Do I NEED a credit card?

[w1rbelw1nd]

hahaha, chiu have problem understanding financial accounting or managing your finances, how can u count interest earned on your savings account as rebates for your cc spend? U mean your 50k uob1 account is given to the bank for free, u dun earn 2.43% on the money, u mean the 2.43% is rebate for your $500 cc spend, mai pian kaki mai pian lang lah, hahaha

Bro, you cannot add the interest from your UOB one account into the calculation Lol. How can it be part of the rebate calculation when its dependent on how much deposit you have??

You gave me false hopes....

 

[SCG8866T]

hahaha, chiu have problem understanding financial accounting or managing your finances, how can u count interest earned on your savings account as rebates for your cc spend? U mean your 50k uob1 account is given to the bank for free, u dun earn 2.43% on the money, u mean the 2.43% is rebate for your $500 cc spend, mai pian kaki mai pian lang lah, hahaha

Yes the 13% is based on the risk free interest(unlocked mostly from the cc spending) from the savings accounts and the cc rebates. I was comparing how much rebate you will get if u use credit card compared to using cash, you wont unlock the full interest from the savings acct if you use only cash anw.

I use total to deduct my expenses from my cc spending, to show that cc spending not only unlocks more interest, but gives a consistent rebate. If you want to treat savings interest separately(as investment gains), the rebate from cc alone will still be a substantial amt compared to cash(zero percent).

 

[w1rbelw1nd]

Yes the 13% is based on the risk free interest(unlocked mostly from the cc spending) from the savings accounts and the cc rebates. I was comparing how much rebate you will get if u use credit card compared to using cash, you wont unlock the full interest from the savings acct if you use only cash anw.

I use total to deduct my expenses from my cc spending, to show that cc spending not only unlocks more interest, but gives a consistent rebate. If you want to treat savings interest separately(as investment gains), the rebate from cc alone will still be a substantial amt compared to cash(zero percent).

Yea, still a substantial amount, but the way you calculate makes it impossible to do a like for like comparison between credit cards.

Think of it another way, if the interest from the savings account is for savings up to $100 million instead, are you going around to tell people you earned 1000++% rebate on your credit card spending?

 

[SCG8866T]

Yea, still a substantial amount, but the way you calculate makes it impossible to do a like for like comparison between credit cards.

Think of it another way, if the interest from the savings account is for savings up to $100 million instead, are you going around to tell people you earned 1000++% rebate on your credit card spending?

Yes you can think of it that way too. But to me spending on my cc to unlock interest from my savings acct is not really an investment gain. If you dont spend on your the cc you wont get it anw. I know where you stand and i agree. Do note that either way is still better than using cash only.

 

[djchris]

I don't spend enough to warrant a credit card. I only keep it as a backup.

 

[iCubes]

Contrary to popular belief, you can actually save more if using a credit card due to the promotions banks always have. Having a credit card also gives you the learning experience of budgeting and financial planning so I say go for it!

 

[cloudnim]

If I spent only less than 100 per month on the card , so still worth it?

Sent from Samsung SM-N910G using GAGT

 

[Perisher]

If I spent only less than 100 per month on the card , so still worth it?

Sent from Samsung SM-N910G using GAGT

Not really. I find having CC for different purposes redundant since I hardly hit the hundreds needed to make full use of it. Though there are some ways to maximise without really spending.

Do you take public transport? If you do, can apply the POSB everyday, think they got promotion, every friday is free ride if you use their card as ezlink with ez-reload.

 

[zoossh]

There's one part that may be misleading.

Did u count the uob one interest all into your 13% rebate? The money deposited in other banks can earn variable percentages, say for example up to 1.40% for scb esaver. So the cc spending allows u to earn 2.43-1.40 on 50k, not 2.43.

hahaha, chiu have problem understanding financial accounting or managing your finances, how can u count interest earned on your savings account as rebates for your cc spend? U mean your 50k uob1 account is given to the bank for free, u dun earn 2.43% on the money, u mean the 2.43% is rebate for your $500 cc spend, mai pian kaki mai pian lang lah, hahaha

Yes you can think of it that way too. But to me spending on my cc to unlock interest from my savings acct is not really an investment gain. If you dont spend on your the cc you wont get it anw. I know where you stand and i agree. Do note that either way is still better than using cash only.

moi think scg is not wrong if he counted "additional" (not whole) interest that occurs due to cc spending as cc rebate. of cos there are still some differences (interest we can withdraw, cc rebate we can only spend it off, pts are subjected to bank rules and limited rewards options possibly bloated up). this "additional" interest varies from individual to individual depending on what interest u can get from elsewhere. some ppl can get 1.4, some people only 0.8 etc.

i accidentally send wrong payment into a bonus saver account of 400+. initially wanted to use it for a month to hit 500 min spend. then notice that at current rates, i am losing money if i transfer 25000 to bs account. so i decided to use it as buffer for uob1, if i spend on offline nontravel nondining items after mthly sp of 500, i switch to bs. hope to clear it within 3 mths. then close account of this useless account.

 

[zoossh]

Not really. I find having CC for different purposes redundant since I hardly hit the hundreds needed to make full use of it. Though there are some ways to maximise without really spending.

Do you take public transport? If you do, can apply the POSB everyday, think they got promotion, every friday is free ride if you use their card as ezlink with ez-reload.

If I spent only less than 100 per month on the card , so still worth it?

Sent from Samsung SM-N910G using GAGT

limited options but possible.

amex tcb 5% later 1.5% rebate is one of the very few option. they may not waive your annual fee though. so only 1 yr use

 

[djchris]

Not really. I find having CC for different purposes redundant since I hardly hit the hundreds needed to make full use of it. Though there are some ways to maximise without really spending.

Do you take public transport? If you do, can apply the POSB everyday, think they got promotion, every friday is free ride if you use their card as ezlink with ez-reload.

I did a check. The promo has ended.

 

[zeroX26]

So here's my 2 cents. Its not about the card; its about the character, period.

What's been shared so far has been objective information about a credit card (pros / cons, rebates etc). Let's talk more on the subjective data of the user. I would assume TS is still a student, hence TS you should just ask yourself these questions:

1) Do you save a portion of your allowance as a student (the past few years) or do you always use them up at least a week before you get your next allowance ?

2) Do you spend money easily without thinking if there's a cheaper alternative or if you even need to buy that particular item ?

3) Do you find relief / enjoy retail therapy whereby the process of just buying things make you feel happy ?

4) Have you ever more than once wish you have unlimited money to spend on anything ?

If you answered yes to at least 2 of these questions, then just stick to a debit card lah.

 

[FlameEvil]

I pay bills thru cc to get rebates, pay cash get nothing

Sent from the power of my mind using GAGT

 

[zoossh]

What is the lowest possible credit limit that can be set? 300 possible mah?

 

[hyperbole]

i think the credit card is being demonised by people who are irresponsible with money. if you've never been irresponsible with money, i doubt you'll start when you get a credit card.

applying for a credit card was the first thing i did when i got my job, even before i got my first payslip. is it necessary? it depends on your job. i had to travel, and i certainly didn't want to carry thousands of dollars in cash. debit cards are very dangerous, i would never use those overseas.

it's been over 5 years since i got my first credit card and i've never paid late fees, annual fees, or credit card interest.

now, i pay everything with credit cards unless they're not accepted. paying with cash gets you no rebates.

 

[Blacktoxic]

I got my first credit card (two in fact) 3 months into joining the workforce. The two cards I chose were to match my lifestyle: dining, online shopping and general expenses.

Of my take home salary, I transfer 1k every month to a spending current account and the remainder stays in my savings account for cash + investments. I set an expense manager in my phone that auto tops up 1k every month.

Now I try to spend everything on card. Everything. From major spends, down to coffee with a friend. Every time I spend, I immediately deduct the amount in my phone so I know my remaining budget for the month. When I get my cc bill, I pay within 7 days.

What have I got in return? Loads of dining rebates that I've used with my family and gf such as 1 for 1 dinners and happy hour drinks. Discounts and rebates on shopping. And in 1.5 years, 60K flight miles that I am going to redeem later this year for a holiday (should not have redeemed earlier for TM Lewin shirts )

So yes, get a credit card. Know its benefits and pitfalls, and be the wiser.

 

[Aaron_soh80]

I read online about how the common mistakes young people are making with their finances these days, and most of the articles talk about the "evil" of credit cards usage. It encourages over-spending of money they don't have, thus starting a gradually-increasing snowball of debt. Especially at such a young age.

This led me to think, do I really need a credit card? Reason being I am entering the workforce soon and will have a fixed income from now on. I want to save and make as little mistakes with my money as possible. Are there anyone of you out there, or people you know, that do not possess/apply for a credit card until they reach, say 25 or even 30 years old? Some discussion would be appreciated, thank you!

no cc jin xia sway..how u impress sinkie gcp like tat?u no car worse...

 

[Aaron_soh80]

I pay bills thru cc to get rebates, pay cash get nothing

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U must spent certain say $500 amount constantly every mth to get those miserable 3% rebate leh..

 

[hyperbole]

U must spent certain say $500 amount constantly every mth to get those miserable 3% rebate leh..

even if you don't hit the amount, you usually still get 0.5% rebates. better than no rebates when you use cash.