Radio question of the day: 12/13/06

kittylover4ever

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Have you ever purchased something with the credit term, such as, "12 months same as cash"?

If so, they say that over half the people that purchase things with terms similiar to this don't pay the balance off before the time is up, thus having to pay accrued finance charges.........
 

pami

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Oh yes I have and have paid those additional finance charges too
 
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kittylover4ever

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We bought our bed that way, and also our furniture. I'm hoping to pay the furniture off with Christmas bonus.......so far, I've always had things paid off.
Not always easy though because you think you have all this time!
 

squirtle

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A friend bought a hot tub and it cost about $6000. If it wasn't paid in full by whatever the due date was, the balance went up to almost $10,000! That stuff scares me and I stay away. I would rather wait and buy it outright than risk it
 
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kittylover4ever

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Well, don't let it scare you guys, but you do have to incorporate it into your bills monthly so that it is paid off by the end of the terms. I guess it's like any other bill........has to be paid on time.
 

reesespbc

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My rule of thumb is if I don't have the money to buy it, I won't. Sure, my wife and I have credit cards, but whenever we use them we always pay the full balance off either as soon as it shows up online, or atleast by due date for the minimum payment. We only use credit cards to delay having to pay for something if we don't have enough $$ in checking at that exact moment, or if we're making alot of purchases (like for christmas) and want to pay things off all at once.

I can't imagine ever buying something and then having to pay it off month after month. I have enough bills
and take advantage of a 'no payments, no interest for 12 months' plan would just make me nervous. It only makes sense to do that if you obviously can't pay for it right away, but what if in 12 months you still don't have the money?
 

jenny82

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I did that one time with furniture and made sure to pay it off before the balance was due. I don't recommend it unless you KNOW you can pay it off before the charges apply.
 

katiemae1277

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My ex and I did it with our, now my
, bedroom set, and yes we paid it off in time. He also did it with my wedding ring, but missed a payment, and of course didn't tell me he was low on cash, so he lost the free financing
that was when I took over the bills
 

lookingglass

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No, I've worked in banking for three years before my current job. The first day at the bank they showed us the charts on the 12 months same as cash stuff and I stayed away from it forever.
 

jugen

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Shoot, I'm doing that now. Fortunately I have enough smarts to pay it all off before the finance charges kick in. I just divide the balance by the time I have to pay it off in and it's done the month before because I add extra money to the payments. Then the credit card is not used again unless we know we can pay it off at the time it's due. My credit went from horrible to near perfect. I just found out that I've got my husbands bad credit on mine now and I'm not very happy that it's bringing my credit down. but my credit is bringing his up. Figure that out.
 
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kittylover4ever

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Originally Posted by jugen

Shoot, I'm doing that now. Fortunately I have enough smarts to pay it all off before the finance charges kick in. I just divide the balance by the time I have to pay it off in and it's done the month before because I add extra money to the payments. Then the credit card is not used again unless we know we can pay it off at the time it's due. My credit went from horrible to near perfect. I just found out that I've got my husbands bad credit on mine now and I'm not very happy that it's bringing my credit down. but my credit is bringing his up. Figure that out.
Your doing it the right way Barb...........like I said, we've done it a few times, and you just take what you owe, divide it by the time you have to pay it off by, and make that payment every month..........have never had a problem with it and have gotten some good deals that way!
 

squirtle

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Well, don't let it scare you guys, but you do have to incorporate it into your bills monthly so that it is paid off by the end of the terms. I guess it's like any other bill........has to be paid on time.
I feel much more comfortable setting aside a certain amount of money each month to save towards it and then buying it
 

icklemiss21

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Originally Posted by jugen

Shoot, I'm doing that now. Fortunately I have enough smarts to pay it all off before the finance charges kick in. I just divide the balance by the time I have to pay it off in and it's done the month before because I add extra money to the payments. Then the credit card is not used again unless we know we can pay it off at the time it's due. My credit went from horrible to near perfect. I just found out that I've got my husbands bad credit on mine now and I'm not very happy that it's bringing my credit down. but my credit is bringing his up. Figure that out.
That sounds exactly like me, I will use it to get something expensive and pay monthly if I know I can afford the payments
 
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kittylover4ever

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Originally Posted by squirtle

I feel much more comfortable setting aside a certain amount of money each month to save towards it and then buying it
Probably the smart way if you can do it...but when you need a fridge, you need it now.........
Jerry thinks we can do it on one of those HD tv's and I told him nope! Now that is something we don't need!
 

squirtle

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Probably the smart way if you can do it...but when you need a fridge, you need it now.........
Jerry thinks we can do it on one of those HD tv's and I told him nope! Now that is something we don't need!
You are supposed to buy the big screen at income tax time
That's how we normally plan our big purchases.
 

jugen

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Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Your doing it the right way Barb...........like I said, we've done it a few times, and you just take what you owe, divide it by the time you have to pay it off by, and make that payment every month..........have never had a problem with it and have gotten some good deals that way!
Exactly! That's why we do it!
 

tari

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Pat and I bought several things on those terms at the time we bought our house. We paid them all off before there were any charges. That's mostly his doing, though. He's very good with money. If it were left up to me, I'm sure we'd have ended up paying.
 
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