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Hey im curious if this is a stupid idea but i have a student discover card and im trying to build my credit and ive been interested in getting a ninja ex250 (newer than 2003) and is using a credit card that has 0% financing till Jan 2008 stupid? i mean ill have the cash for the bike around OCT and i can buy most of my gear now and still have the cash for the bike to pay it off.

I guess my main question is, well is or is this not a good idea. I mean im building credit and and i would pay it off relatively quickly. Please give me some opinions b/c ive only really heard of someone buying a car with a AMEX and paying it off monthly bc they couldnt just finance it straight up thru the ocmpany.

Bost

This will not build your credit any more than just having a card and paying it off every month will.

Financing a vehicle and paying off your loans also builds your credit.

You don't want to zero yourself out on a bike that is going to need maintenance and a significant investment in gear.

Ah ok, i mean thats what i planned on doing but i was hoping to get my bike sooner and just get 2 birds with one stone if you know what i mean. But i guess i can wait and just gear up first and have that paid off monthly.

Thanks for the quick input

using free money is not stupid, but you have to be very careful it doesn't blow up on you. You need to have the means to pay it back on time, no matter what (even, say, if the bike were totaled or stolen, you couldn't work, etc), or you quickly can be caught in a credit squeeze.

As far as building your credit record, any time you use credit responsibly it should help your record.

Check the fine print on that credit card. What does the rate go up to after January 2008?

If you are confident you can pay off the balance before January I don't think it is a bad move. If you finance the bike through the dealership you're going to get a crappy interest rate anyway. But you do need to be honest with yourself if you will actually pay the bike off in October like you say. I'm sure it will be easy to get the cash and then spend it on other things. Then carrying 3 grand on a 22% interest rate credit card will take fooorrreevvverrr to pay off.

its 16% after january, and i have scholorships paying for my tuition and apt. And my parents send me like 100 bucks a month or so for grocery's. So all the money i make from work goes to my personal funds. And since i ride a mountain bike around campus and grab rides with my GF i dont think it would be toooo hard to keep around 2500 saved up. i already have 900 thats sittin in my ING direct saving account.

Personally I like to have the cash in my hand if I'm going to make any kind of purchase. Granted I'm young and the biggest purchase I've made was like $700, but I think it's nice to be done with it and not have it hanging over my head.

In the US, a motorcycle is considered a "luxury" purchase, along the lines of an RV or a boat.

It doesn't matter whether it will be your sole means of transportation, that is just how they're classified. Look into financing, you MAY be able to get a deal from the dealer. I'd recommend doing that over using a credit card for the purchase.

Yeah, it sucks to have to wait, but if anything goes wrong financially, you're screwed.

P