using CC is a smart move. u have to look in market which card has more benefits that u r eligible for. I have AMEX gold , no annual fee and limit is $50,000 but that doesn’t mean i spend all that money in one month. I normally spend 2k-3k in month and accumulate my rewards point. In the end of year, I buy gift cards from my rewards point ($500 for 50,000 point)
There’s really no reason not to run your expenses through a cash back rewards card. I have all my utilities set up for autopay on my card. Plus, 3-5% back for gas, and 2-3% back for groceries.
johnnyBuz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Perhaps I am doing it all wrong? How beneficial > are CC points? Should I apply for a new CC to get > one with the best offers and get rid of my old CC? > > > Also, I keep my CC limit low ($3000) so if I do > away with my debit card I would have to ask for a > raise on that. Probably not a big deal as I just > raised it from $2500 to $3000 but something they > would have to approve nonetheless. > > I think I got into using debit because it kept me > financially mindful. I wouldn’t spend if I didn’t > have it in my checking. At this point I am sure I > am responsible to just move it all to credit but > hmm… I might just have to think about this. Two big components of your credit score are the amount of available credit you are using and how long your accounts have been open. You might not care about your credit score now, but it can make a big difference down the road. So, I would not cancel the current card as you want to keep that account as long as possible (unless you are paying an annual fee, which you shouldn’t be doing anyway). I would also ask them to raise your limit. Don’t go nuts with it though because it will start to work against you after a certain point.
As Bromion pointed out, you are supplying capital/business. They should be paying you to channel your money through their system (which they get paid for). I use the following: http://personal.fidelity.com/products/checking/content/amex_rewards_card.shtml I get 2% cash back, which gets automatically deposited into your checking/brokerage account once $50 in rewards points accrue. Pay off everything each month and it’s free money. The ATM card attached to the checking/brokerage account also pays all ATM fees. It took me a while to get all my accounts together at Fidelity, but now that I’ve got it set up I love it.
I only use a debit card that’s attached to a high-interest checking account that requires me to use it 12 times a month for 5% interest (up to $15k, then 1%). ATM fees are refunded nomatter how large (hello casino, bar, strip club, etc rate-gouging places I no longer have to worry about). Other than that it’s all CC, as I mentioned on the other thread I don’t know why anyone would use a debit card for any daily purchases. Rewards points will add up even if you don’t think you spend that much, and not to mention there can be sweet perks to opening an account. Got 50k United miles for opening one last year and saw recently a Chase card that offered $250 cash for spending $500 in first 3 months. If keeping track of expenses and balances is an issue, check out Mint dot com or download their app. It pulls all your bank accounts and cards (and brokerage accts) together so your overall net worth decreases with each CC purchase rather than once a month when it’s paid off.
BofA is terrible. I can’t even log-in to my account right now.
Chuckrox8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > BofA is terrible. I can’t even log-in to my > account right now. +1. Such BS.
what is the advantage of using a debit card for anything other than taking out cash from an ATM? Am I missing something? Why wouldn’t you just use a credit card where you can get points, have protection against unauthorized use, etc.?
L3BeatIt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > what is the advantage of using a debit card for > anything other than taking out cash from an ATM? > Am I missing something? Why wouldn’t you just use > a credit card where you can get points, have > protection against unauthorized use, etc.? Because you spend more with a CC. It’s been proven over and over again. Now, if you trust yourself and honestly know that you have the spending habits with or without, then go ahead and charge away and rack up those points. Just keep in mind that the merchant pays and additional 1-3% for items purchased with a CC and they gladly do this because they know CC using patrons will spend more.