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Which MacBook Air?
- Thread starter kitkat9
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With all due respect i think this is terrible advice. You build credit by paying bills on time and maybe opening a low-limit credit card (preferably with your bank or credit union) and keeping the balance on it low and in good order. Not by maxing out or nearly maxing out a Barclay Card.
You miss one payment on one of those things and you could be looking at a HUGE interest rate. And lets be honest - young people and students are often terrible with money. They have bad or no credit for a reason - they're young and stupid.
I was no exception. the sad thing is the people who "need" these kinds of loans often shouldn't be taking them.
If you're a student why not role it into your student loan? Apply for scholarships? See if mom and dad can or will help?
Barring that, save up a little longer, get a cheaper machine, buy used. I know it sucks, but making big purchases like this on credit can really end up being a bad idea long term.
Either way it WILL hurt your credit score as it will increase your debt to debt limit ratio. This may or not be a big deal to you and as you pay it off it will go back up provided you don't screw up.
Take my advice with a grain of salt - people giving out advice are just telling you how they screwed up. I can tell you that i bought a lot of dumb stuff when i was younger and if i could choose between giving most of it back and having the cash i would choose cash. I have excellent credit now, but it took a lot of work to get there. And things cost me a lot more money because of it - houses, cars etc.
When i was young and foolish i didn't listen to people like me so i doubt you will either ;-p
With all due respect i think this is terrible advice. You build credit by paying bills on time and maybe opening a low-limit credit card (preferably with your bank or credit union) and keeping the balance on it low and in good order. Not by maxing out or nearly maxing out a Barclay Card.
You miss one payment on one of those things and you could be looking at a HUGE interest rate. And lets be honest - young people and students are often terrible with money. They have bad or no credit for a reason - they're young and stupid.
With a $2000 limit any amount of activity will cause the debt to available credit ratio to look bad. But you need to start somewhere. I agree that getting to a habit of making small charges and paying in full is best, but treating the card as a term loan (i.e. not making any further charges) also works. The only thing the BarclayCard has going for it is the deferred interest on the first purchase. I wouldn't recommend it for anything else. There's no reward program, it lacks Visa Signature benefits (such as warranty doubling or rental car collision damage coverage), and has a high interest rate. So essentially, buy the Mac, put the card in a drawer, and just pay it off over the deferral period. Use a debit card for everything else, and in a year you should be able to get a better card.
I think my first credit card (back in 1994) had a $500 limit. I got into the habit of paying in full from the very first statement. The only exceptions were for deferred interest plans, which I've always paid before the end of the deferral date.
that's all well and good, but if you can afford to pay it off during the time period, why not just save up and buy it later outright? chances are the technology will have even improved by then. have to have it now budgeting is a recipe for disaster.
My first cc was $500 too
and i ran it right up. and then i did an interest-free card for something or other. and then another.
thinking your credit limit is like your bank statement is dangerous.
I chose to quote this one but to all the others that are advising against financing, I have $1,300 saved up specifically for a computer. I am a 21-year-old that has been considering opening up a credit card to start building credit. I saw this as a nice opportunity since I already have the money. I will probably pay off $600 right away. And then do $150 a month. So it'll def be paid off by month six. I am not irresponsible and I know how to take care of my finances myself. Please focus on the questions I asked and give financial advice to postings that are asking for it.
Well said. Best thing to do in this forum is keep details to a minimum lol.. but as for what you need, I use my MBA for pretty much the same thing.. (aka the casual or "normal" user) I've had four MBA's now.. I've had two of the 4/128's, one of the 8/128's and am now currently the owner of a new 2013 8/256. Personally, if I were you, I'd go with at least a 4/256 configuration. But.. IF you are planning on keeping this thing for a few years, yeah, go for the AppleCare. I will let you know though, you'll have a year to get it, and you can actually buy AppleCare for 180.00 at B&H Photo at any given time (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/582542-REG/Apple_MC246LL_A_3_Year_AppleCare_for_MacBook.html), so you actually wouldn't have to worry about getting the AppleCare at a discounted price. So if that frees up some money for ya, you can either just go with the 4/256 and purchase the AppleCare at the later date, or say the hell with it and spend the extra 100.00 on the 8GB of RAM. Totally your call. Ya don't need the 8GB of RAM, but it's nice to have...
it really isn't, for the reasons i already mentioned. if you really want to "start building credit" there are million other ways to do that that won't hurt your credit score.
Then my advice there would be don't provide unnecessary information that you don't want people commenting on. So sorry to offend you, but we are after all only trying to help. Seems like you have it figured out so good luck to you!
So, for a macbook PRO you get $200 discount so for base MBP retina 13" you will pay 1299$, if you want a 13" MBA base model you will pay 1050$ right? So i think the extra 250$ is a no brain choice BUT the perfect choice was to wait for MBP Haswell update to et advantage for the extra battery usage. But if you need a computer this month than my advice would be the rMBP 13" base model
The way I see it, it's not that people are being rude and trying to enforce their supremacy or anything.
Actually quite the contrary, people with personal experience are taking time to help advice a younger fella out. It is not uncommon for people to have their cars seized, or houses foreclosed... Selling debt is the Bank's greatest MO.
Fellow board members are advising a young man based on their experience, and maturity. And they are doing it out of goodwill and goodfaith. There is no impact of them whatsoever, what OP decides to buy.
Op shouldn't ask them to shut up. Some of us are way older than the 'just going to college' students that are just entering college. We know the pressure that comes with college life. The social impact, and so on.
OP should just read it through, and if he is still convinced to buy a Mac he most certainly should. Asking people who are trying to help, to shut up, isn't a very response to courtesy being shown by fellow board members.
Just my 2 cents.
But if OP a Macabook w/o doubt, I would say go for the base. There are a lot of hidden expenses. - Apple Care, cables, case...
I myself got the 8b/256, which costed me $1500 here... but then there's another $300 for Apple care (cost that much here), I have spend $70 on 2 adapters, $100 on external memory, and $80 for a sleeve.
All in all a $1500 Mac Air has cost me about $2100. Factor in another $100 that I'm going to spend on 128gb SD card, and $100 down the road for battery replacement which i expect in 2 years (my laptop is never plugged, except when charging).
That's now $2300
For apps - essentials already bought: $250 for Microsoft Office Home and Business.
Parallels for Desktop/Vmware: Currently trying out each, parallels will cost $80 and VMware $50.
Windows 7 Home Premium: $200
That's an additional $500 for my essential apps, bringing the total to $2800. I'm throwing in another $200 for 3 years worth of other apps (which is pretty low).
All in all, that means for this mac to last me 3 years, I will be spending $3000 on a machine that I spent $1500 at Apple Store for.
I factored this before buying my Air. OP should too. The apps are not necessary at all though... so that's about $500 off if not running Windows.
This isn't just a pointer to op, but to everyone reading. Don't forget after-purchase expenses!
Cheers, and have a good day.
Of course they are. Have you read the condescending remarks? The use of terms like "young and foolish" or "you'll just do what you want anyway" from the posters? They aren't trying to be helpful or truly give advice; they just like beating the "all credit is bad" drum.
The interest-free Barclay card CAN be a very good tool. When I bought my last MBA, I had enough in savings to just go buy it, but why would I when the bank gave my $1800 for free? Why not use their money and let mine sit there continuing to collect interest OR be there for an emergency?
But whatever.....
because there's no such thing as free?
and i used the term young and foolish in good humour - and i applied it to myself in the very next sentence. don't be so sensitive, there's nothing rude about anything i have written.
Of course the card can be a very good tool, nobody is saying that if you use it your life will be in ruins a year from now - people are trying to caution against buying a computer on credit as there are risks and consequences to be aware of. whatever reason you use to justify buying a macbook on credit lets call it what it is and not try and pretend like it's some sort of tool to financial freedom.
look, i didn't mean to derail the thread and that you're "so tired of seeing the financial advice lectures" but price and paying for it is a big part of the process so i think it's important to mention.
good luck to you OP
Update
Hey!
So I decided on the MBA 13" 8GB/128. I ordered it today, but since it's the 8GB had to get it delivered so don't have it yet. But I'm really happ with my decision. And as a side note, the guy did convince me to get AppleCare. And he also told me if you order online, you can get The student discount without any verification, for anyone looking into it ($50-$200 off and $100 App Store gift card if buying before September 6th, as well as pretty good discount on AppleCare!)
Thanks for anyone who helped! And lesson learned (extra details will be kept to the very minimum for any future posts).
Hey!
So I decided on the MBA 13" 8GB/128. I ordered it today, but since it's the 8GB had to get it delivered so don't have it yet. But I'm really happ with my decision. And as a side note, the guy did convince me to get AppleCare. And he also told me if you order online, you can get The student discount without any verification, for anyone looking into it ($50-$200 off and $100 App Store gift card if buying before September 6th, as well as pretty good discount on AppleCare!)
Thanks for anyone who helped! And lesson learned (extra details will be kept to the very minimum for any future posts).