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Black Friday--Red Friday?


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Oh absolutely. I a fairly frugal person, cash only, diligent budgeter(not a word) AND we don't do Xmas so there's no gift buying but my email BLEW UP this morning with sales. And I'm tempted. In fact I made a mental note to set money aside for next year for clothing and such.

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I feel compelled to note here that using credit cards does NOT equal being in debt.  We are heavy credit card users, pay the balance off every month and earn enough cash back rewards over the course of a year to more than pay for everything we buy for Christmas.  We would "lose" hundreds of dollars a year if we paid cash for everything.

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I feel compelled to note here that using credit cards does NOT equal being in debt.  We are heavy credit card users, pay the balance off every month and earn enough cash back rewards over the course of a year to more than pay for everything we buy for Christmas.  We would "lose" hundreds of dollars a year if we paid cash for everything.

 

Yes, we do the same.  I didn't think to assume using credit cards = being in debt.   LOL, I tend to forget that some folks do equate credit card use with indebtedness.   Among other things, I love my "free" shopping trip at Costco when that coupon arrives each year.   Even if I use it to buy nothing but necessities, it's so worth it.

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Not me.  I hate debt.  Most of my Christmas shopping is done and paid for.  We just have our eldest DD to get something for.  The only thing I'm shopping for today is school curricula, and I'm only purchasing things I have on my list for next year and only if it's on sale and will save me money.

 

So far I've saved 50% on Latin, 20% on Math w/free shipping, and purchased next year's writing curriculum for half of what I thought I was going to spend plus free shipping.  It's all good for me :coolgleamA:

 

Edited to add: I use my Amazon card for everything, pay if off each month with my babysitting income, then use the points to purchase hs books I need with Prime free shipping.

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I feel compelled to note here that using credit cards does NOT equal being in debt.  We are heavy credit card users, pay the balance off every month and earn enough cash back rewards over the course of a year to more than pay for everything we buy for Christmas.  We would "lose" hundreds of dollars a year if we paid cash for everything.

 

 

Yes, we do the same.  I didn't think to assume using credit cards = being in debt.   LOL, I tend to forget that some folks do equate credit card use with indebtedness.   Among other things, I love my "free" shopping trip at Costco when that coupon arrives each year.   Even if I use it to buy nothing but necessities, it's so worth it.

 

Here too. We're "grandfathered" into a credit card rewards program that no longer exists (for now, anyway), so we get a good amount of rewards on our purchases, and that covers Christmas and part of our annual vacation spending (the personal spending, not the cost of the house or anything) each year. My DH never buys anything without consulting me, because he knows that between ebates, coupons, sales, and using the appropriate credit card, I can get it for far cheaper than he could manage :lol: We tried using cash for everything and it actually made me feel very out of control--spending wasn't getting logged; it was hard to make change to keep the envelopes even; I do a lot of online shopping so was still having to use an electronic method for that, and I won't use my debit card for purchases after seeing what a few of my friends went through with fraud, etc. So we use our CCs for almost everything, watch spending carefully, pay off balances every month, and enjoy the rewards. I don't consider that debt either. It has been a long time since we had a holiday balance we couldn't pay off in January!

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I don't assume credit card equals debt :). We use them the same as other posters have mentioned to earn cash back. But the fact of the matter is that those who pay off their balance monthly make up a very small percentage of credit card users.

 

If you know how to play the credit card game, you can reap some pretty great benefits, but the game is structured in favor of the CC company.

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DH the banker says that credit card companies call those of us who pay off our balances every month "deadbeats." :D

We are "deadbeats" here, too, but for Christmas shopping today, I took cash with me. (i did use a card for a couple of small purchases.) the main reason I did this, though, was not about debt - it was about data breech/theft. I knew I would be spending some substantial amounts at Target and Sports Authority, so I brought some large bills in a waist wallet and paid that way.

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I feel compelled to note here that using credit cards does NOT equal being in debt. We are heavy credit card users, pay the balance off every month and earn enough cash back rewards over the course of a year to more than pay for everything we buy for Christmas. We would "lose" hundreds of dollars a year if we paid cash for everything.

Yep, us too. We've gotten thousands of dollars in airfare in the 2.5 years since we got our miles card. It's also easier to deal with fraud/theft on a credit card than on a debit card. We have never let our balance roll over though, it's a huge win-win for us. When I was poor I would go into some debt for Christmas, I would never do that now though, and it wasn't a substantial amount. Live and learn.

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DH the banker says that credit card companies call those of us who pay off our balances every month "deadbeats."   :D

 

I guess we've been deadbeats for years, then. :hurray:  We buy virtually everything with our Discover card, pay it off every month, and reap in the cash back rewards.  

 

Oh, and we've "bought" two brand new Apple computers (an iMac and a MacBook) with our rewards, in addition to lots of household goods and gifts.  

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