Annoyed

sarahufl

I wish people would quit saying how stupid and irresponsible it is to use credit cards to pay for weddings. I am putting all kinds of stuff on my credit card. But guess what? I have the money in my account and I am paying it off in full every month.

I get good rewards on my cards, so why not?!

I get annoyed when people make credit cards look dumb and evil. Honestly, it is people who don't know how to use them that cause the problems.

Sorry, that is my rant for the day. Wedding planning is making me punchy.

JoanE2012

sarahufl said:

I wish people would quit saying how stupid and irresponsible it is to use credit cards to pay for weddings. I am putting all kinds of stuff on my credit card. But guess what? I have the money in my account and I am paying it off in full every month.

I get good rewards on my cards, so why not?!

I get annoyed when people make credit cards look dumb and evil. Honestly, it is people who don't know how to use them that cause the problems.

Sorry, that is my rant for the day. Wedding planning is making me punchy.

I've never heard of anyone say it's irresponsible to charge wedding things to your card if you pay it off in full every month.  We did that, and we racked up lots of miles and can fly free for our next couple vacations.

smalfrie19

I think most people think its stupid to go in to debt for the wedding..so if you put it on the CC and then DONT pay it off in full.

Emmy1493

smalfrie19 said:

I think most people think its stupid to go in to debt for the wedding..so if you put it on the CC and then DONT pay it off in full.

This exactly. You would be surprised at the debt some couple collect just to have the "Most perfect special day ever." Apparently a more affordable budgeted wedding isn't as good as being thousands of dollars in debt.

sarahufl

I am having a hard enough time parting with the money I DO have. I could never justify going into debt for it.

AddieCake

Where are you seeing this? People here only say not to take out loans or rack up debt and GET cards just for this and max them out and not be able to pay them off.

pinkcow13

Yea, I think people are only saying that if the goal is to just let the debt add up. If you have the money to pay it off in full at the end of the month, then it is a smart thing to do. It builds your credit, gives you rewards, etc. Putting things on a credit card is only as stupid and irresponsible as the charger lets it be.

edit: spelling

photokitty

I always read it as this:

don't use credit cards to pay for your wedding = don't charge things up and not pay them off every month. What they mean is don't use credit to pay for your wedding - credit is what you are using when you don't pay the full balance each month IMHO.

But I can understand what you are saying. Don't take it personal, no one is judging anyone for getting points on their card and paying off balances

We most definitely used credit cards, especially when buying things that I wanted the buyer protection on, and then paid them off when we got the bill. I only paid cash/check if the vendor offered a cash discount or didn't take credit cards.

Cookie Pusher

I really can't think of anything we aren't putting on our credit cards for the wedding. Well, except our DJ, who asked to be paid in motor oil (FI and I sell it as a side business). Our vendors specifically asked for credit/debit for their payments.

sarahufl

I am feeling super stabby because someone (who had no business doing it) made some snide remark to me about it.

JoanE2012

Cookie Pusher said:

I really can't think of anything we aren't putting on our credit cards for the wedding. Well, except our DJ, who asked to be paid in motor oil (FI and I sell it as a side business). Our vendors specifically asked for credit/debit for their payments.

hahaha!  That's great!

Cookie Pusher

JoanE2012 said:

Cookie Pusher said:

I really can't think of anything we aren't putting on our credit cards for the wedding. Well, except our DJ, who asked to be paid in motor oil (FI and I sell it as a side business). Our vendors specifically asked for credit/debit for their payments.

hahaha!  That's great!

He's one of our regular customers anyway, so whatever we paid him would end up coming back to us over the course of a couple years. He figured this just saved a whole lot of back-and-forth every year to schedule his order. Now, he's got enough oil for all his vehicles for 3 years AND it ended up costing us a little less since we only charge ourselves wholesale for the oil. Win-win!

KatWAG

There is a thread right now on Wedding woes about credit cards. the bride didnt read the terms and now owes a bunch more money. So that and the risk of charging too much is why I would discourage using plastic.

sarahufl

KatWAG said:

There is a thread right now on Wedding woes about credit cards. the bride didnt read the terms and now owes a bunch more money. So that and the risk of charging too much is why I would discourage using plastic.

My takeaway from that is not to not charge too much. It is to READ what you sign and not later come on an internet message board and bitch about why they are ripping you off.

photokitty

KatWAG said:

There is a thread right now on Wedding woes about credit cards. the bride didnt read the terms and now owes a bunch more money. So that and the risk of charging too much is why I would discourage using plastic.

Never go on the page - just went and backed out slowly. That makes the snarky brides page look tame (at least int he threads I checked out) ;-p

HisGirlFriday13

We paid for our rings (several thousands of dollars) on a CC because we bought them through a retailer online and we wanted the protection of buying with a credit card not a debit card.

As soon as the rings came in and we looked at them, we paid the CC off in full from our main account.

We got the protection of credit card buying and points for making a large purchase and didn't go into debt for it.

I see no problem using your CC if you want the points or rewards, AS LONG AS you can pay the balance off in full as soon as you get the bill.

cruffino

we've gotten beaucoup rewards from using credit cards for wedding planning. we use them responsibly and pay off in full every month. 

photokitty

cruffino said: we've gotten beaucoup rewards from using credit cards for wedding planning. we use them responsibly and pay off in full every month. 
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Ditto - Hello, Shark Rocket vacuum!! possibly the best wedding gift we got - and we got it from racking up the points and paying it off when the bill came
eta- stupid comment box

logana1

We are using a singular credit card for everything but the photographer. But we did that with the pretense of a pay it off in two years plan. Also, it's a credit union credit card with frequent flier miles. Hello already paid for future honeymoon plane tickets.

cborries

As a student bride, I'm using my credit cards for wedding stuff and NOT paying it off in full because it has 0% interest for the next 18 months.  My parents haven't given us their contributions yet, and so many deposits are due before the wedding that we decided to do it this way.

However, I'm not going crazy and charging up a storm to have my 'perfect day.'  We're still very budget conscious.  We'll probably have a little it of CC debt by the time it's all done, but I think it's ok for our financial situation.

It's better than taking out student loans for a wedding, right!?

firebabe6519

cborries said:

As a student bride, I'm using my credit cards for wedding stuff and NOT paying it off in full because it has 0% interest for the next 18 months.  My parents haven't given us their contributions yet, and so many deposits are due before the wedding that we decided to do it this way.

However, I'm not going crazy and charging up a storm to have my 'perfect day.'  We're still very budget conscious.  We'll probably have a little it of CC debt by the time it's all done, but I think it's ok for our financial situation.

It's better than taking out student loans for a wedding, right!?

If you already have student loans to pay off, then why add more debt to your plate? That is very unwise. Also you shouldn't expect a penny from family / friends unless they have handed you a check already. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. What happens if parents have some unexpected expense come up and can't give you money? (Not that they even should be expected to.) You will have a huge debt to add on to student loans. That is just a surefire way to put a new marriage on the rocks...

Chipmunk415

I ordered my floral through Costco online, which meant CC. We ordered rings online, and I ordered the invites, coloring books and pencils for kids, and a few other things on CC. I made sure this was all things I could afford before I did it. FI insisted we put it on one of his cards, which has higher limits and a higher rewards program. Once ordered, we tallied everything and I wrote him a check (since the wedding fund money is in an account with my name on it, and he doesn't do paper money, he's a card man).

Sarah, the next time someone makes a comment, I'd say "So kind of you to be concerned for my financial wellbeing." Coldly. Then walk away.

MrsDeRuyter87

We put everything on the card and paid it off right away that month for the points too.

-rings both e-ring and wedding bands

-caterer

-florals

-honeymoon

-invites

Since we paid them off the same months we charged them and they were high priced items our points added up quickly, we are getting a prepaid card back with $350.00 on it that we plan on using on our honeymoon. FREE money is always good!

cborries

Student loans are going to take 10-20 years to pay off versus the 3-4 months of credit card payments - in our situation (law school costs wayyy too much).  I'll also get a hefty pay raise once I get my MS degree this spring, which will definitely go towards student loans.

We're just in a really unique situation.  This is how we budgeted our wedding until we're both working full-time.

pumpkinsandturkeys

We've been putting the more expensive things and things that we want to be tracked/reimbursed for if something goes wrong on a credit card, and then we pay off the balance immediately by transferring money from a low-interest line of credit. This gives us the points from the card without worrying about high interest if we fail to pay it off until the next month. However, nothing sits on the line of credit for long because it would drive both of us crazy knowing that we were putting ourselves in debt for one day.