Howdy! After the success of last week’s discussion thread, I figured we should keep going. Feel free to comment below with anything and everything money related that is better suited to a conversation or a quick question and answer than a full post. Some ideas include:
- Journaling about an ongoing job search
- Asking for ideas about how to manage an emergency fund
- Logging recent stock trades
- Talking about the impact of inflation on your budget
- Your plans for maximizing the rewards on a credit card
Again, those are just suggestions, if there’s really anything you’d like to talk about related to finance in your life, feel free to put it here.
To maximize the reward from my credit card i dont have a credit card. Best solution. I am rewarded constantly by seeing others pay 20+% while i dont do that.
I’m the opposite, almost all of my spending goes through my credit cards. I would pay my rent on a credit card if I could. I only use cash back credit cards and pay everything off before the end of the month so I effectively get 1℅ to 5℅ off all my purchases and never owe interest. One of my cash back cards the 1% to 5℅ cash goes straight into a brokerage account where it automatically earns around 5℅ in a money market fund. It doesn’t seem like much but it adds up, and I appreciate the added layer of security where if there’s fraud my actual money isn’t impacted.
What 20% do you mean? The interest rate?
If you treat a credit card like a charge card and pay it in full every month there’s zero cost to you. You don’t even pay interest on the time between the purchase and the payment as long as you pay everything off on the first statement it appears.
Having a credit card is good for your credit and can save you money in the form of cash back. As long as you can keep disciplined about only spending money you already have and paying in full every statement, it’s all upside.
Yes, you are right. However, how many people do you know who absolutely pay the whole balance every month without fail. I dont personally know of anyone including myself. I fell into that trap for a while and then paid them all off and cut them into tiny pieces and no longer use them
When I was young, this was the case. A friend started paying them off each month and then another friend. Now we all do.
My rule for myself is pay them off each month or put them in my desk and leave them. I also maintain a minimum balance of more than one month’s pay in my saving account. This is my back up in case something happens.
If I use anything from savings, I am not allowed to buy any alcohol until it is paid back. I like to go out for drinks with friends, so this is a strong deterrent.
I grew up very poor and would budget out the grocery with my mom every week. But we were extremely fortunate and disciplined to have never needed to take out debt. So I’ve always carried that mentality that debt was only for appreciating assets, and if it’s for someone I’m intending to consume, then I can’t afford it.
Seriously lol. If you carry a balance from one month to the next then a credit card is NOT FOR YOU. The person you’re replying to seems to be one of those people. Which is fine, different ways to view and take care of money work for different people, but… to assume everyone with a credit card is paying interest is not accurate… If used correctly, credit cards can be extremely beneficial for your future.
Eh, just pay the full balance every cycle. You’re paying the hidden 3% transaction costs even if you don’t use credit card on pretty much all transactions you make, so might as well get some rewards and sigh up bonus from it.