Credit Card Question , For the Financial People In Here.

[BAMBU]

Ok this is the situation, i opened 2 credit cards a couple months ago to do a few payments and ive been doing minimum payments on them for like 3 months, now i got the money to pay both of them in full.

Now is it a good idea if i pay them off all at once or if i do monthly payments on them even though i have the money to pay them off? i know that by doing payments im improving my credit...but it would feel good to have those 2 pains of my back once and for all

 

[Maxtro]

If you have an APR higher than 0% then you are loosing money because of interest. IMO you should pay them both off. Then once they are paid off use them to buy little things every now and then instead of using cash or a debit card. Then pay the balance in full each month. That way your account stays active and you don't pay any interest because you paid the balance each month.

 

[penkitten]

credit card debt is very frightening.
if you pay the entire amount due, it makes the company call you a term that means they can not make any money off of your account because you continue to pay what is due without getting hit hard with big interest.
if you may the minimal, you increase your credit, but you can wind up paying so much more on the interest.

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Nah.. Pay off credit cards. Even if you pay them off in full you making credit history. Always pay them off when you have money.. Sometimes you might have enough to pay them off but not for other things, in those cases figure out how much you can actually pay now.. But the idea is to pay them off ASAP so you don't pay interest..

On a car loan, or mortage, you usually pay them off month by month.. You can pay 1 month ahead every year and be in the clear.. I.e. $0 due now payment.. That way the majority of your payment is to pay off the loan, not interest.

But the idea is always the same man, you pay it off asap..


Here is an example how to built credit history.. From a small bank take a loan.. Wait a month, and pay it off completely.. That's how they swing it in real estate and buy stuff without down payment.. In a few months you can build up history with this..


By the way. It's good idea to have Visa, Master Card, Discover, etc.. But do have American Express and use it more than others. Others are only for places where they don't take American Express. Reason for that is that American Express is always on your side, they protect you.



Another thing you should do is open a savings account and a CD. One for saving money on a black day, and one for making money with money. Then take some of your money and explore trading.

 

[Skel]

Pay them off.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Pay them off, but only because you have already carried a balance for a few months. When your balance is zero, ask the credit card company to raise your limit. Then repeat this process with larger sums. For people with very good credit, credit cards are not necessarily evil. The rates can be much lower than other types of consumer finance for people who have the discipline to handle having credit.

 

[Mr.Positive]

As a person, who in my younger years, had a decent amount of credit card debt. Pay them off. It's easy to get into the habit of procrastinating, and once you have a big balance, it's very hard to get it down.

Also, remember to read the fine print with credit cards.

Once you are in the system as having great credit, you'll constantly get bombarded with these 'great offers', but they really aren't that great.

Just recently, I got an offer for 3.9% financing for up to 20k for a balance transfer, for the life of the loan. I thought hey, why not pay off my car which is a 7.0% loan with this. I read the fine print, and learned there was a 3.5% initial charge for the transfer. Imagine being hit with a 500$ transfer fee!

Credit cards are nice, but get into the habit now of paying them off every month.

 

[g g g unit]

PAY THEM OFF YOU FOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

seriously, minimum payments are designed too keep you in debt so pay them off asap.

 

[BAMBU]

Ok Thank You for the heads up .

Im gonna pay them off in an hr or so.

Also talking about AmericanExpress, my dream has always been to have a Black Card....how good of a credit do you need and how much money do you have to be making to be granted and approved for a Black Card ?

Just curious...

 

[ramesses]

For every transaction you do on a credit card the retailer has to pay the credit card company a charge which is usually around 2% of the full cost (in most cases this fee is added on to the price of the consumables in shops so the shop doesn't have to fork out the extra costs, so either way if you pay by credit card or even by cash you are still paying for the credit fee).

So they are always making money off you even if you are paying your account off in full each month..the only reason I can imagine the credit card company not wanting your custom is in the event that the customer is hardly using their card each month, barely scraping the running and operational costs of their credit card account.

 

[g g g unit]

For the amex black card i think its $500k a year spending before they even consider you.

Pretty badass though unlimited credit and you get tickets for sports games/concerts + restaurants that are "sold out".

 

[Wiesman44]

Ok Thank You for the heads up .

Im gonna pay them off in an hr or so.

Also talking about AmericanExpress, my dream has always been to have a Black Card....how good of a credit do you need and how much money do you have to be making to be granted and approved for a Black Card ?

Just curious...

Charge over $500,000 a year and pay off over $500,000 in a year.