I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Happy814]

How do you all meet minimum spending requirements? Our mortgage is automatically deducted through our credit union. We do have a business, but it’s farming and there are major fees (sometimes 6%) for paying using credit cards. Many times you lose your early incentives as well. Last year we spent over $250,000 through the farm, but it’s all in checks.

I’ve gotten caught up in the spend a dollar to save a quarter mentality before, and I don’t want to go back down that route. We pay our cards off monthly. We just did a big house remodel, and don’t have many other “big” house expenses planned this year.

Any tips you have to meet minimum spending would be great. Thanks!!!

I should add that I have 3 cards we primarily use, and that’s where I should be researching how to earn more bonuses. I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and got it and qualified when it was a bonus of 100k UR points. Most of our monthly spending is on that card, including our timeshare dues of ~$450 a month. I get 3x rewards on them. We both have Amex HHonors cards, and both spent $15,000 on them. We earned 4 free nights total, but we each pay a $95 AF. We signed up when there were a ton (don’t recalll the exact number) of Hhonors points, and I referred DH so I earned the bonus as well. When we take weekend trips, we stay at Hilton properties, so I do like having Gold status. I’ve been preselected for the Ascend version, but the AF is deterring me.

We also farm, and we typically don't have any trouble putting expenses on a credit card. In addition to the points, using a card gives us an extra 1-2 months of float depending on when the charge occurs, which saves on operating interest. Here are a few places we regularly use our card for farm related expenses:

-Insurance (vehicle, property, workers comp, etc.)
-Fuel
-Seed suppliers
-Auto parts stores
-Farm equipment stores (no, they won't let you pay for large equipment with a card, but they are typically fine using a card to cover parts which can be $$$)
-Input suppliers

Even our local co-op accepts credit cards!

Hope this helps!!

 

[hsmamato2]

I think in very few settings is this true. He gives examples like buying a tv that say costs $1000 and you walk up to the sales guy and offer $800 cash. And the sales guy takes your $800 instead of charging you $1000. IS that at Best Buy, Sears, or where?? Only some very small store is going to operate like that. He gives that example about buying furniture. I don't know of any furniture store that would operate that way either.

I have a friend (who uses the DR program) who had an envelope of cash for a used car,and wanted like $500 off the price- the dealer turned them away! seems to me the dealer was interested in a customer to finance it..... they walked away- I don;t think this holds true either most of the time

 

[DisneyMandC]

Well at least you have a good career from your student loans! I'll never forget a lady that called in with $250,000 of student loans with a bachelor's degree in social work. Nothing wrong with social work, but not the most lucrative career. One of the few times that Dave was almost speechless.

I think I listened to that one yesterday!! I heard one where she was a social worker and he was a nurse and they had something like $300,000 in student loans.

I do love how when someone gives him a crazy student loan number he says "who's the doctor or lawyer?" He would be super disappointed to hear what my salary is if I told him I'm a lawyer though

 

[disneybirds]

We use gallon size ziplock bags. Prevents leakage and we toss them after our trip. Not fun and/or fancy but it works.

This is exactly what I do. I have had many bags over the years, but they seem to take up too much space. Just toss when done. My Mom thinks it is terrible that I don't use a makeup bag!

 

[wed100105]

We also farm, and we typically don't have any trouble putting expenses on a credit card. In addition to the points, using a card gives us an extra 1-2 months of float depending on when the charge occurs, which saves on operating interest. Here are a few places we regularly use our card for farm related expenses:

-Insurance (vehicle, property, workers comp, etc.)
-Fuel
-Seed suppliers
-Auto parts stores
-Farm equipment stores (no, they won't let you pay for large equipment with a card, but they are typically fine using a card to cover parts which can be $$$)
-Input suppliers

Even our local co-op accepts credit cards!

Hope this helps!!

Thank you! This helps a lot!

We charge many of those things, but our fuel and seed suppliers aren’t an option for us to use cc. I’ll have to keep investigating. I did call about insurance though. I’m going to work that out by March. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

 

[1st*toright]

I have a friend (who uses the DR program) who had an envelope of cash for a used car,and wanted like $500 off the price- the dealer turned them away! seems to me the dealer was interested in a customer to finance it..... they walked away- I don;t think this holds true either most of the time

Yep - many dealerships (esp. used cars) make most of their money on the financing. We have actually found that we get a better deal on the price by negotiating to buy a car and letting the dealer finance it than by using the financing offered by our bank (we walk in with a pre-approval from our bank, then let them "convince" us to let them finance it by giving us a discount on the price). I make it clear that I'm interested in what price I pay for the car, not what the monthly payment is. Once I have the car, I can pay it off entirely and the interest rate doesn't matter. Cash for a used car is usually a worse answer for the dealership than the financing. They get a kickback of x% on the interest from the bank they use to finance the loans. I'm contemplating our next car purchase, and am inspired by y'all to at least get a good chunk of a MSR done when we get around to doing the purchase!

 

[Alexle2007]

Everyone is my family is asking me to do their taxes this year so I decided to take advantage of it and earn myself some extra points. Thanks SW for the TurboTax Online points! Just did the 1k offer to do my niece's taxes. They were so simple since she doesn't itemize. I still have to do my sister and mother's along with finish ours.

 

[wanderlust7]

Nice that you were able to get the airline worked out! I'm no help on the symbols, it always seems random to me when I see them show up on my cards. When I want to check a multiplier I switch the new interface and look at the transaction detail, that's been pretty accurate.

Also nice your OBC purchase worked. You said you went through the website for that right? I can't get to my cruise right now to check where it is, the NCL site is having some issues, but do you recall if it was on the same page where you could prepay for gratuities or is it over in the activities section with the beverage packages and shore excursions?

It's over with the shore excursions, under onboard credits.

Thanks for the tip. Tried the new interface and looks like I need to wait a few days to see the multiplier for the transaction I'm curious about. On my BGR, I think DD's school lunch counted as restaurant with 4x, even though it's through PayPal and codes catering. So trying it on the Rose Gold. DS's school lunch (different company) codes restaurant, but doesn't get 4x.

Under view all activity you have to change the time frame in the top left corner to Current Statement. They only show the multipliers after the statement cuts.

Ah, the statement needs to cut. That's the piece of info I was missing, thanks.

I've been making a few calls this morning. I need to convince DH that we don't need escrow anymore. He said, "Why would we want to give it up? It's so easy." Not sure he's 100% on board yet. That would be a big chunk since our farm insurance is around $3000.

I wish I could get rid of our escrow account and pay insurance with CC (no fee)! But it was a condition of the lower interest loan, so I'm thinking not.

 

[Calfan]

Swa you can use a gc to pay fees right? Thinking I should go to bb to buy some gc to save a little bit more vs using the cip. Any reason I shouldn’t use gc for the taxes and fees vs cip?

Yes, you can use SW gift cards to pay the $5.60 in taxes on a points booking. This is what I do.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

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[afan]

I think in very few settings is this true. He gives examples like buying a tv that say costs $1000 and you walk up to the sales guy and offer $800 cash. And the sales guy takes your $800 instead of charging you $1000. IS that at Best Buy, Sears, or where?? Only some very small store is going to operate like that. He gives that example about buying furniture. I don't know of any furniture store that would operate that way either.

I think it can still be done to an extent at some furniture stores. I know my grandma always did in the 80s and 90s. If I was buying more than one piece I would but we typically buy at lazy boy which I think would be open to it. Somewhere like Ashley or Ikea isn't going to.

This is exactly what I do. I have had many bags over the years, but they seem to take up too much space. Just toss when done. My Mom thinks it is terrible that I don't use a makeup bag!

I don't put liquids in mine because I put them in my carry on. For me the gallon ziploc would take up more room and I'd be more unorganized. I use them for liquids in my suitcase and always bring extra because you never know whay you'll buy or when you might need one. Came in handy last trip to put my new and wet disney poncho in my bag when it stopped raining.

It's interesting how different everyone here packs stuff. I do like the packing cubes but not for every trip because sometimes they take up too much room. And sometimes I roll clothes and sometimes I don't. I think it depends on the clothes, like jeans vs shorts etc.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I think in very few settings is this true. He gives examples like buying a tv that say costs $1000 and you walk up to the sales guy and offer $800 cash. And the sales guy takes your $800 instead of charging you $1000. IS that at Best Buy, Sears, or where?? Only some very small store is going to operate like that. He gives that example about buying furniture. I don't know of any furniture store that would operate that way either.

This post reminded me... anyone here a fan of the old HBO show The Wire? I might be talking to myself here since I know from some previous tv talk here that this would DEFINITELY not be down most people's alleys... but the opening scene of one season is a character walking into a Home Depot to buy a nail gun, peeling a couple hundred dollars off a stack of bills, and just handing it to a random salesman in the store and then walking out hahaha.

 

[Calfan]

@amalone1013 on your question about packing toiletries, I use a version of this Tumi cosmetics bag, and I love it (need to give cred to @CaliforniaGirl09 for telling me about it).

https://www.ebags.com/product/tumi/voyageur-madina-cosmetic/365950?productid=10703674

I've had mine for 4+ years, and it has held up great. I have no problem getting it through TSA when I go carryon, but caveat that that is with TSA Pre. Regular TSA might be more picky. Since I travel so much, I just keep a complete duplicate set of all of my toiletries in this bag so I can just pull it out and go when I am packing.

 

[disneybirds]

BLT could be less cause the studios only sleep 4, whereas CR sleeps 5. Both have balconies and one bath. I prefer CR over BLT studios. If you can get a 1-bed at BLT, then that would be my choice!

My dh is amazing. THanks

I agree. We have stayed in a 1 and 2 bedrooms at BLT and loved them. The bedrooms are smaller, but the living area is bigger than other DVC properties. We tend to stay there when taking extra friends of the girls and the living area is big enough for a blow up mattress so everyone has their own bed. We stayed at the CR over NYE and I loved our lake view. It was so peaceful.

 

[Lain]

Did the handy-dandy 4x symbols on AmEx website for Rose Gold go away? I remember seeing them under All Activity and now I don't see them.

Under view all activity you have to change the time frame in the top left corner to Current Statement. They only show the multipliers after the statement cuts.

Thanks for the tip. Tried the new interface and looks like I need to wait a few days to see the multiplier for the transaction I'm curious about. On my BGR, I think DD's school lunch counted as restaurant with 4x, even though it's through PayPal and codes catering. So trying it on the Rose Gold. DS's school lunch (different company) codes restaurant, but doesn't get 4x.

Ah, the statement needs to cut. That's the piece of info I was missing, thanks.

The statement doesn't have to cut for you to see the bonus badges.

In your Amex account, select your card, click the Statements & Activity tab, then manually input a date range in the upper left hand corner. You should now see bonus badges next to your transactions even if the statement hasn't closed for those dates yet. Note that it can take a few days for Amex to update a transaction with the appropriate bonus category, if applicable, so you may not see a badge next to your most recent transactions.

 

[wanderlust7]

The statement doesn't have to cut for you to see the bonus badges.

In your Amex account, select your card, click the Statements & Activity tab, then manually input a date range in the upper left hand corner. You should now see bonus badges next to your transactions even if the statement hasn't closed for those dates yet. Note that it can take a few days for Amex to update a transaction with the appropriate bonus category, if applicable, so you may not see a badge next to your most recent transactions.

Worked like a charm, thank you! How odd the same transactions don't show the badge with Recent Activity, but do with the date range.

 

[Albort]

eBates allowing 2 accounts. go go go?
doesnt seem u can refer to an ebates MR account... didnt try though.

 

[alryan]

I've been making a few calls this morning. I need to convince DH that we don't need escrow anymore. He said, "Why would we want to give it up? It's so easy." Not sure he's 100% on board yet. That would be a big chunk since our farm insurance is around $3000.

I did find that I can pay my farm, home, and auto insurance with a credit card without any additional charges or penalties. It's about $7000 a year that I could be earning rewards, plus I'd save $12 a year on the monthly auto-withdraw fee that we currently pay. (DH's choice years ago that I never balked.)

That's awesome! Just that is MSR on a few cards. My insurance is also cheaper paying in full with a CC then monthly auto draft through checking. I even asked my financial advisor if my monthly Roth contributions could be put on a cc since I the website had a place to add your credit card. That was a no, but it can't hurt to ask! My internet provider (Spectrum) and cell phone carrier (Virgin Mobile) can also be paid with a cc and can even pay extra if trying to finish a MSR. I bet with a little more digging you may find enough spend that you are already doing to support getting 4-5 cards a year without spending anymore money.

 

[elgerber]

I wish I could get rid of our escrow account and pay insurance with CC (no fee)! But it was a condition of the lower interest loan, so I'm thinking not.

How long have you had your mortgage? If it's been a couple of years, I would absolutely call and ask. Generally after a period of time you can opt out of escrowing. It sure can't hurt to try.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

got my flights booked for our last minute two day trip to see DH's Dad and half sister. wow flights to SEA aren't cheap. Gotta say though I just found out I can use vouchers turned into travel funds and then that travel fund can now pay my fees so was able to pay for two flights with vouchers only