My morning Horoscope

[Bill Dufour]

In the last few years I have started using my cc for more and more stuff. I used to not use it to buy food, seemed wrong. Now I use it for almost everythign over $5.00 or so. Not Arco gas. They figured out not taking credit cards saves both of us money.
I did this as I near retirement. I do not have the discipline to spread sheet all my expenses and plan a retirement budget. But, I can look at monthly cc bills and get the same information and track spending that way for a lot less effort. Of course I pay in full every month so it is a free service.
Bill D.

PS: I do not understand a debit card appeal. Stores always assume debit card and seem surprised it is credit for some reason. I think a debit rakes less money out of their till.

[John K Jordan]

...In retirement, we’ve been using the credit cards more and my wife has been hoarding points. I think she wants to fund a vacation or something.

I knew a guy who paid his mortgage every month with a credit card to accumulate frequent flier miles.

We started accumulating frequent flyer points on two different airlines long before retirement and they have let us take numerous trips, mostly to Europe but also to Hawaii, Alaska, and other points around the US. Until the pandemic we traveled at least once a year. Highly recommended. We currently have tickets to Italy that Delta is supposedly saving for us until it’s safe to travel again. I love travel for the new perspectives and culture - the people are always different but still the same! - the language is the most challenging thing.

I also very much dislike debt. We borrowed to buy our farm but only with enough saved up to pay off the loan when the time was right - done now!

For buying personal stuff to possess I’ll go without before going into debt. For example I really, really wanted an excavator for the farm but it took me almost 10 years to save up for it - I paid for it with a credit card for the points then paid off the card with cash.

But if I had needed an excavator for business I wouldn’t have hesitated to take out a loan since it would have easily paid for itself in a reasonable time.

JKJ

[Ron Citerone]

Use card for convenience, pay off monthly. I try to pay cash in Mom and Pop small business and restaurants so they don’t lose the fee.

[Stan Calow]

Its not the cards themselves that are bad, its the failure of people to understand how to manage debt, and especially failure to teach their children how to manage it. I know people who just assume its normal to carry big balances and pay the minimum and then complain about being in debt.

[Bert Kemp]

I quit in 1997 , I smoked 3 paks a day I think I was paying about $2.25 a pak which was a little over $200 a month for Butts. When I quit after a couple years I was able to afford a brand new Nissan 4x4 Frontier

I have nothing against debt. Been in debt all my life. I've hardly ever paid cash for anything. Debt has allowed my family to enjoy life. It's allowed us to prepare for our retirement, which is right around the corner. In the last 15 years we've bought a 32' pontoon boat, a 53' houseboat, a 26' bowrider, which we sold to buy a 31' pocket cruiser a 40' motorhome, and 2 mobile homes. Everything but the pocket cruiser is paid for. Last October we refi'd the house, bought the 2nd mobile home and paid off everything but the 31 footer. The 2 mobile homes we've sold on contract, and we're currently receiving $1000 monthly in P&I payments. The house payment only went up $170, and we still have $200k equity. So all but one of our retirement toys are paid for, plus we've been able to enjoy them for many years already

Had we saved up to pay cash for these things, we'd likely still be saving for the first boat...

as an analogy-- I grew up in the 'smoking generation'. I've known many friends and family who've quit smoking, including me. When people encourage you to quit, a big reason is "look at the money you'll save!" - I, personally, don't know of any quitters who actually noticed the extra money, at least enough they were able to save it to buy a car or something with it. It just gets assimilated into the daily financial grind unnoticed...

But yeah, I'm also a fan of paying off the bills! --even if it takes going into debt to do it

(flame suit on)

[Lee DeRaud]

I can't remember the last time I paid any credit card interest...probably not since I got out of grad school.
(I tried to look it up, but my records only go back to 1986. )