just a FYI for ya buddy 5 $100 purchases are the same as 1 $500 purchase. and 10 $1000 purchases are the same as 1 $10,000 purchase. so why would you ever use a debit card and get 0% back when you can use CC and get 2-5% back
My credit card is used for just about everything with a couple exceptions. Always tip in cash. Even if I charge the meal or bar tab, tips are always cash. Your server will appreciate it when they can go home with untaxed cash in pocket. The other is if I hire out work to be done at my home. Pay the workers or contractor in cash and 99% of the time they'll knock off the tax or lower the bill.
I have to say in the last couple years most contractors don't discount for cash or even care to get it. I did a $40,000 pool renovation and the guy said you can pay me cash but the price is the same. Same thing with the mason (who was a friend), I finally was able to convince him take $10,000 out of the $20,000 bill in cash.
just a FYI for ya buddy 5 $100 purchases are the same as 1 $500 purchase. and 10 $1000 purchases are the same as 1 $10,000 purchase. so why would you ever use a debit card and get 0% back when you can use CC and get 2-5% back
Exactly.
I don't like surprises and I'm never surprised when the statement comes in with $2k worth of Jeep parts, or a lawn tractor, or a major appliance, or materials for 300 feet of fence. My head doesn't keep track of a month worth of fast food, fuel, clothing for two kids that outgrow something every other day and random trips to the grocery store because we forgot we were low on milk.
When I have to go to multiple places (my bank and CC websites) and then do math to figure out how much money I have, 5% is small potatoes compared to the extra unnecessary shit that gets bought. I do much better when I can say "yeah, we have $x, which is $y more than I planned on having, so we can use the extra for this luxury expense".
We all have to do what works for us but it takes me about 45 seconds to log into my account. It's really not hard to keep track of purchases. But again, you have to do what's good for you. The amount of points I get from my day to day is substantial and it just takes managing it a little different. Food for thought.
Never again will I pay someone I hire cash. Sorry for all the honest contractors / workers but I've been burnt too many damn times by these crooks.
Another thing I like about my CC is that it's linked to my phone. So whenever a charge hits my card it pops up on my phone. This is especially useful when at a restaurant and they run the card, I can see when they do it and how much they ran it for before they even make it back to the table.
If I had that my phone battery would die in an hour with all my charges...lol
Smartphones...
I don't need that level of granularity - but I get emails over a certain amount (set by me), and I also setup an email alert for *any* foreign transaction, regardless of size.
I don't need that level of granularity - but I get emails over a certain amount (set by me), and I also setup an email alert for *any* foreign transaction, regardless of size.
buddy i just cant make sense of your logic ! if you were to use a CC for everything you'd only have to go to 1 place to check how much you've spent instead of 2. and the only time you use the bank is to pay the CC bill. usually 5 minutes after i make a purchase i can go to the web and see my balance. have you somehow convinced yourself that it you dont pay for it if it comes directly out of bank acct, but you do have to pay it if its on a CC ? either way it comes out of your bank acct, but going through credit card gets you something back.
I use a credit card for all my transactions for this reason and use YNAB to budget and make sure we are not spending more than we have. Here is an interesting perspective from Frank Abagnale (Catch me if you can dude).
I actually agree with what he's saying in the video clip but I think I'll take my financial advice from people that haven't been convicted of several felonies and spent time in prison all over the world. Why we give audiences to known criminals simply because Hollywood embelished their stories is beyond me.
that's two responses in a row that make me think "how is he getting that from what I'm saying".
I'm firmly of the belief that if you don't tell your money what to do, it will tell you what to do, so I spend a few minutes at the beginning of every month allocating my entire paycheck to various saving or spending categories based on historical averages and expected out-of-the-norm stuff for that month. Thanks to that, I have every financial transaction I've made since 2016 recorded in an Excel spreadsheet - up to 8147 of them as of last week when I last brought it up to date. They feed a pivot table that tells me just about anything I want to know. If I want to know how my fuel budget differs now vs the same month in 2018 when I had a commute, the data is seconds away. I can tell you that my wife's dog has cost us $776 this year in veterinary and boarding expenses (food is part of the grocery category). I can see the real impact to my lifestyle due to inflation or see which of our vehicles costs more to own, or earmark money out of my bonus check that needs to be set aside for income taxes when the payroll department screws up the withholdings.
Another piece of data that does take a little longer to pull together but I've determined before is that on average, my household spends more money - around $200 per month - when a credit card is used for daily expenses. These time periods were not connected to any perceived increase in general happiness or quality/standard of living, so there's no return on that extra spending which makes it waste. I can't trace it directly to the amount of useless shit we have in the house that we've had to pack and move multiple times in spite of not even touching it since last being unpacked, but I suspect the extra spending ends up as a combination of that and in cholesterol/blood pressure/body fat from eating more restaurant food.
TL;DR - I have actual data that shows my household spends more money when a credit card is used for daily expenses, which agrees with a lot of the prevailing wisdom on the subject:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/credit-cards/credit-cards-make-you-spend-more
So the cashback benefits don't work out for me because the extra bullshit spending washes it out, and the building credit doesn't do anything for me because I'm already over 800. So there's no advantage to it for me.
This sums up my frustration with using a debit card...its hard for me to feel like I have a good grasp on my finances when its 5 or 20 dollars here and there every day and I'm trying to keep up
I wish I had the knowledge and discipline to do this but I honestly don't think I'm smart enough no joke
I'm no outlier on this one.
I use my credit card for 100% of my daily purchases and pay it off pretty much every night. I probably should leave it to once a month, but interest on deposit accounts is virtually dust at present, I'd rather just pay it off. I even pay by daughters college tuition via credit card. Her college is one of the few that allows it.
I treat it like a debit card. Carry little to no cash.
You can use a debit card all day and it does nothing for your credit. Should something go a-miss with the debit card, the banks can take far longer to come to a resolution than for the credit card. Plus, if the debit card is compromised, the entire balance linked to the card is at risk. You'll likely be made whole by the bank, but it's a major headache. With a credit card, the issuer freezes the offended card number, issues you an new one and you go from there. Since you're working with the issuers money, not your own, the issuer has vested interest in a fast resolution.
With a credit card dispute, call the issuer and they come to bat for you. With debit cards, most banks will require that you fight it out with the merchant and come to a documented dead-end before they will step in.
I have far less fear loading a credit card into my Apple watch or iPhone.
You can have a second credit card issued to an an authorized user (spouse or in my case my daughter) and while it doesn't help their credit it does allow them access to the line of funds without having to be a joint account owner, as the debit card would require.
Rewards are typically more robust with the credit card.
The Abignale vid is a great watch. I used to refer clients to that vid.
I use my credit card for 100% of my daily purchases and pay it off pretty much every night. I probably should leave it to once a month, but interest on deposit accounts is virtually dust at present, I'd rather just pay it off. I even pay by daughters college tuition via credit card. Her college is one of the few that allows it.
I treat it like a debit card. Carry little to no cash.
You can use a debit card all day and it does nothing for your credit. Should something go a-miss with the debit card, the banks can take far longer to come to a resolution than for the credit card. Plus, if the debit card is compromised, the entire balance linked to the card is at risk. You'll likely be made whole by the bank, but it's a major headache. With a credit card, the issuer freezes the offended card number, issues you an new one and you go from there. Since you're working with the issuers money, not your own, the issuer has vested interest in a fast resolution.
With a credit card dispute, call the issuer and they come to bat for you. With debit cards, most banks will require that you fight it out with the merchant and come to a documented dead-end before they will step in.
I have far less fear loading a credit card into my Apple watch or iPhone.
You can have a second credit card issued to an an authorized user (spouse or in my case my daughter) and while it doesn't help their credit it does allow them access to the line of funds without having to be a joint account owner, as the debit card would require.
Rewards are typically more robust with the credit card.
The Abignale vid is a great watch. I used to refer clients to that vid.
well you originally said you only use CC for big purchases and debit card for smaller ones ! i was trying to make the point of it doesn't matter if you pay for something from your right or left pocket it still comes out of your same pants . i mean it doesnt make a difference if you put $2000 a month on a CC and spend $1000 a month in cash you take $3000 a month out of your checking acct., same if you put $3000 a month on the CC or spend $3000 a month in cash. and as far as spending $200 a month more when using CC, find out who in the family is just going stupid and spending more and get them a prepaid CC and put X amount on it monthly, tell them if they spend it all thats it THERE AINT NO MORE, you can sit on the porch and twittle your thumbs cause you have no money for gas or whatever it is this month. our government is to blame for this shit teaching people there is no limit just keep spending. if you make $3000 a month and spend $4000 a month it's all good, i am lucky my mother taught me very early in life if you make $3000 a month you only spend $2000-$2500 a month and put $500-$1000 in savings. her teaching allowed me to retire at 55 with everything paid off and i didn't have a job making 2 or 300k a yr, not even 100k a yr . if it's the wife spending the 200 a month extra your screwed, if it's kids teach them a life lesson ( how to live within their means and not try to keep up with the Jones's). like Brandon saying were going to spend 3 trillion dollars and it's not going to cost a thing HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU SPEND IT AND IT NOT GOING TO COST YOU A THING and in the same breath that stupid fucker says were going to raise taxes here and there to pay for it, in the long run it will trickle down to you and me to pay for it. sorry didn't mean to take a right turn with this, DAMN now i got to go take my BP med's
hey just to pass this on , on the CC subject. there's a financial person on the news here that had a great idea. said to get 1 CC for all your reoccurring bills ( phone, cell, cable, power etc.) and 1 for other every day purchases. take the card you use for bills only and lock it away, the reason was and i had this happen to me. CC company caught erroneous charges and issued me a new card and acct number and i didn't think to call them and update my new acct #. one day i get a call and they say my power will be cut off. HOLY SHIT I've never missed a bill in my life, i call them and explain what happen and they fixed it for me with no bad credit report WHEW !!!! but by using that card for only utility bills odds are very slim of anyone getting your number ! JUST A FYI to help prevent this happening to anyone else ....
I've never missed a bill in my life, i call them and explain what happen and they fixed it for me with no bad credit report WHEW !!!! but by using that card for only utility bills odds are very slim of anyone getting your number ! JUST A FYI to help prevent this happening to anyone else ....