patrick.net

Many thriving businesses can't function without credit. In the 6 months or so after the crash in late 2008, it was a big problem, because even some business with assets and fairly low risk were having trouble getting financing.

Business could probably adapt to functioning with far less short and medium term borrowing, but they do a lot of it. This is even for things like meeting payroll in an off season, or building inventory when other money is tied up in new capital investment.

My house is the only thing I've got on Credit, before I bought the house, I've spent the last 10 years with out it. Well I did HAVE TO get credit to build credit so I could buy the house.

We still use the Credit card from time to time, just to keep them active, so they don't cut our credit, then effect our Credit score.
I think the whole fucking system is unconstitutional. You're fucked for playing and even more screwed when you don't. Then you have no say so over the content they keep.

I will say I get every credit card offer imaginable in the mail every day.

American Express offering me, of all people a GOLD card. I always thought they had high standards. I just laugh as I shred them up.

A lot of people use credit cards for all or nearly all of their spending, and pay the last statement balance every month, thereby paying zero interest.

So I don't see how one is "fucked for playing." The fact is, AFAICT we get real short term credit for free.

They say plastic is going away. Not sure what relaces it though. An implant perhaps? No that could lead to violence. I guess it's some cell phone app?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/technology/personaltech/googles-virtual-credit-card-can-replace-plastic.html

Ohhhhh, "google wallet."

marcus says

The fact is, AFAICT we get real short term credit for free.

Do you honestly believe it is free? Why do you think some gas stations offer two prices, one for cash payment, the other for credit card payment? The merchant is hit by up to 3% or more for using creditcard . . . guess who ultimately pays that? Look in the mirror and you will find that guy!

Credit DOES lubricate the gears of an economy IMO.

However, you can overlubricate a machine, which is where we are now.

marcus says

So I don't see how one is "fucked for playing." The fact is, AFAICT we get real short term credit for free.

Then you must not have active credit.

1)You're dinged for checking your credit score.
2)You're dinged for NOT using your credit cards
3)You're dinged for Using your Credit cards(if your balance is over a certain percent)
4)You're dinged for canceling credit cards
5)You're dinged when they cancel you
6)You're dinged when you change banks

7)You're dinged for too many credit cards
8)You're dinged for being loyal to only one credit card

"Every body must get dinged"

I could go on and on.

ENRON, BERNIE MADOFF, WORLDCOM, , all began with a little white lie. (see "smartest guys in the room")(wag the dog) Kinda how the credit business began. Who knew credit might double a home purchase price over the term of the loan?

Tenouncetrout says

"Every body must get dinged"

Ha.

They ding ya when you're trying to be so good...

... everybody must get a loan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fphDnT36W4w

I got caugt with a huge credit card bill in my early 20's and paid the price for acting irresponsible. It took me 3 years to pay off the balance. I only use Discover card since they give me money back on purchases and to keep a good credit score.

The only credit I have is mortgage credit. Everything else is paid off in full at the end of the month. I could easily operate on cash only except for the house. I would have to rent until I had enough savings to purchase a house.

Matter of fact, I have enough cash at this time to pay off my house completely, but it would tap my full IRA, emergency fund, and kids college fund. I don't have balls to do something like that at this moment.

I don't have a credit card and never have. I take that back. I had one for a month unknowingly because I was basically tricked into saying yes on some phone survey and wallah- a credit card showed up in the mail. You want to know something funny? I canceled the card immediately and never used it for anything. Yet years later when I moved to Cali and had to show a credit report for renting a house that card showed up and I had this wonderful credit score!

I pay for everything with cash. When we buy our home it too will be with cash. I have no need for credit.

I learned about credit mostly for working for a collection agency...that and the reforms for bankruptcy pretty much meant you had to plead in front of a judge.

I paid cash for my car (shouldn't have got that extended plan that's for sure), cash for school (don't get me started about student loans).
I don't go crazy in shopping for anything. I learned to set a budget for spending and kept to it. I saved for years in order to prevent debt.

I use a credit card sparingly..a few times a year. Debit cards I use mostly but that's taking from what I have anyway.

Could you live without credit

Easily.

Availability of easy Credit just makes everything more expensive. We'd all be fine without it, of course the financial mafia in Washington won't let that happen. It's their bread and butter.

Yes but I prefer to use my credit cards because i get reward points or cash back from it. I pay my bills in full and on time so I am not charged any interests. I've actually gone on a vacation for free (or almost free) because I used my earned points to buy my flight ticket and lodging for three nights :) So i guess credit does have its perks

Vicente says

Credit DOES lubricate the gears of an economy IMO.

However, you can overlubricate a machine, which is where we are now.

“Eagles are dandified vultures” - Teddy Roosevelt

well said.

thunderlips11 says

They ding when you're trying to be so good...

Strip everything else aside when working with any lender or hospital emergency room, their focus is "HOW MUCH MONEY YA GOT" ?
Our job is to kick em in the shin and withold 75%. Why MAX out to buy a house?
Oh Yeah, fuckin EGO.

Without credit NO ONE would be under water !

Done! says

American Express offering me, of all people a GOLD card. I always thought they had high standards. I just laugh as I shred them up.

I usually open junk mail, take the postage paid postcard/envelope that it comes with, and affix it to a small box of trash/rocks/pebbles and send it right back to them.

They usually stop mailing me stuff after I do it twice or so because mailing a 3 lb package via USPS is not cheap.

vain says

I usually open junk mail, take the postage paid postcard/envelope that it comes with, and affix it to a small box of trash/rocks/pebbles and send it right back to them.

They usually stop mailing me stuff after I do it twice or so because mailing a 3 lb package via USPS is not cheap.

Oh man, that is an excellent strategy. A BMW forum I frequent had some good pranks like this a couple of years ago. One guy collected his dog's poop for a good few months, filled a box & mailed it to the CC company. Another individual managed to get bricks & a car tire into a large box & send it to them at a postage cost of ~$120! I am really tired of getting CC offers in the mail, so maybe I will go ahead & start mailing boxes of old car parts & junk to them. I DO need to start cleaning out the old car parts pile anyway...

To answer the question of the OP, yes. I have a few CCs for credit score-bolstering purposes, and have never once carried a balance. I occasionally find them useful in cases where the rent check is due since I can put everyday purchases on the CC & use it like a buffer until the next pay period. That was really only an issue when I was living with roommates & I wrote a check for the entire amount, and they wrote me checks for their share. Now that I am in a smaller/cheaper unit with my fiancee, it isn't really an issue.

vain says

I usually open junk mail, take the postage paid postcard/envelope that it comes with, and affix it to a small box of trash/rocks/pebbles and send it right back to them.

The PO doesn't bother trying to deliver it. They just throw it away.

"According to rule 917.243(b) in the Domestic Mail Manual, when a business reply card is "improperly used as a label" — e.g., when it's affixed to a brick — the item so labeled may be treated as "waste." That means the post office can toss it in the trash without further ado."

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/566/can-i-mail-a-brick-back-to-a-junk-mail-firm-using-the-business-reply-envelope

you can't order anything online, get gas at the pump, etc without credit. Try to rent a car without a credit card, or a hotel room, etc.

The system holds you hostage.

elliemae says

you can't order anything online, get gas at the pump, etc without credit. Try to rent a car without a credit card, or a hotel room, etc.

The system holds you hostage.

Eschew Obfuscation

Really? A debit card doesn't work for the above? I know it does at the pump, but not sure in the other instances.

Personally, I have a really low limit credit card that I specifically use and keep a low limit on for online purchases. If I could use a debit card online, I wouldn't. The added abstraction of the credit card, and the limit amount, are protections I enjoy. Letting an "online hand" reach directly into my bank account ... (shiver) ... unless it is automatic bill paying with a company I am doing business with (insurance, power, etc.).

ordering online opens you up to extra charges that most checking accounts won't refund or even stop. Gas at the pump as a credit transaction often holds an amount in your account until the transaction is complete, up to $100 (meaning that amount is frozen), but if you use it as a debit card your account might be hacked. Rent a car, even cheaply, and they "hold" an amount like $500 until it's returned. Same thing with a hotel room.

it's crazy - and if your checking account is drained, most banks won't return the money without a fight whereas cc's are insured.

Remember Mr Rogers ? QUADRILLION ! Boys & Girls, CAN YOU SAY a Quadrillion Dollars ? That's the number that comes after trillion. That word trillion is so out of fashion, lets move on up ! How soon before EastcoastBubbleBoy changes the name of this thread to "GET READY to live without credit".
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Studying the debt clock for a minute, I get a similar rush by over twisting the throttle on my motorcycle.