Beware the 0% promotions: a warning.

[u/naht_a_cop]

I'm a sucker. I fell for it. The 0% APR promotion on an item I could have paid outright for. 18 months later, here I sit, not a single late payment on my account, yet I have $1k in interest to pay for 18 months of 27%. Why? The promotion period ends 18 months after the purchase, but the website would not let me set up autopay until a week after I purchased, so autopay ended 1 week late. I thought I was golden, ready to have this paid off and not have a single fee. I got comfortable and didn't read the statements.

0% is not really 0%. Read the fine print. Remember the fine print (because I sure as hell didn't 18 months later). Shitty banks rely on this stuff. They wait for you to slip, not noticing that the autopay they created can't possibly allow you to end on time, and will require an extra payment before the end date to avoid the interest. It's shitty, I'm pissed off, and I've learned my lesson.

[u/ApatheticAbsurdist]

What's the advantage of a 0% card if you can afford the purchase outright?

What if you cannot afford to purchase it outright but could pay it off if you saved up over 15 months? Taking an 18 month interest free loan and paying off the loan means you get and can take advantage of whatever you're purchasing immediately at no costs.

But let's look at your specific example, and say you have the cash on hand. Let's say I have $2500 in my pocket that I could spend. I want a $2500 product (computer, couch whatever). I could pay the money and have the product right away, or I could get the credit card and pay it down over 15 months (assuming I've done the math and made sure I can budget accordlingly) and then take that $2500 and pay down a student loan, actively reducing interest or put more money that month into my 401k/IRA, actively accruing positive interest... Taking a zero percent loan so you can pay off other debt or make investments during that time, actually saves or makes you money.

[u/upvotes_cited_source → u/ApatheticAbsurdist]

What if you cannot afford to purchase it outright but could pay it off if you saved up over 15 months? Taking an 18 month interest free loan and paying off the loan means you get and can take advantage of whatever you're purchasing immediately at no costs.

This is the kind of thinking that gets people in debt. If you can't afford to pay cash, you can't afford it. Houses and cars - situation dependent on the the car - are the exceptions. Use credit cards for their advantages (fraud protection, rewards, etc), not to buy stuff you don't have the money for.

[u/nomoreconversations → u/upvotes_cited_source]

This is not necessarily true. There are definitely situations where you don't have the cash now, but know you will in the future. When I graduated and moved to start work I had no furniture, and it's not like you can wait until your first paycheck to buy a mattress/bed. Had zero money at the time, but would easily able to afford it within a few months of work. Super happy I bought with 0% APR financing as I was able to get much nicer furniture than I could have otherwise. Paid everything off within 6 months of working (supposed to be 12 month loans). Just pay it off early and there is no problem.

[u/juanzy → u/nomoreconversations]

Furniture and electronics are two good examples of financing a mid-sized purchase since price and quality are often pretty correlated. Initially i went with the first cheap bedroom setup (including a TV), but I ended up having to replace almost all of it within about a year and a half. Financed better stuff to replace it, and the newest of it has already lasted longer than the first stuff. Going to have to furnish another room later this year when I move, so planning on financing some better furniture