Anonymous wrote:If you don't ever carry a balance, it is great. I love the purchase protection. On my card I get an extended warranty, damage and theft coverage, and guaranteed returns. With kids, cracked phones and broken laptops seem to be a regular occurrence in our family. People must not use the benefits much because they don't really ask questions and just give you the credit.

This. Our Capital One card saved our butts when our rental car was totaled. We weren't in it, thank goodness, but it was hit while parked and the rental car company "totaled" it. Our insurance company paid for a lot of it, but it was the credit card that covered that extra few thousand dollars of towing charges, evaluations, auction costs, etc. that weren't covered by insurance. Thanks, Capital One!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I hear the hey is you have to pay it off monthly and can't carry a balance. Otherwise, there's no benefit.

YES. Don't overlook this, OP. The interest rate is much higher than any rewards rate. So if you can't pay it off every month, don't do it.

We pay everything with credit cards. How else do you pay for things?

I’m one who just can find do it. I’m happy for you guys that you can, but using CCs for more than a couple random needs per year...gets DH and I into trouble. We just spend more money. I calculated what we could see in rewards, and feel our overspending would almost match it.

It also makes our tracking of a budget a little harder. I use something like Mint, but it’s still hard. Keeping track of a cc and checking is more work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I even use CC for car down payment once. Dealer did not like it but he wanted the sale.

I put an entire car (Toyota Rav 4 so 20k ish) on our credit card! We had the cash in our bank account to write a check to the dealer but putting it on the card got us the cash back, which was essentially like getting a discount on the car. Did call the cc company to tell them to expect the charge so it wasn’t declined.

That’s awesome. I’m surprised they let you do that. The last car I bought the dealer only allowed 2k to be put on a credit card.

Same here. Every time I have tried to pay with credit card, I have been maxed out at $3k.

same here. 3K max on CC. Unless you wanted to pay the extra 3%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I even use CC for car down payment once. Dealer did not like it but he wanted the sale.

I put an entire car (Toyota Rav 4 so 20k ish) on our credit card! We had the cash in our bank account to write a check to the dealer but putting it on the card got us the cash back, which was essentially like getting a discount on the car. Did call the cc company to tell them to expect the charge so it wasn’t declined.

That’s awesome. I’m surprised they let you do that. The last car I bought the dealer only allowed 2k to be put on a credit card.

Same here. Every time I have tried to pay with credit card, I have been maxed out at $3k.

Anonymous wrote:We make about $200 a month using our Citi Double Cash Back card. I just move the cash reward over to pay down the balance. It's free money. We pay the balance in full every month.

FYI, if you use the DC, pick the option to have the cash rewards deposited into your bank account and make the payment instead. Directly applying the rewards to your card balance won't give you the 1% back on payments.

We make about $200 a month using our Citi Double Cash Back card. I just move the cash reward over to pay down the balance. It's free money. We pay the balance in full every month.

Yup, we put everything on our cards. SO and I haven't used our debit cards for years. My debit card only has 1 auto charge on it (stupid FIOS won't give me an autopay discount otherwise). To me it's important as an additional layer between my money and other people. Having had to dispute charges a few times, it's always been a breeze to dispute a charge on a credit card compared to debit card. The cashback is just a nice additional perk.

If you have stable finances with a good saving, then it's a good idea to use these cards. The key to using credit cards correctly is to NEVER think of your limit as your money. Only make a purchase if you know there's money in the bank to back that purchase.

For those of us that can trust ourselves, these cash reward credit cards are the best thing ever. We charge everything, and I mean everything. Most people would be surprised at just who takes a credit card for payment. DMV, Insurance, Cell phones, Vacations, Monthly bill’s, the list goes on and on. I pay our card off in full each month and haven’t paid a cent in finance charges in 15 years. Our total yearly cash rebate is around $2,500. To me it’s free money.

It kills me to be standing in line at Costco or some other place and watch people buy big ticket items in cash. What a waste! Also, when I get my monthly bill it’s 2 or 3 pages long of purchases. You’d be surprised at how many of my charges over the years never actually went through and no one catches it. If it’s a mom and pop store I’ll call them and correct it (which surprises them) but with corporations I don’t bother.

I’ve also had my share of restaurants adding to my tip amount. Those I fight to the bitter end and also call the restaurant manager.

We use a credit card for basically everything except our mortgage, our daycare payment, and our maid service (they won't take it, otherwise we would).

Reasons why include:
- Cash back = Free money. 2% cash back is free money. I don't know why you wouldn't want a 2% discount on everything you spend, from groceries to gas to restaurants to comcast. Free money is nice.
- Simplification. It is easier to budget and control spending when you can see exactly where your money goes. My dad carries around cash and spends it without really knowing. It's a luxury and he can afford it, but it's so much easier to get a handle on where your finances are going when it all goes through the card
- Security. Dispute charges; good luck doing that with cash. Lose your wallet or pickpocket? Again, good luck getting that back.

PS, yes of course you pay off the balance in full every month. If you can't, you are spending beyond your means.

We use a CC for everything we can. Pay the balance in full every month, use the points for travel. We also charged $6k towards a new minivan on the card (would have done it all, but they would only allow $6k). We paid the rest in cash (well wrote a check), and paid off the balance as soon as the bill came in.

If you are disciplined enough to pay your CC bill in full every month, it's like free money or free travel!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I even use CC for car down payment once. Dealer did not like it but he wanted the sale.

I wonder why he didn't like it. Money is money.

Because he had to pay the CC company. Cash is cash. Credit cards charge fees.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I even use CC for car down payment once. Dealer did not like it but he wanted the sale.

I wonder why he didn't like it. Money is money.

Dealers make money when they originate a car loan. But, a credit card costs them the interchange rates from Visa/Mastercard plus a card processing fee. I once bought a car with a terrible loan for a good discount off the cash price and paid it off immediately. I saved some money, but had to do what seemed like a lot of extra paperwork so I never tried it again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I even use CC for car down payment once. Dealer did not like it but he wanted the sale.

I put an entire car (Toyota Rav 4 so 20k ish) on our credit card! We had the cash in our bank account to write a check to the dealer but putting it on the card got us the cash back, which was essentially like getting a discount on the car. Did call the cc company to tell them to expect the charge so it wasn’t declined.

That’s awesome. I’m surprised they let you do that. The last car I bought the dealer only allowed 2k to be put on a credit card.