Money Poll #4: Carrying a Credit Card Balance

Written by nickel - 12 Comments

As a followup to last week’s credit card poll, I thought I’d follow it up with a poll about credit card payment habits. So, without further ado, I bring you Money Poll #4. The question of the week is “Do you typically carry a credit card balance?” And when I ask this, I should note that I’m not talking about carrying a balance on a 0% promo solely to earn interest when you deposit the balance in the bank. Rather, I’m talking about carrying a ‘normal’ balance from one month to the next. As with previous polls, I’ll go first…

In the 15+ years that I’ve had credit cards, I have never (not even once) carried a balance from one month to the next, not even by accident. And neither has my wife. So how does everyone else do it?

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Published on March 13th, 2006 - 12 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards, Polls
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

I don’t every carry a balance anymore, but I felt to be completely honest, I needed to mention the last time I did. In preparation for starting my first job after I graduated, I went out and charged a few things. I got enough suitable new work clothes to carry me through the first couple of months on the job until I could start expanding my wardrobe. I also charged some repairs on my car so I’d have reliable transportation to work. I knew that it would take money from my first three paychecks to pay it off completely. It’s been almost 20 years now.
Comment by Dave — Mar 13th 2006 @ 10:17 am
Yup, we always have a balance and I hate it. We have very rarely not had a balance. I have paid them all off twice now and we are back in debt again. Hopefully this time when they are paid off they will stay that way!
Comment by Kim — Mar 13th 2006 @ 11:52 am
I have carried balances on 0% promotions, and I had a small balance when I first started out to establish my credit rating, but other than that I pay off my cards every month.
Comment by Blaine Moore — Mar 13th 2006 @ 12:02 pm
I have never had a balance at all…neither has my wife. I always find it interesting that I am how I am because my parents were not like that. They always had a balance and often had money problems. Maybe I just never wanted to be like that, so I am the exact opposite.

I also find it interesting that over 60% so far never have a balance. Sometimes you read articles about how bad Americans are at saving and how much credit we use, I would not expect such a high percentage to never have a balance. Though maybe the people that have problems with credit card debt don’t tend to be a part of the PF Blog scene so their votes are not being counted in here.
Comment by RS — Mar 13th 2006 @ 12:39 pm
Yeah, it’s important to keep in mind that this is a highly non-random sample.

Comment by nickel — Mar 13th 2006 @ 12:50 pm
My wife and I have a combined income in excess of 100k, but we have carried several credit card balances for a few years. These are all balances that my wife ran up when we were just dating. Even though we have a nice annual income, it has been difficult to reduce these balances. However, part of that may be due to the fact that I have little motivation to do so since I have a junior mortgage on my condo that carries a much higher interest rate.
Comment by MBR — Mar 13th 2006 @ 2:49 pm
There is no way I would ever hold a balance on a credit card. Why pay such a crazy percentage? I would rather have no savings and no credit card debt than have savings plus credit card debt.
Comment by Jerry Maguire — Mar 14th 2006 @ 12:31 am
Only in emergencies. Emergency being defined as immediate risk to the life or health of myself or my fiancee, or my relationship with a friend I’ve known more than 5 years or a relative I see at least four times per year. Other than that, if I don’t know I can pay it off when the bill comes (or often before, because I need to use the card again), I don’t spend it.
Comment by Matt — Mar 14th 2006 @ 7:54 am
(BTW, I voted “other”…because my situation falls between “never” and what I’d define as “occasionally”. It has occurred twice in the last five years.)
Comment by Matt — Mar 14th 2006 @ 7:55 am
Typically I try not to use credit cards at all but will occasionally have a balance because of a vacation. Of course right now we’re paying off the bf’s debt so those all have balances.
Comment by kassy — Mar 14th 2006 @ 2:00 pm
Similarly to Dave, only once between college and the first paycheck. Other than that, I’ve never carried a balance.
Comment by WM — Mar 14th 2006 @ 2:06 pm
I occasionally carry a balance after the summer (I’m a teacher) but never on a card higher than 0%. I try to plan ahead to have a promotional rate ready for these types of situations. Also, for big purchases recently like furnace and windows, it’s just like the financing a lot of those places will offer you.

These balances of course are separate whenever the Balance Transfer Game is played…
Comment by Jeffery — Mar 14th 2006 @ 5:11 pm