Bar Mitzvah on a Credit Card

amother

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 1:14 pm

Don't throw tomatoes at me please but we were under the impression that my in-laws would significantly contribute to our son's Bar Mitzvah next year. It seems their tune has changed and we are going to be footing the bill. While we can afford a Bar mitzvah we can't afford a lump sum. How horrible is it to open a 0% apr credit card and pay it off over a year?
We live within our means but were hoping to make the Bar Mitzvah in Israel just immediate family in lieu of a simcha in town.

amother

Junglegreen

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 1:19 pm

If you are being practical and don't mind effecting your credit score why not...

I would suggest to really calculate the numbers properly and make sure you can pay within the time frame the credit card requires...
Don't push off saying we have till tomorrow...
A year passes by fast..

amother

Junglegreen

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 1:20 pm

And to be honest we never ended up making a bar mitzvah for our son (couldnt afford it..)
Only a Shabbos kiddush

mha3484

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 1:21 pm

If you can really pay it off while its still 0 interest I dont see the issue. But I think its easy to charge more then you can afford to pay off so I would be very careful to have a budget stick it to it and agressively pay off the card as soon as you can.

GLUE

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 1:24 pm

As long as you have a plan and stick to the plan it should be fine.

If you are putting it on the credit card with no idea how you are going to pay it back that is a problem.

amother

Azalea

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 2:34 pm

I've done that a few times for large purchases that I *can* pay at once but I'd rather pay over 12 months and put the extra towards savings.
As long as you are making the minimum payment each month it does not affect your credit score.

Amarante

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 2:49 pm

You need to be careful to comply with all of the small print or else you will be hit with large interest due.

There is a reason why companies offer 0% especially when interest rates are relatively high and that is because a significant number of people will wind up owing lots of interest.

amother

Whitewash

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 2:51 pm

For me the issue would be, do all
The vendors take credit card? The caterer, the florist, the musician etc?

amother

Forsythia

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 2:57 pm

amother Whitewash wrote:

For me the issue would be, do all
The vendors take credit card? The caterer, the florist, the musician etc?

This is a good point. Almost none do.

Though op could put other expenses on the cc that are equivalent amounts.

amother

Whitewash

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 2:59 pm

amother Forsythia wrote:

This is a good point. Almost none do.

Though op could put other expenses on the cc that are equivalent amounts.

I would have. A hard time in thst id find it confusing to calculate those amounts. You didn’t ask this but I would literally just downscale to a shabbos kiddish. I see this all the time in my shul and it’s so special. I’d do what I could to stay within my means.

OOTforlife

Thu, Mar 02 2023, 3:09 pm

Is this your oldest child? If yes, have you considered whether you can sustain this level of spending for all your bar mitzvahs, assuming no contributions from in-laws. I wouldn't so anything for this child that you can't afford for the rest.

Also, I don't know how bat mitzvahs will figure in, but you should consider that too, how this might affect expectations.

mikayla18

Sun, Mar 12 2023, 4:17 pm

You said the bar mitzvah is next year and you'd pay it off the year after...why don't you just penny pinch now to then be able to pay cash at the bar mitzvah?