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I actually was able to earn pointing paying my monthly child support! Best thing - the Clerk of Courts accepted payment by credit card without any additional fees.
We use credit cards to pay for everything possible. They all get points or cash back.
<snip>I’m not sure why some people are so averse to their use.
For people who have a harder time keeping their spending at safe levels when they use plastic, they're like crack. I give them credit for changing to debit cards and cash.
The first link I got on a search of "average credit card debt" was $16,000 per household in 2016. I sure hope that average doesn't include households with zero cc debt but the article didn't make it clear.
So... let's assume you're paying 1.5%/month on that. It works out to $240/month or almost $3,000/year. And most cards charge you a higher rate if you miss a payment or are late a few times.
Yeah, I can see why some people avoid them, especially those who have been burned in the past.
there is nothing in this world short of death that will apply to everybody ...these discussions we generally have in the financial forums about financial improvements are for those it applies to. investing does not apply to those who have no pucker factor , no money or no interest .
.how to benefit from credit card usage applies to those who exhibit good behavior with credit cards and can pay off their bills with no interest .
there is no reason for those who it can't ,won't or does not apply to , to bother with these posts only to say how it does not apply to them ...that makes little sense .
Last edited by mathjak107; 05-29-2019 at 03:58 PM..
I actually was able to earn pointing paying my monthly child support! Best thing - the Clerk of Courts accepted payment by credit card without any additional fees.
That's lucky. I know someone who paid a speeding ticket and they charged $10 more for using a credit card.
The best way I've found to save money on card purchases, is not to make so many of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by in_newengland
Silly you need to buy food (2 points on my cc) and most of us need to buy gas (3 pts) and every once in a while you need something like clothing or get your hair cut (1 point on my cc.) In retirement we don't need to buy much but we still need to buy a few things. Sometimes there are extras like eating out (1 point) or staying overnight in a motel (1 point). I pay the dr and dentist with the cc (1 point.) May as well put it on a cc and get points that you can redeem for cash. We keep everything on that one credit card, pay it off, then redeem the points. I seldom buy anything I don't need except if we go on vacation, the entire vacation is not really needed. Well, in a way it IS needed. Vacations are good for you.
I've never had a credit card-----a debit card, yes. I do buy food, but only basic ingredients. No gas. I buy just a few clothes at Goodwill and St. Vincent's and cut my own hair. Plumbing repairs, tree pruning and a new roof, I do myself and also do those things for friends and neighbors. Every day is like a vacation trip for me, as the things I do right out of my front door are very interesting. The key to a good life is not spending more money, but learning to do more things for yourself and finding adventures close to home.
I don't do miles, but I do Lowe's gift cards from Discover. For $90 cash back you can get a $100 gift card. I do a lot of home and shop projects with stuff I buy at Lowe's, plus they have cashback promos every quarter. Starting in July, they will give 5% cash back for Amazon purchases. You can buy a lot of stuff at Amazon. First quarter this year was 5% on groceries. That's a sweet discount up front, with the gift cards paying off in the end.
Without the promo, the cash back is 1%. If you buy $3 gas, that's a 3 cent cash back on your gas bill.
There's no annual fee, and I pay the bill in full online, so it doesn't even cost me a stamp.
There are lots of gift cards you can get, but 3 sheets of 3/4" AC plywood costs $100, so I don't have trouble using up a couple $100 gift cards.
The key to a good life is not spending more money, but learning to do more things for yourself and finding adventures close to home.
really ???? that may be a good life to you but i think most of us who enjoy traveling will disagree ... i did not work a lifetime , save , invest and go without so in retirement we have to stay close to home and not spend money ..to me that is certainly not a GOOD LIFE.
we ended up selling our 2nd home in the poconos just because we ran out of things to do close to home and that walk around the lake or in the woods grew quite stale after a while and there were no more adventures close to home that held our interest
I've never had a credit card-----a debit card, yes. I do buy food, but only basic ingredients. No gas. I buy just a few clothes at Goodwill and St. Vincent's and cut my own hair. Plumbing repairs, tree pruning and a new roof, I do myself and also do those things for friends and neighbors. Every day is like a vacation trip for me, as the things I do right out of my front door are very interesting. The key to a good life is not spending more money, but learning to do more things for yourself and finding adventures close to home.
I do a lot of that. Steve, I agree w/ your point about CC use. As I've gotten older and I'm financially secure, I find I'm doing more today when I actually have money than I did when it was tighter.
really ???? that may be a good life to you but i think most of us who enjoy traveling will disagree ... i did not work a lifetime , save , invest and go without so in retirement we have to stay close to home and not spend money ..to me that is certainly not a GOOD LIFE.
I don't think that Steve has realized the travel benefits available with using credit card points.
Personally I have earned enough miles, mostly from when I traveled internationally on business, to have never had to pay for a plane ticket for my vacations in the last thirty years! Even now, while retired, I still earn enough miles on my card to 'pay' for at least one round-trip plane ticket each year.
we are headed to a luxury hotel in Chicago for a week , plus all air fare just using my chase points . we even have enough left for excursions to be included. we got 50,000 points for taking the chase sapphire reserve , 10,000 points for being chase private access clients , plus all the points from everything we charged , including 5 digits in dental for my wife and i .
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And most cards charge you a higher rate if you miss a payment or are late a few times.
you need to buy food (2 points on my cc) and most of us need to buy gas (3 pts) and every once in a while you need something like clothing or get your hair cut (1 point on my cc.) In retirement we don't need to buy much but we still need to buy a few things. Sometimes there are extras like eating out (1 point) or staying overnight in a motel (1 point). I pay the dr and dentist with the cc (1 point.) May as well put it on a cc and get points that you can redeem for cash. We keep everything on that one credit card, pay it off, then redeem the points. I seldom buy anything I don't need except if we go on vacation, the entire vacation is not really needed. Well, in a way it IS needed. Vacations are good for you.
