I use my debit card only..Fact is I rarely even carry cash. Easier to save for me that way..

Have only 1 credit card anymore (my choice), & I NEVER use it.. It's for Extreme emergency use only..

Have to watch these days, never know when a rainy day (or longer) is coming.......

Just trying to have a buck or two in case of real bad times.

 

Yeah.. I hear ya! I work retail, and it's busiest from summer through Christmas, then it dies around here in the winter. What I did was saved up enough money (and a few $$$ more) to cover all of my car payments through June in case money was tight. Thankfully I was able to keep one of my jobs, and get decent hours for retail around here. So, I ended up having over $1,300 in a "rainy day fund". (I did buy wheels with that money, so now it's closer to $1k) It's just good to know that I have extra cash in the bank to help me if need be, without having to rely on credit cards. It'd be nice to use that cash to pay off one of my cards...not sure if I'll do that once summer comes around, or leave the money in the bank for emergencies...

 

Eric-

That's good..

Rule of thumb used to be: save enough to survive 3 months with no income..

I don't think 3 months of a cushion is long enough (in todays economy)..
6 months is better. Not easy to do either..

And I'm NOT talking about the retirement nest egg...That is a separate deal all-together..

We have one family nearby, young couple that bought their place with "0" down, & really have a big Mtg payment each month to pay..
IIRC, their Mtg is $1200. per month.. Plus all the other bills, consumables & etc.. And I know they live on CC's..

 

Same here, I feel I have worked to hard & to long for my money. I don't want to give it to some bank. I gave them way to much when I had a house payment for 20 years.

 

Wow, $1200 a month is nothing for a mortgage payment. Although with zero down I'd assume the mortgage is like 40 years which means only $100 a month or so is going towards the principal.

I have a 900 square foot condo which I pay just under $1100 a month for my mortgage and another $225 for my condo fees and that isn't even my primary residence.

If I could buy a house and only have a $1200 mortgage payment that would be sweet.

 

Just canceled my only credit card today. They wanted to charge me a $60 annual fee on a card I have had since 1985. Always paid the balance within 30 days and never,never had a late fee. I also have clear title on all 4 cars, house, wife and both dogs.

 

I've been trying to get clear title on my wife for 29 years.

 

I just finished paying off the Discover Card. I have a GM Master card which I'm whittling down, but I have $1300 on it that can go to the next GM car I may want. I'd use it, pay it off just to get the credit for the next GM car. ( I had $2400 off on my HHR when I bought it).

The other credit Card has a 9.9% interest, which I haven't used in nearly a year or so. I'm on the debit card. I canceled the American Express when they wanted $95 annual fee.

I'm waiting to see what the banks do when the good credit people start dropping their bank credit cards. If they start adding fees to my non used cards, those cards will be canceled.

But have several credit cards showing your repayment helps with a better credit score than living on a cash only life style.

 

Yeah, and my econ teacher told us that you don't want to close the card...you want to pay it off and not use it, so they can see that you have a long history... But that was before these changes where they charge you an inactivity fee...

 

Good for you, however a lot of folks keep a credit card for all purchases as a debit card opens you up to potentially considerably higher losses if it is "skimmed" which is happening more and more often with increasingly sophisticated methods. Most of the time the bank will cover it, but not always with a debit card fraud loss. A friend lost $2800 from getting his debit card skimmed, and the bank (Wells Fargo) eventually did actually reimburse him, but it took a while.