Financing a MacBook Pro! Help!

[ThirtyThr33]

Well shucks, now my parents are trying to just give me the money to buy a MBP rather than me getting a card. If I somehow did end upngetting the blue cash card and it all off in the same month I bought it wouldni still get the benefits like the extended year warranty? Or is that cheating?

 

[Bob Coxner]

Well shucks, now my parents are trying to just give me the money to buy a MBP rather than me getting a card. If I somehow did end upngetting the blue cash card and it all off in the same month I bought it wouldni still get the benefits like the extended year warranty? Or is that cheating?

It's not "cheating" to pay off credit card bills. It's called wise financial judgement. You would still get the extended warranty benefits.

 

[ThirtyThr33]

It's not "cheating" to pay off credit card bills. It's called wise financial judgement. You would still get the extended warranty benefits.

Well in that case I think I just might do that. I'm pretty new to this whole credit thing so when I read offers like this it seems a little too good to be true. Like with big banks and credit firms trying to make so much money I don't understand why they would offer to replace your laptop if it breaks and such. I mean I won't question their good deed but I just want to be sure I'm not being tricked into anything ya know? But thank you all for your fabulous advice

 

[s.hasan546]

You are much, much better off getting a good credit card with an intro APR. The gimmick cards from stores (BB) etc, are a rip-off. Get an Amex Blue Cash card, get 12 months 0% interest, and still get the purchase protection and extended warranty as a benefit. Such benefits are not offered financing through Apple or a store.

edit: Soapbox: financing a computer is stupid. Save up and pay for it outright.

While i agree with you in general terms. There are exceptions. Most store cards are just plain stupid. However, i have one store card. Best Buy. I spend more than $2500 a year at bestbuy for my business and personal purchases. The bestbuy mastercard gives me double points + 18 months free interest.

The nice thing with bestbuy's 18 months no interest is that it doesn't apply to only your initial purchase. It applies to all your purchases above X amount. It's only stupid not to take advantage of it. It's free money. I have my online banking automatically set to pay them my total purchase/17 months.

 

[s.hasan546]

To each their own. Some people can benefit from good advice, some people are destined to think that they're always right and don't need advice.

I made the mistake of using a Best Buy card for 0% APR even when I had the cash to pay for a new TV. When that TV broke inside of 6 months, I had to pay to fix it because Best Buy wouldn't take it back and the BB credit card offered no benefits outside of the APR. Had I used the advice I offered above, I'd have had 0% APR on the purchase on my Amex and Amex would have replaced the TV without me having to come out of pocket $250 to ship it back to the manufacturer.

Best Buy CC, Apple Financing, etc do not offer any benefit beyond a 0% APR. You are MUCH better off getting an Amex Blue Cash (or Discover Novus, or Chase Ink, or any other quality credit card) with a 0% intro rate as all good credit cards offer purchase protection and extended warranties in addition to a good APR.

While i agree with your second half of your post i can't seem to agree with the first half.

Your example isn't an issue with your method of payment. More like an issue with the manufacturer. What would you do if you paid cash for your tv that went bad in 6 months? exactly.

 

[s.hasan546]

Yea, always pay cash if you can. Not everyone has this luxury however. Even if you could do 50% cash, 50% CC or finance thats way better.

i have that luxury but why would i do that? Why would i buy ANYTHING in cash? Credit cards used as charge cards are the best methods for record keeping and rewards like cash back, points; etc. IMHO cash is stupid for big purchases. Unless your a drug dealer

writing everything off on my business credit cards are also a lot easier than trying to prove cash payments for a business expense when/if you get audited.