Evil, if you don't pay it off monthly. Deeply evil.

I think the only good practice for credit cards is if you absolutely know you will pay it off every month. Personally, however, my husband and I do not plan to ever use credit cards. I think it can be an easy trap to fall into.

We use our card for everything and pay it off monthly. For one it makes managing the bills alot easier. You pay off one company every month and don't have to keep up with this check and that. We also love the freebies you get. We have flown to Napa Valley on our points and Washington Dc and still have two tickets waiting. We have gotten cash back rewards as well as points to knock of the price of a future car purchase. As long as you can, you might as well take advantage of it. The only thing is never leave a balance.

If you use cards responsibly, then you can take advantage of some of some great offers. I often get cash bonuses on new cards and only use cards that provide points or cash back. If you have a card with no annual dues, pay your card in full and on time every month then there will be no additional fees associated with the card.

I also use my credit cards to automatically pay my cell, gym membership, cable, and various other reoccurring expenses. This way I never forget to pay my bills. I would rather have these accounts directly linked to a credit card, which provides some level of consumer protection, as opposed to a direct link to my bank account.

I think they can be used responsibly because my husband and I have been doing it for over 15 years. We have an AmEx card, which forces us to pay the balance off monthly. For a while we did the points, but now we do the cashback (up to 5% on groceries and gas) and use the card for EVERYTHING. We get $450-500 from AmEx each year just for using the card. I know not everyone can use credit cards wisely, but it has worked great for us.

Credit cards are like playing with fire.

You can use your card wisely every month and still end up with a mark against you. Example: I made a payment over the phone 3 days before the payment was due,I also had to pay a fee for this service. When I received my following monthly statement,I had a late charge fee of $29.00. I call the card company and told them that I had made the payment 3 days prior to the due date. I was told that they had technical problems and that my payment didn't post until 2 days after the due date. I protested,they would not correct their mistake. I received a late pay mark on my credit,plus I had to pay the late fee. It's not just the credit card that gets you into trouble. It's also the card company,even when you do everything right. They own you!!!

I'm just a couple of months in on budgeting and controlling my spending but I'm trying not to get on the "credit cards are evil" bandwagon. I don't carry mine with me currently, but once I've learned to control the impulse to just go around willy-nilly with my cards, I can see using them as others have mentioned in previous comments. I know Ramseyites and others see them as evil but to me, it's not the cards or even debt itself that's evil, but it's the use or misuse of them that determines whether they are good or evil.

In my experience, credit cards have been more good to me than bad, since I pay on time and in full most of the time, given all the sweet cashback deals available. If, however, the new laws cause these deals to disappear, I may have to switch to debit cards.

As others said, you need to be responsible, but there is nothing wrong with credit cards. The cash back is great, but I use it more for buyer's protection - you don't have the ability to do a chargeback with cash, a check, or even a debit card in most cases, but I know that if a merchant screws me I have options (for the record I have only had to use it once, when a company took my money and then went out of business the next day before they shipped my product). You also get warranty extensions on some big-ticket items that you would never get if you bought them with cash. Plus getting robbed or losing lot of cash means you are out the money, but you can cancel a credit card if it gets stolen or lost.

There is nothing wrong with credit cards if they are used responsibly and paid off at the end of every month.

In 2007, we got an American Express card. It had a $2000 limit and we used it a lot but paid it off every month to get the travel rewards. Toward the end of 2007, my husband's company filed for bankruptcy and he lost his job. We still paid it off every month because he had fairy steady consulting work even before he finished his last day at the old company.

However, as consulting work dried up in the middle of 2008 and he wasn't making any money, we weren't able to pay off the balance in full anymore. We paid actually paid $400 a month and not the $39 minimum payment, and we were never late, but we didn't pay it in full.

American Express was thrilled with us. We were finally paying finance charges on our stuff! Of course, that $400 was rotating. We'd pay it and over the month charge it again.

When my husband finally went back to work earlier this year and we paid American Express off in full again, they cancelled our card the same day. VOIDING $300 in Travel Dollars at the same time.

So, I no longer think that using a credit card for the travel miles or points is worth it. I also never plan to have another credit card. It only took once for the lesson to sink in.

I think its too easy to through around a dramatic duality like GOOD VERSUS EVIL!? but there is a lot interesting going on with credit cards so here goes.

From a macro perspective we hear a lot about credit being the grease that keeps our economy lubed and such tortured metaphors. Here I'm speaking about the transaction costs of credit network, usually around 2% + a small fixed amount. The US has a consumer based economy so making sure that the money is in the right place at the right time is a valuable service. And for providing this valuable service it is reasonable for the firms providing the credit and running the networks to make a profit. Is the amount of profit that they are earning fair? That of course is a difficult question, competition in this area is hard to come by so the answer is probably that it is not fair and that the companies are over-compensated. For evidence take a look at how Discover recently won suits in the $100s of millions against VISA and Mastercard. Also, the Internet *should* be dramatically lowering the cost of doing business, that has not been realized for the traditional payment architectures. They *will* eventually have to give ground, though it is likely they will leverage their existing power to prevent that as long as possible.

Also on the macro level is the consideration that a large part of the CC companies' business model is predatory. Its not necessary to delve into this too deeply, everyone is familiar with the 20% interest rates and the fees on top of fees, and the gotchas, and how the companies seek these people out. There's a social cost to this beyond the credit costs of banks. Lost opportunities, lower productivity, education bypassed, health effects, etc.

Lately I've thought a lot about the moral dimension of using reward credit cards. I get 2% back in rewards when I use my card, those costs are absorbed by the shoppers that use cash. Is it an ethical thing to do for me to impose those costs on them? Further, if they all start using credit cards too then the "reward" essentially disappears because the retailer has to raise prices. So, in pursuit of the "reward" all of us consumers end up losing.

If used responsibly, they are good. The number one reason I like them is to keep track of expenses since I either lose the receipt by the time I get home or certainly by the time I enter it in my tracking software. I have tried keeping track of the cash expenses but I inevitably have unaccounted for money loss.

I don't use credit cards anymore, I use my debit card. If I don't have the money, I don't buy it. This has served me well for at least ten years, traveling or staying at home. It secures motels etc. just as well as a credit card. I'll admit I don't handle credit cards well, this keeps me out of trouble and away from extra charges. I feel it's time we all put the nix on uneccesary credit. It has gotten so far out of hand, especially as a nation. I wonder if we even own our own souls anymore!

Credit cards are the bee's knees.

Excellent consumer protection and convenient float for the consumer.

Reward cards give you 1%-5% cash back on purchases.

Pay them off (push, not pull) electronically and forget about stamps.

Debit cards are a poor substitute, offering almost no legal protections for the end user (only convenient for the bank)

Of course CC are good! So long as people pay them off monthly and are getting the most out of the rewards, that is. Hopefully all this talk about all CC's having an annual fee will go away because no one likes to pay for that.

I have been using credit cards since 1990 and never ever carried a balance on them. I use one regularly and keep the other just in case my primary card does not work or is stolen. In order not to lose the second card, I use that for a few small purchases during the month and when my bills arrive, they get paid in full. If you stick to a budget and follow your purchases religiously on a daily basis, you never have to pay interest on them. The trick is never to live beyond your means. I use credit cards as a means of payment not a credit source.

...on how you view credit cards, I suppose. I grew up not knowing that you can pay just the minimum but thought that you HAD to pay the full balance every month (that's what my parents did, so I just assumed it was the standard practice). So that is what I did when I first got my own card in college. I did eventually find out that you didn't have to pay the full amount but b/c that's what I was doing, I didn't veer from it. But I feel that as long as you treat it like a debit card and buy things you have the money for already, you can reap the benefits of credit cards. Aside from cashback, gift cards, etc., I view it as another way to safeguard our purchases (ie if the vendor does not deliver the product, I can call to dispute the charge) and to get automatic purchase insurance/rental car insurance when you have that sort of card. And because I had the money before I made the purchase but now had some extra time to pay it, I put it in an interest-bearing checking account and made a few bucks off of money that was not really mine anymore. :)

In the past I would say maybe if you pay the balance in full, but with all the talk of cards dropping the 30 day grace period and increasing fees I would say no. Get out while you can before they change things. Most cards have fine print that says they can change almost anything without much notice.

Credit cards are not inherently evil...they are a tool. Just as a gun, knife, hammer or even a pencil could be used for evil, they only become so when they are used inappropriately. However having said that, I only use them if I planned a purchase and would have spent that amount of money anyway...studies show that people who use credit cards without planning (even for simple things like gas or groceries) spend roughly 30% more than people who pay cash. It’s easy to fill the tank with a credit card rather than put $20 in the tank and make it last the week.

I think credit cards are good for emergencies. You're not meant to live off them. People that go shopping just because there's a sale and then put it on a credit card must not get that there's no point if they're not going to pay it off right away! Duh! You end up paying full price in interest! We only use ours for credit reasons and to get some cash back points. However, they are not used day-to-day and they get paid off, when used, every time.

Personally, I love my credit cards, but I use them responsibly. Here are the reasons I love them:

1. Travel rewards. I have a rewards card, which has allowed me to take two foreign vacations using miles mostly accrued through purchases.

2. Easier bill management. I send all of my monthly bills to one card, so I only have to pay one bill every month.

3. Better fraud prevention. Banks say they offer protection against debit card fraud, but you'll still experience a period where your money isn't available to you. That's not true of credit cards.

4. Ability to rent things. Sure you can use a debit card or cash to rent a car or truck, but you have to bring the cash for the deposit with you or be willing to have it locked up by the rental agency. I'd much rather have a freeze applied to my credit card than tie up real money while on vacation or moving.

People do abuse credit, and credit can get people into trouble (see current economic crisis), but people who are financially responsible can and do use credit wisely to make life easier. Maybe rather than hating credit, we should actually be educating our nation's teenagers about proper credit use and financial management skills.

The only responsible use of a credit card is to pay it off each month without fail. A credit card can be good if shopping online, because the charge can easily be reversed if the seller is not honest, and the merchandise isn't as claimed. I use credit cards for the rewards, and I record it as if it was cash into my register for each charge to keep track of my money. I will not pay a yearly fee, if any of my cards begin to charge one, they will be closed immediately. It can be good for an emergency, but only for purchases that can be paid back immediately

I use my card for everything to earn the max number of awards. I always schedule my payments in advance as soon as I receive the online statement. I also track my account and purchases in Yodlee Money Center to see on what categories I'm spending most of my money.

I agree that credit cards can be dangerous, but I also believe that credit cards can be a powerful tool in keeping finances organized when used responsibly. My wife and I were in significant debt about two years ago (mainly due to abusing the privilege of owning a few credit cards). We decided to pay everything off and start from scratch ($0 balance) and since then, we've paid everything off each month and have accumulated about $1,500 in rewards dollars by being responsible.

So yeah, I know firsthand how dangerous and tempting they can be - but that alone isn't a reason to avoid using them. Evaluate your willpower and your financial situation and see if they are a fit for you. If so, more power to ya!

If you have the cash to pay off at the end of the month, why not pay cash when you make the purchase. I understand internet purchases but I have a debit card and a local bank that will back it same as a credit card. I don't earn miles or cash back but I also don't play with snakes, play often enough and you WILL get bit.

Like others, I pay off my card every month and earn rewards of much greater value than the annual fee. Also, when my son was in college, I received an offer for a card that was interest-free for one year. I used it to pay my son's tuition, food, dorm, books, and other college expenses for his last year. I paid as much as I could each month, paying it off by the time the year was over and incurring no interest. It turned out to be a much better deal than a Sallie Mae college loan, but only worked out that way because I've always been well disciplined on my cards.

I use a credit card for everything. I don't understand this "trap" people talk about. If you are fiscally responsible, you are spending less money than you are bringing in. If this is the case, there is absolutely no reason not to pay off your card every month. Don't spend money you don't have.
Plus I get a check in the mail about 3-4 times a year with free money from rewards. Free money and living within my means? Sign me up!

If you are disciplined and smart about it, credit cards are a great thing! My rules are:
(1) Carry no balance
(2) Pay the bill in full each month ON TIME!
(3) Don't spend more than you can pay off in full each month
(4) Track credit card spending so it's not a surprise when the bill comes

I recently wrote a post about it also.

Credit cards are good if you are financially responsible and able to live within your means. This all comes down to knowing your money and how to manage your finances.

Credit cards are evil if you spend more than you have and you live like you make millions a year. If you could care less about your credit score and love to live on borrowed money. I understand some people struggle financially due to having to work and go to school full time just to survive, but most people I know in that situation tend to own an iphone with a $79/month plan or have cable TV.

Bottom line...your credit card can't walk itself to the register and charge your money. It's your money, you spend it how you like, and you need to take responsibility for the outcome. All the talk about traps or evilness comes down to the person, not an object.

We use our COSTCO AMEX card for cash back rewards. There is nothing like making from spending money. :)

credit cards can absolutely be used for good by responsible people. cards can be used in an emergency to bridge a gap between a need and the availability of cash. such as a late night car tow or something with no ATM in sight.

if you have the right card and use it the right way, they are fantastic! Especially for those days rainy days (literally) when I'm rushing from meetings or running late with baby and need a taxi and realize I don't have any cash! So if they are a must, use BillShrink.com to find the right one- totally personalized recommendations and free!

An object is usually not evil, only how it is used.

Consider credit cards or movies or dance or marketing. All of these things can be good or bad depending on the intent of the person using them.

Are they trying to take advantage of another person through enticement and greed? Unhealthy sex? Half-truths and lies?

Or are they using honesty and transparency? Relational Giving? Beauty and grace? Timeless truths?

Credit cards are not evil. But people and systems can choose to be.

miles, miles and more miles. just make sure u can pay in full at the end of each billing cycle.

Credit cards themselves are neither good nor evil, it's all in how they are used.
Used for purchases which can then be paid off when the bill comes, they are a great convenience and can offer some rewards (cash back, air miles, etc). Used in times of emergency when they can be paid off relatively quickly, they can be an added convenience and an acceptable trade off between cost and convienience/comfort/family obligations/etc. Used for purchases which can not be afforded, they can cause large financial problems which can manifest into problems in other areas of life.

It's all in how you use them.
For me, personally, I pay my cards off each month. For using them, I receive air miles, store discounts and the convenience of not having to pay cash for everything. I also am able to rent vehicles, make purchases on the internet and know that, should the need arise, I can be drive directly to the airport and be on a plane to be with my family in time of emergency in just a few hours. That last bit alone brings me extra piece of mind that is worth a good bit to me.

Credit cards are good as long as the user is responsible- and by that I mean they pay off the balance on time, are careful about going over the limit, do not use the card for cash advance, etc. Like other commenters, I appreciate the frequent flier miles and other rewards that come with the credit cards. Also it is simply more convenient to pay w/ the credit card instead of carting around a wallet stuffed with cash all the time.

I use a credit card for all my purchases. I think of it as reverse interest because I pay it off in full each month. So I essentially have 30 days to pay money back and it's a reward card so I'm making 1-3% back and interest in the bank for the 30 days I didn't have to spend the money.

However, if you don't pay your card off in full each month then you shouldn't touch a credit card. It's too dangerous and I've watched my brother and aunt feel the detrimental effects of this amazing yet dangerous tool. It happens too quickly and snowballs out of control (e.g. "Oh it's only another hundred dollars, I'll pay it back in a few months"...I hear this and think "Sure but it's no longer a hundred dollars it is now $120 and most of the time they don't get $100 of value out of it [definitely not a $120 out of it]).

My advice is be careful. If you pay it off each month and feel confident in doing so then credit cards can be a great tool but if you don't feel comfortable with your finances or are on rocky ground then I'd steer clear.

If you can pay them off every month, they are good. Sometimes it is just not convenient to carry cash.

I put everything on my Amex card, and it helps me be the most frugal I can be. A recent example was at the grocery store. My local Acme was having a "sale" on their gift cards, essentially selling a $330 gift card for $300 - 10% off. I like saving 10% on groceries, so I bought quite a few of the cards - no limit - no expiration. Next, I paid for the cards using my AmEx ... another 3% off. Now I'm saving 13% on groceries. Of course, I also haunt the coupon, freebie and discount online sites and clip coupons like mad. Now, with the Acme cards and a fistful of coupons, my grocery bills are regularly and reliably discounted by 27 - 33%.

And, on large purchases, I use my credit cards to negotiate a lower cash price for goods all the time. If I can get to the owner/manager, I can usually get them to lower prices by at least 5% by accepting cash rather than have to pay the merchant fee if I whip out the plastic. You would be surprised how often this works.

Of course, be careful with credit cards. A chainsaw is a useful tool, too ... until you disrespect it.

But often an implement of stupidity. There's nothing to fear from credit cards if used responsibly. I use credit cards almost exclusively, but I'm always able to pay off my balance every month. With cash rewards, using my credit card is like getting a small discount on everything I buy. And since the cashback rewards I get are automatically applied to my CC balance at the end of the year instead of sent to me in a check, I automatically use it to pay off my bill instead of going out and buying something with my "windfall".

An added benefit of credit cards is that since I can pay for most things with a credit card, I don't need to keep much money in a checking account, leaving me free to keep it in a savings account with a higher interest rate.

If you use self-control and discipline yourself to pay off each month what you charged that month, then I believe they can be a good thing, especially if you have a card you can earn valuable rewards. Thank you for the entry.

koinonia572001@yahoo.com

My father has glaucoma. During a routine eye exam for new glasses, it was discovered that my eye pressure was also very high. Glaucoma can be hereditary. I've been laid off for a year and wasn't able to afford the medical portion of Cobra. Since I saw (no pun intended) the damage to my father's now almost non existent vision, I knew I couldn't waste time. The various tests I needed were expensive and since a payment plan wasn't available, I was very glad to use a credit card to pay for them. My interest isn't the best, but I gladly pay my bill every month without complaint to be able to be proactive about my health.

Credit card companies often have packages, promotions, and offers to increase your credit card limits. If you already know you can't handle your money wisely or if you're in debt already, do not accept these offers.

I teach an online introductory science course for a state university. It seems like every semester at least one student emails me the second or third week of class that s/he hasn't been able to participate in the class yet becuase s/he is still waiting for a reimbursement check from financial aid. Oh, and s/he has missed several class deadlines because of it and could I reopen those quizzes etc. for them to take once they finally get their required textbook etc.

I think that this is one specific case where using a credit card would be a very good thing. 1) They know that they're getting a refund check eventually. 2) They need the required course materials now. Not too surpisingly, these unprepared students have a very difficult time getting caught back up again.

Thanks for letting me rant a little.

If you can pay off the monthly balance, then in general, the credit card won't cost you anything. And it's very important to keep lines of credit open to increase your credit score and build a credit history. This will be very helpful when negotiating for loan terms of houses, cars, etc.

Credit cards, if used responsibly, can be a really useful tool, and they can have a lot of benefits that a lot of people don't use or even know about. We especially love the warranty protection plan offered by our American Express card - it extends the warranty of purchases made with the card under certain conditions - it has come in handy on more than one occasion!

In our family, we use the Discover card for pretty much all of our purchases! We make sure to pay it off in full each month to avoid any finance charges. And we use the cashback bonus that we earn to buy Christmas gifts for everyone on our list each year!

i work in the fraud dept of a major credit card company. one good thing about using credit cards instead of cash is that if you lose (or someone steals) your cash it's gone. however, if you lose your credit card legally you are only liable for the first $50 and many banks will not even make you pay that. the bank that i work for covers its customers 100 % for any fraudulent transactions. also, when using your atm/debit card you should always use it as a credit card if given the option because there are different laws with regards to fraud with atm cards and you may end up being liable for it all if you don't.

that being said, i agree that credit cards should be paid off monthly when you are able to do so. there are times however when this may not be possible, as we all know.

Why not pay in full when the bill comes in the mail?