, so that'll set us back some change

FWIW, I'm 27.

 

[lelser]

eh? i thought lisa was saying "dont finance luxuries. carry debt only if you really have to, ie if your savings doesnt cover it, and you REALLY have to go into debt"?

have i got that wrong??

i'd never finance a rock!!

That is exactly what I was saying. If someone takes a loan elsewhere to buy a rock, that's between them and their lender. I just would feel guilty holding that debt since I've seen too many people go sideways buying things they couldn't afford. Banks and CC companies are NOT your friend, and with interested rates at usurious levels it just makes sense to me to save first, buy later.

If I've offended people, I'm sorry.

 

[somethingshiny]

We don't carry credit card debt. We have one card that is only used in emergencies. Even if there is an emergency (which we've had plenty of) the credit card is paid off with a tax return or vacation check within a few months. I'm very nervous right now because we will HAVE to use our credit card over the next couple weeks since DH doesn't have vacation time yet. (baby coming in a few days) We had money saved but due to some unforseen happenings (huge basement flood), we ended up spending most of it already.

My parents never had cc's while I was a kid but have since acquired several. They and DH's parents are all horrible with cc's so DH and I are very responsible with ours.

 

[Burberrygirl]

eh? i thought lisa was saying "dont finance luxuries. carry debt only if you really have to, ie if your savings doesnt cover it, and you REALLY have to go into debt"?

have i got that wrong??

i'd never finance a rock!!

That is exactly what I was saying. If someone takes a loan elsewhere to buy a rock, that's between them and their lender. I just would feel guilty holding that debt since I've seen too many people go sideways buying things they couldn't afford. Banks and CC companies are NOT your friend, and with interested rates at usurious levels it just makes sense to me to save first, buy later.

If I've offended people, I'm sorry.

Luckynumber, that's exactly what I thought Lisa meant.

I don't have any debt yet. My parents have saved for my education so I don't have any student loans. I pretty much pay for everything in cash or check... but I guess that isn't saying much because my parents are generous and I don't have many living expenses yet. : )

 

[kenny]

I read, "Average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15788"
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-c...ustry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276.php

So, where are they all?
Not in this thread.
You may as well start a thread asking, "Do you cheat on your spouse?"

(and NO I pay off in full every month.)