Safe to live with only Debit and Cash?

Question

Is there much of a "loss of advantage" to living life, day one to end, with only a debit card and hard cash?

Answer 1

There are advantages to establishing credit. Ultimately most people want to buy a house and this is almost always only possible using a mortgage. If your time frame is in the next 5 years, then you should probably get a credit card use it a couple of times, pay it off and cut it up and throw it away. If it will be farther in the future, then there is a good chance that you will be able to qualify using alternative credit scoring(rents, utilities, etc.), but it is not widespread yet.

You only need to look at some of the questions on Yahoo answers to see the disadvantages of misusing credit.

Answer 2

It is good to have a credit card but not a requirement. Find a credit card that has no annual fees and about a 2 to 5 thousand dollar limit. Put it in your 72-hour kit. Leave it there. If your into 72-hour kits its also a good idea to have cash in it as well but thats another topic for another forum. If you have a crisis and need the card, you have it. If you don't have a crisis and you don't need the card, its not in your wallet where you will be tempted to use it. Further more you will have far more buying power than those who use credit. If your bank will offer you a credit card with a 5,000 dollar limit, it is because they think you can pay back the 5,000. Logic would dictate that if you can pay back 5,000 you can save up 5,000. Further more you don't have to pay interest on money you are saving. In fact you will earn interest. So if you total up the interest on the pay off of a loan, you will find that most credit cards will cost you about triple what the original loan amount was. So if you use a card to go shopping, and blow the full 5K, by the time you finish paying it off with minimum monthly payments, it will cost you 15,000 dollars. While your paying off 15,000 I could save up 5,000 3 times. With the interest I would earn I would not have to come up with the full 15,000 either. So I could buy what ever you bought 3 times over by saving up for it instead of using a credit card to buy it.

Having a credit card for a crisis is sound planing.
Not using it for anything else but a major crisis is good self control.
Having a nest egg of savings so you don't have to use it unless faced with a very serious crisis is a great plan. However if you really object to having a credit card, (my ex wife really should never have a credit card for any reason) then a debit card and a pot load of cash is just fine. Some people have no business with a credit card. They just can't be trusted with it.

After divorcing my ex-wife I have not used a credit card, I have paid off my house and just got the papers last month. I have a few thousand in savings, and my truck is paid for as well. So I have no debt and no big fat payments to make. That frees up a lot of money that I can use for other things. I have the same sized paycheck but I can make it go much further now that I don't have a house payment or car payment to make. So if you want to live life without credit, knock your self out. You have my blessing.

Answer 3

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.

According to recent studies made by World Bank, the coming crisis will be far worse than initially predicted. So if you're already preparing for the crisis (or haven't started yet) make sure you watch this video at http://www.familysurvival.tv and discover the 4 BIG issues you'll have to deal with when the crisis hits, and how to solve them fast (before the disaster strikes your town!) without spending $1,000s on overrated items and useless survival books.

Answer 4

There is nothing wrong with living without credit cards, and the only disadvantage is that you may have to wait a bit longer in buying the new X-360 if you did not have a credit card. Nevertheless, it is smart to have a few thousand dollars credit is not a bad in case there is an emergency and need quick cash.

Answer 5

It's hard but after living the credit card life and nightmare to follow, that's what I do. If I can't afford it, I don't get it. No major worries, no dreaded phone calls and that my friend is priceless.

It does still bother me about the emergency aspect of having a credit card...............problem is it gets so easy to convince yourself it's an emergency when the card is there and easy. So till I can resolve that personal dilema.......I'll stick with debit and cash.

Answer 6

Dave Ramsey advocates doing just that. He wrote a book called "The Total Money Makeover" which is/was a best seller for those needing help doing just that. Dave has a nationally syndicated radio show. If you miss his show, it is available on the internet.

Answer 7

Be careful.

If you do that you will become a millionaire!

Answer 8

no