Is it easy to live without a credit card nowadays?

[Darth_Kitten]

It's just I know people who don't have them and wonder how they make out. :)

[supernova]

1. I do it all the time

I have one debit card attached to a brokerage account. It works just fine.

[Darth_Kitten]

2. You don't have any problems?

:)

[supernova]

5. No, I work on the principle

of if I don't have the money in my account, right now, I don't do it.

edit: And my next car will be a slightly used on for which I will pay cash.

[caty]

3. I only use mine for emergencies.

Car repairs or unexpected vet bills, etc.

[Old_Fart]

4. Sure is

Your checking account gives you a Visa and that is all you need.

[Reverend_Smitty]

6. I don't have one

I've known many other college students who were given a credit card and went absolutely ape-shit with them. Not saying I would ever do something stupid like that but personally I'd rather pay cash, because I know I have enough money to pay for something. The only time it sucks is when I want to order off the internet. In that case I will give my dad money and use his card.

[friesianrider]

17. If you have a checking account...

Get a Visa or MC debit card from your bank. I order offline all the time and use my Visa debit card - it is accepted everywhere Visa is, but works like a check by deducting the money right out of my checking account. I love it!

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Yes

I haven't had one for many years.

I have always been able to use my debit card for whatever I want to buy. I have had several folks tell me you can't use a debit card for one thing or another, but mine has never been refused.

I used to have credit cards. I paid them off and I now take the money I was once spending on credit card payments and put it in a savings account. Then when I want a major purchase I would have once used a credit card for, I withdraw the money from savings.

It works. Try it. No credit card debt is a great feeling.

[Nikia]

8. A bank card can work like a credit card

You seem to need cards for a number of things now. Most hotels, for example, want you to give them a card even if you want to pay cash.
As far as money, it is better if you don't charge things. Things always cost more in the long run if you can't pay the balance right away. They are better than pay day loans though.

[Orsino]

9. Debit card & AmEx

Though the debit is also a credit card, I never use it that way. The AmEx is technically a charge card.

[Bridget Burke]

22. Yes, AmEx REALLY wants you to pay it all every month....

You can "defer" payments--usually onto an Optima account--but the simplest way is to watch what you spend each month. And I'd rather use AmEx online than my debit card.

[MercutioATC]

10. As long as you have a card affiliated with Visa or MC, you're fine.

Debit cards are the same as credit cards any more...

Without ANY card? That'd be difficult (or, at least, inconvenient)

[Floogeldy]

11. It's possible.

Especially if you know how to break into ATM machines.

:o

[Maddy McCall]

12. Not if you travel or shop online.

I use mine when we travel, to make reservations and to shop online.

[Darth_Kitten]

13. Could one travel without it?

:shrug:

[friesianrider]

16. You can use a debit card for that (Visa or MC debit, of course).

Or was the OP including Visa and MC debit cards as a credit card, too? :shrug:

[stlsaxman]

18. I use my check card on line, sure!

and i used it in Europe too,... keeps the money belt thinner. too ;)

[stlsaxman]

14. I had two cards a few years back- spent $3,000 paid $10k back.

was able to pay them off and close them thru the blessings of a settlement from my late fathers job.

I make two payments now- the mortgage and car note. In five years it'll be the just the mortgage.

If I feel i need something, i save for it and pay for it with my check card. Luckily I have some in savings in case of emergencies.

Credit cards are the spawn of Satan. The devils work. Evil, evil things. If you have one- pay it off and destroy it before it destroys you.

[BikeWriter]

33. I agree! Never, ever charge things!

[friesianrider]

15. Sure...but I have two anyway/

I use my Visa debit card for absolutely EVERYTHING (accepted everywhere Visa is, but works like a check and automatically deducts from my checking account) - I never have cash on me anymore. I have two credit cards but only used them twice when I left my debit card at home.

[MadHound]

19. I've never had a credit card, nor debit card for that matter

I have I yet to have a problem. And yes, I've ordered things online, and rented cards without cards. The only difference I've experienced is that with online shopping, it takes more time, in that you have to allow time for to have the check sent in. Other than that, no problems.

I highly recommend that you go cardless. You will be saving yourself a lot of money and headaches, and as others have mentioned above, if you wish a card for speed factor, get a debit card.

[mdmc]

20. Been without since 1999

you get used to it....

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

21. Yes, I use my debit card if something "requires" a credit card

But I really wish sometimes I had a card for emergencies. I'm still cleaning up my credit after bankruptcy three years ago, there's no way I'd take any credit card offer right now. It'd be a horrible rate anyway.

[Saphire]

23. It's not as hard as it seems, plus I get a better nights sleep without

worring about how much I owe anyone.

[northzax]

24. the only thing I have been unable to do is rent a car

Avis won't even put you as the second driver on one without a CC, (or a thousand dollar retainer on your debit card)

[Withywindle]

25. I manage just fine...

:hi:


I'm not quite sure how this happened, but I'm 36 years old and I've never had a credit card. And frankly, since I've had one of those Visa debit cards attached to my checking account that other people have talked about, I really haven't ever felt a pressing need for one. I can buy stuff online, pay bills, order utility services, plane tickets, etc. just fine with that.

My parents never got credit cards until late in life either...now they have them--in theory they just meant to keep them for emergencies but in practice they do use them a lot more than that. But the thinking they brought me up with was, "Well, if you don't have the money now, then that means you can't afford it."

Most of what I own is second-string and second-hand, but y'know, that's OK.

[MissMillie]

26. I don't have one

I have a debit card, which I can use online like a credit card.

It's fine. I haven't charged ANYTHING in over 2 years.

[no name no slogan]

27. went through credit counselling several years ago

and cut them all up. however, i do have a debit card that i use like a checking account for purchases-- mainly because i hate to carry around a checkbook.

otherwise, i get along just fine. it's a great way to learn spending discipline, too-- if i don't have the dinero, i don't buy it.

[Deja Q]

28. 'The Power of Love' by Huey Lewis says all you need to know!

:D

People can make out fine and not need credit cards. :evilgrin:

[all.of.me]

29. i have not used credit cards for over 20 years

i abused mine and had them taken away. i vowed never to do that again. and i get along fine.

credit cards allow people to live lifestyles they really can't afford, they live beyond their means, without ever seeing what their means really are. it's a false sense of security or of self. then they get into trouble way over their heads. i speak from experience! haha

now i live with what cash i have. if i don't have the money, i don't spend it. i have a small savings account for emergencies, but other than that, i live on what i make. my life is very simple, house and car paid for, no debt. if i need to buy something, i have to have the money for it, or i go out and make the money for it (i'm a street vendor). i get really good at saving up if i need to. i am saving for new tires right now (about $500).

you may wonder how people get along without credit cards, but i wonder how people chronically use them! i'd be afraid to have bills that big.

[Samurai_Writer]

30. Yes, I've been without one for 15 years or more

I do have a VISA debit card, which I use for car rentals, hotel reservations, etc. But I have been without credit cards since I was about 28 years old, after all those credit cards I got in college landed me in financial trouble because of two job losses within a year.

The secret is to budget, and to save for vacations and other luxury items. I do have a car loan, but that is all.

Peace,
Bella

[pitohui]

31. they make out poorly

can't travel, but most i know in this situation don't get jobs requiring travel anyway, they are in dead-end jobs

when emergency comes, the situation gets much more severe while they try to save the $$$ -- the broken tooth rots and is lost that would have been saved, the dry-rotted bathroom floor falls in and someone is hurt, a leak in the roof is not patched and an entire living room ceiling collapses -- these are all friends i know personally who had this happen

it's too expensive to be poor

when i was poor, too many times a credit card saved my a$$

people w/out credit cards pay usurious rates at check-cashing businesses that prey on the poor

so they can't get out of the hole

credit cards are only bad until you consider the alternatives

[BikeWriter]

32. I did fine until I got online. I got a Visa Debit Card...

My card number is BR-549. :)

[tibbir]

34. I cut up my credit cards and now use a Visa debit card. The only problem

I worry about is that I don't think you get the same protection if your card is stolen. The thief wouldn't be able to use it as a debit card and withdraw cash at your ATM or point of sale but he/she could use it to make purchases and use it as a credit card. The purchase price would be paid right out of your checking account just like a debit purchase is.

I also worry about using it to make purchases online because I can't dispute the charge if I'm ripped off in some manner.

Regardless, I'm a credit card junkie and can't trust myself with credit cards that I can max out because I do just that with them. I'm just really careful to hang onto my card and about whom I do business with online.

[xmas74]

35. I have a debit card.

I also have a prepaid card that I picked up at Walgreen's a while ago. I go in, put $25 or so on it at a time and let it sit. That way, I can use it as another way to save money, in case it's needed. And the prepaid one is the one that I use for unnecessary expenses (spending instead of bills). I use the debit card from the bank for my bills. That way, if someone gets my number from my prepaid one and tries to use it they don't have any access to my primary account.
I think the prepaid cost me about $5.00 to initially activate it and a couple of dollars to refill it.