WEIRD?? I'm just ahead of the curve.
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The only "high" balances I have on any credit cards are transfers at 0% interest, which are nearly all gone at this time.
I hear you. It is dangerous, and it is human nature. I got a high interest rate cash back card with the idea of doing all spending on the credit card and paying it off every month. That worked for a while, and I was actually able to pull that off for over 2 years without getting a single interest payment, but the amount kept creeping up higher and higher until I couldn't make the payment and ended up having to transfer the funds to another card (interest free) to pay off. That worked fine, but then it frees up the card I was used to using and then you start getting balances on two cards (one going up, and one going down).
My one card is pretty much used just as an interest free balance transfer. I don't carry that card with me, so I haven't used it to purchase anything for maybe 4 years now. I should start leaving my other card at home too, that'd really help cut spending.
HB! I'll be 2 hours from you next year.
Careful they don't close that card. You generally need a little spend on fee free cards to keep active.
I try to pay cash as much as possible, but I also use zero interest card promo's on occasion, on cards I already have, to fund things out of necessity. Without exception they are always paid down before the interest free period ends and give me an extra cushion with my meager reserves that I can use to buy things like guns, silver, or preps.
High credit limits and zero balances are a good thing. It shows you have available credit, are responsible with it, and don't carry balances. The thing that always pissed me off was the way they treat an Amex that is paid off every month but when reported always had a very high balance.
I've found that having a very small mortgage with a few years left to pay completely off is considered under invested in real estate and is a ding on the credit scores. [Mad] It's also less of a tax break on the deduction for real estate interest paid. It's really a double edge sword. the one that really gets me is "length of credit history.: Really? 35 years of creditworthiness is not long enough? lolz
I'm familiar with the length of credit thing. I don't know what happened, but one day my alleged credit score, according to credit karma just plunged and it said my longest credit history was only 12 months or something. I think what happened was that once I paid off and stopped using my longest running card, it went dormant and the history no longer counted. That company really pissed me off, so I stopped using the card. A few years ago I tried to get them to raise the balance, but they won't let me because I haven't used it in maybe 7ish years.