The local credit union turned me down for a credit card because they said I have too many open accounts. So I closed two last night and one this morning. I went to close another one today, and they offered to up my credit limit from $500 to $1500. So I kept it, even though it’s 29.9% fixed interest and a $75.00 annual fee. I may try to see if they will wave the annual fee next November.
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Forget credit. It’s a form of slavery. Live debt free. Be free.
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Usury. That’s the word for 30% freaking interest. That is too much. Suggest lowering limit immediately to avoid getting in trouble.
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Thanks @Unclehenry @shutterbug. That’s the reason I was trying to get a credit card with the credit union. It’s 14.25% interest at most.
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Hey! I actually know a decent amount about credit stuff.
Credit can be incredibly beneficial to you IF you can be responsible with it.
I must agree that it’s vile that the credit system has become as vital to basic living function as it has, but the fact of the matter is that it is incredibly important for loans, for housing, for buying a car, etc. It really is worth it to learn about the topic if you’re going to have credit, so that you don’t drown in it or continue to drown in it.
If you know or even suspect that you may not stay as responsible with credit as you’d like, I would suggest taking up @shutterbug advice. (If this is the case, the rest of this reply may not be useful to you in this situation. Feel free to disregard the rest).
For credit to work in your favor, you must be diligent. If you know you’ll be responsible then that card may be worth it to keep. Even with that atrocious APR. Your credit score is based off of a handful of factors, one of which is oldest active line. Meaning credit bureaus value credit lines that have been active longer more than new lines.
It’s also worth it to note that interest will ONLY apply if you do not pay your balance off each month. So if you owe $100 on a card and only pay $50 for the month, you’ll be subject to that 29.9%. However if you pay that entire $100 off by the due date, you will pay exactly $0 in interest. Try to do this always.
Personally, I like to keep higher limit cards around in case of emergency when I don’t have cash or enough in my bank account to cover whatever that emergency might be. One of my cards has a 24.9% interest rate. This card also does not have good rewards. Because of this, I only use it once or twice a year (and pay it off to avoid interest) so that the bank doesn’t close it for non-use. I do this to keep the card around because it is my oldest card at 5 years old. My other card has great rewards but is only 3 years old. One might think, wouldnt it be better to cancel the high APR card with no rewards and keep the one with great rewards and low APR? Well no, it wouldn’t, if I did my score would undoubtedly go down because my oldest line would only be 3 years old.
I think you catch my drift. Anywho, there’s A LOT at play when dealing with credit cards. Especially that annual fee. If that fee alone is hard to keep up with then that is a huge factor in whether or not it’s worth it to keep. It might not be.
All in all, the process of maintaining a healthy relationship with credit is very nuanced. You have to know yourself and how likely you are to stay careful with your credit. It’s tough.
If you or anyone else has credit card questions, please ask:)
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I think my credit card is over 20% interest. I have a direct debit set up for it to be paid in full each month.
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I hate credit cards, I had one with a 5000$ limit and I got into debts eventhough I was working full time, I emptied my bank account too. But that was while on Abilify which is know to cause shopping and gambling addictions. Now I have no such addictions on Risperdal but don’t have a credit card so I always have 0 debts now.
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Now I have 2 bank accounts, one for disability and one normal.
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Thanks @bittercat @firemonkey @Aziz . I owe about $800.00 on credit cards, most of it on my 23.99% interest credit card, which is the lowest one I have.
I’m working on paying it off. In June I’ll probably have to charge the $150.00 for my six month dental check-up.
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I’d advise cutting down to one credit card .
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I had thousands in debts on my Visa I couldn’t pay as I stopped working and emptied my bank account. My parents paid my debts and then I cancelled my Visa.
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Sorry to hear that Aziz. I’m trying just to keep it to emergencies only.
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Same happened to me 5000 in debt between visa and mastercard. Was homeless so didnt make any payments. The bill went to collections and i paid 1200 to visa and 800 to mastercard eventually. I guess they took the loss.
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I’ve had credit cards for years, at the least, about twenty five years. Ran them up, paid them off, than ran them up again. Ad infidium. I owed about $7000 about four years ago. I paid it off on a couple cards. Then gave my cards to my sister to keep about five years ago. I found out I can get along without them.
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Glad to hear it. Thanks for responding.
Credit cards ruined my life
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Yeah, I know. I’m just afraid I’ll need one for an emergency. I’m going to try and close a couple more tomorrow or Friday. I’m waiting for payoff payments to post.
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