Banks are like a lion chasing wildebeast. As long as you're not the one they grab you may be OK.

I'm 25 and I've never had one. I only buy things that I can pay for immediately so I've never seen a need to get one.

I'm sure, in some way shape or form, that will come to bite in my the ass when it comes to buying a house or something like that.

My, now deceased, uncle went his whole live without a credit card. Paid cash for everything, house, car, etc.

Correct. But you know as well as I do that the bastards wouldn't make these offers at all if they didn't KNOW that a large percentage of suckers will fail to read the fine print and get snookered into the top interest rate on the full balance when they fail to pay/transfer by the deadline.

I took dynalow's advice and called BoFA about lowering my APR, which is at 16.24%. I never really paid much attention to it until only recently now that I want to see where I can save money. I'm like WTF? When I called I told the person I've been a good outstanding customer, and the person agreed. Still, she couldn't do anything about it. She transfered to another dept who might be able to make changes. He too couldn't do anything but said that BoFA might in the future and suggested that I should continue with my aggressive payments yet also use the card more. I rarely ever use this card, and it looks like BoFA is aware of it because the guy asked me if I was in "Paydown" mode? I said yes, and that may have been a mistake because now they see no reason to lower my APR. Anyway, I asked the rep isn't it counter-intuitive to spend money on the card while you're trying to pay it down? He said that's what BoFA looks at when considering APR adjustements. He was nice and probably wanted to help me but at the same time I felt he didn't know what else to say. Anyway, I tried.

Btw, anyone know about money market accounts? My bank is offering a 12-month MM at 1.0%. How does that work? If I put in $10k, how much will I end up with after 1 year at 1%?

Banks can't legally give out the FICO number over the phone only in writing since they don't own it.

Spend less than you make.

Remember that you have less time and money than you think you do and are more stupid and weak than you think you are.

I did some pretty cool stuff with those 0%, zero fee balance transfers but I always had the cash to cover the debt.

WORD! I had a BoA account because I had great benefits with our corporate partnership I was warned and knew in my gut that I was going to get screwed somehow. When I decided they did indeed suck for various reasons I was still in the black with the perks I gained associated with the account, but that was erased when I closed the account. I managed to get all my auto pays moved to usaa and navy federal except Netflix and when that credit card authorization went through I got tagged $32 for the declined payment. I took it like a big boy and payed it but for some reason the payment would not apply to a closed account and it spun up to $196.00. When it finally hit a collection agency I asked for arbitration just to find out after a little googling that BoA handled their own arbitration and they won 99% of the time so I payed the $196 to protect my credit.....after that I found out that the so called collection agency was a sub partner of boa and they don't report collections because what they are doing is not in compliance with current banking laws.

F*** me running they got me!

You will get about $100, depending on how they compound it. That's actually a very good rate for Money Market these days, unfortunately. The idea being to punish savers and reward borrowers. Don't get me started...

Money market funds have not been the place to be for some time. I am not a usa resident but you have to be able to do better somehow.

Remember things are currently set up nicely for a market sheep shear.

Your best and safest return. Kill off any personal debt if you have any. Relatively safe returns are not even going to keep up with inflation in todays environment. This constant printing of excess money not really backed up by anything makes our personal money worth less all the time. .No matter how you look at it.

The future will unfold but there is no certainty of how it will. We are already undergoing a values changing period in my opinion. Some of my opinions of course are based on my age of seventy and having gotten there in good solvent condition. Mentally arriving there raises some questions though.:D

Debt is a stimulator of the economy but might be a depressant as far as the individual family is concerned. This month I may have put 1000 on my credit card as it is convenient. It will as always be paid off before the due date. Just a convenience more than anything. I have it set up as an automatic deduction from our checking account if by some accident I missed the pay by date.

One other thing that may differentiate the wife and myself from many others. I felt a very long time ago that since some societies including us as individuals as well. Can live on half of their income. Why not us as we set it as a possible target and got there.

This was aided as when very young realizing that money was only a problem when you did not have enough. People are never going to have enough if almost all the income is required to just get by.

A persons brain development can be a great asset. You do have to work at these things to make them happen. What is real is they can happen regardless of what some individuals think. It also allows as much personal freedom as the system allows as an unexpected bonus.

That money market rate isn't good enough. My checking account pays 1.24% APY on up to $25,000. There's better rates out there than 1%.

And I agree with everyone else who has said to pay off the debt. I would 1) start budgeting to organize your money (I use YNAB), 2) pay off the debt with as high a regular monthly payment as possible, and 3) start paying that same monthly payment into investments once the debt is paid down without skipping a beat. Don't let it become disposable income again.

I just to my first and only cc from m credit union. It's for $500 and it's only getting used for diesel fuel and paid off monthly. The guy at the credit union said to leave a balance on it evey month because I will look good in my credit, no it won't, you just want me o give th credit union my hard earned money.

Credit cards are great. I use it as interest free money and pay chunks of it off every week (no balance at the end of the month). Plus dat cash back :cool:

My local bank in NJ seems to be offering 2 to 2.25%. Problem is that you have to jump through some hoops to get this rate -- 10 check card transactions + one direct deposit per month.

Then again, 2% is pretty tame compared to 7+% that you can get from rental property these days (even with the market up a bit nationally).

This is what I figured but was't sure because earning just $100 on $10K after 12 months doesn't seem much, but it is sorta like getting free money for letting the bank use yours, so not bad. I currently have x amount in a "preferred savings" account, which essentially earns a bit higher interest than a regular savings. But this MM account is even more than my preferred savings rate. I also have a CD that I rarely ever touch. I'm not rich by any means but I have money saved and I'm just beginning to wise up and make use of money "sitting" around. I'm woefully ignorant of investments and mutual funds, so I want to play it safe and do something that has a garunteed return. Of course, the bigger the return, the better. Specialized savings account through my bank seems to be the safest bet. Most banks have under 1.0% rate for MM or savings. So far my bank is offering this 1% promotion, and it's the highest compared to other big banks I've checked online.

About the 0% APR credit cards. I've played this game before with big purchases, so I know the "fine print." Last year I bought a new bicycle using such a card. I had the money to pay it in cash from the start, but why do it when I can borrow money for free! Got the bike using a nice monthly plan and paid it off before the promotion ended. Did that with a dental plan too. I borrowed money for free and didn't get suckered in using the card for other purchases or fall for the ridiculously low minimum monthly payment. I wouldn't recommend using a 0% card if you couldn't afford the item outright.

I got my Simplicity card and next thing I will do is transfer enough money from my BoFA card to it and then pay off the remaining balance on the BoFA. I do not like seeing that I'm paying around $80 in interest fees. That will go soon!

I'm at the bottom of my career path right now so I don't have the money for a rental yet. But to be honest even if I did I'd rather put my money in an REIT and spread the risk within the real estate market. I invest 1/3 of my after tax income just into stocks because I have time to be aggressive, so I'll use REITs to protect against inflation when I'm closer to retirement.

Jealous ppl in NJ can get that much more cash back on checking accounts!

And I still think there's an opportunity cost when you get money from credit cards, even a 0% offer. The best thing you can do with money is make it work for you and make more money. The terms of 0% teaser offers though—12 months, 18 months—are never long enough to actually get the money in the markets and out safely making above inflation returns that keep your principal safe.

I use one of those cash back cards too though and they're pretty great. Since I budget I just pay for absolutely everything on it and have it set up to pay the balance in full every month. Budgetting is the absolutely best thing anyone can do for their finances IMO.