My life here in the USA

[SnME 3]

I have been debt free for well over 10 years now. I sleep great at night knowing that the repo man will never come to visit me! I keep only a few credit cards and generally only use them for special purchases where if they are paid off in a certain number of months there is no interest... Example: I bought my new laptop with a Best Buy card. If paid off in 18 months there is absolutely NO interest charge BUT I still help build a positive credit rating. Cash is still king in my book... I only use the cards when there is no interest payment at all. Google Dave Ramsey for great info on getting out of debt...

I financed my last sportscar at first. After looking at a few of the statements and realizing how much money thay were charging me in interest each month I wrote them a HUGE check for the balance and paid it off. I saved well over 5k in interest payments doing that. The 5K that I saved will easily buy another used car...

My wife at the time nearly had a heart attack when I wrote that check! I should have taken a picture of her face!!! HAAA!!!

When my lady from the PI gets here eventually, I will keep enough cash in her pocket that she will not 'need' a credit card...

James

[DEDixon 39]

Careful with the 300 dollar limit cards, if you go over 300 which they will let you do and they want you to do, you have to pay a huge fee.

[SnME 3]

Careful with the 300 dollar limit cards, if you go over 300 which they will let you do and they want you to do, you have to pay a huge fee.

The FICO scoring system also looks at the available balance on each card and the credit limit and amount of the balance currently owed. It is not good for a score to have reached the imit on any credit card. This WILL be calculated into the score and it will not help to get better score if you are near max on any cards...

Better to be low on the debt and high on the available balance. Timely payments are most important as well for a good score...

[Loolie 56]

Hello visajourney people! I have not been online for a while because I am busy with my work and paying some bills! uh tell me about it! I just want to share I am so happy because I passed my behind-the-wheel test here in California. Well, barely passed! hehe I had a lot of minor mistakes. It only took 2 weeks and I got the driver's license card. Now I can drive alone but the thing is.. I need to save up for another car.

I'm currently working as a part time-regular in a retail store and I would like to get more income. Do you know any legit home based job? As I have never encountered anything. It is so hard to find a job nowadays that will pay more than the minimum. I feel so stuck, depressed and helpless because I really want to study but since our bills are so high especially the credit cards, I didn't have a choice but to work and help my husband earn. We both are working so hard to make the ends meet. He told me that we are still lucky compared to other people and that i should be thankful that I have a good job.

We are broke right now because of the credit cards issue. I need advice on what to do with them? 2 of our 4 credit cards are closed.. i think when you enroll to their program it will show as you close it instead of them closing it. Now I feel like i don't want to get a credit card here.. I have never had any, but they say you need it to have a credit score? Should i get one?!

Thank you!

my hubby has 4 credit cards too but he make sure that he pays on time because if you pay after due date then they will charge you more for paying late. for me i dont really care of having a credit card for now...id rather spent cash than use credit card kasi sa isip ko para lang yang 5'6 sa pinas ang binabayaran mo lang ay yung interest ng utang mo...kaya mababaon ka talaga sa utang.

[andrew&evelyn 6]

Last month I forgot to tell my husband that my credit card was due already for like 3 days only. I owe like $103 but then when I checked it online my due payment is already $123. I was so shock when I checked the statement, they charged me $20 for the late payment. Now I learned my lesson..Pay the credit card on time and tell hubby right away.

Evelyn

[angela920 0]

Thank you for all your replies! I really appreciate it and it gives me good views on how to handle credit card wisely in the future. It's not mine anyway. It's my husbands. hehe. I just help him pay it all off since kasama din naman ako sa gastos niya dati. Nabaon kami sa utang kasi naman when I got here I couldn't do anything but to wait for my adjustment of status.. ssn... work autho and green card... hay. The government won't let you do anything til then. Naaawa lang ako kay hubby since ang laki ng debt niya so I give my share of my money to pay it off a little bit.

[sojen 0]

Careful with the 300 dollar limit cards, if you go over 300 which they will let you do and they want you to do, you have to pay a huge fee.

I know, I don't really use it, I really am not comfortable about credit cards, in fact I never really had credit cards before. So scary to think if you can't afford to pay it. Only in here I have to have one since it's important to build a credit history.

[Rocky_nBullwinkle 6]

Buti ka pa you got your license na. I am still working on it. Hubby wanted me to go to driving school first. Que sera sera! Whatever will be will be. Congratulations for passing the road test. Bill and I have only 1 credit card. We're using that one to pay for the gas bills. It's a good thing you managed to cut down your credit cards to 2. You don't need that much anyway. Use cash for your purchases if you can. Hubby bought a used car for me and a used truck for him because we cannot afford a brand new one.

Edited June 26, 2009 by Rocky_nBullwinkle

[MikenKyhen 0]

I have been debt free for well over 10 years now. I sleep great at night knowing that the repo man will never come to visit me! I keep only a few credit cards and generally only use them for special purchases where if they are paid off in a certain number of months there is no interest... Example: I bought my new laptop with a Best Buy card. If paid off in 18 months there is absolutely NO interest charge BUT I still help build a positive credit rating. Cash is still king in my book... I only use the cards when there is no interest payment at all. Google Dave Ramsey for great info on getting out of debt...

I financed my last sportscar at first. After looking at a few of the statements and realizing how much money thay were charging me in interest each month I wrote them a HUGE check for the balance and paid it off. I saved well over 5k in interest payments doing that. The 5K that I saved will easily buy another used car...

My wife at the time nearly had a heart attack when I wrote that check! I should have taken a picture of her face!!! HAAA!!!

When my lady from the PI gets here eventually, I will keep enough cash in her pocket that she will not 'need' a credit card...

James

Best advice I have heard so far.

Careful with the 300 dollar limit cards, if you go over 300 which they will let you do and they want you to do, you have to pay a huge fee.

The FICO scoring system also looks at the available balance on each card and the credit limit and amount of the balance currently owed. It is not good for a score to have reached the imit on any credit card. This WILL be calculated into the score and it will not help to get better score if you are near max on any cards...

Better to be low on the debt and high on the available balance. Timely payments are most important as well for a good score...

More excellent advice.

[rheanick 42]

The main thing here is to optimize the use of credit card. My hubby and I used credit card on everything. We dont have to worry about interest rate coz we pay our credit card dues on time.

I also enjoy discount rate as high as 20% from the use of our credit card. So its like, we saved money from the 20% discount, we pay zero (0) dollar for other credit card interest coz we pay on time and we keep building our credit history.

We have several freebies on our credit card, that's why we like using it.

Having a credit card is not bad.. people just need know how to use it.

[macutelit 0]

I do have credit cards but I am keeping it somewhere and not using it…except last night, coz I need to put my credit card numbers on my phone...

[SnME 3]

The main thing here is to optimize the use of credit card. My hubby and I used credit card on everything. We dont have to worry about interest rate coz we pay our credit card dues on time.

I also enjoy discount rate as high as 20% from the use of our credit card. So its like, we saved money from the 20% discount, we pay zero (0) dollar for other credit card interest coz we pay on time and we keep building our credit history.

We have several freebies on our credit card, that's why we like using it.

Having a credit card is not bad.. people just need know how to use it.

Paying the cards off in full each month will NOT be as good for your FICO score as maintaining a small balance and making all of your payments on time. You can learn more about how your actual FICO score is calculated at MYFICO.com... You will have a higher score in the long run with a small balance (not more than 30% of your available credit limit) and timely payments.

Also, MOST places charge more for using credit cards and you just do not know it. All stores are charged a 'fee' (somewhere around 2 to 3 percent of the purchase I believe) by the credit card companies to process the transaction. Many gas stations list 2 prices at the pump. One price for cash, and a slightly higher price for credit... The 'fees' that the retailer has to pay the credit card companies IS passed on to you the consumer.

Knowledge of this is POWER. Next time you go to make a major purchase, Get the buisiness owner to the side and politely ask what the price of the item is when you pay with cash... See what happens when you pull out the money... Do not be afraid to walk away from the deal if he will not budge. Take your buisiness elsewhere if you need to...

Last rifle I bought was listed at about $1,200.00. I started counting out the bills and asked him what the cash price was... I walked out of that store with that rifle for only $900.00 and he even paid the taxes. The money I saved bought a small pile of ammo...

(and some scrapbook garbage for the X-wife so she would not be pissed when I brought home another rifle )

Cash is king if you know how to use it wisely and if you know the facts behind the costs that retailers pay to process credit cards...

Edited June 28, 2009 by DobermanGuy

[rheanick 42]

The main thing here is to optimize the use of credit card. My hubby and I used credit card on everything. We dont have to worry about interest rate coz we pay our credit card dues on time.

I also enjoy discount rate as high as 20% from the use of our credit card. So its like, we saved money from the 20% discount, we pay zero (0) dollar for other credit card interest coz we pay on time and we keep building our credit history.

We have several freebies on our credit card, that's why we like using it.

Having a credit card is not bad.. people just need know how to use it.

Paying the cards off in full each month will NOT be as good for your FICO score as maintaining a small balance and making all of your payments on time. You can learn more about how your actual FICO score is calculated at MYFICO.com... You will have a higher score in the long run with a small balance (not more than 30% of your available credit limit) and timely payments.

Also, MOST places charge more for using credit cards and you just do not know it. All stores are charged a 'fee' (somewhere around 2 to 3 percent of the purchase I believe) by the credit card companies to process the transaction. Many gas stations list 2 prices at the pump. One price for cash, and a slightly higher price for credit... The 'fees' that the retailer has to pay the credit card companies IS passed on to you the consumer.

Knowledge of this is POWER. Next time you go to make a major purchase, Get the buisiness owner to the side and politely ask what the price of the item is when you pay with cash... See what happens when you pull out the money... Do not be afraid to walk away from the deal if he will not budge. Take your buisiness elsewhere if you need to...

Last rifle I bought was listed at about $1,200.00. I started counting out the bills and asked him what the cash price was... I walked out of that store with that rifle for only $900.00 and he even paid the taxes. The money I saved bought a small pile of ammo...

(and some scrapbook garbage for the X-wife so she would not be pissed when I brought home another rifle )

Cash is king if you know how to use it wisely and if you know the facts behind the costs that retailers pay to process credit cards...

You are right...

We always check the benefit in paying cash too. If there is none. We always use the credit card. Either cash or credit card, we always check whichever gives us a better benefit.

[M.O 6]

ughh debts...

[Completely 3]

Some people works overseas to get ahead and its not a bad idea at all. Thousands of americans is having a good life here in the middle east. No taxes, free furnished apartments, car, what else can you ask for? Maybe you and your husband should consider working overseas just to get ahead, pay off the billX, have some savings then go back in the USA. Just a thought.

Edited June 30, 2009 by Completely