I use Discover for almost all purchases and use the cash back to buy DFS stock which has worked out well. Now it's paying me interest instead of the other way around. Also, have a Chase card used primarily for it's car rental coverage.
Credit cards
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Mostly use a discover but the wife has a capital one and probably switching over to that. Discover is supposed to be 1% everywhere but they now consider box stores something different and you only get 0.25% so I'm thinking of bouncing that and using the capital one where it's 1.5% everywhere. I prefer cash so that is what I do.
We play the cash back game with credit cards, we use them for all the everyday purchases, and pay them off every month. We like to only do the cash back, because we know that we'll get to use that cash back any way we choose, some of the rewards cards seem harder to use the rewards.
The Citi Double Cash is a nice one we use a lot, 2% on everything. Chase Freedom Flex, always 3% back on Pharmacies and Restaurants, then 5% in a rotating category (this quarter its Gas), and 1% on anything else. Discover IT another rotating category card, this quarter its 5% on Restaurants and Paypal, and 1% on anything else.
Whatever we can pay using a credit card, without a service charge, we use them, Bills, Charity Giving, Groceries, ...etc. All together our little game nets us back about a $100 a month, its not for everyone but it works for us, we're both very disciplined and a little debt adverse.
The Citi Double Cash is a nice one we use a lot, 2% on everything. Chase Freedom Flex, always 3% back on Pharmacies and Restaurants, then 5% in a rotating category (this quarter its Gas), and 1% on anything else. Discover IT another rotating category card, this quarter its 5% on Restaurants and Paypal, and 1% on anything else.
Whatever we can pay using a credit card, without a service charge, we use them, Bills, Charity Giving, Groceries, ...etc. All together our little game nets us back about a $100 a month, its not for everyone but it works for us, we're both very disciplined and a little debt adverse.
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If you travel even just a decent amount you gotta get an expensive card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve. The travel perks and points are just too good and will pay for the annual fee and then some. You can transfer the points to a bunch of airlines or hotels. I was very anti-annual fee but this card has made me money.
The Capital One Venture X is a newer card in this category as well. There are also AmEx options.
The Capital One Venture X is a newer card in this category as well. There are also AmEx options.
One question for those who pay their CC off every month, We pay the amount that keeps us from paying interest every month, is,: do you pay off the total balance or just the amount that keeps you from paying interest. The one thing many people forget is that if you pay that part that keeps you from paying interest, you still have a months of charges on the credit card. My wife is nearly full time with her debit card (as a former loan officer, the debit card has protection, you can set limits to only allow so much per day and three day period, you can also only be hit for what is in your account, if the bank okays the OD, they are on the hook) Banks also get paid a different rate for credit and debit, they will push whatever they get a better kickback for, I was incharge of setting things up for our debit cards when I was a loan officer.
I pay off the statement balance for the month not the total balance.
I have a REI credit card that’s great. It gets 1% credit on every purchase. 2% on gas and a couple other things. We usually put $4000 on it every month and pay it off. At the end of the year we do a lot Christmas shopping at REI and it’s almost free.
The Amazon one is one I think we should look into. Besides the Fareway and the hardware store, we buy most everything else on Amazon.
We make most purchases on the Mastercard account that came with my college checking account over 40 years ago. Since it is same bank as our checking account, we set it up to pay full amount of last statement from checking. We also have an Amex green card we use for large purchases that we want to move money around to pay off.
I am just relieved I have convinced all of my sons to finally quit using the debit for things like gas, although some places the technology has improved on preventing card information from being stolen. The son in FL had a streak of four times in six months getting someone using his Visa info but that’s pretty easy to fix and the card company caught it quick each time.
What we do, but was looking at it and I may start going to paying it off immediately, otherwise it has a months worth sitting out there. That way it would be basically cash transactions.
I just got an american express blue cash preferred- I figured with gas prices and me driving a total of about 60 miles a day to work and our households biggest expense being groceries, that this card would work well.
6% back on groceries and 3% back on gas.
you can also get 6% back on streaming services.
ive always used my credit card like a debit card. As soon as I see it clear on my credit card account i pay it off
6% back on groceries and 3% back on gas.
you can also get 6% back on streaming services.
ive always used my credit card like a debit card. As soon as I see it clear on my credit card account i pay it off
I pay the full balance every month. Easier for me to keep track of our monthly expenses that way.
It's $95.
But with as much as I go to the store/get gas I'll easily make that up in rewards.
An oddity of credit cards is how they score them. My wife, a teacher, has twice the credit limit that I have on any card that I have/had. I do make more than her, but being self-employed, I have lines of credit sitting out there, so they say I have too much revolving debt to raise my limit. Majority of charges go on my card, so when we do things like buy furniture or take vacations, I usually have to go in and pay it up to give space for things.
6% on groceries is huge, I can imagine. Would have been great when we had all 3 kids eating off us. We now have one in college and the oldest is paying for his own so it's came down some.
Capital One and Costco as a back-up.... We run everything except Costco through Cap One and earn points that pay for flights, hotels and rental car. No reason to have retail specific cards in my opinion as the more cards you own, the more it impacts your credit score.
Capital One security measures have been terrific. Pay it off every month.
Capital One security measures have been terrific. Pay it off every month.
I will say your groceries are capped at $6000/year to get 6% cash back. Then it drops to 1%, I believe.
before purchasing it, i did some math to see if we would hit that 6K in a year at the store and its close. depends on the month- it also helps we get our beef/pork from a locker so were not spending money on that at the store.
