How to use my credit card?

[uRabbit]

Some of you may know that I recently paid off all of my credit card debt, and am keeping my longest-standing account open. I am now wondering how to use it. There is nothing special about it. It is a 12.9% card with no bonuses, $39 annual fee.

I plan to use it on everything I would normally use my debit card for, and then pay it off at the end of the day.

[maat55]

I use my freedom card for specific uses(budgeted groceries, gas, cable, phone and business expenses). If not for the rewards, I would not use it at all.

I'm careful not to overspend or buy things unplanned.

Personally, I would not use your card, I would use one with rewards and no annual fees. I never pay for my credit score.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by uRabbit

I am now wondering how to use it. There is nothing special about it. It is a 12.9% card with no bonuses, $39 annual fee.

Originally Posted by maat55

Personally, I would not use your card, I would use one with rewards and no annual fees.

I agree completely with maat. I would not use that card. I would apply for a rewards card with no fee. Once I had that, I'd cancel your current card. Before canceling, I would call them and ask them to waive the fee. If they'll waive it, keep it open just for FICO purposes but be sure to check back in a year to make sure they don't charge the fee again. If they won't waive the fee, go ahead and cancel it. Yes, it will ding your score a bit but it isn't worth paying $39/year.

[uRabbit]

And this is why I posted here - great opinions, guys!

I will try to get them to waive the fee and look at other cards. However, I am not sure if there are any rewards associated with the card. I have not used it for at least a year, and at that time was not in the mindset to care - I just cared that it was "free" money. Ha. Obviously, I am in a better mindset now. How could I go about finding out if there are any benefits to the card? I wish it was laid-out in plain English like my balance and other payment info is...

Here is what my CU has to offer. When I refinanced our car with my credit union, he said that he could not get me approved for the credit card, but by December or so he most likely could. They seem like great cards.

My score is 700, so I do not qualify for most cards. Plus, my debt payoffs have yet to hit my report, so I am waiting for that, so that my score will go up.

Also, would Chase be the best to go with?

[uRabbit]

It appears as though I have been approved for the Chase Freedom card and will be receiving the card and info in two weeks time. Does this mean there is now an account or does it have to be activated first? Because I want to apply at other cards - in case there is something better. Maybe AMEX Blue Cash Everyday, or something?

[BuckyBadger]

Originally Posted by uRabbit

Some of you may know that I recently paid off all of my credit card debt, and am keeping my longest-standing account open. I am now wondering how to use it. There is nothing special about it. It is a 12.9% card with no bonuses, $39 annual fee.

I plan to use it on everything I would normally use my debit card for, and then pay it off at the end of the day.

Did you really mean to say that you would pay off the card every day? Or did you mean that you would pay in full every month?

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by uRabbit

It appears as though I have been approved for the Chase Freedom card and will be receiving the card and info in two weeks time. Does this mean there is now an account or does it have to be activated first? Because I want to apply at other cards - in case there is something better. Maybe AMEX Blue Cash Everyday, or something?

It most likely needs to be activated. If it's just one of those preapproval junkmail letters, then you need to fill out the enclosed info and mail it back in before anything will happen.

Search the internet and find a card that has rewards that suite your interests/lifestyle. Cash back? Fuel discounts? Travel miles? Hotel perks? The choices are endless. Just start looking around.

[uRabbit]

Originally Posted by BuckyBadger

Did you really mean to say that you would pay off the card every day? Or did you mean that you would pay in full every month?

End of the day, yes. Same effect, no?

And should I even bother with AMEX or Discover? They are still pretty sparse on who accepts them, iirc.

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

Originally Posted by uRabbit

End of the day, yes. Same effect, no?

And should I even bother with AMEX or Discover? They are still pretty sparse on who accepts them, iirc.

You'll likely need FICO scores closer to the 750 range to get approved for the Amex Blue Cash. Have you checked out some of Capital One's no annual fee credit cards with rewards like the Venture card? I love that card- use it myself, and you'd probably have a better chance of approval.

Also, there's really no need to pay your card everyday. In fact, you'll find that some credit issuers won't allow more than one payment to be processing at a time. Just always pay the balance off in full each month and you'll be fine.

[uRabbit]

I think I have narrowed it down. I don't really like the idea of rotating cashback categories like the Chase Freedom card does.

So here are two AMEX cards. One has no annual fee, while the other has a $75 annual fee with higher % cashback. Most of our cashback rewards would come from gas and Target (toiletries). Our grocery store does not accept credit cards. I wonder which card we would be better off with...

Also, there is the Amazon.com credit card. We use Amazon for most of our online purchases. We have spent over $400 this year alone on Amazon.com. However, half of that was when I was making more money. So that is not typical of our spending now. So I am not sure if that card would be worth it...

Edit: Joshua, I wonder about CapitalOne and their use of out-of-country customer service reps that I cannot understand. I will take a look. So long as they offer non-rotating cashback categories and no annual fee. Checking now.
Edit: We don't fly. Venture would not work. Using Bankrate's credit card site to browse. And now that I think about it, AMEX still does not have the acceptability of VISA/MC. "/
Maybe CapitalOne's No Hassle Cash Rewards...

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by uRabbit

Most of our cashback rewards would come from gas and Target

If you shop at Target a lot, maybe a Target Visa would be good. You get 5% off all purchases at Target all the time.

[uRabbit]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

If you shop at Target a lot, maybe a Target Visa would be good. You get 5% off all purchases at Target all the time.

True. But we only spend about $50/mo at Target, while we spend $130/mo in fuel. And 1% on all other purchases would be great too. I am having trouble finding a VISA or MC that does not have an annual fee and has 2% on gas purchases. Discover and AMEX have them, and have American customer service, but AMEX has rotating categories, and neither are accepted widely, which would be nice because we visit hole-in-the-wall/local eateries/coffee shops when we use $ from our treats budget. >.<

Hmm. Idea...

What if I open an account w/ AMEX for the BlueCash Everyday card for the cashback rewards on gas and groceries (from Target), and open a Chase Freedom Visa for the 1% where AMEX is not accepted...? Pretty sure AMEX is accepted everywhere we shop except our local eateries. Does that sound logical?

[uRabbit]

Okay, so I do not qualify for the Capital One Cash Rewards card. Since I already have the Chase Freedom card with $100 bonus coming in the mail, I applied for the one with the $200 bonus (after spending $500 in the first three months, which will not be a problem, as all of our expenses can be paid for with credit - hopefully those qualify). This card takes up to ten days to approve or not, so I will have to wait on that.

I really do not like the rotating cycle of 5% cashback categories, especially since gas is only for three months and I have already missed one of them. I do not spend money in most of the other categories. Ah well. I will make at least $54/yr off of the card with 1% cashback.

So the Chase Freedom seems to be the best. I really wanted a card with no annual fee and with 2% back on groceries and gas, but oh wells. Chase Freedom seems very well rated by many reviewers.

[krantcents]

Just a curious question, what are you going to do differently to avoid getting into debt again? Paying off your card each month just sounds like good intentions.

[kv968]

One other thing you want to check out is if the gas station you use charges more for credit purchases. Or as they put it, "a discount for using cash". Typically a station will charge around 2-3% more when using a credit card rather than cash so even if you were getting 1-2% back on the purchase using the card, you still may be spending more than had you paid in cash. Try and look for one that charges the same cash or credit and then you'd actually be making some money.

And remember, the only way to really make the most of that reward money is to not carry a balance and pay off your bill in full every month.

[uRabbit]

Obviously, I'd be paying the balance in full. Otherwise, I'd be a hypocrite!

Is there a way to check if they charge or not?

[ShawnaC123]

Originally Posted by uRabbit

True. But we only spend about $50/mo at Target, while we spend $130/mo in fuel. And 1% on all other purchases would be great too. I am having trouble finding a VISA or MC that does not have an annual fee and has 2% on gas purchases. Discover and AMEX have them, and have American customer service, but AMEX has rotating categories, and neither are accepted widely, which would be nice because we visit hole-in-the-wall/local eateries/coffee shops when we use $ from our treats budget. >.<

Hmm. Idea...

What if I open an account w/ AMEX for the BlueCash Everyday card for the cashback rewards on gas and groceries (from Target), and open a Chase Freedom Visa for the 1% where AMEX is not accepted...? Pretty sure AMEX is accepted everywhere we shop except our local eateries. Does that sound logical?

The Target Visa is no longer available for new customers anyway. You'd have to get the regular store card. Also, if you get the Blue Cash Everyday card, Target isn't going to qualify as groceries because I believe they use the merchant code for "discount store" or something like that. So you'd only be getting the 1% back.

[uRabbit]

Discount store my patootie! Haha. They have good prices but are definitely not a discount store.

Thank you for that info though.

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

The Chase Freedom is a decent no annual fee rewards card. Have you been approved yet? If so, use it responsibly for awhile and you should be able to continue building your FICOs scores until you're in the good-excellent credit range. Then I would look into getting an even better rewards card.

[uRabbit]

Originally Posted by JoshuaHeckathorn

The Chase Freedom is a decent no annual fee rewards card. Have you been approved yet? If so, use it responsibly for awhile and you should be able to continue building your FICOs scores until you're in the good-excellent credit range. Then I would look into getting an even better rewards card.

My rating is current 694 (and still shows over $2,000 of debts that have since been paid-off).

I wonder - what cards are better? And yes, I have been approved. Got an email yesterday saying it should arrive shortly.