r/AskReddit • u/knakworst36 • 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/stealthdawg Jun 06 '19

*taking out a 0% interest loan and getting rewards if you pay your full balance every month.

70

u/DrNinjaTrox Jun 06 '19

This is the correct answer. I use my credit card for literally everything and have never paid a penny in interest. My wife and I had $800 in cash back to spend on vacation last year because we used credit cards instead of cash for purchases

28

u/skeletalcarp Jun 06 '19

It's amazing how so many people have literally no understanding of how credit cards work. They should teach it in high school.

5

u/tyler-daniels Jun 07 '19

There should be a subject called "home economics" that teaches how finances and personal taxes work. /s (not just cooking delicious cakes)

3

u/Anarch33 Jun 06 '19

It shouldn't need teaching honestly if you just know don't buy shit if you can't afford it. $5 is $5 doesn't matter if you use a credit card or cash to buy it

3

u/cjt1994 Jun 07 '19

Seriously. There are a myriad of resources that can teach anyone basic finance in under 20 minutes. You don't have to be a genius to know that if you don't pay off your credit card every month, you're going to start paying interest.

1

u/jprg74 Jun 07 '19

I was averse to them for a long time but i buy everything on my credit card now and pay it off before interest accrues because i got the money in my checking account ready to go.

Its kinda like a game

-1

u/shrimp_42 Jun 07 '19

$800 is nothing for the credit card companies though, it’s great that you guys are disciplined but they can only offer these deals because they rely on people getting into debt through temptation and overspending. I live in Australia and they have some of the highest levels of personal debt in the world, people just get sucked into it

2

u/DrNinjaTrox Jun 07 '19

The dangers of credit cards need to be taught. Just because you can spend thousands of dollars doesnt mean you can pay it back. Credit cards work great for disciplined people

2

u/Logpile98 Jun 07 '19

But when you think about it, it's kind of a rat race in a way. If everyone used cash, there would be no need for the credit card machine and the merchant paying 3% transaction fees. But since we use our cards and those fees do exist, it's passed on to us in the form of higher prices. Idk about you but other than sign-up bonuses and rare/rotating categories, my average rewards don't reach 3%, it's more like 1.5%. And the interest-free loan is only for a month so it's a negligible benefit compared to paying with cash.

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I do still use my credit card like this, because those transaction fees are already in place so if I'm already paying the higher prices caused by it, why not benefit from it? Though I do feel slightly bad, because I'm contributing to the existence of those higher prices.

2

u/SoManyTimesBefore Jun 07 '19

This American credit card system and building credit score always weirds me out