No credit card

H

Harfang

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I met a friend recently and she doesn’t have a credit card. She never had one and appears to manage just fine.

It got me thinking about disposing of my one. Why ? it would be a good way to put discipline on myself. Never living above one’s means. It would certainly slow down impulsive purchases and mean I buy what I can afford at that time. I’d use my debit card and cash and I think overall it would likely help me towards better financial health.

Is this a daft idea? Thank you.
 

Key Post - Do I need to have a credit card?

I've recently been billed for the €30 credit card stamp duty, which has prompted me to question whether having a credit card is necessary again. I make one or two purchases a month, which are paid off immediately. To date, my rationale for having a credit card is for two reasons: To maintain...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
I haven't had one for about 15 years. But do have access to a company card for things like car hire if a credit card is mandatory
 
I've never had one because I know I would spend to the max with it. I have never encountered any difficulties by not having one. My only concern would be that you would perhaps need access to an 'emergency' fund for anything unforseen.
I have a fund put aside for this up to a point. But it's certainly not a huge amount. Do you feel you need that security blanket? Just some things to think about and consider.
 
I find it useful for five things:

- Car rental
- Hotels where they take a pre-authorisation; that gets messy with a debit card
- Work expenses that you’ll claim back
- In the background for an out and out emergency
- Online purchases or scenarios where you don’t want there to be a route to your main account
 
I have a credit card and the limit is €350, it's my emergency money for a dentist or a doctor and that's all it get's used for.
Maybe keep the card and reduce the limit?
 
E30chick said:
I have a credit card and the limit is €350, it's my emergency money for a dentist or a doctor and that's all it get's used for.
Maybe keep the card and reduce the limit?
Click to expand...
Wouldn't most such service providers facilitate stage payments of a bill if the patient/client couldn't pay in full immediately?
 
Gordon Gekko said:
I find it useful for five things:

- Car rental
- Hotels where they take a pre-authorisation; that gets messy with a debit card
- Work expenses that you’ll claim back
- In the background for an out and out emergency
- Online purchases or scenarios where you don’t want there to be a route to your main account
Click to expand...

I've rented cars and booked hotels with a debit card and I've personally never found anything messy about booking hotels with a debit card.

I use single use virtual Revolut cards for online purchases.
 
demoivre said:
I've rented cars and booked hotels with a debit card and I've personally never found anything messy about booking hotels with a debit card.
Click to expand...
That was the main reason that I retained mine.
Not that I've rented a car or booked a hotel in years! :rolleyes:
I think I might get rid of mine because I don't really need it these days.
 
ClubMan said:
Wouldn't most such service providers facilitate stage payments of a bill if the patient/client couldn't pay in full immediately?
Click to expand...
Doubt it for the likes of tooth extraction or fillings. Stage payments for the likes of braces are common alright where multiple visits are required.
 
demoivre said:
Doubt it for the likes of tooth extraction or fillings. Stage payments for the likes of braces are common alright where multiple visits are required.
Click to expand...
I see. I just thought that I often saw notices like "talk to us if difficulties arise with payments and we'll work out a plan" at the dentist, doctor etc...
 
I cancelled mine last March 31 after having at least one for 54 years. I couldn't justify it any more since debit cards now seem to be universally accepted and EFTs are commonplace. It's one less thing to lose/have stolen/memorise and no annual card fee. It still feels odd but no regrets.
 
ClubMan said:
I see. I just thought that I often saw notices like "talk to us if difficulties arise with payments and we'll work out a plan" at the dentist, doctor etc...
Click to expand...
No need for it these days of card payments, except for the type of more expensive once-off treatments mentioned by @demoivre
 
demoivre said:
I've rented cars and booked hotels with a debit card
Click to expand...
Its been a couple of years since I rented a car but has something changed in that car rental places take debit card now?

I thought they take a "deposit" from the card and then cancel/refund that upon return of the car.
Its usally a few thousand I recall.
So I assume the balance should be in the current account for the transaction to go through.
And also if its say a 2 week rental, they would actually be credited with the funds and do a refund upon return as oppose to cancelling the transaction.
 
demoivre said:
I've rented cars and booked hotels with a debit card and I've personally never found anything messy about booking hotels with a debit card.

I use single use virtual Revolut cards for online purchases.
Click to expand...
I stayed in a hotel recently and used my Revolut debit card.

The hotel locked three grand which reduced my balance of actual money by three grand. Then when I checked-out, the bill was five grand. They reversed the three grand, which took 20 days to appear, and they charged my five grand. So I was down eight grand for a period.

I encounter problems regularly with car rentals and hotels when I look to use a debit card or Revolut.

Plus there’s the issue of giving them access to your main account.
 
5k - That must be some hotel.!!

Odd that they would not take the 3k as deposit and then charge you the balance though.
I would challenge that myself if in that situation.
 
ClubMan said:
Wouldn't most such service providers facilitate stage payments of a bill if the patient/client couldn't pay in full immediately?
Click to expand...

Honestly depends, my doctor would take anybody in and payment later.
My dentist, not so sound.

I am in with Bon Secours next week for procedure, wanted payment in full would not allow me pay in two goes (€425 end cost after health insurance 60% cover taken into consideration)
 
If you pay for big ticket items by credit card and company you dealing with goes bust, its much easier to get you money back.
 
AndroidMan said:
Its been a couple of years since I rented a car but has something changed in that car rental places take debit card now?

I thought they take a "deposit" from the card and then cancel/refund that upon return of the car.
Its usally a few thousand I recall.
So I assume the balance should be in the current account for the transaction to go through.
And also if its say a 2 week rental, they would actually be credited with the funds and do a refund upon return as oppose to cancelling the transaction.
Click to expand...
That's one of the reasons I have a cc too - you can use a debit card but often that requires you to buy their overpriced 'gold'/zero excess insurance package (won't accept a third party zero excess policy). Some might still take a deposit off of your debit card of the excess but that option is now refused by many I think (possibly to hard sell their insurance).

I also like having the free travel insurance I get when booking with my cc.
 
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