Psychology and CC reward programs

[Gailete]

I try to save my points and cash them in around October and then I use the resulting gift cards as Christmas presents (last year we were flat broke). We also ended up with a $100 Barnes and & Noble card which hubby generously let me have in full. Spendng sprees are rare here and it was fun! Cash rewards goes into my shareholder account towards buying stocks. I had a pretty good (for us) account going and then we landed in some incredibly tights spots last year. I cashed in the stocks and was very happy that I had set that money aside as it came in very handy.

Currently my debit card is giving bonus points if you use it a certain amount of times in July. Just the shopping that I had to do in the last 2 weeks was enough I think to give me 5000 bonus points and I was still paying 'cash' for everything. That to me is the best of both worlds--get credit card rewards but no bill at the end of the month! Apparently they are doing the 5000 bonus points in August also.

[JimInOK]

Personally, I'd say to go whichever route makes you happiest. If that's the hotel card which earns a little less, so be it. I've been following this site long enough to believe you're in good shape and that you know what you're doing financially. So don't sweat the little stuff. There's more to life than squeezing every last dime out of your cards.

[disneysteve]

Thank you, Jim. You're right. It is small stuff. I'm probably talking about maybe $100 or so per year difference which is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

[Snave]

Grunitina makes a good point about the psychology of it when she says it "gives her the permission" to spend. I feel the same way. We use a Southwest Visa card where we accumulate Southwest credits. Southwest flies to all of our favorite places, so we wait until then to vacation. And Steve, I'm with you on Marriott. We love some of their properties. Unfortunately, my company went to Hilton as the only chains we are suppossed to stay at (some corporate rate thing), so I only stay at Hiltons and collect those points. With my old company, I racked yup Marriott points left and right for staying there. So, we would use our Southwest Visa credits and my Marriott points from work related stays and have a vacation that was nearly paid for.

[maat55]

maat, our CC charges for 2007 totaled $40,451.45, so average of about $3,370/month. When you are charging that kind of money, those credit card rewards get to be significant, so managing them becomes important. I'd say last year we earned about $900 in rewards.

I can, between my personal and business expenses, get to around 3,000 per month. I was told on another forum that I could move my 10k EF over to a Countrywide high yield account at 3.55% and open a visa through them that pays 2% on all purchases. I should be able to pay my mortgage on this card I hope. The earnings are deposited into my HY savings account.

Do you think this is a good deal?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I guess maat, depends on the rewards limit. I personally like maxing out my rewards but it depends on the person.

[maat55]

I guess maat, depends on the rewards limit. I personally like maxing out my rewards but it depends on the person.

I know about nothing when it comes to rewards and maxing them out. As a DR fan, I have been in a debtfree boot camp. But, I think I can handle managing a CC for free money, now. Any tips are appreciated.

[disneysteve]

I was told on another forum that I could move my 10k EF over to a Countrywide high yield account at 3.55% and open a visa through them that pays 2% on all purchases. I should be able to pay my mortgage on this card I hope.

Wow. If that's true, I'd be interested, too. I would love to be able to charge my mortgage payment (I'm with Countrywide also). Let me know if you find out.

[Like2Plan]

I know about nothing when it comes to rewards and maxing them out. As a DR fan, I have been in a debtfree boot camp. But, I think I can handle managing a CC for free money, now. Any tips are appreciated.

The toughest one is that you have to pay off the CC every month with no exceptions. Even if you have had an unexpected (expensive) expense, it has to be funded.

I monitor the CC every day or so to make sure the charges are within guidelines (guidelines=amount we have set aside to pay bill) . Frequent monitoring also helps to keep an eye out for fraudulent charges.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I am not a fan of mortgage companies but I like cash back. Some people love airline points, others love hobby cards. Depends on your lifestyle really.

I had to admit i caught a fraud charge yesterday when I was reconciling our CC statement with spending. So no problem.

[SnoopyCool]

Personally, I like the money back. But we don't vacation much at all and so the hotel rewards would not be used.

What kinds of bills do you charge? I would love to charge my utilities, but the utility company won't accept that form of payment.

On the side, I just started earning 20% cash back on certain purchases (for the next 6 months... too bad it doesn't include gasoline). Whoopie! I love rewards.

PS - maat - I was hesitant about using cc for rewards with the fear that I might not be able to pay it off or wouldn't control myself to set aside the $ to do it. But the motivation that 1. It is a free "loan" until cc bill comes, and 2. I get a % cash back has been fabulous!

[maat55]

Steve,

I put in my application for the Countrywide Visa. At every 2500 points (1 point per dollar spent) it will pay 50.00 to either your Countrywide high yield savings (10,000 min.), toward your mortgage or other gifts and restaurants etc.

[safari]

Wow. If that's true, I'd be interested, too. I would love to be able to charge my mortgage payment (I'm with Countrywide also). Let me know if you find out.

Steve, that's not true. They just double your reward if you apply it to your Countrywide mortgage or a savings account. Here is the link. It's still a pretty good deal, as you're getting 2% cash back on all your purchases.

[disneysteve]

I didn't think they'd let you charge your payment since they'd lose a few percentage points to Visa each month. No way they'd go for that.

[maat55]

I didn't think they'd let you charge your payment since they'd lose a few percentage points to Visa each month. No way they'd go for that.

The lady handling the credit card app said I could pay my mortgage with it. But I haven't called the actual mortgage company yet. I was thinking the same thing though, surely they wouldn't let you lower your interest rate like that.

I wonder if other cards let you pay your mortgage.