Anyone use a credit card to pay for everything?

Hope2Have · February 2012

I would love to do so, to earn the points/cash back and then pay it off each month to avoid paying interest. My aunt does this (puts EVERYthing on her cc) and just paid for her trip to Hawaii (well, the airfare). Anyone use one? Which one? Do you find it worth it? TIA

HarrietNJMommy · February 2012

Yup, we do. We have an Amex and a Discover. We mostly use the Discover for everything.

ToBeMrsT · February 2012

We do. We use an alaska airlines card because my in-laws live in AK. We used it to get all 3 of our tickets up there last time and we still have a ton of leftover miles.

We've thought about switching to a Southwest airlines card because we have so many AK miles right now.

hokies94 · February 2012

We have a card that earns United miles. We pay for almost everything with this card and pay it off each month. We've had it for years and have earned enough points that we rarely have to pay for airfare if we're flying United. I believe it's through Bank of America. I think we may also get a US Air one just to diversify the points we're earning. United doesn't always fly where we want to go.

Absolutely worth it in my opinion, however you have to be disciplined enough to pay it off fully each month for it to be worth it.

Hope2Have · February 2012

Really?!? See, I see the commercials all the time but I tend to be skeptical... assume that if things sound good there must be a big catch that would make it not work well. Hmmm... Do you know if the airline credit cards end up being better than the cash back ones? I feel like if we did the cash back, and received smaller amounts of money we wouldn't ever appreciate it but if we had travel points it would feel as if we were getting more? Thanks.. I'm def going to look into it.

Mrs.Hizzo · February 2012

Yes, our AmEx. We get cash back, so it's well worth it.

angelakh · February 2012

We use a card that can be used for cash back, airline miles, or gift cards for various things. I like the flexibility. We don't fly much, so an airline mile only card didn't make sense.

Stacyc625 · February 2012

Ditto Hariett

HarrietNJMommy · February 2012

Hope2Have:
Really?!? See, I see the commercials all the time but I tend to be skeptical... assume that if things sound good there must be a big catch that would make it not work well. Hmmm... Do you know if the airline credit cards end up being better than the cash back ones? I feel like if we did the cash back, and received smaller amounts of money we wouldn't ever appreciate it but if we had travel points it would feel as if we were getting more? Thanks.. I'm def going to look into it.

I don't like the airline miles cards. Just not our thing. There are always blackout dates and restrictions on actually getting tickets for your miles and that's not how we travel. We don't want to be limited.

We prefer a cash back or points card that we can use otherwise.

Hope2Have · February 2012

HarrietNJMommy:
Hope2Have:
Really?!? See, I see the commercials all the time but I tend to be skeptical... assume that if things sound good there must be a big catch that would make it not work well. Hmmm... Do you know if the airline credit cards end up being better than the cash back ones? I feel like if we did the cash back, and received smaller amounts of money we wouldn't ever appreciate it but if we had travel points it would feel as if we were getting more? Thanks.. I'm def going to look into it.
I don't like the airline miles cards. Just not our thing. There are always blackout dates and restrictions on actually getting tickets for your miles and that's not how we travel. We don't want to be limited.
We prefer a cash back or points card that we can use otherwise.

I haven't really looked into it... how exactly do you get cash back? Do they take it off your card? Or do you get a gift card type thing in the mail? TIA

Dochas · February 2012

I have a Chase one that we use for almost everything. Under 5 or 10 dollars I think it's annoying. But anything over that. You get 1% on everything and then every quarter they have categories that give you 5% (ie gas, grocery). You can redeem the points for rewards or cash.

Sharon21 · February 2012

HarrietNJMommy:
Yup, we do. We have an Amex and a Discover. We mostly use the Discover for everything.

This for us too. DH uses the Hilton American Express so we always have enough points for free hotel stays when we want them. I use the Discover and we usually get cash back in the form of Sams Club gift cards but sometimes we will choose other gift cards too.

The catch is you have to pay it off. Most people aren't disciplined enough to pay off it off each month. So yes it is simple if you have financial discipline.

HarrietNJMommy · February 2012

Hope2Have:
HarrietNJMommy:
Hope2Have:
Really?!? See, I see the commercials all the time but I tend to be skeptical... assume that if things sound good there must be a big catch that would make it not work well. Hmmm... Do you know if the airline credit cards end up being better than the cash back ones? I feel like if we did the cash back, and received smaller amounts of money we wouldn't ever appreciate it but if we had travel points it would feel as if we were getting more? Thanks.. I'm def going to look into it.
I don't like the airline miles cards. Just not our thing. There are always blackout dates and restrictions on actually getting tickets for your miles and that's not how we travel. We don't want to be limited.
We prefer a cash back or points card that we can use otherwise.
I haven't really looked into it... how exactly do you get cash back? Do they take it off your card? Or do you get a gift card type thing in the mail? TIA

It's a percentage of what you spend. You can either get it back, get a gift card or apply it to your balance.

MainelyFoolish · February 2012

Airline cards usually aren't worth it unless you already are buying a lot of tickets on that particular airline anyway, then you can take advantage of the perks (like free checked luggage or club access). Plus most airline cards have an annual fee after the first year.

We charge most everything to a USAA Visa card that gives us cash back. We've also got a Discover that we use for certain things when the Discover rewards are better (they have different bonus spending categories each quarter). We usually get about $250 annually from the Visa and another $50 to $100 from the Discover.

The_Jen626 · February 2012

We have an Alaska Airlines card and love it. We flew to Disneyland for about $130 total for 3 tickets! Also they are partners with Air France so if I end up going to Paris this year, my ticket will be very cheap.

Hope2Have · February 2012

Last question: Someone mentioned that there are always black out dates... but the cards I'm looking at online say "no blackout dates"... are there some that don't have them? Or it's just false advertisement? TIA once again.

AgrippaRidesAgain · February 2012

Yes. We have the Amazon Visa through Chase. I apply our points directly towards paying off the card. It's nice b/c Amazon purchases (which we have a lot of) are 3 points per dollar, so you can collect points rather quickly.

spunkyprincessmande · February 2012

Nope. It's too risky for us. I've heard really good things about a lot of different programs, but I worry that b/c it's on a cc I would go over. That's just me, though, I know it can be done.

That being said, we're looking into switching our debit card. It currently earns us points that we can use to purchase all kinds of gcs, but we're hoping to switch it to a Disney card. We won't go to Disney for several years, but if the points don't expire we could pay for a good portion of our trip, and we're only spending money that is actually in our account.

yale · February 2012

We do. We had an REI card for a long time, but just switched to the Southwest card because they started flying non-stop to DHs hometown. We figure we should be able to get at least two RT seats/year. With the REI card, we were able to keep up with our outdoor gear/outerwear needs. It works for us.

yale · February 2012

SW doesn't have blackout dates associated with their card.

HarrietNJMommy · February 2012

Hope2Have:
Last question: Someone mentioned that there are always black out dates... but the cards I'm looking at online say "no blackout dates"... are there some that don't have them? Or it's just false advertisement? TIA once again.

There used to be black out dates. Not sure if there are anymore. I feel like you need so many miles to get a free or discounted ticket and it's never with the airline that we would want to fly. Just my thing.

Also, I know that miles might expire if you don't use them or renew your membership each year, etc. Again, I haven't looked into this in a few years.

For us, it's not worth it.

hellopoppyseed · February 2012

Discover. I just got a bunch of gift cards to Dillard's to get more of my china and silverware. Also I got a steam mop. We've gotten lots of points for gift cards. The "catch" is never carry a balance and avoid cards with an annual fee.

maddie&stephen · February 2012

Yes-we have just started doing this and it's working well for us-we recieve points through BOA and use them to redeem gift cards to stores. Sort of like cash back but it adds up pretty quickly.

hokies94 · February 2012

Hope2Have:
Last question: Someone mentioned that there are always black out dates... but the cards I'm looking at online say "no blackout dates"... are there some that don't have them? Or it's just false advertisement? TIA once again.

We've never run into blackouts when we're trying to use our miles from our card. Our was not advertised as a "no blackout dates". We've always been able to use them when we wanted-maybe not the exact flight times we wanted-but we've always been able to get tickets.

We're a family of 5 and now that we have to buy tickets for everyone, miles makes more sense for us. We travel rather frequently.

Totally dependent on your lifestyle which type of card works for you.

Court0026 · February 2012

We have a Capital One card that we have had for a long time. Just like the others, you can trade it in for cash, gift cards or miles. Just last month, my mom was 7a flight for my sister's fam, my fam and my parents and I transferred the points we needed to pay so she could just book the seats altogether. You can (as far as I know) buy and apply later. Works with hotels, flights, car rentals I think too. We have carried a balance 1x in the 7+ years we have been together and it was for 1 month, so this is easy for us. I actually like the credit card bill to help me organize what I spent.

AlabamaMamma224 · February 2012

No, we use cash for everything, and if I have to buy something online I use debit.

cmhicklin · February 2012

We have a BRU card. We use it for everthing-gas, groceries, and bigger items especially. I get at least $10 reward bucks a month. I had $60 and a 20% off coupon, and the item I bought was way cheaper than at Walmart. Just for using my card for things that I already buy. It really isn't hard to pay it off every month.

nekorayne · February 2012

EmilyVReese80:
I feel very strongly about NOT using credit cards, actually.

This. If we don't have the cash to buy it we don't get it. DH and I have NEVER had a credit card and never will. My parents were in so much debt when I grew up that I am scared to death of debt. Sure you could pay it off at the end of every month but that takes so much discipline and seems so pointless that I don't see why we would do it. We considered getting one for emergencies but after talking about it we decided it would be a bad idea, I mean what would be an emergency? Would we slip up?I don't know...I just like the way it feels to use cash! We have our debit card for online purchases though. We don't make as much as some and have no debt and I'm way to proud of that! We have friends and family who might make twice as much as us and have so much debt and I get scared that we could slip up. We need that accountability that cash and the debit card brings.

LOL I'm a scardy cat...haha.

DevonPow · February 2012

Yes. We use a Fidelity card through our Fidelity account. We get fantastic cash back. DH also has an Amex that we get a higher percentage back for groceries and gas, so we use that card for those. We pay it off each month (we have been using our CC for basically all purchases for the last 8 years now, paying it off every month. It is like cash for us)

FormerlyKrista555 · February 2012

We're the opposite. We don't have any credit cards-- not a single one, unless you count our debit cards.

I understand the reasoning for both sides... we just made the choice for ourselves to live 100% debt free. No car payments, no credit cards, no loans... we are even paying cash for a house this summer. We love it and the financial peace it gives us.

But again, to each their own.

gatogrrl · February 2012

We put most things on our Mastercards that give thank you points. You basically earn $1 in points for every $100 you spend, although some companies offer promotions of as much as $10 in points for every $100 you spend.

We use the points for gift cards, then wait for sales to use the cards. We got our TV for almost free this way. We're now waiting for a sale at Lowe's to pick up a new range or dishwasher. So it's worked out for us because we do always pay the balance every month.

12bailey18 · February 2012

EmilyVReese80:
I feel very strongly about NOT using credit cards, actually.

This. We have one for emergency situations and I think we've only used it like twice in 7 years. We pay cash or debit card for everything.

shortstuff15 · February 2012

nekorayne:

EmilyVReese80:
I feel very strongly about NOT using credit cards, actually.

This. If we don't have the cash to buy it we don't get it. DH and I have NEVER had a credit card and never will. My parents were in so much debt when I grew up that I am scared to death of debt. Sure you could pay it off at the end of every month but that takes so much discipline and seems so pointless that I don't see why we would do it. We considered getting one for emergencies but after talking about it we decided it would be a bad idea, I mean what would be an emergency? Would we slip up?I don't know...I just like the way it feels to use cash! We have our debit card for online purchases though. We don't make as much as some and have no debt and I'm way to proud of that! We have friends and family who might make twice as much as us and have so much debt and I get scared that we could slip up. We need that accountability that cash and the debit card brings.

LOL I'm a scardy cat...haha.

While I understand your perspective and agree that some people aren't able to discipline themselves to pay it off every month, I would be unable to manage cash so credit cards actually keep me out of debt! I just hate using cash and I never have the same awarness of how much I am spending when I use cash as opposed to credit cards. We pay off our credit cards every month and it really doesn't take a huge amount of discipline for us. I can count on one hand the amount of times the card has been over $1000 (those months we had extra money come in) and most months it's right around $500. With cash I have no idea where my money is going so I find that it gets spent that much faster and for things I don't really need.

ktsnshn · February 2012

We use ours for everything and get cash back at the end of the year. It really isn't the same as using credit if you never spend over what you can afford. We have never carried a balance, never paid interest or an annual fee, and always stay within our budget. We look at our statement online often and like that we can see where our money is going. It just takes some self-control to not abuse it, but we are so used to it that we know what we can spend without going over.

cmhicklin · February 2012

FormerlyKrista555:

We're the opposite. We don't have any credit cards-- not a single one, unless you count our debit cards.

I understand the reasoning for both sides... we just made the choice for ourselves to live 100% debt free. No car payments, no credit cards, no loans... we are even paying cash for a house this summer. We love it and the financial peace it gives us.

But again, to each their own.

My husband and I are currently working on getting out of debt ourselves (with the help of Dave Ramsey); our house and student loans are all we have. I have seen what credit card debt can do to a person, and I am not interested in that kind of life. I don't think I am going into debt at all, because I only use it for things that that I was buying with my debit card anyway. And I tend to pay it off weekly or biweekly.

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