How does PayPal's Bill Me Later thing work?

[Inazuma]

I recently bought a car so they ran a credit check on me. They told me it was pretty much perfect. I forgot what the best possible credit score rating was, but mine was just barely below that.

I have a lot of credit cards and I go through them and pay off everything I owe twice a month, just to make extra sure everything gets paid in time. I never pay any late fees or interest. I have bought expensive things such as HDTV's and computers, but I still make sure to pay them off completely. In other words, I only buy things that I can actually pay for. If I don't have the money for something, I don't buy it at all.

By doing it this way, you are showing people that you are responsible, trustworthy, prompt and consistent.

If you charge something to your card and then fail to pay for it in time, that's obviously a bad idea. If you try to get a loan and they see that you have a history of paying your bills late, it will decrease your chances for being approved. People saying otherwise need to listen to how ridiculous they sound. Credit cards are basically loans in how they work. You borrow money upfront to buy something, then you pay it back later.

Credit cards are great if you understand how they work and if you use them correctly. As for Paypal's bill me later, I say don't use it. If you don't have the money to buy that retro video game from Ebay, then you shouldn't be buying games in the first place. Save up money instead, so if an emergency comes up and you suddenly need extra money, you already have it and you wouldn't be forced to borrow money.

If I lost my job right now, and it took me 12 months to find another job, I would be fine since I have enough money saved. I would have loved to have spent more money on retro games but I save up money every month, in case something happens in the future. If you barely make enough money to maintain your current lifestyle, and cannot afford to save any money, you need to change your lifestyle and start living below your means. Even if you could only save $20 a month, that's much better than having no savings at all.

It may sound like I make a ton of money so it's easy for me to do all this stuff, but I don't really make that much to be honest. I am just smart with my money. I could afford a better place to live, a nicer car, and I could go out to fancy restaurants and movies every week if I wanted, but then I wouldn't have any money left over to save. I purposely live below my means in order to be able to save money.

[gtmtnbiker]

I have a lot of credit cards and I go through them and pay off everything I owe twice a month, just to make extra sure everything gets paid in time.

Twice per month? Whatever works for you, I guess. I pay the bills once per month but I use automatic payment for everything. Been doing this for 12-14+ years without any issues.

Why so many credit cards? I think that might be a pain to keep track of every month.

[Inazuma]

I have a lot of credit cards and I go through them and pay off everything I owe twice a month, just to make extra sure everything gets paid in time.

Twice per month? Whatever works for you, I guess. I pay the bills once per month but I use automatic payment for everything. Been doing this for 12-14+ years without any issues.

Why so many credit cards? I think that might be a pain to keep track of every month.

I used to do it once a month but occasionally would be a day or two late with paying on time, so I started doing it twice a month and haven't had a problem since. Automatic payments could be nice but fraudulent charges aren't that uncommon for me so I like to look over the statements before I pay. Whatever works for you.

I agree that I have too many credit cards. I have 2 debit cards and 5 credit cards, lol. I should probably cancel a few of them because it is a bit troublesome to keep track of them all and make sure I use them all.

[gtmtnbiker]

Automatic payments could be nice but fraudulent charges aren't that uncommon for me so I like to look over the statements before I pay. Whatever works for you.

I still review my charges even though I use automatic payment. I also look at charges via mint.com finance site to make it easy to review my 2 credit cards and 2 checking accounts. I don't use it for any of my investment/brokerage accounts.