Saving money by using credit cards

[kacaju]

Yes That is my beloved Disney. We lost him in June just shy of 12 years old Miss him so much.

Aww...so sorry to hear that. He was a beautiful Golden, did you show him yourself? We have/show smooth Collies.

 

[calypso726]

Aww...so sorry to hear that. He was a beautiful Golden, did you show him yourself? We have/show smooth Collies.

Thank you I did on and off. After single-ing him out and getting tired of major reserves, put him with a handler to finish. Showed him in BOB after he matured and had fun with a few group placements and then got serious and put him with a handler to get his Show Dog Hall of Fame title (breed club title). Collies are neat! My vet shows/breeds rough Collies.

To make this BB related: Showing your own dogs can get quite expensive and hiring a pro handler to show your dogs is definitely a budget buster

 

[kacaju]

Thank you I did on and off. After single-ing him out and getting tired of major reserves, put him with a handler to finish. Showed him in BOB after he matured and had fun with a few group placements and then got serious and put him with a handler to get his Show Dog Hall of Fame title (breed club title). Collies are neat! My vet shows/breeds rough Collies.

To make this BB related: Showing your own dogs can get quite expensive and hiring a pro handler to show your dogs is definitely a budget buster

Budget buster it is!! We are driving up to Mass. in a few weeks

for *practice*. (we are in NJ) My dd is showing one of our breeders dogs at Westminster this year (Talk about $$, but it is for her 16th Brthday present..this is what she wants) We just got this dog a few weeks ago so she wants to practice at a few shows before Feb!!
She put a Grand Champion on her dog back in Sept. (breeder had put the Champion on it, and now dd uses it for Jr.s and going into BOV with her) Her dog just had puppies so will not be in shape for Westminster. DD has gotten a few BOV with her dog...what a wonderful experience it has been for her. She loved going into the group!!

 

[Muushka]

Found credit card question:

While at a Walmart parking lot, someone finds a Costco AMEX credit card.

Which should they do?

1. Bring it into the Walmart
2. Call the toll free number on the back of the card to report it found
3. Wait 3.5 weeks until you go by Costco and give it to them

I got a call last night from Costco that someone had found my CC in the parking lot.
I guess they skipped the part that they found it over 3 weeks ago!
In the meantime, I had canceled it immediately and nothing was charged. At least they were honest!

 

[NancyIL]

Found credit card question:

While at a Walmart parking lot, someone finds a Costco AMEX credit card.

Which should they do?

1. Bring it into the Walmart
2. Call the toll free number on the back of the card to report it found
3. Wait 3.5 weeks until you go by Costco and give it to them

I got a call last night from Costco that someone had found my CC in the parking lot.
I guess they skipped the part that they found it over 3 weeks ago!
In the meantime, I had canceled it immediately and nothing was charged. At least they were honest!

My first thought would be to take it to the customer service desk at the store where I found it. However, calling the 800# on the back of the card is a good first step.

 

[threeboysmom]

Regardless of the cash back/rewards, I actually save more money being totally cashless and using credit card only.

If I have cash in my wallet, I WILL spend it, and I'll spend it fast, lol. Credit cards keep me disciplined and on budget.

It's pretty simple, if you walk in McDonalds with $3 in your wallet you can only buy 2 dollar items plus tax. If you have a credit card you can get the $5 meal.

I'm the opposite. If I have the $3 in cash, I WILL spend it even if I'm not really craving McDonalds. If my wallet is empty except for my credit card, I will mostly likely bypass McDonalds, lol.

 

[Leshaface]

So which cards are the best out there??

We have the Disney Visa, the Amex Blue Sky, and the Southwest Visa but are looking into getting a CC that has better offers.

Can someone recommend any for my DH and I? I wish there was a breakdown table somewhere...

 

[SuzyQue]

Just got my December bill from Chase Freedom, and for one month's spending I earned $69.28, not a bad haul for 1 month. The bill total was $1,641.09.

Points on purchases - 1642
10% bonus points per $1 spent - 165
Bonus 10 points on every purchase - 440
Bonus from 5% categories: Oct.-Dec. - 1430
Extra 5% rewards for Kohl's purchases - 681
Bonus points earned at Ultimate Rewards Mall - 2570

The family purchased an Ipad 2 for our mom and I went through the Chase site to get to the Apple site (Ultimate Rewards Mall) to get the extra points (5%). So don't forget to go through the credit card site to order anything online, they all give extra percent back for those purchases and there is normally no limit. ~~

 

[mermaidwannabe]

That's what we do too! We have ten cards between major ccs and dept store cards, which can be daunting at times to make sure I'm on top of, but we write everything down in our checkbooks - what card, what store - and circle the amounts. Then when it's time to pay we add them back in and take one big amount back out. But anyways, we got $300 from Chase this year plus three gift cards just in using it for 3 months. I love that card. We both have AMEX which we do have an annual fee on, but so far with the free airline tickets initially and companion fare tickets, we've made out on the $95 fee. I just can't close my JCP, Macy's, Kohls, VS cards because I get rewards from them all the time it seems. Plus the 5% on Target - that adds up. Sometimes it doesn't seem worth the trouble, but I suppose it's my couponing.

 

[SuzyQue]

Discover $300 spending cap was easy to reach and then switch to my other Discover card. But as of January they are matching Chase Freedom's $1500 spending cap. Fortunately you don't have to reach the $3K to earn on your 5% categories.

Thank you for this calypso726, I was not aware of either one of those statements!

 

[bettymae1121]

Also, cards that do have an annual fee can be a good deal too, don't overlook those just because of a fee!

For the last 10 years I've had a United Visa (Chase) that earned 1 mile for every $1 spent, and up until a few years ago, they'd have bonus promotions too. I've gotten thousands of $$$ in free tickets and upgrades over the last decade, all for spending what I'd spend anyway (gas, groceries, etc.). Yes, there was a $60 annual fee (or there abouts) and 10 years I spent $600 in annual fees...but the free airfare more than out weighs the fees. Just a few weeks ago, DH went to see his mother who has been ill, had we paid cash for the ticket, it would have been over $1000 (he had to travel mid-week which is more expensive), but it only "cost" us 20,000 miles and a $5 processing fee. Just in that one trip, we came out ahead, never mind all the free tickets and upgrades I got over the past 10 years.

That said, it's getting harder to use the miles, and with the merger with Continental next year it may get harder yet. I also get $1000 a year in free airfare due to my job, which is usually enough to cover our vacation needs, for the last few years I wasn't using the miles for free tickets, just for upgrades (this last trip for my DH being the exception rather than the rule).

So this past August, I switched from the United Visa to the Starwood Amex, Starwood is a group of hotels that include Sheraton, Westin, and a few others. The idea is that we will now have both free aifare (thanks to my job) and free hotel. That makes for some pretty cheap trips! By signing up and spending $4k in the first 3 months (not hard for us at all!) we got a bonus of 30k points. Between that and what we've spent, we now have over 40k points, which is good for a two week stay in my DH's home town (his mom doesn't have room for us) or a one week stay in Anaheim. By the end of 2012 we'd have enough for a week at the Dolphin in WDW. All for no annual fee this year and something like a $75 annual fee there after. If we vacation every other year like we normally do, that's a weeks stay (or more) at some VERY nice hotels for $125 ($75 annual fee time 2 years to save up the points).

And the best part is that Starwood and United are partners so if we do need more free air travel than what I get through work...I can transfer points from Starwood to miles on United at no charge on a 1 to 1 basis!

Now as others have said, you do need to make a budget and stick to it, as well as pay off your CC in full every month (I usually pay ours the week we get the bill). This is not the way to go if a person has spending issues. But if you stick to buying what you buy anyway if you only had cash...even with annual fees there are some great rewards out there!

 

[disneyfreakk]

I just wanted to add that with the Chase Freedom card, you are allowed to have two of them per person. That really helps elleminate the spending caps in the 5% bonus cat.

 

[calypso726]

Budget buster it is!! We are driving up to Mass. in a few weeks

for *practice*. (we are in NJ) My dd is showing one of our breeders dogs at Westminster this year

How exciting for her! Wishing her best of luck!

Thank you for this calypso726, I was not aware of either one of those statements!

You are welcome

 

[nsmith]

I agree with the poster. I put everything I can on my credit card, after $5000 (during which we get 1% to 1.5% back on most purchases) we get 5% back on all grocery, gas and drug store purchases. Last year our total rewards were over $600!!!!!!

I have really good control of my spending habits and pay off the card in full each and every month. Wish I could put my gas and electric and mortgage on it.

 

[nsmith]

Regardless of the cash back/rewards, I actually save more money being totally cashless and using credit card only.

If I have cash in my wallet, I WILL spend it, and I'll spend it fast, lol. Credit cards keep me disciplined and on budget.




I'm the opposite. If I have the $3 in cash, I WILL spend it even if I'm not really craving McDonalds. If my wallet is empty except for my credit card, I will mostly likely bypass McDonalds, lol.

I can argue both sides of this but I did start using my credit card more when I realized that if I broke a larger bill for a purchase the "change" would just disappear on misc. purchases. Also my kids know I almost never have cash to hand out, so less begging.

 

[DawnM]

We just got a Chase Freedom with a $300 bonus for signing up and spending $500 in the first 3 months. We spent that much the first day!

Anyway.....how do you get the 10% bonus points?

Dawn

Just got my December bill from Chase Freedom, and for one month's spending I earned $69.28, not a bad haul for 1 month. The bill total was $1,641.09.

Points on purchases - 1642
10% bonus points per $1 spent - 165
Bonus 10 points on every purchase - 440
Bonus from 5% categories: Oct.-Dec. - 1430
Extra 5% rewards for Kohl's purchases - 681
Bonus points earned at Ultimate Rewards Mall - 2570

The family purchased an Ipad 2 for our mom and I went through the Chase site to get to the Apple site (Ultimate Rewards Mall) to get the extra points (5%). So don't forget to go through the credit card site to order anything online, they all give extra percent back for those purchases and there is normally no limit. ~~

 

[lisaross]

wow where did u get the 300 bonus? did they mail u it or did u find it online?

We just got a Chase Freedom with a $300 bonus for signing up and spending $500 in the first 3 months. We spent that much the first day!

Anyway.....how do you get the 10% bonus points?

Dawn

 

[budafam]

I signed up for the Southwest Visa 2 months ago, I had to pay a $99 annual fee after my first purchase BUT I just used my 50,000 free points to book 4 free round trip flights from Chicago to Orlando for our Disney trip in May. I used my credits from a previous flight to cover a little of the 5th flight and I ended up paying $190 total for 5 round trip flights. Can't beat that I still have almost 5,000 points left and plan to keep it for another year at least so I get 6,000 points on my anniversary. I'll have to pay the $99 fee but it's worth it for one round trip flight for free I plan to use this card a few times throughout the year to rack up more points so hopefully, all of our flights will be free.

 

[SuzyQue]

Just found this on my deals board, Top 5 Rewards Credit Cards for Gassing Up.

http://dealnews.com/features/Top-5-Rewards-Credit-Cards-for-Gassing-Up-at-the-Pump/534700.html

 

[SuzyQue]

We just got a Chase Freedom with a $300 bonus for signing up and spending $500 in the first 3 months. We spent that much the first day!

Anyway.....how do you get the 10% bonus points?

Dawn

Every once in awhile I'll get an email or a snail mail letter from Chase offering the bonus points or bonus percents, all I have to do is sign up for it online or call the number on the letter. So pay attention to what you receive and don't throw it into the junk mail pile.