A friend read my blog and made a suggestion that surprised me. Her idea was for me to get a Discover credit card to help with my car repair bills. This sound great but would actually work against me.
We got into trouble before with a credit card and a car repair bill. What looked like an easy fix caused us much more in the long run. Sure, we can whip out a card and sign on the dotted line. When the bill comes due at the end of the month (or 30 days) it still has to be paid.
What happened then would probably happen if I got a Discover credit card. We put the car repair on it. Then, we got hit with another repair about the time the credit car bill came due. Our problem was that we had to pay the repair plus the work that we already had done. Plus, we had the interest.
A Discover card may be ideal for some people. For us, we're trying to eliminate all of our credit cards. I'm pretty sure that opening an account there, even with 0% APR for six months, will be counterproductive.
I know that she meant well. It's just that opening an account would go against what we need to do. Thanks for suggesting a Discover credit card though. I appreciate the thought.
Cutting up credit cards is more often recommended than taking out new ones when digging oneself out of debt. I'm with you on this 100%! rcj
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You should look at it as you would any major financial decision, such as buying a house, buying a car, or taking a vacation.
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We've eliminated all but one credit card which we are blessed to be able to pay off at the end of each month. I like to buy online and that requires a credit card unless you attach the paypal account to your checking account. I'm not willing to give anyone our bank routing number and account number. Unfortunately, I learned my lesson the hard way on that one several years ago. I agree credit cards can get people in trouble and vote no Discover card!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great feedback on this article. All the emails have been overwhelmingly positive on the 'just say no' approach to the credit card.
ReplyDeleteCarl.Gregory16 made a good point. Looking at a credit card as a major financial decision is a good idea. Spur of the moment decision making is almost always wrong.