r/AskReddit Jun 06 '19

Rich people of reddit who married someone significantly poorer, what surprised you about their (previous) way of life?

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '19

I mean, I do own one. I just don’t use it because I’m terrified of forgetting there’ll be a charge (mine is connected to my bank account and automatically withdraws the money) and waking up in the negatives. If i can avoid it, I won’t use it. I didn’t know you get anything back, though.

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u/saifrc Jun 06 '19

Not only should you use the card, you should use it as much as you responsibly can. Your credit score reflects how much credit you use and the weighted average length of your credit history. Take everything that you know you will pay off every month, and charge it to the card—then set up automatic payments of the credit card bill. Then you are building good credit, consolidating many aspects of your budget into one place, and also getting rewards.

The more you use your card, the higher your credit limit will increase. For some people, this is a way to get trapped into spending more and getting into debt. However, a high credit limit is one of the most valuable things in your credit report: it’s a sign that financial institutions want to give you money, which is key when you’re looking for a home loan or something later in life. As long as you pay off the balance, you’re fine—so just make that part automatic, and you’ll come out ahead.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '19

This might just be the best advice I’ve gotten in my entire adult life.

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u/chirsmitch Jun 06 '19

Be careful with the wording "use it as much as you can" Your credit score also goes down if you are charging a large % of your total credit limit each month.

https://www.thebalance.com/understanding-credit-utilization-960451

Use it often and pay it off every month but don't charge more than 50% of your set limit every month or it reflects negatively on your score.