Will you ever have a credit card again?

[zpbk13]

Good evening everyone,

Now that our we are discharged, I am spending time lurking on the rebuilding your credit board. DH and I had agreed that we were done and didn't ever want that burden again. Even though we are only a few short weeks discharged the auto loan offers come quite frequently. Capital One (did not bk them) just sent me an invitation to apply for a card. Low limit of $500. I started to think to myself well we could use a card, not for emergencies, we're done playing those games, but for something like a hotel reservation or a rental car. Yes, I know there are car rental companies that rent to you with a debit but I'm not too fond of them and know we'll be traveling quite a bit in the future to visit family in AZ and Vegas. I also know you can reserve a hotel room with a debit as well but don't they hold a large amount of your money as a security or something?

Anyway, now that we are enjoying our taste of freedom, we are in no hurry to shackle ourselves again but I am curious about what you all think. So, will you ever use a credit card again?

[HakunaMatata]

Provided penalties don't exist for those of us using "30 day interest-free loans", I will welcome a credit card in the future. If fees are involved, not happening. I love my money too much to give it away to greedy banks.

[klandsb]

At this point just starting a Chapter 13 I cant ever imagine getting another credit card. I just dont trust myself enough to go that route ..... I would rather have some kind of prepaid credit card and anytime I had a little extra money I would put it on it for a rainy day... Not sure , are there cards out there that you can just continue to put money on but use them like a credit card for hotels, car rentals ect ??????

[SunshineGal]

I would use a credit card again, but only if there was a benefit and I already had the money set aside to pay it off.

[DeadManCrawling]

Now that I have been educated, I am sorely tempted to get ALL the credit cards I can, and then file again as often as the law allows.

I am only half joking. I have gained nerves of steel from this experience.

Meanwhile, the banks have collected 800k in INTEREST from me in the last 10 years, on about 500k in actual purchases. And I owed more at filing than I started with, in terms of orginal purchase price.

As educated as I am now, I know what I could do. I could configure my life and debts in such a way that I would be perfectly within legal bounds and repeatedly abuse the system that abused me.

Tempting thought.

The reality is, though, that I will not do this.

I have learned to value a simpler life and have reset my priorities to reflect family and personal concerns first and credit concerns somewhere near the bottom of the list.

Will be cash only from now on, with an eye toward the future.

The first scenario is enticing, for the above reasons.

But I plan to get one card, maybe two, that will never carry a balance or will carry just enough of a balance to avoid ridiculous fees.

[Flamingo]

We have credit cards again; only those we need and use now and then and all but one have a zero balance. The only debt we have is mortgage debt and have a good bit of equity in our house even after the recent slide in home values. We made sure after our Chapter 13 experience that if a job loss ever hits again, we would be OK and not even have to consider filing again. There s nothing wrong with a credit card - it's how one uses it is the issue.

[want2save]

I have one credit card which I use when purchasing large items ie. the stove we just got from Sears. It will be delivered and installed on the 16th of Dec. Once it is here, hooked up and working properly, I will immediately pay the credit card balance online. I feel as if I have more control with delivery ,the merchandise, etc. if I do not pay until I am satisfied with the purhase.

Discharged 9/21/2009

[MC9199]

Well, I'm one of those who thinks it's a good idea to rebuild a responsible history of using credit. A card with a line of $1000 or so, mainly for travel-related purposes (hotel room holds, rental car hold) and work-related expenses seems like a reasonable thing to me.

[Lajazz947]

Yep, we have 2 small ones that we pay off each month just to start rebuilding credit.

They have high fees and low limits but hey, I wrote off over $250,000 in debt so I am not going to complain about some fees.

[Kansas1960]

No. I will never get another card. I do not like credit card companies and do not want to support them. I will only use my debit card when I must to avoid them making any money from my purchase. A sheep gets lost slowly, finding a patch of grass a few feet further down the pasture and before he knows it he is lost. Same with credit. I feel like many of us are like alcoholics and plan to just drink a glass of wine from time to time with the best of intentions. Some of us will wind up in the gutter with an empty bottle next to us. Be ware and learn to live with cash is my motto.

[PacificBlue]

(Other explain) We are close to retirement, and have a serious medical issue. It would be nice to have a CC for an emergency, but we are never going to give a CC company that kind of power over us again.

[klandsb]

Kansas1960... Ditto... I feel like if I got a card I would convince myself to only use it for emergency then one thing would lead to the other and the next thing you know it would all add up..
Case in point , I got a heloc and paid all my cards off with the intention of never using them and low & behold I now have $ 33,000 in credit card debt & filed Chapter 13..
I am a credit card addict !!!! In recovery I might add

[creditguy]

Absolutely.
I can't imagine going through life without one. I am going to try and repair my damaged credit as fast as possible. As soon as I receive an offer that is "reasonable" I will apply.

[wickedlate]

I will get one card that is fee free and use it when needed and pay it off monthly. I have been without a credit card for over a year now and really don't even miss it because I can use my paypal debit card. Hell I may not even get another credit card.

[freefall]

Credit cards aren't the problem: using the credit card is the problem. Once we're discharged, if I can get another credit card, I probably will. But I will never be in debt again.

I realize our mortgage is a debt; having said that, we live in a nice mobile home park and our mortgage and lot rent combined comes to $646 a month. You have to live somewhere. This is a beautiful and quiet place, and it's a lot lot cheaper than renting. But I realize if I were to die, it figures into my net worth and what I can leave behind.

Actually, I'm not sure I will need a credit card. Our debit card from our bank is a visa and works as a credit card online and everywhere, but deducts as a debit card. We also have 5000 overdraft protection on that checking account. We intend to build up an emergency fund of 5000 dollars as soon as we can. So, I probably won't get any credit cards.