We pay off any credit card bill as soon as it is due.
YES! If there was on e financial tenet I could pass on to any young couple just starting out, it would be to warn against the insidious dangers of sinister, seductive, surreptitious 'easy credit'.
Nope, I would go further, I would make this a mandatory lessons in all schools however the elitist financial system would never allow for empowered, educated youngsters to leave the dogmatic education system as anything other than worker drones, that would not suit their purposes at all.
I have not used any form of plastic servitude card at all for over a decade after being burned (my fault in hindsight, I wish I understood that sooner lol). However 2 years back, in preparation for applying for a mortgage, and having a low credit score, my lovely lady and I both took out a credit repair card each. It had a rate of 1 billion percent apr or something similar, we used them every month for something we would have purchased anyway and as you inferred, I am happy to say that neither of us have paid 1 penny in interest.
From being small, I taught my Daughters a brief mantra to explain compound interest on a debt or on an asset, it went something like:
when you use a credit card and spend money that isn't yours, you pay interest, then next time you pay interest on your interest, the next time you pay interest on your interest on your interest
And conversely they parroted the idea of earning interest on your interest on your interest for savings, assets and investments.
Looking at bank rates today, I am not sure how the saving side of that mantra stacks up lol. The principle though, I wanted that to be ingrained in their mind before they were of an age when credit was even an option.
The funny part though, when friends discussed using plastic or suggested we get a loan for something or another ,I asked one of my girls to explain why we wouldn't be doing that, after they repeated the learned mantra, the adults would say:
"Oh I never really thought of it like that!"
Scary how credit & debt and staying artificially poor is the norm in certain sections of society. 🤷♂️
Sorry to go on man, I know I talk waaay too much! 😒
A good crypto run could make it more of a reality!
RE: Financial Planning 101 - The Emergency Fund. But What's The Real Reason?