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02-10-2015, 11:24 PM | #23 |
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I've never met anyone in the upper middle class or above who only uses debit cards and cash. They don't exist. Once you've reached a certain level of affluence, it's mainstream to use credit cards.
The only exception I can think of are drug dealers. |
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02-11-2015, 08:11 AM | #24 | |
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02-11-2015, 08:35 AM | #25 |
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I just got the Capital One with the 2% cash back and loving it so far. I only use it for my business and before was using a Chase Ink with just 1% back. With their $250 bonus I already have $500 on my first statement.
I also have an AA Amex that gets miles, but honestly I don't travel enough to justify using it. I use it for personal stuff but not for the business. I have like 500,000 miles sitting there waiting until I actually have time to go somewhere. |
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02-11-2015, 09:25 AM | #26 |
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I have a Amex Plat and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards. As KoJ said, I the Sapphire Preferred card offers almost all the same bennys as the Platinum card does so I will be dropping that down to a gold level. I have a few store cards that almost never get used save for the occasional purchase that I might make at that store, which typically gets me extra money off. The Points that I get on the Amex and Chase cards have paid for all of my personal vacations in the past 3 years. They are paid in full at the end of every month, and offer a nice protection if something breaks down the line since I can just call and they will replace the item at no cost to me, as an included part of the yearly fee.
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02-11-2015, 09:37 AM | #27 | |
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Also, its pretty silly to carry a balance in order to get line increases. You are just paying interest for no reason. Request an increase if you need it but right now you are paying for it via interest. I have never carried a balance on my card and Amex has taken it upon themselves to give me multiple line increases. |
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02-11-2015, 09:56 AM | #28 | |
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02-11-2015, 10:03 AM | #29 | ||||
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Edited. Trust me i've thought about opening up a legit CC but i keep having draw backs. So i think i really need to discipline myself and set mental rules before i pull the trigger. Quote:
"Rule of thumb for me, if I can't pull out my debit card and pay for it right there, then I'm sure as hell aren't charging it." This is very inspiring. Thanks. JasonCSU and P1et have also given me lots of educational thoughts.
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02-11-2015, 10:12 AM | #30 | |
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02-11-2015, 10:30 AM | #31 | |
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So, if you get a card with a $500 limit, and you spend $250/month, that's a 50% credit card utilization, not good. Best to stay below 20% or so. So even though most anyone should be able to not get over their head in a card with only a $500 limit, you'll get killed on credit utilization which will hurt your score. |
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02-11-2015, 10:34 AM | #32 | |
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02-11-2015, 11:32 AM | #34 |
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I tend to use credit to take advantage of the "12 months interest free" type of deals. Why? Because it actually is FREE MONEY. I can certainly afford what I am buying, so that's not the problem. I laugh at the misconception that if you need to charge to a credit card, you can't afford it. Wrong. Most people don't "need" to use a CC, they "want" to for benefits. Sure, if you're stupid and don't meet the requirements (i.e. minimum payments each month, paid off in X months) then you'll get slammed with an interest bill. But why not take advantage of it if you KNOW you can make the monthly payments?
Hell, when I bought my house and me and my then girlfriend (now wife) moved in together, we needed some more furniture to finish furnishing the house. I didn't want anything super nice or expensive because we have too many dogs. Eventually our spare living room/rec room will have nicer stuff since the dogs don't go in there, but for now we wanted some cheaper stuff. I went to Rooms to Go, found a nice dining room set and bedroom set, got 2 years interest free on it (with a good credit score) and done. They are both paid off now and I didn't pay a single cent in interest. Bottom line is that credit is certainly not a bad thing, it's quite the opposite. You just can't be lazy/stupid/irresponsible with it. Last thing I charged to credit was my new Wii U and a few games to my Best Buy card. Had plenty of cash to pay for it. Instead, I got some cash back and don't have to have it paid for until June (and no interest).
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02-11-2015, 11:43 AM | #35 | |
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Let's say you have $5K cash to put down on a new car. Would you rather write the dealer a check and get nothing in return, or would you rather put it on a cash back card that yields 2% (Fidelity Amex, etc.) and get $100 back? You'll still pay the card off in full at the end of the month since you had the cash readily available anyway. Not sure how affluent you are, but I'll take the free $100 any day of the week.
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02-11-2015, 11:59 AM | #36 |
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I've pretty much based my life on my credit. Between the motorcycle, BMW, all brand new furniture in my apartment, and now getting approved for a house on my own...., if I didn't have established credit, I'd have terrible rates for my ages and most people probably wouldn't consider me for most things.
When I financed my furniture just to help with my score, 4 years no interest @ $2,500 with $750 down. I'll already have it damn near paid off and it's only been a year. What did I get from it? Extending payments out instead of up front, increased my credit score with payments before due and triple the minimum. I got approved for my first home just the other day at a fixed rate of 4.09%, so that's a pretty good feeling. |
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02-11-2015, 12:32 PM | #37 | |
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To a much lesser extent, I also pay my deposits/down payments with credit for the same reason. |
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02-11-2015, 12:48 PM | #38 | |
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What did she pay for the car? The past 3-4 cars I've bought I have put the down payment on the credit card. Usually the most they will allow is $5k as the dealership doesn't want to pay AMEX the 3% fee. Maybe the profit on the car was so great that they had the $700 or whatever card fee covered. |
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02-11-2015, 01:18 PM | #39 | |
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02-11-2015, 02:55 PM | #40 | |
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i currently use the chase sapphire preferred. rewards are awesome and transferring 1:1 to certain travel partners is huge. i was able to stay at $500/night resort for 15k points per night. if you like to travel this one is hard to beat. well worth the $95 annual fee. it has already saved me $3500 from the one trip i booked with it using the sign up bonus plus some extra points. also, they have an awesome rewards shopping portal where you can get up to 7x or 8x points from certain retailers just for clicking through their portal. Last edited by bkM3; 02-11-2015 at 03:06 PM.. |
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02-11-2015, 03:02 PM | #41 |
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I've got a few credits cards, but my favorite one is Chase Freedom card. 5% quarterly cash back on a few things that are really useful, such as gas, restaurants or Amazon.com.
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02-11-2015, 04:11 PM | #42 |
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02-11-2015, 04:32 PM | #43 |
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I travel frequently and caryy SWA's rapid rewards premier and UA united explorer plus.
Both very simple cards with mainly travel rewards. Stay below 20% of your available credit limit and pay statements in full when they're due. Works for me. |
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02-11-2015, 04:37 PM | #44 |
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how's the citi double cash card working out for you? i was actually looking for a better rewards card and the citi has popped up more than once in recommendations
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