This post is just going to be a bunch of random credit card questions which have been floating around in my head. Answer away!
I hate to admit it, but for years I did NOT have a rewards credit card. Late last year, I signed up for the Chase Freedom, and it's been great, but I feel like I can do something better now.
Finally having rewards from my credit card is nice, but it pains me to think about especially since I made the post about how I've spent over $25,000 in credit cards (but no worries because I have never carried a balance). This could have amounted to a ton of rewards! But I was too dumb before and never really thought about it, because everything seemed like it would take forever to add up.
Yes I do realize that with some people, credit cards are not the best decision, but I'm good with credit cards. I just charge all my expenses that I can onto it (without going over the 30% recommended utilization percentage) and I pay my balances off completely every month. So no worries there!
- I wanted to point that out because when I made my $25,000 credit card post, I got some e-mails where people were telling me that I'm horrible for racking up so much debt (but I never racked it up so I'm confused as to what the e-mails were talking about).
- But I just want to make it clearer this time 🙂
Oh yeah, and I have 2 credit cards and the boyfriend has 1. And I don't care about the interest rate or anything because I'll never carry a balance. My credit score is a little under 800, so I should be able to qualify for most cards. You can compare credit cards at Totally Money.
How many credit cards do you have? What do you consider a “good” number? The boyfriend and I are both thinking of adding one card each, so that will bring my number to 3, and his to 2. Not sure if this would be considered too many?
Also, I would like to get rid of my first credit card that I received when I turned 18. It gets no rewards and has a small credit limit. It's pretty much useless. There is no yearly fee either. I know closing this will affect my credit, but not sure by how much. We're not applying for a new loan for anything anytime soon, so this impact on my credit doesn't worry me too much.
Now I don't want something with an annual fee, but if I could get the fee waived then I would be all for it.
Below are some of the cards that I'm thinking of:
- Chase Sapphire. I keep hearing everyone talk about this one. There is a fee but it's waived for the first year.
- Perkstreet Financial. 2% back. This is better than the 1% with the Chase Freedom that I have right now.
- And I'm not sure what else. Obviously my list is short. I don't know of many credit cards.
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I also got the Freedom Chase, and I completely love it. I don't carry a balance at all, but for as little money as I move around, I've already received over $400 back in rewards ($300 for signing up, $100 from regular cash back). I currently have 2 (or 3, if you count 'my' closed one as one), and I honestly think a good number would be depending on what your monthly expenses are. People recommend you don't use more than 30% of your total balance at once, even if you do pay it right back. So if you continually make purchases that may come close to that 30%, having two cards to spread the balances may work out.
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We only have 1 card, Chase Freedom. I love it because it gives you bonus 5% for gas for 6 months ( twice a year for 3 months), and my husband is always in a car for his job. He gets reimbursed for the gas he uses and we get some extra cash back. It's a win-win for us! We pay the balance every month, so I honestly don't even know what our interest rate is right now 🙂 I know it's one of the lowest possible.
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The hubby has Chase Sapphire and it was nice but he's going to switch to the Freedom soon because he doesn't want to take the fee hit the come with the Chase Sapphire. He got $500 cash back with the Chase Sapphire when he opened it if he charge $3,000 in the first three months. At the time we were paying for our wedding, so it was like "Thanks for the free $500" because we would have spent the much either way.
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I just reviewed my main personal rewards card. Bought almost an entire home theatre system with it!
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It depends on your lifestyle. If you like to travel, go for a card with airmiles and free flights, if you want to lower your grocery bill, go for a card with cashback and special offers. Sam at financial samurai recently talked about the City Thank you card. For me the best card ever is the one I have been using for 4 years now, because I travel 10 months a year, this card has no ATM withdrawal fee or foreign exchange fee when you are abroad. It has saved me tons of money, much more than a reward card, again, because it is perfect for my lifestyle.
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I've heard awesome things about the Citi Thank You Card. My friend has paid almost all her airfare with that card and they travel a lot. We only have two credit cards that we use–a Visa and an Amex, since Costco only takes Amex.
I'm planning on closing the Amex in June though, since we do pay a $50 annual fee, but we;ve been able to score free flights with it.
Please let me know what your research tells you!
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If you can get it, I would highly suggest the Amex Preferred Blue Cash. You can get an awesome 6% back on groceries and 1% back on everything else. Since the majority of our budget goes to food costs, we make almost $75 a month with this card. Haven't been able to find a better card on the market.
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