Credit card ?

[shmike]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

Stop paying off your cards... If you carry a balance every month, as long as you remain current on it and avoid finance charges, it helps your credit. I'll pay mine down to $1 sometimes when I get a bonus or something, but otherwise there's always a balance. I use my cards for everything and monitor my rewards to max them between two cards. I should bring in close to $1500 this year in cash back.

Please clarify for the young bucks.

I think I get what you are trying to say, but the advice to "stop paying off your cards" is generally bad.

Unless, you have an introductory 0% rate, if you are carrying a balance, then you are paying financing charges.

If you are jumping from card to card to keep getting those 0% rates while carrying a balance, then you are in debt. Telling yourself you are "building credit" is making your problem worse.

[dubbs]

I think he just means that paying the statement balance, which still leaves a balance afterward, and avoids paying any finance charges.. For my chase gas card - they have a convenient option to automatically pay the statement balance only, which at the end of each month still leaves 100-150$ on there and i've never paid a finance charge on the card in 8+ years I've had it.

That said - when I get 0% cards I rack up all the purchases then calculate my monthly to fully pay it off before the finance charges start.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by dubbs

I think he just means that paying the statement balance, which still leaves a balance afterward, and avoids paying any finance charges.. For my chase gas card - they have a convenient option to automatically pay the statement balance only, which at the end of each month still leaves 100-150$ on there and i've never paid a finance charge on the card in 8+ years I've had it.

That said - when I get 0% cards I rack up all the purchases then calculate my monthly to fully pay it off before the finance charges start.

This. I thought it was apparent based on the original topic, but thanks for clarifying dubbs.

As long as you pay as much or more on your card as you've spent in the previous cycle, you can avoid finance charges. One of my cards generally carries about $1,000 at all times... I've never had a finance charge on that card...

[OneSickPsycho]

Oh and fuck 0% intro cards... most of them suck for rewards... Like I said, I maximize my shit...

Two cards...

Amazon Visa - always 3% on Amazon, 2% on gas/restaurants/drugstore/office supplies, 1% on everything else

Chase Freedom - quarterly promotions for 5% cash back (currently Lowes, restaurants, movies... plus 10% bonus points at the end of the year.

I used to use my Discover Card too, but I found that the Freedom card mirrors their quarterly 5% cash back rotation...

I keep a sliver of a sticky note in my wallet to remind me which card to use for what to max out my rewards. I used to get anywhere from $500 to $1000 cash back each year... since I'm paying attention to it now, I expect to hit $1500 this year.

[shmike]

Originally Posted by dubbs

I think he just means that paying the statement balance, which still leaves a balance afterward, and avoids paying any finance charges.. For my chase gas card - they have a convenient option to automatically pay the statement balance only, which at the end of each month still leaves 100-150$ on there and i've never paid a finance charge on the card in 8+ years I've had it.

That said - when I get 0% cards I rack up all the purchases then calculate my monthly to fully pay it off before the finance charges start.

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

This. I thought it was apparent based on the original topic, but thanks for clarifying dubbs.

As long as you pay as much or more on your card as you've spent in the previous cycle, you can avoid finance charges. One of my cards generally carries about $1,000 at all times... I've never had a finance charge on that card...

That's what I though but wanted clarification for those less versed.

It used to drive me crazy when my wife would pay "outstanding balance" rather than "statement balance."

[dubbs]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

Oh and fuck 0% intro cards... most of them suck for rewards... Like I said, I maximize my shit...

I needed to spend about 10k on home improvements.. I got a 0% for 24 months.. worked for me..

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by dubbs

I needed to spend about 10k on home improvements.. I got a 0% for 24 months.. worked for me..

Storm damage? I was/am using my lowes card for most of my bigger purchases for the 5% off then pay it next month. I wa susing my citi rewards card similar to OTB untill I racked up a larger balance and need to pay that of ffirst.

In the past I played the balance transfer or 0% game to pay off the larger debt I had and it worked rather well. Either I had enough time to pay it off and if not another offer would have come up and I would switch it to there.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by dubbs

I needed to spend about 10k on home improvements.. I got a 0% for 24 months.. worked for me..

Yeah, I should have chosen my words more wisely... That's about the only thing they're good for. Big purchases, special circumstances, etc... I just opened a Goodyear card when I put tires on my truck to take advantage of paying on it for 6 months with zero interest rather than taking the big hit all at once.

For general use though, those 0% deals give you a crap card...

[shmike]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

For general use though, those 0% deals give you a crap card...

It's a trade-off.

You get to choose great rewards or a low rate, not both.

[dubbs]

Originally Posted by tommymac

Storm damage? I was/am using my lowes card for most of my bigger purchases for the 5% off then pay it next month. I wa susing my citi rewards card similar to OTB untill I racked up a larger balance and need to pay that of ffirst.

In the past I played the balance transfer or 0% game to pay off the larger debt I had and it worked rather well. Either I had enough time to pay it off and if not another offer would have come up and I would switch it to there.

No storm damage, just completely redoing the inside of the house. Put down wood floors, tile, ton of sheet rock, new door, sliding glass door, etc.

Got a nice 0% loan from my dad to do the exterior of the house - siding and gutters.

And a 4 yr 0% loan for all new furniture from raymore n flannigan.