Originally Posted by
WC89
Isn't paying with a credit card financing, sort of?? It's great to pay w/ cash if you can but, I know a large number of people who bought their expensive carbon road bikes/frames w/ a credit card and paid it off within a year or so. I don't see the problem w/ using a CC as long as you pay well over the minimum balance each month. I can think of much more foolishness that consumers buy on credit (and they really should have bought w/ cash) than a good bike.
At the basest level there's nothing wrong with it (yes, credit cards are essentially the same as financing). The problem is that a lot of people pay for non-essential things with loans and credit cards with the expectation that their projected income will sustain the monthly payments. What the don't expect is that things go wrong (they lose their job, get hit with other expenses like medical bills, etc.) and suddenly they find they can't even make the minimum monthly payment on their credit card. So what happens? More interest and late fees pile up and they default on their loan.
It's this kind of speculative mentality that got this country into the economic mess it's in today.
I use credit cards myself for almost everything, mainly because I accrue airline and hotel points, but I pay them off in full every month and never buy anything I don't already have the cash for.