What is your monthly credit card bill?

[Anonymous]

I feel like our charges are getting out of control. We put everything on the credit cards (groceries, clothing, insurance, household supplies, home improvements, travel, medical, etc.) and pay off in full each month, so it's not as if we are incurring debt, but when I look at the monthly numbers, I am often astounded. We have gone several months now where all-in, more than $5k is on our credit cards. Is this unusual?

[Anonymous]

That will vary by HHI of course. It's really a matter of what your monthly budget is, vs. what's on a credit card (when you are paying it off every month).

[Anonymous]

We put everything on our credit card, too - everything - and our monthly bill is about $2500 to $3K, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on whether we've made big purchases.

If you put everything on the card, then this is more a budget question than a monthly credit card one. Do you track your spending and know where your money is going?

[Anonymous]

We are usually around $5K too. Monthly take home is approx $8500 (HHI $180K) and our mortgage is $2060. There are a couple other bills that come out of our checking but its mostly on the cc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are usually around $5K too. Monthly take home is approx $8500 (HHI $180K) and our mortgage is $2060. There are a couple other bills that come out of our checking but its mostly on the cc.

This is us too, almost exactly. But we charge EVERYTHING. Cell phones, home insurance, car insurance, $2 coffees. Everything. We get cash back on the card, and pay the bill off every month. It can be as low as 3K, it just depends what unusual expenses come up, like quarterly insurance, vacation deposits, etc.

[Anonymous]

We're typically somewhere between 4-5K on average and our take home is roughly 14K. The rest goes towards savings, the 429s, mortgage, kids daycare/aftercare, utilities, MIL's mortgage, and cash withdrawals (we both like to keep around $100 in our wallets just in case). What can I say - we're still a little old school .

[Anonymous]

Serious question: If you have the money in the month, why are you putting that much on a credit card on a monthly basis for your living expenses? Why not just use your checking card and have it taken out your bank account?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: If you have the money in the month, why are you putting that much on a credit card on a monthly basis for your living expenses? Why not just use your checking card and have it taken out your bank account?

As someone mentioned, most people have some sort of rewards-based card. We get cash back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: If you have the money in the month, why are you putting that much on a credit card on a monthly basis for your living expenses? Why not just use your checking card and have it taken out your bank account?

As someone mentioned, most people have some sort of rewards-based card. We get cash back.

Also, we prefer to keep most of our money in a money market account and just move it to checking as needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: If you have the money in the month, why are you putting that much on a credit card on a monthly basis for your living expenses? Why not just use your checking card and have it taken out your bank account?

because a debit/bank card is riskier, if compromised you have less protection against fraudulent charges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: If you have the money in the month, why are you putting that much on a credit card on a monthly basis for your living expenses? Why not just use your checking card and have it taken out your bank account?

We also put everything on the CC and pay off at the end of each month. We've spent as little as $1800 in one month to as much as $5400. Why do we do it? Same as others. Our cashback bonus (between 1-5%) nets us about $700-800 per year in cash back bonuses. Also, the recent credit card acts give us a lot more consumer protection than a debit/checking card. Last, this one is small, but having the money in the bank for the extra 1-28 days gives us a small sprinkling more in interest accrued.

[Anonymous]

oh okay. Thanks for the responses to my "serious question". Sorry OP for taking over your post for a quick second. (Sheepishly goes away... :oops

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: If you have the money in the month, why are you putting that much on a credit card on a monthly basis for your living expenses? Why not just use your checking card and have it taken out your bank account?

because a debit/bank card is riskier, if compromised you have less protection against fraudulent charges

This isn't true.

[Anonymous]

We were having a 6-7k bill. We just cracked down on spending. Put a daily goal of $110 total and checked it each day. It really gets you focused on what you are buying and if you really need it. Now we are 2.5-3.6k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:oh okay. Thanks for the responses to my "serious question". Sorry OP for taking over your post for a quick second. (Sheepishly goes away... :oops

Thank you for asking the question. I was wondering the same thing. Based on the responses here I am going to start charging everything and paying it off every month live everyone else. My take home pay in $6Ok annually and monthly expenses are $1200-$1400 each month. So I anticipate my cc balance to be between $1200-$1400 each month. My cc balance is currently at 0 and has been since I paid off my cc debt several years ago.