Age Reckoning Approaching!

[vulgarweed]

If I make it to April with no period, I will officialy be menopausal. It will have been a year at that point.


But honestly, based on a conversation with a friend, I think the most shocking thing about my ageing is the realization that

I'm 4 months away from age 50


and I have never had a credit card.


(There've been a few occasions when I really wished I did, but mostly I've got along fine without it. I just only spend what I have and no more, yo. I have a Visa debit card that lets me shop online and book flights and hotels and stuff)

But as I get older, I'm starting to think this might be something that could be useful.

I spent a lot of decades never even thinking about it.

My parents didn't have credit cards until they were well into their 40s. I never got educated about how to get one when I was young. (And frankly I'm glad I didn't, because so many of my friends have huge debt. I have a credit rating that's lower than my IQ but at least I don't owe money.)

Comments

[silverfox]

If I make it to April with no period, I will officialy be menopausal.
*crosses fingers for you*
I wish I were at that point as well. Instead my period decided to reduce the last interval to 23 days, I get to feel depressed at the halfway point of my cycle these days and have anxiety attacks at the slightest opportunity. - But then I am five years younger.

I have a credit card, because my father declared that one couldn't use the internet without it and he had control of our first connected computer at the time. I never spent more money than I had in my bank account, though, nor can I remember ever using it offline. - But then I hear they are considered much more important over in America.

[ancientreader]

For what it's worth, your low credit rating is owed partly to the fact that you have no credit card and no debt. The logic is that your credit rating is supposed to reflect how reliably you pay off your bills, with the monthly credit card bill front and center. Which isn't unreasonable in and of itself, except that of course the credit card companies make most of their money off the interest on unpaid balances. But if it's even conceivable that you might one day want to buy a car or a dwelling, then you should get a credit card, use it sparingly, and pay off the balance on time every month so you don't fuck up your life.

I also have the impression that your rental payments and utility costs might not leave a paper trail? If that's so, it too is probably damaging your credit rating. Same principle, in that you're not establishing a record of paying your bills, even though you are, in fact, paying your bills.

A million and one things are wrong and unjust about credit and credit ratings, but there you have it, that's how it works. The Wikipedia article "Credit Scores" is pretty good.

/is not a financial adviser but has a mortgage so has perforce developed familiarity with this system

ETA: I've been freelance for decades so didn't know this, but the Wikipedia article also mentions that more and more employers are using credit scores in evaluating job applicants. YES THIS IS EXACTLY AS SHITTY AS YOU THINK IT IS.

[splix]

Last month I got my first-ever credit card. I am 47. I don't know why I'm bothering at this point, but I figure it'll be good if I have an emergency of some kind. I'm glad you don't have the stress of owing a lot of money.

[anarfea]

Get a credit card. They are unfortunately necessary for building credit, and if you're in the market for a new apartment there may be places which will want to do a credit check. The best way to handle a credit card responsibly is to set it up to auto pay a bill. Preferably a bill that is the same every month. And then, pay the credit card bill in full every month. This will help you build credit without accumulating any debt.

I use a credit card for basically all purchases so I can get points towards travel (paid for my 221b con trip last year). That's more of an advanced credit card usage thing. But I pay my bill in full every month and I never pay interest. I have excellent credit and no debt except for my car payment.

Agreed

[justaphage]

This is almost exactly how I do it as well. If you can get a credit card with even a little bit of cash back(or airline rewards, whatever you use) esp one with no fee, and you'll be making money off them instead of the other way around!

You already know how to spend within your means, don't leave free money on the table!

[tei]

Man, I really wish the Visa debit thing had been an option (or an option I'd known about) when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I was, objectively, not responsible to be trusted with the ability to spend more money than I earned, and I never got into actual life-derailing trouble with it, but some people do, and I could have. But at the time I thought it was the only option to be able to buy flights an such.

And the entire credit card and credit rating industry is incredibly predatory and unfair, so good job sidestepping it for your whole life thus far. But now that you're (presumably) set in your ways enough that you're not going to go wild as soon as you have easy access to credit, yeah I guess anarfea is probably right that getting one for credit score reasons is probably a good idea. Even if the entire credit score thing is fucking awful and fuck the man and all that.

[fjbryan]

If you make the leap, lock down with the company that a) they will never do an auto-increase of your credit limit, and b) you want the lowest possible credit limit they offer. They will keep talking, trying to give you a higher one. Just keep saying no, and then reinforce that you do not EVER want an auto-increase done.

[erinptah]

Huh, I just got denied an increase in credit limit. (Which I only applied for because they sent a message saying I was eligible to request one, and it wasn't automatic, I had to fill out a form first...)

Either way, I use my credit card exactly the same as a debit card, not spending money if I can't pay it off at the end of the month. The main difference is that it has better protection/reimbursement if you lose the card (or if a thief just gets access to the numbers).

[ilthit]

I am five months away from being 40 and I had a credit card once when I was in my early twenties. Don't do it, man. Direct debit does all a credit card does and DOESN'T tempt you into a debt trap.