credit card usage

[Goldy1]

Ok I admit I"m "old" Ok 37 I'm kinda kidding but I had a thought the other day.

I got my first credit card in high school. It was a Sears card. My parents kind of gave me a card on thier account. I maybe used it once.
I had one mastercard after that I had my own card but my parents were the cardholders. It was for emergencies and I was allowed $100 max to charge on it a month which I rarely did))until after college when I got my own first credit card on my own. (btw I have literally never not paid off a balance in full. I never charge what I can't at end of the month so far anyway)

I was just kind of remembering how a credit card was for "emergency" use and not all about hey let's charge everything to get a airline ticket(we get giftcards to lowes with credit card thank you network, hey you always need that when you own a home)

I used to cash my check from my part time job in college, buy gas in cash(10 bucks filled up my tank, Gosh I feel old talkin bout what stuff used to cost)I used to feed myself fresh food(non junk) for about $35 a week too. I could buy chicken, bread, cheese, milk, and coffee and granola bars for that. I'd give my roomate cash to pay my part of the electric. I"d buy a coffee in cash. I ALWAYS bought my groceries in cash.

There were a couple times I got to the cashier and forgot my money or didn't have enough to cover it so I charged my groceries.
I used to be so embarrassed thinking the cashier probably thought I couldn't afford to feed myself and was sort of borrowing from the cc company to eat!!!
Now it's like swipe swipe, and when you pay cash they say "Hey haven't seen this in a while haha) That was said to be the other day. I bought a sandwhich at a coney island at the zoo. I didn't whip out credit for that, and the clerk was amused I didn't.

Just randowm thoughts. I remember it used to be like "ok" to charge clothing etc, but the rule was kinda not to charge "perishable items" like food.....lol

I can just hear my mom tellin me how a loaf of bread was a dime in the back of my head........I just start a blog on my finance thoughts!!!!!

[Blessed]

LOL If 37 is old I'm way old then at 43 As a kid I dont remember a credit card ever being used besides when we flew and traveled. All I remember besides that was CASH. I want the old prices back btw

Your right though I don't remember the charge everything for points thing years ago. I do admit I do that though with big items. I just put my sons surgery copay on there for the points($700) and will pay in full before the due date.

Your right though things have really changed!!

[kork13]

I think it's just an indicator of how society has changed over time. Credit/Debit/Prepaid cards are faster than cash or especially checks (my parents always used checks to buy things... I can't imagine writing checks for everything!!). And I think rewards points for credit card use is a (relatively) recent convention... They weren't common on most credit cards, I think until the 90's when credit cards grew significantly in popularity.

I have no qualms with charging anything and everything, though I do feel a little foolish sometimes charging something that's like $1.20 or something cheesy like that.... Honestly, I never carry much cash on me, and I certainly never have change. I normally keep a $20 in my wallet "for emergencies", but everything normally goes on the card.

And on the "emergency use only" thought, I have some friends who had the same setup with their parents -- given a card with the instructions "for gas and emergencies ONLY". I think when kids are young and starting out, it's probably better to teach them to treat credit cards with caution.

[disneysteve]

I'm ancient at 48. A lot of things have changed, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The reason you don't remember people charging things to get an airline ticket is because programs like that didn't exist years ago, or at least were few and far between. Now that we have them, though, why not take advantage of them? I've earned thousands of dollars in rewards over the years by using credit cards to make purchases I was going to make anyway.

Credit cards are fast, safe and convenient, all the things that cash and checks are not. Rather than having to carry around a wallet-full of money and hope I don't get mugged, I can carry a CC and be safe. Rather than having to wait for an incompetent cashier to figure out how much change to give me, I can swipe my card and be on my way. In fact, rather than having to deal with a cashier at all, I can do self-checkout or pay at the pump for gas and be on my way in no time. Plus, I don't have to spend time writing checks to pay multiple bills each month.

Do credit cards get misused? Absolutely. But that isn't the credit card's fault. It is the user's fault. I know plenty of people who are irresponsible with their cash too.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

As long as we are remembering history, I will chime in as a 53 year old. I remember when grocery stores were not even equipped to accept credit cards. I recall shopping with my mother when I was a child. She would go straight to the store office, stand in line to get her check "pre-approved," then do her shopping and check out. Sometimes cashiers were supposed to call a manager over for a second look at the check before accepting it. There was always a manager haunting the front of the store to approve checks. Mysteriously, approving the check at the cashiers' stand involved an inkpad and rubber stamp. (?)

In my own adulthood I rarely wrote checks for groceries, but by then the stop at the front office was no longer necessary. One just delt with the cashier and no "approval" was necessary.

I remember someone about ten years older than me telling me that she and her husband were in bad debt and had gone through a period where they had to buy food with credit card. I was so shocked at that because this was still a time when grocery stores did not accept CC and stores like Target or Walmart did not sell groceries, except perhaps a very few shelvable things like canned soup. She said Walgreens was their main grocery source and that they ate a lot of bologna sandwiches.

When credit card rewards came along, I became determined to do as much as possible on the CC. I did feel emabarrassment to charge items under $5 or $10 because it felt like that was saying, "I really don't have the money," even though I did! My DH was even slower to come around to making very small charges. He denies it, but I think he still feels stigma.

Of course, we, too pay off the entire charged amounts every month.

Goldy, I know that I also used to think of my CC as largely being for either emergency, or for times when I had found a needed bargain when I did not have money on me. Back then, I only had one card. That was all I could imagine needing. Now, I acquire credit cards according to rewards. I acquired a few specific cards just for the one-time-only reward, then put the card away forever, redirecting my CC use to cards that had the better rewards.

[MonkeyMama]

I am 36. I have *always* charged anything and everything, since around age 16 (for rewards - have never carried even a penny as a balance). As such, I don't really identify with the "it's easier to spend with a card" kind of mindset. I am sure it is a huge mindshift when it comes to moving from cash to credit. I have just always had checks and credit cards and paid everything electronically. So to me there is nothing special or different than "real cash." It's just all the same to me. I never heard any rules that should only be used for emergency, not for perishables, etc.

I really do think our kids will have an easier time of it all, growing up in this environment. If money is *always* electronic to them, they aren't going to find that hard to get used to. But the caveat is only if their parents teach them to deal with it. I am not sure teaching kids that credit is special or "different" is very useful. It's really pretty simple - Don't spend money you don't have. (Obviously teach them about the negative consequences of using credit and carrying a balance, but the rest is pretty simple if you just teach them that "money is money." Cash, debit, credit, check, online bill pay - if you pay the credit off every month - it's all the same).

[BMEPhDinCO]

I am of the "CC generation" - my parents got me one when I was 11! I've never paid interest though.

I do recall once on a trip, around 10 years ago, I with my father, brother, step-sister to be, and step-mother to be. My father was in charge of getting the rental car but he had to call me over because he didn't realize you needed a CC to rent (ie, hold the car) and he had only brought debit cards for the trip! At the time, the only CC I had was one I was an AU on with my mother (they were not a good divorced couple) so I had to use it, but I never told her. Luckily, there were no charges and he was able to pay with the debit card at the end of the trip.

Now, I think it's required to have a CC for a lot of trip expenses and it's more common. Personally, I don't see why you wouldn't use one - you can track what you spend, it's safer than cash, you can get rewards, better exchange rates, etc... just don't spend more than the vacation budget allows for.

[dontgopoor]

Credit card companies put up with the low profits from those of us who pay off our balances every month to reap the high profits from those who use credit to buy things, usually prompted by marketing, that they don't have the money for. These latter folks often have a poor understanding of the cost of credit and finance in general.

I reap the reward dollars on the backs of those who pay the exorbitant late and interest fees - the CC companies would not be able to pay the points that they pay to me without the income from the other folks.

But CCs are a convenient way to handle purchases for both the seller and buyer. Sellers pay a not insignificant percentage of each sale for the ability to take credit. And they do so because their sales would drop if they did not.

[feh]

It comes down to responsible spending. I don't buy anything with a credit card that I wouldn't buy with cash. I also charge every purchase I can, for the rewards.

The result is several hundred dollars back every year.

[snafu]

Sorry Goldy, everything has changed but you are welcome to use or reject products as you wish. Our DSs don't remember cheques, life without PC, internet, cell phones, VCR/DVD, internet or that groceries were delivered in smaller communities. My gran told us the story about dad getting his own bank a/c & cheque book before grandfather got a cheque book as he was of the beautifully, handwritten savings passbook age

I wish the various levels of government would show financial responsibility and lead by example. I can't even imagine $16T. The majority of people are financially responsible whether they use cash, cheques or CC/debit cards or a swipe of the phone; I too think those who are irresponsible would have been reckless with cash.

[chrisburke21]

Charging

I have to say I charge anything and everything. With the caveat that I pay off my credit cards at the end of every month. I love that my fidelity rewards card puts 2% of my spending in an investment account of my choosing. I am not a fan of fidelity, but a huge fan of 2%.

[sblatner]

We also charge everything for the rewards and pay the balances off monthly. I do make a point to tell our kids that even though we charge everything, we are not in debt and that we pay it off monthly. I want them to know that a bill comes to the house that I have to pay and just because I charge something doesn't mean that I don't ultimately pay for it.

[disneysteve]

I do make a point to tell our kids that even though we charge everything, we are not in debt and that we pay it off monthly..

I think this is really important. I do not view using a credit card as going into debt. I simply view it as an alternate form of payment, no different than cash, check, or debit card. When I write a check to pay a bill, the money doesn't come out of my account instantly so how is that any different than using a credit card? It isn't in my mind. Just as I have never overdrawn my checking account because I've never written a check using money I didn't already have sitting in my account, I've also never used my credit card to make a purchase when I didn't already have that money sitting in my account.

[JoeP]

I worked in retail in the mid-80s and recall the books we used to use to look for bad/stolen credit cards. It was similar to a phone book, and when a customer presented a credit card (rare, maybe 1 out of 50 purchases) we'd look in the book for the credit card number. Then we'd run the card and the charge slip (2 part with carbon paper) through the emboss machine, have the customer sign, give them the copy, and put the slip in the register till. Some people would ask for the carbons.

Credit cards are convenient, and the infrastructure has adapted to help this along, no question. I still enjoy saving up for most purchases and paying cash...gives me a sense of accomplishment!

[disneysteve]

I still enjoy saving up for most purchases and paying cash...gives me a sense of accomplishment!

We save up for our purchases too. Then we make the actual purchase with a credit card to get the rewards (and not have to deal with cash). Then we pay the bill with the money we saved up.