What are the pro's and con's of getting a credit card?

Question

Can someone please inform me of the major pro's and con's of getting a credit card, i have got a basic idea but would like more information upon it. Serious answers please.

Answer 1

Pros:
If done properly, it allows you to establish your credit and provides a means of aquiring goods that can be paid for orver a period of time.

Cons:
If you have no self control to abusing it, a credit card can and will bankrupt your finances and place you in a fiscal purgatory.

Answer 2

There are both pros and cons but it's relative to how you manage yourself.
The pros are that in today's world everybody needs a credit reference. Without it you may have to pay a premium in order to acquire high-dollar items. Many car-leasing companies will not allow you to rent a car without a credit card... even if you're paying cash. Credit card purchases sometimes have benefits like doubling the original manufacturer's warranty automatically.

The cons are that if you do not manage your finances and watch your spending and keep the charged balances paid off / current, that history can hurt when it comes time to buy a house, a new car, or anything else relevant to financing.

Best practice? Start off with a minimal amount with a good, reputable company. Only charge what you know you can pay-off at the end of the month in-full. Always mail your payment so it gets there on-time. Protect your card just like it was cash, because essentially it is. Guard your credit info carefully to prevent ID theft. Shred any statements, mail offers or personal data documents that you don't want to keep.

Answer 3

there are pros such as ul have mon and u wont need to pay it till the end of the month but to be honest there are more cons. I got a credit card 4 years ago and i thought it was a brill idea. I certainly dont think that now i got myself into huge debt but i am lucky im finally getting rid of it now. the best thing to do would possible be to get a debit card at least u will then no the payment will be taken there and then

Answer 4

Pro: Buy whatever you want now.Pay for Christmas and holidays. Prebook everything with a credit card you can reserve your hotel months in advance. Pay bills over the phone. Use to pay restaurant bills. If you keep your payments on time you build up more credit. You can keep credit cards for emergencys like medical, dental or airfares etc. Most credit cards have no interest if you pay in full in one month.
Con: You could be tempted to spend more than you earn and get behind on the payments and the interest never stops growing and you end up paying more for an item than it was worth. That $100 dinner could end up costing you several hundred. The worst case scenario:bankruptcy.

Answer 5

Its a good way to get money fast for a big purchase. My advice would be to go for one which offers 0% interest on balance transfers for the longest time - some are around 9-12 mths. Once the 0% time nearly runs out, if you have not yet cleared the debt, transfer to another credit card company that offers 0% and pay off your existing credit card balance with it. That way you wont have to pay interest. Dont go mad with the credit card though. I would only use mine in an emergency or for a large purchase I would not use it for retail therapy !

Answer 6

There are pros...if you pay the entire balance each and every month. Doing this, you will not pay any interest charges. At the same time, you will boost your credit score. There's also the opportunity to get cash back on purchases. I know people who buy everything with a credit card, pay it off monthly, and receive quite a bit of cash back annually from the CC company.

Answer 7

The Cons have been outlined above, the trick is to Pay off the Card each month, NEVER carry a balance! If you carry a balance, you might as well borrow money from Guido!

So, Pay it off every month, which means do not spend more than you can pay, and get a card with a low, or no annual fee, and pays you 1-5% cash on what you spend.

Answer 8

Credit cards are great, they give you money even if you don't have any and then when you maxx it out they increase your limit for the cold winter ahead (if you live south) so that you can spend even more money that you don't have, and if that's finnished you can always use your budget account wich will really kill you the next month, unless you opt for the pay over 5 years option with super high rates.

They are great if you don't use the budget faccility and can afford the monthly payback system.
Depending on credit card a visa with say a R3000(south african) limit, you will only need to pay about R200 every month on it.

Answer 9

I have never owned a credit card and have no desire to. But here goes...

Pros:

You can buy that thing you always wanted/needed that you can't afford now and pay for it later.

You can transfer balances from other credit cards to get better rates or no rates of interest.

The more you use and better you are at settling the bill, you get good credit ratings which can be very useful for all sorts of things.

Cons:

It can become addictive, many get into debts by buying way over their limit, and haven't got a chance of paying back, very easy to do.

The interest rates can be riddiculous

My advice is stay clear of them. You can get credit in otherways but credit cards are lethal. I know someone who has over £30K or $15,000 if you are american in debt at the grand age of 24 yrs! My motto is spend what you can afford, if you can't afford it in real cash, then save up until you can. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

the only pros to a credit card are the ease at which they can be obtained and that they can seriously help boost your credit rating if you keep on top of them

credit cards are the most expensive way of borrowing money, consider personal loans or talk to the bank about overdraft terms. be aware aswell that many credit card firms are now contracting peple to a tie in period similar to mortgages to stop you jumping ship for better deals/0% periods with other providers. The charges are often stupid aswell!!!

Answer 11

PRO: You can buy things and then pay them off, you can establish good credit if you pay on time and can help you buy a home/car in the future, If things get really bad- you can charge something to just get by

CON: If not paid on time you get fees upon fees and ruins your credit, Paying Interest on items you don't need, paying fees you don't need to if you spend just cash

One of the best things is that you can establish good credit. Once you have good credit....you can do almost anything.