PSA re credit cards

amother

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 8:50 pm

They are not unlimited
Eventually they get maxed out
It doesn't get easier to afford the minimum payments
And then welcome to real life where you can only spend what you actually have. With everyone chasing you to pay off your ginormous debt.

I should have known better we did this before and after many years our credit recovered but we stupidly put tuition and food on credit cards and here we are again, income went down for a few months and collection agencies will be about to chase us again.

You can't put Pesach on a credit card if you have none.
If you have one you might be better off pretending you don't.

amother

Jetblack

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 9:00 pm

Agree. Btdt. We’re still paying off the credit cards and will only use what we have in the bank. It is so so tough most weeks. Yt it’s a killer. Somehow hashem makes it make sense enough for us to buy food and pay one bill one month and another bill another month. Right now it’s the only way for us to survive. Iyh we’ll all be debt free again soon

amother

Heather

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 9:27 pm

amother OP wrote:

Yes.

But look at the other side of the coin for many: you can’t have Pesach if you don’t put it on a credit card (and I’m not talking anything fancy)

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 9:55 pm

Got married and found out husband had cc debt that ballooned and spiraled to more than double the actual debt he owed. It’s about ten years now and it’s still a little sore point. Still repercussions.
Thanks for the psa. Debt is not cool.

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 9:56 pm

amother OP wrote:

I’m sorry that you are in such financial stress and I hope you see a yeshua very soon.

That being said, isn’t it super common knowledge that anything you put on a credit card will have to be paid off, with interest? I mean my 4 year old thinks credit cards are free money but surely adults don’t think that way?

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 10:03 pm

amother Chocolate wrote:

To answer your question: out of sight, out of mind

amother

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 10:04 pm

amother Chocolate wrote:

Obvs!

But as you see above someone is putting Pesach on a credit card because otherwise they won't have Pesach. Same way we put tuition on a cc so our kids wouldn't get kicked out of school and food so we aren't hungry.

Guess what? If you don't have a credit card you figure it out also. Not as comfortable or enjoyable but I promise we won't starve on Pesach. We might have to ask for help, we might eat a lot of potatoes and not much of anything else.

The PSA is you're just kicking the can down the road. We all hope things will get better and its true overall things got better for us and we were paying down the debt slowly but a few bad months and here we are.

It isn't easy to live with exactly the amount in your bank account even when it's zero but its better than living with the amount in your bank account plus crazy debt.

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Apr 03 2024, 10:07 pm

amother OP wrote:

Yes agree with what you wrote!

I heard very wise similar financial advice once- never use your savings to pay recurring expenses. Because at the end of the day you will be left with no savings and the same recurring expenses. So you will only be in a worse situation, just a few months down the road. If your income isn’t covering your expenses you need to figure it out without resorting to savings.