Credit Cards

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maybe an occasional lingering item that I pay down over a few months.

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Don't get a credit card if you already plan to do this. That's not a step toward mainstream adulthood, it's a step toward a form of debt peonage.

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Basically how much do people typically spend before they get signifiant miles for flights? The shite is confusing. Maybe it's me. But I don't get it

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Basic rule is 1 dollar spent = 1 mile. Some banks offer specials from time to time to increase the miles per dollar, especially in certain categories. Some cards have an annual limit of how much you can earn.

Say a round trip ticket costs 30,000 miles. So... assuming no bonuses, that's $30,000 in spending. If you did that over a year, that's $2,500 a month.

You have to have the discipline that 95 percent of Americans don't have, to make this work.

Laugh out loud at the ballers on here.

Never mind. Forget I asked.

It's entirely normal to make a purchase that's out-of-budget for the month, and pay that off over a couple months.

Especially when you're dealing with low or no interest rates for the first 12 months.

Using a credit card for the typical purchases, and then the occasional item that is out of budget for a month is not a slippery slope.

Oh well.

If you waste a couple months then but that thing, it is like getting it on sale. Don't be a child and be patient

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It's entirely normal to make a purchase that's out-of-budget for the month, and pay that off over a couple months.

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Here is where you are misguided. Maybe you were raised this way and are a product of your environment, but make no mistake about it, this isn't the "normal" you want to be a part of.

Don't put a damn thing on that credit card you can't pay cash for. That's what all the poor sheep in America do.

Ein­stein said: “Those who understand interest earn it, those who don’t, pay it.”

With that response, I'm somewhere between laughing, crying, and raging over your naivety.

You don't have to be a "baller" to refrain from making poor life decisions (what you call normal).
I, along with many others here have had your exact mindset.
Five years down the road, more often than not, it ends like this:
$6,000 in credit card debt spread out over two or three different cards due to 0% balance transfers.
That was my situation, and it doesn't have to be yours, but your attitude of "it's normal" screams the contrary.

You asked for advice and there's a clear consensus. You're looking for ONE person to justify your stupidity right now.
Report back in five years if you haven't already asked us for the best balance transfer card after two.

I'm being real with you right now because I feel responsible for your fiscal future, and this decision impacts it more than you could ever imagine. Please change your mindset before the debt changes you.

Fair enough, but companies make a frick ton of money off people just like him and that mentality. I'd like to know the % of people who pay off that "0% no interest for 12 months".

I'm a huge fan of credit cards, one just needs to make sure they are winning the game when dealing with them.

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He did (correctly) point out that if the interest is zero there is nothing at all wrong with this. The trick is to pay off the balance before interest is charged. And as you know, for many cards these days that might be 12 months away or longer.

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This was basically what happened to me. Made a few big purchases in addition to the daily stuff that I said I knew could be split up into 12 monthly payments. Problem was I didn't do the best job planning for an unexpected hike in my housing costs that soon. Before the change I could have afforded the $3000 split over 12-18 months no interest. Instead at the end of that period I still had the bulk of it to pay off and very little left in my monthly budget.

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Fair enough, but companies make a frick ton of money off people just like him and that mentality. I'd like to know the % of people who pay off that "0% no interest for 12 months".

I'm a huge fan of credit cards, one just needs to make sure they are winning the game when dealing with them.

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Totally understood.

It just occurred to me that if you can buy houses down there for $25k you could probably charge one for 0% APR on the right credit card for a year or so.

Get your credit card and enjoy what you buy. There's a funny thing about money - you can't take it with you when you die. I learned a valuable lesson pretty quickly after dental school. A good friend, who was making $450K/year, ran out to pick up dinner 5 minutes from home for his wife and kids. On the way home, just blocks from his house, he was hit head on and died instantly. All the money in the world couldn't bring him back. And all the money he stockpiled did him no good. Sure it benefitted his family - but so would life insurance. Enjoy every minute of your life, and enjoy it now. One of the first big purchases I made was a motorcycle. I could have saved for a couple years and paid cash, but instead I financed it and paid a very reasonable interest rate. What did I lose by not waiting and paying cash? I lost a few bucks in interest payments. What did I gain by not waiting to pay in cash? I gained a couple more years of enjoyment of that motorcycle. Same with cars and just about everything else I've ever bought - most of which I get rid of before they are ever paid off. I once had my credit cards up to $30K, then paid them off. Then I ran them up to around $40K again. And paid them off. Last year they were around the $36K mark, and they are down to around $21K right now. I'd be looking at around 3 months of expendable income to pay them off again, but I see no reason to. Only about $3K of that costs me any interest at the moment, and about half of that interest is offset by rewards. The vast majority is easy to float free of interest due to the never-ending flow of interest free offers. Of course, I'm not advocating for someone with an income of $50K to have $20K in credit card debt. But there is a lot to be said for having what you want and having it NOW, because there is one commodity more precious than any other - TIME. My dad is the complete opposite - he carries zero debt and pays for everything in cash - and I'm talking about things like houses, $400K motorhomes, and $200K boats. But on his boat, he haggled price for well over a year to save around $10K. He was happy as could be when he got his deal, but what he couldn't understand was that he cost himself over a year of enjoying that boat - and for a guy in his mid 60s at the time, a year of enjoyment in that boat is one hell of a long time.
Don't be afraid to enjoy your life to save a few dollars. Use simple common sense and keep things within limits your income can handle, but don't buy into the fear-mongering money hoarders.