I finance things so I can use them for deductions when doing my taxes. Sometimes I want to make an investment. There are lots of reason I would borrow money.
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Using financing on Apple.com for a Retina MacBook Pro
- Thread starter jacob0622
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I finance things so I can use them for deductions when doing my taxes. Sometimes I want to make an investment. There are lots of reason I would borrow money.
When did you get those loans though? The first one at least? Because in recent years, banks have become a lot more guarded about who they'll loan to and such. They're not gonna give a loan to a kid without some sign that they're likely to get their money back. It doesn't HAVE to be a credit card/high credit score, but that's one of the first things they look at and one of the best ways to get approved.
Again, it's all about responsibility. Credit cards aren't "traps" or scams...pay your bill every month, don't spend more on your credit card than you know you can afford to pay back. Don't treat it as a pit of unlimited money...treat it as if it's a debit card, and you'll find yourself only spending what you have and being fine. Credit card companies HATE people who pay off fully every month, because they don't profit. That's the person you want to be.
I see no reason to have a credit card, much like you...outside building credit. Once you have credit and can start to do other things like get larger loans, etc and continue to build, then you don't need them anymore
Credit cards are revolving credit. Loans are not.
EDIT Regarding having CCs:
I personally use credit cards for two things. The first is daily bills/spending which I pay in full at the end of each month. All of my spending which can be paid with plastic, is. The card I have protects my purchases from damage, allows me to return if the store won't, pays the restocking charges if the store charges it, and gives me cash back/travel points for each dollar I spend. I don't build debt on this card as I spend what I would have spent using cash and I pay it in full every 30 days like clockwork. Never, ever do I allow a balance to roll on the card.
The second is for 0% offers. If I'm going to buy something large and someone offers me 0% for 6, 12, 18 or whatever amount of months, I take it. Then I log into their website and schedule automatic payments for the exact amount required to pay the entire thing off in the timeframe required. No worries about missing a payment or screwing up. After the purchase I also cut up the CC. Now I can have the cash I was going to drop instantly as a backup if something goes wrong in life.
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This is something to be careful of, too. Opening and closing too many accounts to take advantage of those 0% rates will have at least a bit of a detrimental effect on your credit. The longer your accounts stay open, the better, because it shows responsibility over time. Having too much available credit can also be bad, so if you have too many open accounts it might help to close some.
Just because some people aren't responsible enough to handle it, it doesn't mean that having a credit card is bad for everyone. It's impractical to think that you can go your whole life without ever taking out a loan or borrowing money of some sort. Just be responsible about it and live within your means to pay back what you borrow. I worked for a credit reporting agency, helping people clear up their credit reports so they could get a mortgage. One of the easiest ways to help people build credit is with a credit card. Keep the limit low (if they raise the credit limit, call them and ask to have it lowered back down) if it's a temptation for you. Use it to buy things you need, things you would use cash for. Pay it off every month. It's not rocket science. Credit cards haven't gotten people into trouble financially. People have gotten themselves into trouble by not following simple principles of finance and responsibility.