^^sorry - I meant I don’t get this thread. I concur with the post I responded to. How else do you pay for things, OP? Big wads of cash?

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

I also don’t get this post or why the OPs posts seem like this is the first time they’ve heard of credit cards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 I get 3% cash back. It adds up, but I pay off the balance in full every month.

What card gives 3% cash back?

Alliant Credit Union. 3% the first year, 2.5% thereafter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why this would be an issue - how would you not pay it off every month if you were already making those purchases in cash or debit? We put everything on credit cards and I even make multiple payments throughout the month. Just treat it like a debit card, I truly don't understand how people who were otherwise decently managing their finances just lose all ability to spend within their limits when it's a credit card.

You seriously are unaware of the millions of Americans with credit card debt? Most of those people are NOT "decently managing their finances." Enjoy life in your bubble!

And that is exactly what the credit card companies are counting on. They offer these great rewards to get you in the door, expecting that some percentage of people will end up carrying a balance and paying interest & fees.

We also run everything through the card and pay it off monthly, but I learned the hard way at about 21 how hard it is to recover if you get even one paycheck behind. I charged 2 weeks of expenses while I was moving for my first real job out of college, and spent the next 5 months paying it off. Small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but it was a good lesson right as I was getting started, and I swore I would do everything possible to avoid being in that position again.

Anyway, we do it now for the same reasons already stated: security, charge protection, travel points (we prefer to buy small trips and save our points for a big trip every 1-3 years - got 2 tickets to Australia this way!), automated categorizing & summaries of expenses.

Anonymous wrote:We take at least two flights a year on miles earned just from using our credit card -- trips we wouldn't otherwise take.

+1

Airline miles

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why this would be an issue - how would you not pay it off every month if you were already making those purchases in cash or debit? We put everything on credit cards and I even make multiple payments throughout the month. Just treat it like a debit card, I truly don't understand how people who were otherwise decently managing their finances just lose all ability to spend within their limits when it's a credit card.

You seriously are unaware of the millions of Americans with credit card debt? Most of those people are NOT "decently managing their finances." Enjoy life in your bubble!

Cash back, easier to dispute/complain about purchases, easy downloading of purchase data into Quicken (minus occasional hiccups).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 I get 3% cash back. It adds up, but I pay off the balance in full every month.

I don't understand why this would be an issue - how would you not pay it off every month if you were already making those purchases in cash or debit? We put everything on credit cards and I even make multiple payments throughout the month. Just treat it like a debit card, I truly don't understand how people who were otherwise decently managing their finances just lose all ability to spend within their limits when it's a credit card.

Anonymous wrote:I hear it's a good thing to do. Why do you do it and has it paid off?

Absolutely if you have a good credit card that gives rewards. Our Chase Reserve card gives us the wherewithall to purchase plane tickets for various locations for a family of four. We put every expense of CC so we have north of 200,000 "points" available usually when we want to to use them due to multipliers, etc. Also Chase has a travel desk so you can sometimes get good travel deals if you go through them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 I get 3% cash back. It adds up, but I pay off the balance in full every month.

What card gives 3% cash back?

We put everything we can on a credit card and have it auto pay in full every month. We’re lucky we have enough of a buffer to do that without thinking. If you live closer to pay check to paycheck, it seems like a bad idea.

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.

Jack Taylor Toyota in Alexandria!

We take at least two flights a year on miles earned just from using our credit card -- trips we wouldn't otherwise take.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 I get 3% cash back. It adds up, but I pay off the balance in full every month.

We put everything on credit card. It's great for travel points and it makes expenses easy to track. We pay it off every month.