Monday, December 11, 2006

A 'Preferred' Card Holder??

We had just finished our meal when my young friend, J called for the bill. The waiter promptly sent it over and J opened his wallet and fished out a credit card. Aisehman….this chap has no less than 5 pieces of plastics from different banks peeking out from his bulging wallet. As the waiter moved away, I just could not help commenting, “Wuaahh…..you carry so many credit cards ah? See, your wallet also not enough card slots ledi. Pay annual fees also pokkai la, lidat”

J then explained that 3 of the cards are offered to him ‘Free For Life’ – as in no annual fees payable and so, he just signed up for them. I then asked if it is not troublesome to carry so many cards and to make 5 different payments throughout the month. “That’s the point la, I get 5 credit lines of different limits and I can then spread and roll all my payments lor. That’s what credit cards are for, right?” J replied.

**roll eyes** Aiyoh…. this young ciku mia thinking kinda reckless la – I thought to myself.

Me : Ei, you mean you don’t settle full wan ah?

J : Sometimes la. Got money pay all; if not pay partial lor.

**roll eyes again**

J brings to mind what a close relative said about me regarding my earlier phobia of credit cards. Long, long time ago, I never want to have anything to do with credit cards. I always believe in cash – I’ll only buy something IF and WHEN I have the cash. (Of course la, for my car I still have to take a hire purchase loan and pay until I’m almost bent over.) Until I was fully convinced of the usefulness of credit cards, did I bring myself to gingerly sign on that tiny transaction slip. And I make sure I settle the full amount each month, which ocassionally can be quite painful – macam salah cabut gigi lidat la. A relative used to joke that the banks don’t like people like me because they don’t profit much. He went on to say that when applying for new cards, the banks would readily approve the application when they can see records that there were regular payments, albeit partial ones. This type brings profit to the banks and very much preferred, so he said.

To me, this is convoluted reasoning. Hmmmm…..better not roll eyes anymore (before the eyes get stuck up there for good). I’ll settle for a hearty bellow…..

KAKAKAKAKAKAKA!!!!!
 
posted by nyonyapenang at 12:11 AM, |

32 Comments:

nowadays the offers are all so tempting....free for life lah, free gift lah, etc...Nothing to lose I guess. Except your money when you overspend!!

Personally, I don't believe in having so many.
  At 1:10 AM Blogger Chen said:
Yeah, nowadays most bank offer "free for life" CC with T&C :)

However, I find it leceh to carry so many credit cards :P I only have two credit cards - one master card & one visa :)
  At 2:03 AM Blogger ilene said:
You are very farni lah! A very typical NyonyaPenang - humurous and gentle in nature!

I used to have so many of such credit cards until I realised that the points accummulated were neither here nor there and therefore cannot redeem for anything. So I've stopped the rest and, like Chen, kept only 2, a visa and a master, from 2 different banks. In case each bank has it's own promotion then can enjoy mah! Do you get the feeling that we're also behaving like our kiasu neighbours? heee..heee..
NP...actually they can be very useful.
I have all my bills consolidated to the credit card; i.e. house phone, mobile phone, insurance premiums, electricity etc.
At the end of the month, i just need to go online to tranfer money to pay up in one lump sum instead of queueing .
  At 8:52 AM Blogger sengkor said:
y need so many banks credit cards? so troublesome when wanna make payments..
  At 9:11 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
I stay away from too many credit cards these days. and always settle in full!! learnt my lesson, so mahfan want to always calculate how much to pay which one. now have a few also just charge only to one, and bayar semua, kau tim!
  At 10:05 AM Blogger sming said:
hehe.. NP, I think we all same same lar.. I also never pay any annual fees before..I always cancel the cards.. Heheh.. N most of the time the banks offer the waiver.. :)
Balance transfer I also do only 0% interest one.. I think the banks hate me.. hahahah.
I have almost 6 credit cards ler.:P I keep most of them n use one.. The rest for emergency or promotions..:P
  At 10:10 AM Blogger sming said:
Oops... din mean that nyonya also never pay annual fee ... hehe.. typed too fast.. :P
  At 10:16 AM Blogger Wennn said:
Well is about time M'sian doin those non anual fee credit cards la!! Last time when I went bk to M'sia and opened up an account, they gave me a cash card where I withdraw money from my own acc. I get charded monthly fees for it la and then after paying I kenot use it!1 i so fed up , I went to cancel it!1 I gave them one hell of the time in the bank for wasting my money and my time.. It is so much different here in UK. More convenient and all these whiles the credit cards do not hv annual fees but like U I also dun like them to accumulate. When I hv used them, I settled it i full every mth so they dun get to earn my interest la!!! Hehheheeheh
  At 10:43 AM Blogger William said:
I only pay with my credit card what I normally would pay with cash and settle the full oustanding amount. The difference. 20 days grace and reward points. :D
  At 11:26 AM Blogger Uncle Lee said:
Hi Nony, good morning to you. Thought I'll peek into your as always interesting page before checking out for the night.
Before I say 'goodnight'..
here's my 15 cents worth:

Money:
Workers earn it,
Spendthrifts burn it,
Bankers lend it,
Women spend it,
Forgers fake it,
Taxes take it,
Dying leave it,
Heirs receive it,
Thrifty save it,
Misers crave it,
Robbers seize it,
Rich increase it,
Gamblers lose it...
I could use it.
'Goodnight'. L
everybody talking about card... me, i wanna talk about your YOUNG FRIEND, J! hahaha!!

so so so, he hensem? he eligible bachelor? he gentleman like unker lee?? on 2nd thots... better not... got so many plastic cards and not settle full... hmmmmmmmm...

hehe...
oooh, didnt see u, unker...

i love the one that says...
Women Spend It!
How true! ;)
  At 11:43 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Nya, lots of credit cards means hutang sini, hutang sana!! Lots of cash baru lawa!!! If use money to fan or lite cigarette, that baru very hebat...!
  At 12:03 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Like cocka doodle. I usually use my cards for bills. And i settle all my hutang in full to avoid confrontation with Ah Loong Ah Loong Bukit Beruntung :)

I have 4 at the moment, 1 more coming soon (Ikea Alliance Credit Card).

sigh.. What to do i'm a cheapo & sucker for freebies/promos ^_^
  At 12:53 PM Blogger KopiSoh said:
I oso like you, credit card phobia, when I first came to US (they very stupid wan over here), if you got no credit than you considered high risk, bank dun want to loan you money sebab got no credit history. So no choice we simply apply credit card here, credit card there so they got prove that I got credit history. Stupid hor, this kind of reasoning.
  At 1:13 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
i think this young ciku will learn his lesson soon enough... to "spread out of expenses" will stretch him out. Only one way to learn..by doing it himself!! GOOD LUCK YOUNG CIKU!!!!DIG DEEPER INTO YOUR GRAVE AH!!! NO SYMPATHIES FROM THIS AUNTY!!!!

MUA HAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
  At 1:50 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
It is crazy not to settle the full amount, especially when you have 5 cards!!
Opps. Forget to log-in. The comment above is from me
  At 2:17 PM Blogger just me said:
First generation makes the money,
Second generation saves the money,
Third generation spends the money,
Fourth generation...that is us-lah..we don't have cash so use credit cardS!
king's wife,
a good and reliable mastercard and visa each cukup for me ledi. :)

dr chen,
yalor, leceh betul if got so many cards. gua pun sama lokter - carry one master & one visa saja ler.

hi ilene,
a very warm welcome!
you're right on the points thingy - it's kinda sikiti-sikit all over the place and can't get to redeem anything worthwhile and worse, some of the banks forfeit the points on expiry. stooopid hor?

cocka doodle,
you mean you give auto-charging instructions for your phone bills and utility bills too? i dowan to do that because in case of overcharging and disputes, very lecheh to get refunds.

sengkor,
many credit lines available lor. so more lines to tiew keng sei(gantung diri) also.

may,
i can do without all the mahfuns too. :)

sming,
sama la - gua also dowan pay annual fees wan. can jimat a few hundred ringgit loh. :D

wenwen,
i dowan pay annual fees and i dowan to pay interest too. no nid to help make the bank richer. :)

william,
very sensible. :)
lee,
maybe i can add one more:
loan sharks multiply it

and you're absolutely right -
'women spend it'
because it would just be worthless paper if you can't spend it.

women are BRILLIANT!
  At 6:01 PM Blogger ah nel said:
until now i nvr apply credit card coz i scared of over spending... ;)
  At 7:58 PM Blogger Unknown said:
It's easy to get out of hand if you're not careful.

suituapui, 'lawa' as in good-looking or 'lawa' as in pround?
  At 7:59 PM Blogger Unknown said:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
angel,
hahahaha.....using too much plastic wan, not a very good 'prospect' ler.

suituapui,
so...so...cigku mesti 'hebat and lawa' la. gua sukaaaaaa!

jl,
sekarang ni, we're being offered cards at every corner. honestly, gua malas nak layan.

firehorse,
hahahaha....angmoh mia thinking agak lain sikit. got banyak credit cards means oo looi wor; but cinaapek always believe cash is king la.

ehh...heard this rhyme before?

yankie, yankie,
tau mor charng-charng,(hair spiky)
tay yah khang-khang,(poket kosong)
chiak pah ore phi-khang(eat full ledi dig nose)



mott,
i think he's kinda reckless lor.

yenjai,
young ciku dunno how to pakai sempua la.

just me,
how many more generations to come full circle? :)

ah nel,
CASH IS KING!!!!!

bernard,
easy too jatuh, susah to climb up hor?
youngsters nowadays rely too much on credit cards....
I normally pay in full every month. I dont like to owe money...
  At 12:01 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Aiyoh... Nyonya... I just made a post about credit card! I was so frustrated by them ah! Almost wanna cekik the CSs!
fashionasia,
they just 'loke and loke and loke the card' la. and it's so easy to get a card.

angeleyes,
hahaha....you cekik one, there are 10 more on the line la.
  At 10:57 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Bernard, dua2 lah! Looks good...and so much money, mestilah proud!!! Nyonya suka?? Check 1st, ya! I use Japanese banana money one!!! Nite time, dark dark cannot see!!! LOL!
  At 1:49 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
http://www.mfg.com/usa/tramadolonline/#29647 tramadol er 100mg side effects - tramadol addiction during pregnancy