Do you feel you are spending real money when you charged to credit card?

I do it the other way round. I treat my credit card as a linkage to my saving account and therefore it is the real money. Thus, whenever I use my credit card, the first question is: do I have enough remaining savings available for the extra expenses I am going to charge on my credit card? I never had "borrow" money by means of credit card by making sure that every dollar I charge to it is actually backed up by my saving account.

When I spend money on my credit card it absolutely feels real to me! I am a stickler for my finances, though. So I am very careful about what I spend! I used to work at a bank. The most money I ever held at once was about $500,000. In cash. It didnt seem real to me. There were days that I would literally hand out $100,000. That was all just paper to me! While I was there, it was just paper because it didnt belong to me. I do get excited whenever I have my own cash - and it has never been anywhere near that amount! I think one of the biggest differences is when it is yours.

Nope, I don't think I am spending real money when I am using credit card. I think it as a credit. I know that I have interest to pay because of my debt. But I keep on using it especially if I have deficit in my budget.

I feel as if I am going to a loan shark when I use a credit card. It is more than real money it is bondage. It is easy to get into that bondage because there is a false feeling that it is not real. Unfortunately, it is more real than the money. It has a bite that is filled with venom.

YEAP - it's real money alright - plus interest and finance charges. So technically, it's the real cost of the product PLUS the cost of swiping. So yes - It does hurt my pockets when I use plastic. I just like to use plastic because I feel safer - in terms of not attracting too much attention if I were to pay cash.

I think that it does set in as money however it is easier to spend. When you spend cash you feel the effects on the spot but with a credit card you dont feel them untill you have to pay the bill later. This makes it easier to get into debt with credit cards. Its not that you dont see it as actual money but you dont feel the effects untill it is to late and you have already spent the money

I can see how it wouldn't be like using real money when you are using a credit card or even debit card to pay for things. I mean it doesn't have the same feel of handing over real money. I find that if I also keep a written record of what I put on my card that it makes it more real and curtails my spending a bit too. I haven't had any problems with credit card debt but I know a lot of people who own so much in interest alone that it's scary.

When I was young and had my first credit card, I knew it was money but I only thought of the minimum payment. I could buy a thing and only pay a few dollars a month. The interest and other fees didn't make an impression on me. After all, I had the thing I wanted and only had to pay a little every month. I got into a lot of trouble! Once I was older and hadn't had a credit card for years, I got one again. That was two years ago. I realized I couldn't fall back into the same old pattern or I would always be in debt and never get ahead. I began treating the charges like debits, subtracting them from my bank balance as I would a debit charge. I wrote them in red. I always knew how much I had in my checking account. When the bill came, I added back the red charges, then wrote a check for that much to pay the balance in full. That way, it is real money. If I cannot subtract the charge from my balance and have enough to last the month plus put a good amount in savings, I do not buy the thing on my credit card. By treating a credit card charge like a debit, I am actually dealing in cash and I control my spending. I also get cash back on the purchases and pay no monthly fee so the card is paying me to use it. They call people like me "deadbeats", as you learned from one of my previous discussions! I think if people treated charges like debits, we'd be a lot better off.

I agree with Leeson that, when you're simply keying numbers into a program or monitoring one that does automatic invoicing, it doesn't seem like real money. I ran such a program when I worked for a railroad that invoiced well over $14 million a year and the numbers were just numbers. Tracking the expenses with another program had the same feel and the only thing that mattered was that everything balanced at the end of the month, quarter and year. As for my personal finances, though, those numbers have meaning. Yes, I feel like I'm spending real money when I use my personal credit cards and when using the credit cards we have for our business because, if the income and the expenses don't balance, it effects me personally. I have both a personal and business budget and I usually know exactly where we are financially.

Yes, I could sense that I'm using true money with credit cards. I will still see my bank account numbers decreasing when I pay for my credit card bills. I don't have the problem of over spending so far.

I know that I am spending real money when I use a credit card. I do not own but one card, and I only purchase on the same day I pay it at the store. I simply get a discount for using the card and I make sure I have the money to pay before I buy as I do not have any intention of paying interest. I do not carry it with me unless there is something that I need to buy at that store. When you live on a fixed income you have to be careful or you can ruin your credit. I use my debit card often and that helps you know that purchases are all spending your money. In this day and age Credit ratings are very important not just to future purchases but to be able to get a good job and promotions etc. Please keep this in mind as you spend. You have to be able to pay it off quickly. As I am guessing you are not over 30 then you may not have decided to buy a house yet, but your credit rating will even affect the interest rate on purchases like a car.

I think I am spending real money when I use credit card. But I always buy more things when I use credit card to charge. Maybe using credit card can make me think it is real money, numbers as well in my brain.