I know people that routinely use credit cards for everything
Yet they’re complaining about those gas stations that have separate prices for cash and credit
I always pay cash at my local 76, and they don’t have separate prices anyway, so I can’t complain
Speaking of gasoline, one thing that doesn’t make sense for me is filling up at costco. It’s not on the way to work. It’s a major detour, and I don’t particularly feeling like waiting in long lines at the pump, when I shop there on saturday mornings.
I realize that filling up at costco would increase my “rewards” check, but it would be a constant inconvenience
I apologize. I’m one of those people that just leaves money on the table. I don’t like to be manipulated by a CC company. I’m actually happy to pay the extra fee to use a debit card but usually don’t have a choice. Nothing against anyone that clips coupons and so on, but I just don’t.
Speaking of gas prices, we’re still at $2.85 for regular and sounds like its going to stay there for a while. Just paid $5.40 a gallon for kerosene though so what’s up with that? All my life though my timing has been off. When I was working, I was paying $500 a month for gas. Now that I’m not, its under 3 bucks a gallon. So for under $100 I could drive 1000 miles south where its a little warmer.
“Yet they’re complaining about those gas stations that have separate prices for cash and credit”
Unless I am in unfamiliar territory where I don’t know “the lay of the land”, I refuse to patronize gas stations that charge more for the use of credit cards. If one is in familiar surroundings–where there is a choice–why would somebody opt to pay a “penalty” for using a credit card?
And, then the next inevitable question would be...Why would they then complain about <u>consciously</u> paying more than they have to?
Some of the people that I was referring to are INCREDIBLY bad with money
They can’t pay cash, because they don’t have it. It’s not in their bank account either.
These are the same guys that ask the tool truck guy “Can you put half on this card, and the other half on this card?” Here’s another good one, which they pull all the time . . . “Can you wait 2 days to charge the card?”
In some cases, these guys have expensive habits, such as fishing, RVs, race cars, restoring old cars, etc.
In other cases, they’re always paying money to make up for their kids’ financial disasters
I can understand wanting to help out your kids
But I don’t have sympathy for people with money problems who won’t cut down on their unnecessary habits . . . booze, partying, fast cars, big RVs, luxury vacations, etc.
Then again, maybe they literally can’t help themselves
Unless I am in unfamiliar territory where I don’t know “the lay of the land”, I refuse to patronize gas stations that charge more for the use of credit cards.
Depending on where you are that may be illegal. We can’t charge more than the posted price for a credit card transaction. We can however offer a discount for paying cash.
Everyplace already charges more for the use of a credit card (unless they have no understanding of business expenses and cash flow), it’s built in to the price of the tires/brake job/oil change. The problem is we have to charge everyone for it, whether they use cash or credit.
-why would somebody opt to pay a “penalty” for using a credit card?
Because it’s a rewards card! You get airline miles for your trip to Hawaii for using your card for everything you buy. It’s free money every time you use it, right? Who cares if the gas costs .05/gallon more. You’re closer to Maui.
"Some of the people that I was referring to are INCREDIBLY bad with money"
I agree that some people pay more attention to…relatively unimportant…things, and less attention to important things like…how they manage their money. I will never understand this, but I know that these types of people are out there. I paid off my mortgage 12 years early by being extremely careful with how I spend my money and by being even more careful about how I save and how I invest. Some people just can’t be bothered with those details–to their eternal detriment.
An old friend of mine is in the habit of keeping something like $17k in his non interest-bearing checking account. Many times over a period of about 10 years, I advised him regarding where he could place his excess funds in order to gain a good interest rate, but–as I later found out–he never followed my advice. Later, I showed him hard evidence of how he could have earned a few thousand dollars in interest over that period of time, rather than spending most of his time chasing hookers, but he just wasn’t interested in facing the reality of his bad money management.
“We can’t charge more than the posted price for a credit card transaction. We can however offer a discount for paying cash.”
It’s a matter of semantics.
Whether there is a fee for using a credit card, or there is a discount for using cash, I refuse to play that game–unless I have no choice in the matter.
But I don't have sympathy for people with money problems who won't cut down on their unnecessary habits . . . booze, partying, fast cars, big RVs, luxury vacations, etc.
Then again, maybe they literally can’t help themselves
We all have our vices we spend our money on, whether we realize it or not. Talked with a guy at work about paintballing and how expensive that hobby can be; $700+ for a pair of pants with padding built into them, I think he said he’s got $1000 invested in his paintball gun.
That seems a bit “out there” to me, but for serious players, that’s what you pay to get good quality stuff for the game. Just like some might balk at me spending almost $1800 for a real rifle, or the guy that buys a $1000 carb for their race car’s engine, or my step dad buying old German ww2 militaria. Do a bit of reflecting when you ask how can someone spend $$$ on X, then you say “I could have bought 4 of Y for that kinda money”.
I’ve been kinda stupid with my money this year, I’ll admit, but I’m not so far in debt that I’m using 1 credit card to pay off another. I actually know why I got stupid, and have been doing fairly well at controlling my urges to buy a shiny new toy lately, especially when I see it on sale. Though, when I get everything squared away, I’ll be adding a K31 Swiss rifle to my collection…and cursing myself for having to buy ANOTHER caliber of ammo.