How do you use CREDIT?

[MrMan]

I generally pay bills and buy stuff with a credit card that offers cash back, then pay the off at the end of the month.

I have had bills to pay when I was unemployed and ran up some credit card debt. But there were certain cards, like from Amex, that when you get it it's interest free. Citicards offered that on an existing card. So I was able to use those options for 18 months or whatever, and keep paying minimums and stuff like that to reduce interest bills. Paying to transfer debt for free to a new card with checks helped in a bind. You can write the checks and put them in your own bank account, too. I hated having to do that a time or two, but managed to pay it off. Once I was waiting to get all the taxes I'd paid in to Indonesia for a year, then I was able to pay off the debt. But generally, I pay off at the end of the month if there is no emergency.

I do have a mortgage. The other option is rent, and land lords can kick you out at the end of a term if they want to sell. I've had to leave an apartment twice with a family over this, and once while renting a room. I didn't want that to happen. I bought a house.

I've never bought a car on credit from the dealer. My dad lent me some money to buy my first car and I paid him back. I have just bought whatever used car I could scrape up the money for.

Do any of you borrow money for cars? How do you handle this? How do you handle credit?

[Cornfed]

Generally the dealer will offer you a deal with a finance company when you buy the car or you could deal with a finance company directly. Better if you could avoid doing so of course.

[MrMan]

Generally the dealer will offer you a deal with a finance company when you buy the car or you could deal with a finance company directly. Better if you could avoid doing so of course.

If you go to a used car dealer, you can also delay discussing financing and don't let them know you are paying cash until you've negotiated the price low. They may be more willing to agree to a low price if they figure they can squeeze more money out of you in the finance room.

I have tried to avoid dealers, but I've bought two or three used vehicles from licensed dealers. I'm not sure if that one guy was licensed. Two I wouldn't want to go back to. The other was okay. He took cars in really good shape and flipped them making several hundred profit over the trade in value apparently, and dealt in high volume.

I'll drive a junker if I have to until I save up for a decent used vehicle. If I were a millionaire, I'm not sure I'd get a new car, not if the used car market behaves as it has historically. Here recently, it may not matter much since used car prices have been so inflated.