Should I get into Credit Cards?

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nycifer

nycifer

kiwifarms.net
Joined
Dec 26, 2025
I'm a retard when it comes to credit cards, I've avoided them all my life. This is because of all of the horror stories of people who've had them, maxxing their credit cards out, not making payments on time, fucked up credits .etc

I'm contemplating on getting into them if it means alleviating some of my occasional financial woes. Now isn't a good time because I'm dealing with a loan, which I'm hopefully ending in one paycheck soon, but for now I'm trying to collect all information I can of it before concluding whether I'll bother.

A bank agent today just decided to slide in the topic of credit cards when I simply wanted to know what I could expect when I end this loan. I could've just said "piss off" but now I'm again thinking about them.

What are the pros and cons of credit cards I should expect? I figure asking here because people here are more able to streamline without the fancy bullshit beating-the-bush typical talk I'd get from anywhere else who can't simplify shit to save their life.
 
Never think of credit cards as a loan. Never spend more with them than you can pay off by the time it comes due.

I have one from my credit union simply because I get a small amount of cash back for using it. It also helps build credit. I have it set to automatically pay every month.
 
I was a teenager working at McDonald’s. This guy I worked beside making the same wage was in his 20s, fresh out of college. This isn’t about college being a scam, this is about how this guy had to find any work he could to pay off his credit card debt. But it wasn’t exactly his fault. His ex-gf saw him as a free ATM. Basically seduced him into buying stuff for her so that she would stay. Simp behavior, but he was more than punished for it. :punished:

Just a cautionary tale about them. Some people have credit cards but never use them only for emergencies. In fact, they freeze them in water and store them in the freezer and only break them out in case of emergency just like a fire extinguisher. I think that’s a good policy. If you have to physically break the ice open, then it must be serious. If you have to wait for it to melt, then you’ve had enough time to think it over as well.
 
Credit cards are objectively better than debit cards if you're not a consumer degenerate spender:
  1. Cash back (1%-5% discount on everything is nothing to sneeze at)
  2. Buffer from fraud. If a hackerman successfully uses your card you have at least a month before it actually hits your checking account to deal with it.
  3. Similar to 2, ability to dispute transactions before it hits your checking account. Like if you get some bullshit hidden charge.
 
guidmaker said:
Credit cards are objectively better than debit cards if you're not a consumer degenerate spender:
Click to expand...
You assume that the average person, with the insane amount of advertisements bombarding them daily and a culture of decadence all around them, won't spend money on bullshit they don't need or even really want, just because of a sudden urge.
This is Kiwi Farms, my fellow lolcow enjoyer. We have several threads dedicated to these kinds of people.
This is a rampant addiction of a consumer driven society and nobody is treating this very seriously, especially the ones at the top, because if we stop buying useless shit, the entire economy will collapse.

Imagine if everyone did what i did, bought a phone... and then just kept it and went on with their lives? No upgrades or anything, just 1 phone for 3+ years.
If gaymers didn't just buy shit, half of which they never even play because they spend $50 every time there's a bundle and they have a backlog of 500 games from 10 years ago that they forgot about but paid for.
If people would adjust their fashion to themselves so that they don't chase trends and buy every new piece of clothing that celebs promote.
If people were reasonable... that wouldn't be our planet, would it?
We couldn't have capitalism if this was the case.
 
nycifer said:
I'm contemplating on getting into them if it means alleviating some of my occasional financial woes.
Click to expand...
You should never carry a balance on credit cards unless you're taking advantage of a promotion and you have the means to pay it in full before it expires. Credit cards have very high interest compared to every other type of credit, especially the rewards cards you would really want to use.

For a promotional example, you use CareCredit at the vet for a $200+ cat exam and spay. That comes with 6 months of 0% APR promotional financing. If you don't pay in full before that 6 months, you will be on the hook for 6 months of absurdly high interest.

What you should be doing is making an emergency fund in a high-yield savings or money market account to handle unforeseen expenses instead of paying those expenses with borrowed money.
 
Don't do this (or do I don't care), but I had a friend growing up who would take out credit cards with limits ranging from 5k to 20k. He would then max them and never pay them off. They would then send a notice requesting he pay half the amount he owes or it goes to collection which he would always take. Dude paid like 25k for racking up 40-45k worth of debt.
 
Getting a lot of mixed responses but they're being considered.

Yeah I'm not really what you'd call a big spender, the only time I've spent big was last December on car winter tires, a thing I absolutely needed and the reason I'm on the hook for this PAL loan to begin with. Those were about $350+.

I never spend more than 65 grocery shopping, everything I pay for is in double digits except rent/car payment/car insurance (net is 44 because of a promotional renewal, electricity is budget billing so that's another 44, phone plan is 10). I thrift about from time to time so I spend no more than 25 thrifting if the things I want are things I absolutely want.

I'm immune to a lot of consumerism tricks, FOMO doesn't affect me so I'm not one of those gaymurs who has to buy a game at Day 1 full price because their streamer/youtuber says to, I've bought all of my games wheeling and dealing on good sales for 10 years.

Where the idea of credit cards come into play, is if I find myself in tight jams like 'shit, my rations are very low than normal and I had to pay something off unexpected so I'm throwing $120 down this one time to get myself back on that feet" or somepoint in the future, I'd like to go traveling to see someone in the UK and might not have enough to pay for a plane ticket and get a credit card involved.

In either scenario, my idea is to have a credit card for a sparingly-used purpose than just spending for the sake of spending. I'm just not that kind of spender and I've paid the price, ironically, for having tried being that spender and learned the lessons not to be that.
 
  1. Get a 0 annual fee credit card from your local bank/credit union
  2. Build an actual credit history (I assume you have none yet)
  3. Set your card to auto-pay the monthly statement balance. Never change this. You then never have to worry about APR, overdraft, etc. if you treat it like you do your debit card or cash currently. Do NOT hold a balance from one month to the next
  4. The "best" cards can be entirely incidental. If you already have a banking history with Chase for example you might be approved for the Chase Freedom Unlimited (I disagree but it's arguably the best credit card out there at the moment for 0 annual fee). But at this stage the actual card you apply for doesn't matter as long as it's 0 AF and the lowest rung of what your bank/CU offers (saying which can help a bit. No you aren't getting Amex Gold out the gate).
  5. Forget you have a credit card at all for about a year. Let your credit score "build" (this is 1/3rd based on literally just paying off your monthly balance, so step 3, along with paying down current debt).
Until your FICO score is >730, don't worry about anything else. I was originally going to write a section about things to do once you have a good score (like churning), but you're at the stage where that isn't something you should even consider.

nycifer said:
I'd like to go traveling to see someone in the UK and might not have enough to pay for a plane ticket and get a credit card involved.
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Bad bad bad bad bad idea, if you did have the money then opening a CC to fulfill a sign up offer would be a good idea but don't even think about taking debt on from a credit card.
nycifer said:
Yeah I'm not really what you'd call a big spender, the only time I've spent big was last December on car winter tires, a thing I absolutely needed and the reason I'm on the hook for this PAL loan to begin with. Those were about $350+.

I never spend more than 65 grocery shopping, everything I pay for is in double digits except rent/car payment/car insurance (net is 44 because of a promotional renewal, electricity is budget billing so that's another 44, phone plan is 10). I thrift about from time to time so I spend no more than 25 thrifting if the things I want are things I absolutely want.
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If you somehow qualify, I think the ceiling for you right now is something like the Wells Fargo Active Cash or Fidelity Signature CC. Both offer 2% cash back on all purchases, which is nice and better than a lot of premium cards even. They offer a promotion right now, currently about $200 in cash back after spending $500 in three months with the card, so if you use it for all purchases possible then you should easily fill it out.

Beelzebub's Lawyer said:
Imagine if everyone did what i did, bought a phone... and then just kept it and went on with their lives? No upgrades or anything, just 1 phone for 3+ years.
Click to expand...
The benefit to credit cards is profiting off of these retards. The only way to profit off these retards is to know what you're doing.
Banks make bank off of retards not paying the statement balance each month. That's literally it. If you want to be a retard who donates to someone else's sign up bonus, then you're the kind of person CC companies want, and it's why they're associated with debt.

guidmaker said:
Similar to 2, ability to dispute transactions before it hits your checking account. Like if you get some bullshit hidden charge.
Click to expand...
This one is huge in my experience, and one of the best differences vs a debit card. Banks almost always side with you (I've gotten out of gym memberships, scams, double charges, and more from chargebacks)

PS:
A mistake people make is assuming they can hold super high prestige CCs while not having any real spending day to day, when in reality there's a 1:1 ratio between how much you spend and how high your CC tier is. It's like investing vs buying a Gucci belt, one shows wealth while the other is wealth. If you have low spend, get a $0 annual fee card to match.
 
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I’ve been in credit debt for 13 years, I would say it can be a double edge sword. If you use it as a tool and not thinking it is money you have, you could be fine. It is essentially a loan, but it’s money you are borrowing without signing a contract each individual purchase that could be denied.
My advice is usually if you can make do without then don’t get one but in the interest of earning a credit score, never let the balance owed go for longer than 6 months. I try to model the pay in four way and just dump the money earned from work to pay it fully within 4 biweekly checks. Just be safe ‘cause you could really fuck yourself.
 
If you are extremely well disciplined and knowledgeable it is possible to make money off credit cards by strategically signing up and structuring your spending habits. But it takes a lot of hassle and theres little margin for error before you erase the benefits.
 
nycifer said:
Getting a lot of mixed responses but they're being considered.

Yeah I'm not really what you'd call a big spender, the only time I've spent big was last December on car winter tires, a thing I absolutely needed and the reason I'm on the hook for this PAL loan to begin with. Those were about $350+.

I never spend more than 65 grocery shopping, everything I pay for is in double digits except rent/car payment/car insurance (net is 44 because of a promotional renewal, electricity is budget billing so that's another 44, phone plan is 10). I thrift about from time to time so I spend no more than 25 thrifting if the things I want are things I absolutely want.

I'm immune to a lot of consumerism tricks, FOMO doesn't affect me so I'm not one of those gaymurs who has to buy a game at Day 1 full price because their streamer/youtuber says to, I've bought all of my games wheeling and dealing on good sales for 10 years.

Where the idea of credit cards come into play, is if I find myself in tight jams like 'shit, my rations are very low than normal and I had to pay something off unexpected so I'm throwing $120 down this one time to get myself back on that feet" or somepoint in the future, I'd like to go traveling to see someone in the UK and might not have enough to pay for a plane ticket and get a credit card involved.

In either scenario, my idea is to have a credit card for a sparingly-used purpose than just spending for the sake of spending. I'm just not that kind of spender and I've paid the price, ironically, for having tried being that spender and learned the lessons not to be that.
Click to expand...
Using and consistently paying off credit cards improves your credit score, which is important if you want the better rates when it comes to large loans (car, house). Using and keeping balances low vs limit says you can be trusted with access to credit and won't default when extended credit.

Recommend checking your score and if it's not at least very good or excellent getting a card and using it/ paying it timely/ off. After awhile they'll either raise your limit or you can ask for an increase. Then keep your use judicious and paid. Keep available credit reasonable relative to your income. And never be > 30 days late, ideally never late at all. Set up autopay for at least minimum balance so in case you forget to pay down/ off, you're still not late.
 
gagabobo1997 said:
Credit cards are literally free money
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Welding one slave chain link at a time to the credit card overlords.

To the OP. Just follow the Advice from "Friends of Dorothy Parker" as it is pretty sound to me.
 
You should not get a credit card.

You should not use a credit card.

If you are financially secure in such a way that you COULD use a credit card, you'll not be asking the question.

the Credit Jew wants you to use them so bad they'll pay you hundreds of dollars to get one

They make their money. They know what they're doing.

Homework: figure out how a customer who pays their credit card off 100% every month still makes the credit card company 36% on the credit used (e.g, if you spend $1k a month and pay it off every month the credit card company made $360).
 
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