Ten Things You Should NOT Put On Your Credit Card (oops!!!)
According to The Marketplace there is a list of 10 Things That You Should Not Buy Using a Credit Card. Apparently if you buy these things using your card you are throwing up red flags to the credit card company that you are not good with managing your money and you can get hit with a decreased credit limit.
- Traffic Tickets: It is bad to pay your traffic tickets (shame on you for getting it in the first place!!!) but this alerts your credit card company to the fact that you take too many risks. Pay the ticket in cash or by check to keep this ding off your credit file.
- Retreading Your Tires: Credit issuers view this as you havinging money problems because you cannot afford to pay for new tires.
- Bargain Binges: Going shopping at low priced stores like Walmart (gasp!!!) might be an indication that you are worried about saving money and you might not be able to pay your bills.
Adult Playthings: Now the claim is that they are NOT judging you…….but like #3 above you might be seen as a financial risk because you are indulging in fantasy to escape money problems in real life.- Marriage Counseling And Therapy: If you and your spouse are having so many problems that you have to resort to counseling it is a good indicator that you are not managing your money properly.
- Lottery Tickets: Hmmmm, I thought you could only buy lottery tickets with cash but I guess some people go buck wild with swiping and hoping to win.
- Cash Advances: I took a cash advance ONE time when I was on vacation a few years ago because I did not bring enough money to party!!!!! Woo hoo! I guess this makes me look reckless in the eyes of el Visa so please refrain from taking cash advances. Plus with the fees they charge for cash advances it is really not worth it.
- Personal Pampering: Going to the spa is viewed much like #4 above. You are indulging in massages to escape the harsh reality of work and the stress in your life. I don’t get this one but that is the rationale behind the credit card company’s decision.
- Income Taxes : Boo to you for paying your income taxes via card. You should be prepared to pay cash for this by saving all year.
- Booze: If you are always buying alcohol on your card it tells the company that you are drinking to escape reality I guess. Use cash to pay for your liquid love and don’t let them reduce your credit limit.
Now it is really interesting to see what they consider a red flag in some of those cases. I am really upset about #3 because I do ALL (or close to it) of my shopping at Walmart. I am not worried about money but I do like to save and they have the same things you can get at other stores (like CVS) for a lower price! So why not get that bottle of lotion for less?
I guess I am in the dog house with my credit card company for shopping at Wally World all the time but since that is one of the ways to save money that works for me I will keep doing it.
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Interesting article, but has a bit of the “tin foil hat” flavor to it. Can anyone confirm that credit card companies actually get this granular? Any credit card company employees care to share?
Credit card companies are ridiculous with their profiling! If we just all started using cash and avoided them all together we’d show them that you can’t lump people into one group just because of the purchases they make.
I don’t know about this list. I don’t know ANYONE who doesn’t shop at Walmart and Target these days. Cash advances I get but really, Walmart? Something is fishy here. Walmart probably processes the highest number of credit cards transactions of any company. My eyebrows are up on this one.
Saving-Money and Sandy you should check out the website newcreditrules.com. It was started by a guy, Kevin Johnson, who went on his honeymoon and found out his credit limit had been reduced when he returned home due to where he had shopped. It’s called behaviorial analysis.
This is a great site i totally got side tracked for an hour and a half, so make sure you are not at work if you check this site out!
How about holidays… I know I would add a few sneaky extra upgrades if I could get away with sticking it on the credit card!
That is really interesting. Do they factor in age when purchasing these different things? I will have to do some further research on that. I know a few people who might have a problem, lol.
These credit card companies are ridiculous with their profiling! If we just all started using cash and avoided them all together we’d show them that you can’t lump people into one group just because of the purchases they make.
Doesn’t seem right that they penalize for shopping at Walmart, I don’t know about you, but everyone I know shops at Walmart… that’s why it’s the king of super markets. Honestly, it doesn’t really make sense for them to do it. But if everything is true here, than we should all really make a conscious decision to becareful of where we slide our credit cards.
Till then,
Jean
We Have Some really interesting comments here… wonder if credit card companies judge the same type of thing in the US?
Little things like “Retreading Your Tires” I had no idea would affect how our credit companies look at us. Thank for this information.
I like your top ten -definitely good things to remember – Here is a top ten that might make you laugh: Top ten New proverbs for the economic crisis
http://funnytoptens.blogspot.com/2009/04/fridayfunniestop-ten-new-proverbs-for.html
Some really interesting comments here… wonder if credit card companies judge the same type of thing in the UK?
@oneadvice, I think it would be very similar in the UK, considering that nowadays we live in a global market.
Till then,
Jean
I don’t think charging new tires on a card is indicative of cash flow problems. These events are unexpected. But that does not go to say that you shouldn’t have some emergency cash on hand for these events.
This is great information..
I love the tip on the idea of paying your traffic ticket with your credit card and can see straight away why that is a bad idea.. hehe… I almost always pay for my booze with my credit card.. do you really think they are going to think I am a little nuts?
Points can rarely be redeemed for something I want or use. For example, I don’t travel, so I would rarely (if ever) redeem for airfare, hotels, or car rentals. This is why I prefer cash rewards to point rewards. One year, I put about $10,000 on my American Express Blue Cash card, and at the end of the year, my total cash reward of about $200 was automatically applied to my monthly balance. Effectively, this directly paid for $200 of groceries.
whichever credit card offers you the lowest fixed interest rate! Most “frills” require too much expenditure to be of any real use.
Dont give your card to taxi driver tries to swipe the card with that stupid manual thing.
or do. and get $500 charged to your account next day