Do you pay your full credit card statement every month?

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 3:31 am

Squishy wrote:

It is being in debt at a young age that made me anti-credit cards. When I was in grad school, the credit card companies aggressively marketed to students saying their income will be higher to pay off the debt. What they failed to mention is that expenses will also be higher. Student loan repayments kick in as well.

This type of marketing is illegal now. Unfortunately, I got caught in it.

The same holds true for today. Expenses grow. I won't be in any kind of debt even if I need to do without.

Lets say mom and dad both have good jobs. Typical middle class family, not eligible for anything. Dc #1 has medical issues between dr and medication 2000 a month are put on the cc. Ppl wrack up cc debt for all sorts of reason. Some ppl cant survive the life hashem has given them wo a cc

saw50st8

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 4:30 am

Squishy wrote:

You do get to run up your credit cards for whatever you like. But it is discretionary spending- that's the truth. Pizza for the nights you don't cook is discretionary. It is not a must. People survive without pizza. Armante's point is that it isn't a good thing to use credit cards for discretionary spending holds.

You had a choice whether to stress preventive dentistry or get your child's problem fixed early. I don't know if I would waited months if my child was in pain. Perhaps a little problem became a big one.

I can't micromanage your budget. Well, actuallyI could, but I don't have access to your numbers. I suggest you use Mesila to gain financial literacy. They are a respected Jewish organization who is geared to the special needs of a Jewish household. You will probably gain clarity on financial issues.

You may realize that you don't have to be $8000 in credit card debt.

All the financial literacy in the world can't always help.

B"H I have no credit card debt, but sometimes expenses steam roll. Here's an example of funds I'm paying in the last few months that were unexpected:

1) My daughter is getting OT and speech. It's out of network but I have out of network coverage. I'm currently fighting with the insurance company about various codes. Money currently spent: $7500 that I haven't been reimbursed for.

2) My car needed tires. I brought it in and it turned out, my car needed breaks as well. $1400 (so the tires were a known, but the brakes were extra).

3) I pay the early bird for summer camp because it literally saves me thousands. This year, the camp changed the policy and instead of being able to pay it out until May, I need to pay by December. That's an extra $1500 that I was expecting to pay next year.

5) My son fell off a scooter and hurt his knee. Trip to the ER plus follow ups with the doctors - $1,000.

That's $10,400 in extra expenses (slightly less if you subtract the tires). That also doesn't include my kids school registration fees ($1200/kid and I have 4), car insurance, life insurance, and all the other regular known expenses. Let me repeat - in 6 months, I had $10,000 worth of unanticipated expenses.

You can nitpick amother's pizza expenses, but let's be real. Unless she's doing that habitually, that's likely not what is causing the credit card debt.

33055

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 4:34 am

saw50st8 wrote:

The pizza seems to be habitual. Unexpected expenses are different than discretionary expenses. I see nothing in here I would cut.

33055

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 4:41 am

amother wrote:

amother

Coral

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 4:57 am

amother wrote:

I've been wondering about this as well. B"H we use credit cards extensively to earn points, but always pay them off in full every month.

Recently, DH told me that when he was opening one of our credit card bills, he was shocked to see a balance of thousands of dollars, almost all of which was rolled over from the month before. And when he looked at the transactions, he didn't recognize any of them. Then he looked at it again, and discovered that even though it's from a bank that we have CC's from, this bill was for one of our neighbors, not for us! Mailman error.

DH felt terrible and quickly closed it up as best he could and dropped it in the middle of the neighbor's mail in their mailbox. But without telling me which neighbor it was, he said that he's shocked to see that people who've recently done major work on their house, support a son-in-law in kollel, gone on vacation, etc. are living such a lifestyle financed by credit card debt, making only the minimum payments each month and having interest keep accruing.

It's none of our business, and perhaps they know that they have a bunch of money coming in soon to cover it all, but it was a wake-up call for us to wonder how prevalent this is. So I don't know if this helps you OP, but I'll be curious to see what responses you get.

Perhaps he bought the appliances with the cc to accumulate points to go on those fancy vacations.
We are renovating and did just that, but we made sure to pay it right away.
DD and SIL, buy merchandise for the business the same way.
They've been to Australia, Thailand, Africa, etc. Flights and hotel all with points. Now that they have kids they've tamed it down. They are going to San Diego.

33055

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 5:01 am

[quote="amother"]

Squishy wrote:

$2000 a month medical is a lot. Do mom and dad have insurance for DC1? In NY, I would buy Child Health Care plus. The most expensive coverage is way less than those medical bills. Insurance covers drugs and doctors with no copays.

There are usually other options to explore.[/quote

I didn't read the whole thread, but just wanted to comment.
DH, I, and 1 adult child under 25 yrs old, we pay $2200.
$2500 deductible EACH. $30 Co Pay for general dr, more for ER and specialist, I think $150

When the poster said DC has medical expenses of $2000 a month, I was thinking it an actual child rather than an adult. Perhaps the adult/child could pay their own insurance. When I was 18, I was responsible for my schooling and expenses including student insurance. There is no shame in working while attending school.

Anyway, as a community we live beyond our means. Much of the spending is discretionary. We really need financial education. We marry our children off when they are young without adequate preparation for the financial aspects of adulting.

33055

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 5:07 am

amother wrote:

The difference is they didn't pay it. It was rolled from the month before.

I also travel on points. It's fun.

We used to pay our tuition by credit card, but the schools now are allowed to charge a premium for credit cards. (There was a point where it was considered interest.)

33055

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 7:22 am

pizzapie wrote:

Squishy, you are coming off as extremely judgemental and condescending. I'm happy for you that you aren't up to your neck in debt BUT that doesn't give you the platform to nitpick other people's budgets and spending, especially since nobody asked you!

You should never have to experience going into debt because of medical expenses but just an fyi, unless you're on Medicaid, chances are thay you will have some huge out of pocket expenses.

People are posting saying running up credit cards bills are justified. Most times they are not.

I am not butting into a personal conversation I overheard at the next table. This is a thread about paying of credit cards monthly. Posters shouldn't publicly post bad advice if they don't want it challanged.

If they just want to hear that wasteful spending is justified, perhaps they should p.m.each other or start a different thread. If there is even one person who thinks twice about discretionary spending then I am glad I posted.

keym

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 7:24 am

pizzapie wrote:

And pointing out that Medicaid or insurances in general dont necessarily cover a top specialist. So parents might choose to pay out of pocket to take saidchild to the top specialist. Yes child can be treated bu Iinsurance docs but we should not judge parents who make the choice of cc debt for a top doctor.

33055

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 7:29 am

keym wrote:

I don't judge that. I would do the same. This is the first time in this thread this is presented. I did already say that some unexpected expenses are justified.

Can you also say that maybe some expenses shouldn't be put on credit cards? And that learning financial literacy or visiting Mesila is not a bad thing to learn which ones ?

amother

Natural

Tue, Dec 05 2017, 9:17 am

We have only one card and pay off monthly. It isn’t a points or cash back card so we were thinking of switching over. But we pay off every month. One month we wrote the check out wrong so had interest and late fees for a small portion and we swore to try to avoid it.
Life is expensive but we won’t do that sort of debt. Only student loan debt right now and that is a crazy pressure on its own. We don’t spend on many things people say are necessities. No pizza. No big birthday parties (just family). We don’t give gifts to each other typically. I don’t buy dessert for Shabbos and we often go without it.
I use my insurance benefits to the max and only see in network people even if they are not the best. Unless it is a life threatening disease that covered doctors couldn’t handle and I wouldn’t survive (or would be incredibly impacted) without that specialist- I can use the regular guy for speech therapy, OT, or any run of the mill stuff. They are qualified enough. And I understand medical issues. Also call them to see what is covered, check your bills etc.

amother

Beige

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 10:00 am

Squishy wrote:

I was the amother who wrote that I have credit card debt, and some of it went to pay for pizza, dentist, etc.

You say that I shouldn't buy pizza - if I wasn't able to make supper that night, should I feed my kids bread and water for supper?

As for the dentist - you said I should have practiced preventive care. My son went to his dentist every six months. Is that often enough? He needed $2500 worth of dental work because the dentist I had taken him - the only one on my plan - messed up. And I got second and third opinions by other dentists, and priced this out (the dentists I went to are probably fuming), until I finally put this on my credit card. Did you ever have this kind of choice in your life? Your child crying in pain, and no money to pay for dental care?

I know other people who have wracked up credit card debt because of medical bills. If you are not on medicaid, and have insurance, the co-pays can get pretty high. Also, if someone needs psychological counseling, it's often not covered under insurance, and it can come to a HUGE amount. I know someone who's child was mentally ill and wracked up over $50,000 in credit card debt trying to pay for some kind of therapy that would actually help her child.

My credit card debt did not happen in one day, or even one year. It built up over the last few years. And yes, I do know how bad credit card debt is, I myself have counseled many people never to use credit cards. Lesson learned, for me, never to judge someone else until you are walking in his/her shoes for a few miles.

amother

Gold

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 5:13 pm

amother wrote:

Well said!

33055

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 6:47 pm

amother wrote:

Obviously people can give excellent advice without walking in someone's shoes for afew miles. Doctors can advise cancer patients the best course of treatment without having the disease themselves. Lawyers can help murders without having killed someone. The same is true for people giving financial advice. They don't have to have debt to say it is time to file bankruptcy. They also don't have to have millions to advise someone the best place to invest said millions.

You don't want me to tell you that there is an in between going out to eat pizza and feeding your kids bread and water. You know this already. Billions of people each night are able to figure out how.

Most people can justify expenses in their own head for things they don't need. I read a report yesterday the average American spends $1652 a year on retail therapy. They do this because they are bored, anxious, or stressed. That's a lot of money.

If I told you I would have handled the dental situation way differently, then I am accused of being condensing and smug or whatever; however, I do know is you can have people in similar income brackets with vastly different levels of financial security. How you handle money is the difference. Read The Millionaire Next Door.

amother

Beige

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 6:56 pm

Squishy wrote:

Yes, I do want you tell me. What is in between bread and water and pizza? I explained that I didn't have time to cook supper.

Please explain to me how you would have handled the dental situation differently. I really do want to know.

And just so you know, I have taken college level finance classes. It's not the knowledge that's missing, it's the money.

amother

Bisque

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 7:16 pm

amother wrote:

I agree with what you are saying. Not saying it's wrong to buy pizza, but just wondering why it's necessity? Why can't they eat scrambled eggs, cream cheese sandwich, or any other sandwich....I don't get to cook supper plenty of times and this is what they eat.

By the way chicken is very expensive. Is it cheaper than pizza even?

The way I look at it, is either you are very carefully not to go into credit card debt, or you get one chance to just charge your life away, unexpected expenses and everything. But you get one chance and you go bankrupt after a few years and then no credit card company will give you credit. Then you really have no choice but to live in your means (and ask for handouts if you really need it...)

amother

Beige

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 7:32 pm

amother wrote:

I think that the difference between a chicken supper and a pizza pie is negligible. My kids are picky, and they just won't eat cream cheese sandwiches, and I serve scrambled eggs for breakfast. In any case, the entire amount is $10 if I buy it at a cheap place, and $20 if I buy it at a more expensive place. A regular chicken supper costs me about $15. It's not a huge difference.

I'm not charging my life away! My goodness! And I know someone who just told me that she settled all her credit cards, two years later her credit is back up to normal. It's not the end of the world.