Your banker lies but that's what banks do. The banks are bound by Regulation E. Your liability for fraud is capped at $50 if I remember correctly, as long as you report the fraud in a timely manner. I believe that it's 60 days from you statement issuance date.
Credit cards
- Thread starter clone4life82
- Start date
Another vote here for Southwest coupled with companion pass, and paying balance off monthly. We've had four round trip flights this Summer, and one to Costa Rica in November, and our kids fly for just the $5 in taxes and fees on each of those.
If anyone is interested in referrals for that, they are sending out promo codes all the time, message me and I'll share one.
Southwest is also sending us more free drink coupons for flights than we can even use right now...
If anyone is interested in referrals for that, they are sending out promo codes all the time, message me and I'll share one.
Southwest is also sending us more free drink coupons for flights than we can even use right now...
We got the Capital One Venture after getting married when we did a bunch of overseas travelling.
But now with kids we barely leave the county and I have millions of 'miles' built up.
I've never wanted multiple cards, but I think I'm going to go down that route next.
But now with kids we barely leave the county and I have millions of 'miles' built up.
I've never wanted multiple cards, but I think I'm going to go down that route next.
Saw that they're paying $200 for getting an Amazon card today. Maybe they do that anyway, though.
Capital One - Rarely use it and I couldn't even tell you what kind it is.
Citi Double Cash - Probably my primary card but need to reexamine as they changed things and I haven't properly re-evaluated it's current value.
Citi Premier - Business for specific purposes
Chase SW Rewards (personal and business which both dump points into my account) - I make sure I obtain the companion pass then use other cards as they often have better returns. But if you travel a lot (with a GF or spouse) the companion pass can be worht thousands a year.
Amex Blue - Rarely use.
Amex Gold (business) - Primary business card.
Amex Plum (business)
Citi Double Cash - Probably my primary card but need to reexamine as they changed things and I haven't properly re-evaluated it's current value.
Citi Premier - Business for specific purposes
Chase SW Rewards (personal and business which both dump points into my account) - I make sure I obtain the companion pass then use other cards as they often have better returns. But if you travel a lot (with a GF or spouse) the companion pass can be worht thousands a year.
Amex Blue - Rarely use.
Amex Gold (business) - Primary business card.
Amex Plum (business)
I pretty much use my quicksilver card for any normal every day purchases.
Main ones are 2 Chase Freedom Cards - the freedom unlimited card that gets 1.5% cash back and the regular Freedom card that gets 1% cash back along with some rotating quarterly 5% cash back categories. I have a bunch of store cards I opened at some point to get interest free financing on a purchase or a discount but the only one I use regularly is the Menards card.
I use credit cards in this order:
Discover and Chase Freedom: Use for whatever the 5% cash back rotating category is of each
American Express Blue: Groceries (6% CB) and gas (3% CB) if gas is not on one of the cards above.
Travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred (2% CB) and bonus redemption when used to book travel on their portal
Everything else: Citi Double cash (2% CB)
This may be overkill for most people but I treat it like a game and put some money back in our pocket. As others have said, if you aren't paying your balance off for every card, every month this is NOT worth it. The credit card companies feast on the % of cardholders who do not pay their balance so they collect 12-22% in interest.
Discover and Chase Freedom: Use for whatever the 5% cash back rotating category is of each
American Express Blue: Groceries (6% CB) and gas (3% CB) if gas is not on one of the cards above.
Travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred (2% CB) and bonus redemption when used to book travel on their portal
Everything else: Citi Double cash (2% CB)
This may be overkill for most people but I treat it like a game and put some money back in our pocket. As others have said, if you aren't paying your balance off for every card, every month this is NOT worth it. The credit card companies feast on the % of cardholders who do not pay their balance so they collect 12-22% in interest.
Actually credit card companies hate the balance people. While 15-24% sounds great, they make way more from the 1.5-3.0% transaction fee from those who charge a lot and pay it off monthly. Those who carry a balance eat up their charging capacity. Their favorite people are the ones who max it out monthly and pay it off monthly.
Balance due or full amount?
With my bank I can do automated payments and trying to decide which one to set it at.
I typically don't use a credit card as I don't do much flying, eating out, etc. but this thread has me rethinking things.
Not gonna go crazy but looking at a Costco one since I do shop there fairly regularly.
Do full amount, what I have decided to do over the next couple months. (smooth out the hit). Balance due always gives you one month sitting there. As anal retentive I can be about financial things, that is even one thing I never really thought about.
That's what I'm thinking...just wondering if just doing what's due is fine for credit score, etc.
(of course I'm sure a simple google search covers this)
We have a Discover card with cash back that is the same account but our card numbers are different, so we can cancel one while still being able to use the other one. Unfortunately Discover is not as widely accepted out of the USA as MC/VISA.
Consequently, we looked at MC/VISA miles cards and cash back cards and decided that the cash backs were far more flexible. We have several cards due to travel. Two of them have no "international spending" fees, but also don't have cash back. We each carry one of those on our travels outside the country so that we don't have to pay extra for the privilege of spending our money in foreign lands on meals & souvenirs. Those "exchange" fees are different from the exchange rates; it's a percentage of the purchase price, and that extra fee added on to the purchase totally cancels out any cash back from the purchase..
We learned the hard way that if your pocket is picked it's a real ***** if you have the same cards in your wallets, so by carrying a Discover and one of the two other cards each, we're pretty well covered. We have an MC/VISA type cash back card that stays a the safe in the hotel or onboard the ship (depending on mode of travel) that is for emergencies (unexpected illness, flight issues, etc.). All are paid off in full monthly.
Fun fact for the younger ones among you: That Discover card was the first card I ever got under my own name and income, post divorce in 1993. Women could not get credit cards without their husband's approval when I was in college and a young wife (mid-70s). In fact, we (my ex and I) didn't even HAVE a credit card until I was about 25, and it was in his name (he was 28). It's probably silly, but that Discover card has some special meaning for me.
Consequently, we looked at MC/VISA miles cards and cash back cards and decided that the cash backs were far more flexible. We have several cards due to travel. Two of them have no "international spending" fees, but also don't have cash back. We each carry one of those on our travels outside the country so that we don't have to pay extra for the privilege of spending our money in foreign lands on meals & souvenirs. Those "exchange" fees are different from the exchange rates; it's a percentage of the purchase price, and that extra fee added on to the purchase totally cancels out any cash back from the purchase..
We learned the hard way that if your pocket is picked it's a real ***** if you have the same cards in your wallets, so by carrying a Discover and one of the two other cards each, we're pretty well covered. We have an MC/VISA type cash back card that stays a the safe in the hotel or onboard the ship (depending on mode of travel) that is for emergencies (unexpected illness, flight issues, etc.). All are paid off in full monthly.
Fun fact for the younger ones among you: That Discover card was the first card I ever got under my own name and income, post divorce in 1993. Women could not get credit cards without their husband's approval when I was in college and a young wife (mid-70s). In fact, we (my ex and I) didn't even HAVE a credit card until I was about 25, and it was in his name (he was 28). It's probably silly, but that Discover card has some special meaning for me.
I do the balance due. This is the minimum needed to NOT pay interest. If you do the full balance, you are paying the posted transactions that wouldn't be due until the second payment. This is totally fine but if you have your cash allocated to pay your credit card in a money market account or high yield savings account you are missing out slight interest by paying ahead. Just my 2 cents.
As long as you do at least the balance due (do not confuse this for minimum payment) and pay on time you will not get dinged on your credit report vs paying in full.
I know, but the 3000 or so will net me about 3-6 dollars over the year now and its kinda nice to just have nothing sitting out there down the road.
