Is Citi Flex Play in particular a bad idea?
Well you didn’t get an answer so here it is:
Consumer loans are bad. Period. Next question?
Well, tszefr, what about credit cards in general?
Sure credit cards have a use! But if you don’t use them the way you should you are in for penalties and interest, sometimes up to 30% APR or more.
The way to avoid that is to first ensure that your card provides you a so-called grace period to pay it all and not incur any fees. Generally 20 days after bill issuance. Only buy what you can afford to pay and pay it all every month on time!
The benefit of using a card is money back to you. 1.5% to 2% is common for everything you spend. Sometimes more. Bank pays you to use them unless you mess up.
I’ll add a quote from the Intro topic in this forum section: "Clark Howard is a big fan of credit cards if you can use them responsibly. "
It doesn’t mention what the interest rate is. They say it’s better than the usual rate on the card, but that’s not saying much given they’re usually in the 20-30% range. Sounds like an easy way to get in trouble.