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DavezWife
member
A lil' tip for financing the GTG ;-)
DavezWife
member
You know those credit card offers you get in the mail by the dozens? Peek at them! We just got one from AMEX (we use their BLUE card for almost everything and get over $1K back a year just for using it) for their GOLD card, spend $500 in the 1st 3 months and you get 50K points, which is good for 2 plane tix almost anywhere in the US. Sure there's an annual fee and higher APR, but we cancel before year's end when it's charge, and pay the balance each month. (I tried to find the deal, I THINK that one just expired, but there's others out there)
David does a fancy dance with a couple cards - we have one for gas & groceries, and when that's max'd for cash back, we switch to the other, getting us about $800 cash back each year... again, JUST for using it. no fees, etc. We'll tag that cash back for trips, etc. or in the days our lives now.... ultrasound co-pays and PIO. boo.
There's lots of websites that shop credit card deals for you, and you can sort by fees, no fees, great credit, no credit, etc.
Obviously, spend smart, and track your pots on the stove. But we have a couple expenses coming up. might as well put them on this card and get the points. (we BOTH opened the card, they let us do it in our own names!)
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Re: A lil' tip for financing the GTG ;-)
While I like the idea - I thought that opening and closing accounts damages your credit rating? We actually have some cards that we never use but keep them open so that we don't ruin our rating.
Just a thought. (thought Amex Gold deal sounds amazing!)
I am a runner, knitter, scientist, DE-IVF veteran, and stage III colon cancer survivor.
Not sure if things are different here in the great white north, but having ccs that you don't use can damage your rating in terms of available credit. If you have 3 credit cards that you don't use and none of them carry a balance, you are still rated at what the limits are. So if your were applying for a mortgage and had 30,000 in available credit on those cards, you would be considered to have 30,000 in debt.
When we bought our house we were advised to cancel any cards we don't use.
I am a runner, knitter, scientist, DE-IVF veteran, and stage III colon cancer survivor.
This is my understanding as well. Every time you open a credit card it's an "inquiry" on your credit. Too many inquiries worries potential creditors (unsolicited inquiries such as companies trying to see if you're a good credit so they can invite you to open an account don't count). We have impeccable credit (both of us score over 800 consistently) and were recently denied switching car insurance because of too many recent inquiries (we bought/financed a car and refinanced our mortgage in the same 2-3 month period). They're not big fans of closing/opening accounts in succession too, I think it just looks shady. We closed a bunch of store accounts and things we didn't need about 5-6 years ago and that caused a dip for a year or two, so we've otherwise kept a handful of unused accounts open because of the long credit history on them and to avoid any other "dings".
good points. (Davez is a mastermind with money, and takes care of the cards, we don't open & close cards, usually. 2 free tix were just too good to pass up. plus we could likely get the annual fee waived, we've been amex members for eons.)
ironically - our mortage guy said having 3 cards with $30K avail was a GOOD thing banks LIKE to see, shows people will give you money. lol. wonder who's right?
It's a balancing act. Recent inquiry, lots of opening and closing accounts, etc. is bad for your credit. Having a high ratio of total available credit to used/borrowed credit is good. So while having lots of undrawn lines of credit is good, adding them all recently sends up a red flag, as it seems like you are desperately seeking credit.