The difference is in the interest rate for a line of credit as opposed to a credit card, the latter being higher.

But at the end of the day, credit is credit right? So a LOC isn't really any better than a credit card.

Ideally one does not want to use credit but how on earth can you say a LOC isn't any better than a credit card?

Credit Card interest average anywhere between 18% and 28% can be negotiated down but nowhere near as low as a line of credit.

Line of credit bank prime, .5% over bank prime maybe 1% over bank prime.

Huge difference.

Of course it would, but I was responding to the comment about high interest of a CC. And I guess not everyone has a LOC. I do, but I've never used it.

Agree completely about Coast Capital Savings We were recommended to them by a local when we first arrived and the service has been excellent. There are definately NO account fees. We were also both given credit cards immediately. We use them for most things and pay off the balance each month to help build up our credit records.

We also used their insurance division when we bought a car and saved about $400 on the top-up element of the BC insurance

I am also retired and we do the same as you, pay off credit card balance every month.

But a line of credit is not that hard to get and for emergencies as Iaink said pay with credit card then pay off the card with line of credit.

Buy a cheaper PS3 for Christmas.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...tech-sony.html

(Keeping the PS2 will resolve the backward compatibility issue)..

Credit card interest doesn't have to be as high as 18-28% and I don't know anyone myself who is paying that. I'm not sure I'd agree that it's the average rate either. Most people I know are paying between 9 and 11%.

The fact is you're still paying interest on the LOC even if it is much lower. I never said it wasn't lower. However, some people max out their credit lines - if you're LOC is small I suppose it's fine but if you're looking at a LOC which is $10,000 plus then I guess it's not! (And I know a couple of colleagues at work who have LOCs this large).

The point I was trying to make (apparently not very successfully!) is that if this is about frugality, credit is credit and everyone is saying (aren't they?) that it should be avoided. So I guess that rules out a credit card and a LOC too, whether the interest rate is lower or not!

In the end, it's all about what works for the individual. I hope that ladymoose finds all of the tips valuable and food for thought - no one person on this forum is right but we're all entitled to offer suggestions and tips. I've found some ideas worth thinking about!

Sorry, didn't mean to come over as jumping down anyone's throat.

My point was that if you are holding a balance and paying interest then for the sake of frugality you should do everything in your power to pay it off as soon as possible, and secondly that there are benefits to using some cards...I get about $500 a year in free groceries for example. Cash is a good exercise to get a grip on spending, but once thats done its worth using some cards for the cash-back benefits on offer.

Really my point was supposed to be that once you decide never to run no balance, the interest rate on the card is irrelevant in the selection process. If it the bill cant be cleared from available funds for some reason then its better paid off using a line of credit which is pegged at at a much lower rate than any credit card (0% transfers not withstanding)

Even if you dont need a line of credit and things are great financially, I personally think it a good idea to arrange one while you have the financial clout to get a good limit and rate, just for emergency purposes is the shit hits the fan at some point in the future. When you have no income and need the safety net is not the time to be trying to do it! The trick then is to forget all about it and resist the temptation to use it to buy a 50" TV or a new car in the mean time.

Which credit union are you with? Maybe this is the thin end of the wedge and over time the major banks will have to follow suite.

I have a Capital One credit card with a permanent interest rate of 5.9% - so long as you always pay at least the minimum payment.

And as for buying things on sale you don't need. My husband does this all the time. I guess he thinks he is saving money when he comes home with a 20 lb box of long spaghetti. There are only two of us and because he always works late, I generally have a salad or something around 6 and he comes in and fries himself a steak or something at around 7.30 or 8. So the only time we might eat spaghetti would be on the weekend. So its going to take us quite a few years to eat 20 lbs of the stuff!! Maybe I can package it up in smaller portions and give it to the Food Bank.

Take it round to one of those chuches/clubs that have spaghetti suppers, that should feed the multitude.

Christmas gifts. We have an upper limit on spending, last year it was $10, we may go to $20 this year. We've done this for a few years and it makes present buying more fun, as is opening the gifts. We have rules, say 3 gifts per person for a total of £20. The year before last we spent Christmas with my in laws, there were 5 of us so we each had 15 parcels to open and noone had spent more than £100.

For our Canadian friends, they appreciate home made craft things so I went to Michaels (a huge craft store) and bought paint, and bottles, and glasses, and little wooden boxes and painted them up. They were much admired.

No need to spend $$$$ on playstations!

I'd love to get back to something like this. Our best Christmas memories are the ones in the years we were struggling and totally broke!! (Now, we're talking about many years of memories here!). But it was simple and pleasurable. Now, Christmas is all stress and worry about how to afford this and that. My grandkids are so darned spoiled it's not funny, and I've got 8 of them. The ones in England, who are supposedly not as well off as the ones over here, have every electronic gadget known to man. It's a challenge to know what to get for them that they'd actually appreciate and that doesn't cost a bomb. I'm sending gift certificates this year and I'm sure the amounts won't get anything they would like to buy.

Sorry to go so far off topic, but this touched a nerve, as you can tell!

We like a challenge at xmas time, especially secret santa at work. Last year we kept it to under £2.50 and we had to try and find the crappiest gift. It was great seeing what everyone had managed to find and a lot more thought went into individuals gifts than normally does

See your point everyone about the Playstation - accept that what I didn't say (cos it didn't seem relevant!) was that the hubby's boss gave our son a $100 gift voucher last year for one of the electronic shops (can't remember the name) which we didn't give him cos he had so much other stuff from the rellies. We've just found it again and there's another one coming this year (we've been told) -thus the question about an upgrade - without these we wouldn't be considering it. Also current PS2 has already been fixed once (that cost $100 on its own) and is definitely coming to the end of its natural....

However - Christmas is something we've actually done right this year with gradual savings being made. None of it will go on credit for the first time in a long time...

When I was broke I adopted some odd habits. Some of them won't work here as you don't get the buy ones get ones free very often but here's some suggestions.

Shop the supermarket the wrong way round - so instead of the fruit/veg/bakery. Start with Dairy and frozen.

Set a food budget and take a calculator - add your shopping as you go and when you get to your limit head straight to the checkout - wether you have done the whole shop or not. You soon get very picky on what goes in your basket.

Have a seperate account just for bills, pop enough in it to cover your monthly outgoings and what you want to save and don't use it as an every day account.

Walk as many errands you can. I used to make sure I had a 1/4 tank of fuel in my car. That was enough to get me to the hospital and back if I needed to for my daughter. If I didn't have spare to put in the car, we walked.

Freeze all leftovers and have pot luck nights (makes it really exciting when you think 'Oh I'll remember whats in that one' and the curry you thought it was ends up being left over roast).

Bulk out foods like bolognese and chilli with extra onions and more tomatoes. Buy frozen veg and fruit (Costco are very reasonable for those).

If your a cake fiend - bake your own. Don't buy pop and crisps - if you haven't got it, it can't be consumed - the moaning doesn't last that long.....honest!

Good luck