Chase Bank

@Cycloptichorn,

Having a credit card and using it actually helps your credit ratings - it is best if you keep a low balance (significantly less than what the credit company allows). If you pay off monthly, there is no interest to pay - no charges to you directly as long as you have a card with no annual fee.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

Having a credit card and using it actually helps your credit ratings - it is best if you keep a low balance (significantly less than what the credit company allows). If you pay off monthly, there is no interest to pay - no charges to you directly as long as you have a card with no annual fee.

I am not interested in 'helping my credit rating.' That's just buying into the system of control and debt that various companies and rich folk want everyone to subscribe into.

If you don't use a CC, then you don't have to worry about owing anything - you don't buy things you can't afford, and that's it. There's no annual fee for responsibility and foresight.

Cycloptichorn

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I have two cards and I have no idea what my interest rates are on either of them. I've had one of those cards for almost 25 years. At last look my credit rating was well over 800. I have never paid a penalty or used the credit feature of a credit card. To do so would be like throwing chum into the ocean, diving in for a swim and then assume the sharks will not show up.

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@Cycloptichorn,

we only use CC's that have no annual fees and offer a bonus of some kind, and they're paid each month

one card credits points towards CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), spend enough on it every year to cover the cost of membership

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Quote:

one card credits points towards CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), spend enough on it every year to cover the cost of membership

Benefits are good. I get cash back from my Capital One card and I get gift certificates from Amazon (Chase is the holding bank). I would stop using a card if they didn't offer extras. I would never pay a fee to have a card.

Cyclo, how do you purchase on-line or rent a car? If you ever need a car towed you have to give them a credit card number or pay with cash up front. I use a card for the convenience, but I never allow it to be in control of me.

1 Reply

@Green Witch,

Green Witch wrote:

Cyclo, how do you purchase on-line or rent a car? If you ever need a car towed you have to give them a credit card number or pay with cash up front. I use a card for the convenience, but I never allow it to be in control of me.

I purchase online using a check card or paypal. There's no credit line associated with either, though it's still piggybacking on their system, which I would prefer not to do. But it's unavoidable.

I rent a car with cash and pay for other stuff with cash. Nobody has ever turned me down, ever, in my life, for wanting to use cash.

I don't own or drive a car, so don't have to worry about the towing!

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

I look at my credit rating in terms of a future mortgage ... the better your rating, the less you pay in interest. This could also impact you in renting - if you have bad credit, you may have difficulty - the newest thing is for companies to run a credit report on you as well when applying for jobs.

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@Cycloptichorn,

You can't do that in New York state. It's a state law that a credit card must be used in order to rent a car. And the credit card has to be in the driver's name as well.

It's a big big royal pain in the ass.

1 Reply

@Linkat,

Totally agree. Our cards also give us substantial rewards in the form of airline mileage, so I figure we're using them rather than the other way around.

We also benefit from the extended warranty protection, which doubles the the original manufacturer's or store brand warranty. We never pay for the plans offered on electronic or other purchases. I recently discovered a defect in an expensive flat-screen TV that was just two weeks shy of being two years old. Of course the manufacturer's warranty expired a year earlier, but I put in a call to VISA and within 2 weeks I had a check for the full, original amount of the TV. Everything was done online and they could not have been more accomodating.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

I look at my credit rating in terms of a future mortgage ... the better your rating, the less you pay in interest. This could also impact you in renting - if you have bad credit, you may have difficulty - the newest thing is for companies to run a credit report on you as well when applying for jobs.

I understand that it's a different philosophy that I hold then others, and I'm not looking to tell other people they are wrong.

But I don't buy into any of that. I don't want a mortgage, period. Or a car note, or any note at all. Instead I save my money to pay for things. My wife and I are dedicated savers who don't make many major purchases. We are not completely immune to Consumerism but have set our lives up to the point where we make very few purchases of consumer goods, certainly very few expensive ones. Our living room is cute but not as nice as others my age, because we don't waste our money on stuff.

Instead, we have an ever-growing account to build up money to purchase these things. It has ever been my policy that if you can't afford something right at that time, you can't afford it at all.

I've never had a single problem renting due to my credit and I don't know anyone else out here in the Bay Area who has either. Maybe if you're looking into moving in a posh apartment complex, or some swank condo. That's not a problem for me.

I would not work for a company which ran my credit report and decided that I couldn't be employed b/c I don't use a CC. It's antithetical to my ethos.

The nice part about my philosophy is that at the end of the day, we're never in debt and never will be - and I am not profiting off of the debt of others. The 'perks' that attract so many to credit cards are paid for by the sweat of your fellow man, and that to me is disgusting; the company is essentially saying, 'hey! Enough of you schlubs fall behind, that we can give you a tiny piece of the money that we make off of their 30% interest rates!'

Turns my stomach, the thought of enjoying that money.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

You can't do that in New York state. It's a state law that a credit card must be used in order to rent a car. And the credit card has to be in the driver's name as well.

It's a big big royal pain in the ass.

Sure about that?

http://www.newyork.bbb.org/SitePage.aspx?site=24&id=267db3cc-7867-4837-9b41-7b3cb5ee116a

The Better Business Bureau of NY states:

Quote:

* New York law prohibits rental car agencies from requiring a credit card.

I believe that it would be illegal to require a credit card to make purchases. It represents an unfair business advantage to the CC companies.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

It has ever been my policy that if you can't afford something right at that time, you can't afford it at all.

Excellent policy!

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Yeah, you can do it by sending them a check in advance or cash in person. I believe the check has to clear before you can drive off with the car.

Cyclo, you probably have a credit rating just because you rent. A clean rent history is an acceptable good credit history.

1 Reply

@Irishk,

Quote:

It has ever been my policy that if you can't afford something right at that time, you can't afford it at all.

It's not the policy of the coalition that have won all the recent elections.

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@spendius,

spendius wrote:

Quote:
It has ever been my policy that if you can't afford something right at that time, you can't afford it at all.

It's not the policy of the coalition that have won all the recent elections.

No....it most definitely is not. If I were to follow that policy, I would use my credit cards to buy myself a new boat, lake house, two snowmobiles, 4 jet skiis, a Corvette and a Gulfstream V.

But...................... I would also eat out one less time per month to keep spending down. Razz

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

I look at my credit rating in terms of a future mortgage

That's really my primary concern. I wouldn't worry about this **** otherwise. I'm gettin' hitched soon and already I have daymares of my beloved wearing five winter coats and and a pair of fingerless gloves, begging on a street corner. I imagine I would be smoking crack somewhere, but I digress.

I'll have to look into this whole multiple card thing. Cuz if I'm stuck with the one I got, it's one my pops opened up for me in both our names when I was a teenager. Having a 13 year-old card is way good for my credit. But it would be nice to have a card on my terms, one that does what I want it to. If I'm going to have the 15% interest rate, I want a fuckin' Snuggie every time I charge a gross of Cheez-Its at Sam's Club.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

the newest thing is for companies to run a credit report on you as well when applying for jobs.

Insurance companies run your credit, too.

If you have to choose between bad credit and bad driving history when getting auto insurance, go with the bad driving history.... Drunk

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@Gargamel,

I think that a new card only lowers your credit score for a year or so. And I don't think it lowers it by very much.

I'm not certain of that, however.

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@Green Witch,

It's unlikely that the rental person/agency reports to a credit bureau. Cell phones don't work either. Nor do many of the things people pull credit reports for. Only credit cards and loans count towards a positive credit rating.

I work for one of those ungodly credit card companies; credit is something I'm intimately familar with.

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@DrewDad,

A few points, if any.

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