I am sure many of you might see some pros of not using credit cards and I am interested in hearing them. The only credit card I have is a pay pal card, at the moment and I only use it on special occasions. Do you think we live in an age where we rely too much on credit cards? Do you think it is better to use credit cards or simply rely on the cash we already have?
One of the main advantage of not having a credit card is you can control your spending. By using credit card, you can hardly stop your temptation to buy things that you actually don't use. Another advantage is not having to pay interest otr penalty. If you miss the deadline for paying your credit card bills, you will have to pay penalty charge. You can save this by not having a credit card.
The main advantage of not having a credit is that you can prevent yourself from buyin in excess of your budget since you are paying in cash. The second advantage is that there is not interest to be paid from your purchases. I admit that I have 3 credit cards that have their own purpose like for gasoline, restaurants, etc. But I am aware of the excesses that I have to avoid otherwise my finances will suffer. And credit card is for the convenience since I can buy in advance the things I need instead of waiting for payday.
Today I needed to pay a dental bill; I paid with a credit card. I need credit cards because there are purchases that are big ones that needs time payments, but deems to pay for it now, so a credit card is handy. We watch our spending though and have a very good credit rating. You'll need a good credit rating for buying a house, so I feel a credit card is essential to life.
At every transaction you make using your credit card there are charges that follows. This is different from the annual charge you pay for owning the card. Also if you miss crediting back your card at the stipulated day of the month you are penalised. Except I'm looking for something like a passive loan I don't see the essence of a credit card for now.
One that I never really thought about all that much until a couple of years ago is the personal identity concerns. It seems like everyday there is another horror story around with someone getting their hands on sensitive information.
The only advantage I can see about not having a credit card is the fact that you can't spend the money you don't have. However, I see more advantages with having a credit card. In times of adversity, it can be the only means to survive when your emergency funds have run out. If you are raising young kids and have lost your job, that situation can easily zap your savings. Using your credit cards wisely can help build your credit rating which will give you more access to low interest loans that you can use to start a business or buy/build apartments that you can lease out to grow your income and pay your debts at the same time. Having a credit card gives me access to low interest loans with soft payment terms.
I don't have a credit card and when I thought my accounts might be at risk through a scam email, I thought well at least they won't be spending money on that. I only spend money that I actually have and the only loan I have is my mortgage which will be paid off soon. I have a good credit rating so if I was ever desperate I could buy something on credit.
I no longer have credit cards and I am happy about that. I do think we tend to rely heavily on them since we can get what we want right now without worrying about whether we have the money for it or not. I think it is a vicious cycle that I got into since I relied on my credit card to buy necessities like groceries and it just went spiraling out of control. Now I only have a debit card and if I do not have the money in my account then I cannot purchase anything. I do not ever want another credit card.
It is usually good to have one credit card in case of emergency, but having too many cards tends to lead to over spending, and most of us do not want to do that, so I think that it is important to have as few credit cards as possible actually.
If you like to be financially secured while shopping especially for those who shop a lot having a credit card will be of great advantage. I have had occasions where I was low on my debit card, had to resort to use credit card for buying things until I got some money back on my debit card.
The advantages of owning a credit card are usually overshadowed by the disadvantages of having one. What i mean is, if you can buy in cash, please do. Always buy in cash. And if you can't afford it, just let it go. A credit card will give you a short time satisfaction or relieve you in the short while and leave you with a long-term debt. Unnecessary debt for that matter. Like a pain killer, it will relieve you pain for that moment, because i'ts designed to do so. But you will need to see a doctor for the sickness to be treated. My advice is, if you can stay away from he Credit cards, please do. Avoid them like plague. But again, if you have a well thought out repayment strategy, go get it.
Credit cards have annual fee. And another thing is that credit card's score affects your credit score. So this can be really bad in terms of the returning the funds. And it can even go out of the hands some of the time. So in such context it should be good enough on that point. I have tried credit cards percentage calculator with credit score. And it can be damaging. So not having it is the way much better option.
The problem with credit cards is that they can get out of control fast and somehow get you in bigger debt in the long run. Also when you have a credit card you can buy what you want and not consider cost so much-but having cash or shopping with cash, you have to consider the cost-so you could get in trouble for paying for something you really can't afford. Also to carry a credit card- is like one more thing to worry about, like making the payments on time and paying off the debt.
One of the things that draws the most attention to me when not having credit cards is the fact of not having to pay fees that are affixed to them (by the way, fees that can sometimes be very expensive ).
I chosen not to have a credit card for some of the reasons that have been mentioned here by some users. But I cannot live without a debit card as I use it to make online payments for my mobile, dongle recharges and also shopping online. I do not use the net banking facility as I find using my debit card easy and quick.
I cannot imagine not having a credit card as I have been used to having it for so long now. I guess, not having a card would certainly mean less expenses at times, but I really need it. And since I have a strict code of conduct on not exceeding a certain budget that I have decided for myself, it helps a lot.