Americans paid $130 billion in credit card interest and fees in 2022, according to a new report. Here are three strategies to help limit those charges.
It’s not difficult to use credit cards responsibly and come out ahead. Moat people just lack basic financial literacy and/or the willpower to not use them irresponsibly.
I mean if you’re living paycheck to paycheck it doesn’t matter if you’re driving rewards or not when a hardship hits.
It could be argued the person churning credit cards would have the credit rating necessary to get a loan/advance during such a good of need. Whereas someone paying cash all their life would be SOL.
If you’re living paycheck to paycheck and putting more than a tank of gas on the card every month, you’re doing it wrong. If you have more credit card debt than savings, you’re doing it wrong. Part of basic financial literacy is building a safety net, so you’re not immediately fucked when something goes wrong.
Agreed.
I’m saying someone living paycheck to paycheck can still use credit cards and pay them off each month while collecting the reward points.
You can pay all your bills with credit cards and immediately pay the cards off each month. It’s the same amount of money, just an extra step.
I bet most of us aren’t actually making anything on cash back or rewards no matter what we do. %2 cash back isn’t free. Everything I’ve learned about the store side of things says the fees merchants pay is higher than the cash back + rewards. You think the store just eats the cost? Most of it is being passed to the consumers.
However, I don’t think removing the fees now would lower prices. Might prevent them from going up a bit longer though.
Often times the price is the same whether you’re using Credit Card or paying cash. That means the X% fees the business pays to credit card companies is built into the price of your purchase. I’d you’re not paying with a credit (and hence not getting cashback) you’re actually losing money / paying more.
Never said credit cards created that problem. Spending more than you make will never work for very long. But in a month where for example your vehicle and your water heater break and you’re not rich, you gotta do something.
You could only spend $5 a month using a credit card and still build up a good credit score/history by paying it off each month. Whether credit cards exist or not, your financial situation is still going to be the same, so you might as well use them to your advantage.
It’s not difficult to use credit cards responsibly and come out ahead. Moat people just lack basic financial literacy and/or the willpower to not use them irresponsibly.
Everybody is winning the Cash Back lotto until they lose their job or end up in the hospital.
Failure to adjust your spending after financial hardship would be incompetence or irresponsibility.
OK thanks for the tenth grade econ home ec lesson
No problem. My next protip is to pay your bills on time to avoid late fees.
I’ll just pay them with my credit card!
I mean if you’re living paycheck to paycheck it doesn’t matter if you’re driving rewards or not when a hardship hits.
It could be argued the person churning credit cards would have the credit rating necessary to get a loan/advance during such a good of need. Whereas someone paying cash all their life would be SOL.
If you’re living paycheck to paycheck and putting more than a tank of gas on the card every month, you’re doing it wrong. If you have more credit card debt than savings, you’re doing it wrong. Part of basic financial literacy is building a safety net, so you’re not immediately fucked when something goes wrong.
Agreed. I’m saying someone living paycheck to paycheck can still use credit cards and pay them off each month while collecting the reward points. You can pay all your bills with credit cards and immediately pay the cards off each month. It’s the same amount of money, just an extra step.
I bet most of us aren’t actually making anything on cash back or rewards no matter what we do. %2 cash back isn’t free. Everything I’ve learned about the store side of things says the fees merchants pay is higher than the cash back + rewards. You think the store just eats the cost? Most of it is being passed to the consumers.
However, I don’t think removing the fees now would lower prices. Might prevent them from going up a bit longer though.
Often times the price is the same whether you’re using Credit Card or paying cash. That means the X% fees the business pays to credit card companies is built into the price of your purchase. I’d you’re not paying with a credit (and hence not getting cashback) you’re actually losing money / paying more.
It’s easy until your bank accounts won’t cover important purchases and credit cards are the fastest and easiest way.
That’s called not being financially responsible. You are spending more money than you make. Credit cards didn’t create this problem.
Never said credit cards created that problem. Spending more than you make will never work for very long. But in a month where for example your vehicle and your water heater break and you’re not rich, you gotta do something.
Having an emergency is being financially irresponsible?
Seems to me you’re being a tad reductive.
ftfy
You could only spend $5 a month using a credit card and still build up a good credit score/history by paying it off each month. Whether credit cards exist or not, your financial situation is still going to be the same, so you might as well use them to your advantage.