Comments on: Credit Card Hopping Tips & Tricks

By: Shaun McGowan

Shaun McGowan — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:51:42 +0000

Good sound advice, I only use my credit card for big purchases otherwise I use my debit card which works exactly like a credit card except spending my own money.

#1 Piece of advice is SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN!

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:10:06 +0000

I keep a 2nd Checking account to pay my Disney Reward Visa payment every month. About once a week I check and balance the online activity of the credit card with my checking account. I pay all of my bills, my brother and boyfriends bills and then put their cash into that checking account. I gain the points from their bills and keep all of my money straight this way so that once the bill comes I can pay it off every month out of that checking account. I also only make purchases that I have the cash to cover so that I dont end up in over my head.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:52:51 +0000

I have to say I disagree with some of the advice on this thread. The only way to maximise cash-back rewards is to USE the card, Period. Electing to have a minimum limit for use is only costing yourself potential cash-back.

The catch is you must pay it off promptly. To do this you need an checking account with on-line access (of course)
and “unlimited bill-pay” type options for free. B,B&T Bank offers this though I think you should shop around.

I visit my card sites frequently to track purchases, payments
and rewards. I pay almost every time something is posted.
But I NEVER pay another until that first pay is recorded at
my bank’s on-line site. That way my bank balance is never
in danger.

Look, If I was wealthy I probably wouldn’t care about paying
for a Smoothie with a cash-back card but I’m not rich. So
my policy is to milk that card for all it’s worth. Not only for
Bills, but for everyday Expenses as well.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 21:39:30 +0000

Just make sure that if you are getting some sort of rewards that they cover for the alternative of cash back (e.g. 1 “reward point” >= 1% cash back). The allure of rewards is that you’d get something which you normally wouldn’t purchase for yourself, but you could do the same thing with the cash that you get back for purchasing.

By: David

David — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:53:24 +0000

Personally, I’ve recently stopped using my checking account for anything other than deposits. As soon as my money goes in, I work out my budget, put money in savings and on my other cards, and put the rest on my main credit card. I have all my bills set to go there automatically. So all of my purchases go on my points card. Plus, if I don’t use all the money I put on, the extra goes toward paying off my debt.

And not having money in your checking account isn’t a worry anymore, since there’s really no emergency I could think of where I’d need cash.

By: gkr

gkr — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 16:48:07 +0000

You need not make a plan to purchase above some minimum value. The minimum value itself may vary from person to person. That may make a person with lesser minimum value, to be unable to get the points he would have otherwise have got. It is better to decide first of all whether you are inclined for points or the products. Depending on your needs and your business, cash flows you can choose to make more points. For some people with large enterprises need to use their credit cards for big purchases or more purchases and they may need to travel sometimes. In that case the points which are added up will definitely help him to take advantage of a flight to help him in business.

Another point is that when your company reimburses the travel expenses you have incurred for the business purposes, it may not always be exempt of taxes. In that case you will naturally lose some money as taxes. If you have different credit cards and the travel offers are different in each of them, it is better to select the optimum one. It will save you taxes, gets reward points. Of course this is only possible if you are holding credit cards from different banks and each one has travel offers that matche your target places.

By: ciscogrove

ciscogrove — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:18:26 +0000

All great comments and bear implementing. One thing I would add is to read the terms and conditions very carefully.

For example, my wife’s American Express card. When she first got it, the grace period was 30 days. Several months ago they dropped it to 25 days.

Imagine if she kept thinking it was 30 and paid it on the 25th day. Late fee, interest, and probably penalties. Always keep that in mind before and after you get your card.

The law allows the card issuers to change the terms and conditions as long as they give the card holder notice. Guess what you get when you get your monthly statement?

Yep, the terms and conditions. Read them.

By: KJones

KJones — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:50:12 +0000

My friend uses three different routines for credit card purchases that give cash back or reward points.

One card is used specifically for fuel purchases for his car. He gets instant cash back on every gallon of gas that he buys. He always pays his balance on the card before any interest is added to his account. His gas card also has other advantages like road side assistance, and cash advance in case of an emergency. So it is a nice card to have, but he restricts its usage for fuel only (so far so good).

Another card he has is used to pay bills only. It is used to pay bills that are basically the same charge each month. So, he knows how much to budget the payments for this card. Plus, he gets flying miles on this card. This is the only card that he gets flying miles on. He uses the card for prescription medication, internet bills, cell phone charges, and other routine expenses like car insurance.

He also has another card that he uses for purchases such as gifts, dining, and other spontaneous type purchases. I’m not sure how many reward points that he racks up doing this, but he uses his credits to purchase merchandise offered from the credit card company. They have some really nice gifts that you can buy, including computers, televisions, cell phones, etc.

In my opinion, this kind of budgeting requires quite a bit of bookkeeping. He says that it is a juggling act at times, but he enjoys balancing his budget this way because he feels he gets great rewards for a small investment of his free time.

By: James

James — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:04:57 +0000

One incredibly effective technique that I have seen is the use of seperate cash back cards for company expenses. These cards carry a higher rate than any card that you would carry over your balance on but give a certain percentage of cash back. If you are a frequent traveller for your work then you can see if you can pay for the trips and hotel stays with your card, while promptly claiming the expenses. 1-2% of your expenses will then go straight back into your pocket.

This can become unstuck if you mix your personal expenses in with it, or if your accounts department is slow at repaying expenses.

By: Amadeus

Amadeus — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:20:31 +0000

The best strategy I’ve used for accruing credit card rewards is to automate as much of the process as I possibly can. I would estimate that simple lapses of judgment and innocent forgetfulness constitute a quarter of credit card company’s total revenue. But implementing fail safe systems makes using credit cards both safe and highly rewarding.

For instance, my Wells Fargo credit card is automatically programmed to pay off the entire balance several days before the monthly due date. My phone, internet, and cell bills are all set to be automatically paid by my credit card. If I could pay my rent with a credit card, all my bills would be both earning me reward points and completely automated, so I’d never have to think about them.