3 ms·

This just sounds penny wise, pound foolish. Starbucks isn't breaking the bank, something larger is. And your credit card policy hurts your family, to the tune

This just sounds penny wise, pound foolish. Starbucks isn't breaking the bank, something larger is. And your credit card policy hurts your family, to the tune of thousands of dollars every year.

war1025 8y ago
Starbucks might not be breaking the bank, but it and the 10 other "not breaking the bank" habits all added together very well could be. Also in order to same "thousands" every year, you either need to be spending a significant amount of money, or be carrying a significant amount of debt. Neither are strictly necessary. Avoiding it is a good plan for a lot of people.
- diminoten 8y ago
  The logic you just gave is the classic penny wise logic, but the reality is you can have as much Starbucks as you want if you stop buying more house or car or education than you actually need. Fucking up big decisions is how Starbucks matters, and one of those fuck ups is to refuse to learn how to use a credit card. People like to pretend constant denial of small pleasure is what makes a difference because martyrdom feels righteous, but the reality is it's a huge waste of energy, dollar-per-effort wise. It's not the smart way to live a thrifty life.
  - war1025 8y ago
    I basically agree with you, but if you stop buying more house or car than you actually need, then you aren't saving thousands a year from credit card use. It's like any optimization problem, at different stages of it there is different low hanging fruit. Yes, if you have the big expenses figured out, you are in a pretty good place. But at that point, it is reasonable to consider whether you have some small bad habits that you might be better off without.
    - diminoten 8y ago
      The exclusive fixation on "thousands" vs. "many hundreds" or "tens of thousands" is intellectually dishonest.
      - war1025 8y ago
        I disagree. Using credit cards for cash back is on the same order as going to Starbucks or not. Using them to build better credit is also a small-scale gain if you aren't taking on more debt than you can handle.
        diminoten 8y ago
        No it's not, by an order of magnitude, and no you don't need to take on debt to build credit, in fact that doesn't even work. It just sounds like you also don't know how credit cards work...
        war1025 8y ago
        Looks like you weren't the person who replied about using credit cards to build credit and get lower interest rates on loans. So that probably explains some of the disconnect here. Cashback is definitely on the same order of magnitude as a Starbucks habit.
        diminoten 8y ago
        > Cashback is definitely on the same order of magnitude as a Starbucks habit. False. Starbucks habit is $10/week, or $520/year. A 2% cashback card will return ~$2,000 annually for a family of 4 with a household income of ~$100,000 (the vast majority of HN users). Please stop replying. Thanks.
        war1025 8y ago
        Assuming your Starbucks habit is daily, you're looking at closer to $30/week, or $1500/year. If you are making $100k a year, your take home pay is probably closer to $70k. Assuming you are financially responsible and saving a decent amount, that means you are spending generously maybe $50k/ year. At 2% cash back, that comes out to $1000/year. Same order of magnitude.
  - Spooky23 8y ago
    Companies like Starbucks drive revenue by disconnecting the act of making the purchase from money. The $6 latte seems ok when you’re autoreloading a gift card and earning points on the card and the customer reward program. That’s why those programs exist. That’s why Apple sells iTunes/AppStore gift cards for $0.80 on the dollar every few weeks. You’re always going to be happier in life if you do and buy things that you want or need to do. Buying some item you don’t need on the supermarket endcap or satisfying your desire for immediate gratification is dumb. I get your point about getting your 2% reward points, etc. If you are doing well, it makes sense to do that... but it’s bad financial advice if you’re living paycheck to paycheck.

This just sounds penny wise, pound foolish. Starbucks isn't breaking the bank, something larger is. And your credit card policy hurts your family, to the tune of thousands of dollars every year.

war1025 8y ago

Starbucks might not be breaking the bank, but it and the 10 other "not breaking the bank" habits all added together very well could be. Also in order to same "thousands" every year, you either need to be spending a significant amount of money, or be carrying a significant amount of debt. Neither are strictly necessary. Avoiding it is a good plan for a lot of people.

diminoten 8y ago
The logic you just gave is the classic penny wise logic, but the reality is you can have as much Starbucks as you want if you stop buying more house or car or education than you actually need. Fucking up big decisions is how Starbucks matters, and one of those fuck ups is to refuse to learn how to use a credit card. People like to pretend constant denial of small pleasure is what makes a difference because martyrdom feels righteous, but the reality is it's a huge waste of energy, dollar-per-effort wise. It's not the smart way to live a thrifty life.
- war1025 8y ago
  I basically agree with you, but if you stop buying more house or car than you actually need, then you aren't saving thousands a year from credit card use. It's like any optimization problem, at different stages of it there is different low hanging fruit. Yes, if you have the big expenses figured out, you are in a pretty good place. But at that point, it is reasonable to consider whether you have some small bad habits that you might be better off without.
  - diminoten 8y ago
    The exclusive fixation on "thousands" vs. "many hundreds" or "tens of thousands" is intellectually dishonest.
    - war1025 8y ago
      I disagree. Using credit cards for cash back is on the same order as going to Starbucks or not. Using them to build better credit is also a small-scale gain if you aren't taking on more debt than you can handle.
      - diminoten 8y ago
        No it's not, by an order of magnitude, and no you don't need to take on debt to build credit, in fact that doesn't even work. It just sounds like you also don't know how credit cards work...
        war1025 8y ago
        Looks like you weren't the person who replied about using credit cards to build credit and get lower interest rates on loans. So that probably explains some of the disconnect here. Cashback is definitely on the same order of magnitude as a Starbucks habit.
        diminoten 8y ago
        > Cashback is definitely on the same order of magnitude as a Starbucks habit. False. Starbucks habit is $10/week, or $520/year. A 2% cashback card will return ~$2,000 annually for a family of 4 with a household income of ~$100,000 (the vast majority of HN users). Please stop replying. Thanks.
        war1025 8y ago
        Assuming your Starbucks habit is daily, you're looking at closer to $30/week, or $1500/year. If you are making $100k a year, your take home pay is probably closer to $70k. Assuming you are financially responsible and saving a decent amount, that means you are spending generously maybe $50k/ year. At 2% cash back, that comes out to $1000/year. Same order of magnitude.
- Spooky23 8y ago
  Companies like Starbucks drive revenue by disconnecting the act of making the purchase from money. The $6 latte seems ok when you’re autoreloading a gift card and earning points on the card and the customer reward program. That’s why those programs exist. That’s why Apple sells iTunes/AppStore gift cards for $0.80 on the dollar every few weeks. You’re always going to be happier in life if you do and buy things that you want or need to do. Buying some item you don’t need on the supermarket endcap or satisfying your desire for immediate gratification is dumb. I get your point about getting your 2% reward points, etc. If you are doing well, it makes sense to do that... but it’s bad financial advice if you’re living paycheck to paycheck.