Any Drawbacks in the Musicians Friend Platinum Card ( no pay for 12 months)

Hey,
I was just looking at the Platinum Card for musicians friend, since I was thinking of buying something, and paying half now, and paying the rest in a month, so that way I can get this camcorder I've been wanting for a while right now. So I have 12 months with no interest, and I'd pay it off way before that, would I have to pay anything else, or would it be fine?

Zach

Credit Cards are Evil. :evil:

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Zach":4bc35 said:

Hey,
I was just looking at the Platinum Card for musicians friend, since I was thinking of buying something, and paying half now, and paying the rest in a month, so that way I can get this camcorder I've been wanting for a while right now. So I have 12 months with no interest, and I'd pay it off way before that, would I have to pay anything else, or would it be fine?

Zach

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High interest, and if you don't pay it off before the into-interest expires, you'll get back-logged the interest over the past 12 months.

Yeah...

I've got a CC that's currently zero - I keep thinking I need to pay it off before it bites me, but then I think, nah - I'll pay it off later...

I got till October to pay it off...I'll send in some money next month...

Yep, I'll be getting hit with some interest... =/

Other than the fact that you are buying stuff with money you don't have which is a bad sign with regard to the direction you are taking with your personal finances, it's probably typical with regard to any other introductory credit card offer.

Some stupidly high percentage of Americans have the same financial self-control problem, and it tends to only get worse over time.

My advice would be to think about just how compelling the reason is to do things like this, before it becomes a habit. IMHO. This is just based on seeing friends and relatives struggle with it. Credit is like an addiction in this country.

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Elric":33a23 said:

Other than the fact that you are buying stuff with money you don't have which is a bad sign with regard to the direction you are taking with your personal finances, it's probably typical with regard to any other introductory credit card offer.

Some stupidly high percentage of Americans have the same financial self-control problem, and it tends to only get worse over time.

My advice would be to think about just how compelling the reason is to do things like this, before it becomes a habit. IMHO. This is just based on seeing friends and relatives struggle with it. Credit is like an addiction in this country.

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The problem is that it's easier than saving.

It's "there" like a floating loan. Get a lot of money and pay it back over time.

personally, it's getting to a point where we're about to focus hard on paying them off, and being done with them as a whole.

I just closed my account with them yesterday.

Finally

I did the same thing as you are wanting to do, and yes, I got burned with the interest because I got lazy.

Never again!

I see no problem here.

The way of the world is credit. If that gets you what you want, and you don't have to pay interest charges, then do it.

Saving for a year by putting $200 into my savings account to buy something that I'd do the EXACT thing by paying to a no-interest account makes perfect sense to me.

But DEFINATELY pay it off in time! And don't get behind!

EP

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Zach":23c13 said:

Hey,
I was just looking at the Platinum Card for musicians friend, since I was thinking of buying something, and paying half now, and paying the rest in a month, so that way I can get this camcorder I've been wanting for a while right now. So I have 12 months with no interest, and I'd pay it off way before that, would I have to pay anything else, or would it be fine?

Zach

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I'm wrestling with a similar situation. I am in the process of buying a house where pretty much 90% of my savings are going to be gone. Plus, I am having a church wedding in June. AND my wife has one more semester of school that needs to be paid for in the fall.

By my calculations, I should have enough to cover the wedding and then hopefully get back enough in gifts to pay for her final semester.

Being that I will need furniture for this house, I need to figure out how I'm going to pay for it. We can live without it for a few months until the major expenses are out of the way. OR I can buy furniture with no interest and payments from a couple of retailers in the area.

My wife and I are both financially conservative but I get the feeling that I'm much more so then she is. So I DON'T want to buy this stuff on credit whereas she thinks it's fine.

I just did my taxes and I'm getting back MUCH more then I anticipated but I'm a little leary of the numbers because they seem really high. As in four times what my normal return is. But this is my first year of marriage and she is unemployed and I didn't claim her as a dependant in my W2s.

So I am going a little bit nuts with planning all the stuff going on in my life!

First drawback: It's Musician's Friend.

Second: If you just want to pay it off in a month, that's too much crap to go through. I'm guessing that you will be able to find whatever it is you are looking to buy from AMS, as well, and you can just pick the 3 month payment option at check out instead of having to get a credit card and mess with that.

I'd have to agree with everyone else because I have a LOT of personal experience with buying things outside of my financial abilities. It IS attractive not having to wait to save up money, especially when there's zero interest and no payments for twelve months. BUT, you're ALWAYS going to get charged back interest when that term expires, so you're not really getting any benefit at all other than zero interest if you pay it off within the term.

Keep in mind that the CC company does not care if your family member just got ill and has thousands of dollars of medical expenses, OR that your car just broke down, OR that your house has been robbed. They only care about fleecing you for every penny you're worth. And once you go down that road, it's VERY difficult to get back on track.

I currently have around $14000 in credit card debt; obviously, not all of it is gear, but a good chunk of it is. And it's almost all bad spending habits (minus about $2000 when my Jetta dropped its tranny, and some other car expenses). I'd get suckered in when the CC company would jack up my limit by $2500 at a time. Once they see you paying down your balance in large increments they'll almost always raise your limit. They don't want you to pay off your debt, they want you to keep paying the minimum payment. That way they make the most profit off of interest.

Now, if you're able to discipline yourself and pay off a zero interest credit card before the promotion term is up, then I say go for it. Just remember, MF is banking on the statistical probability that you're not going to pay it off in twelve months so they can make even more profit off of a year's worth of back interest.

If I buy this $1400 amp, I can pay it off in 12 months.

Fast foward 3 months... "Well, I still have 9 months left"
Fast forward 6 months...."Yikes, I better start paying on that!"
Fast forward 9 months...."uh oh!"

Then you just payed like $1900 for a $1400 amp

But I already know I have the funds, so it's not a problem at all. I'm not a dumbass and wouldn't buy something like that unless i KNEW 100% I had the funds.

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Zach":9d884 said:

But I already know I have the funds, so it's not a problem at all. I'm not a dumbass and wouldn't buy something like that unless i KNEW 100% I had the funds.

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So why not just buy it now?

It really depends on you to be honest.

I bought a 5150 a few years back using the 12m no interest deal. I paid off the amp in the alloted time and got an interest free loan! I still have the account open, but it has a zero balance. Every once in awhile MF has some insane deals. Nice to have the option to jump if I need to.

So it really up to you and how you handle your money.

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Zach":d3251 said:

But I already know I have the funds, so it's not a problem at all. I'm not a dumbass and wouldn't buy something like that unless i KNEW 100% I had the funds.

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Well, the point I was trying to make is that sometimes things come up financially that you haven't planned for. Ultimately, the decision is up to you on whether or not you've got enough fiscal flexibility to have the card paid off in time if an emergency comes up.

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OneArmedScissor":80261 said:

First drawback:
I'm guessing that you will be able to find whatever it is you are looking to buy from AMS, as well, and you can just pick the 3 month payment option at check out instead of having to get a credit card and mess with that.

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This is a better way to go. They can take it out of a check card. You wont have any interest and you could keep the money longer.

Listen up...im a success story in this regard.

Maxed my credit limit on my Guitar Center Credit card with 12 months no interest. Made interest off the money while GC footed the bill for 12 months and payed it off right before the deadline intentionally. I had the money the whole time.

In my opionion, if you have self control, fricking do it. Sweet deal. The problem with credit is that most people dont have the willpower to use it wisely.