Pay monthly bills with credit cards?

[wincrasher]

I charge all I can to the credit cards.

It's great record keeping, especially for all my business expenses (and also serves as receipts), the reward points are great.

Most of my bills except the mortgage and the car payment have gone on the card. I think the only other thing I can't put on there is the lawn boy - I send him a check thru billpay. I do save the 48 cents for the stamp!

All of the bills you can put on the card with no additional cost - electric, phone, cable, gas, water, etc. Goes to show you - they build these fees into your bills anyways - whether you are using the card or not, so you might as well and get the rewards. Bonus for them is probably a better record of getting their payments on time, and not having to open and processes individual checks from customers.

[FLA]

I have been using ccs to pay for everything possible since I got my first card 25 yrs ago. I always pay the bill in full and have never paid a fee or interest charge. I like having everything on the cc statement because they separate it into categories and can quickly see if I am on budget and adjust as necessary without doing a full blown budget (I know, I know I need a real budget, just waiting til I know what income I will have since I just got Long Term Disability).

I can honestly say I am not someone who makes more impulse purchases because of paying with my card. I have read this so many times that I am determined not to be someone who spends more and so far after two decades I can safely say, I'm not.

I do wish I'd kept a file all these years with how much I benefited from a rewards card. I would love to know that number

[Atretes1]

I pay every bill I can with my rewards card. I pay all my credit cards off every month.

[ESMonitor]

It's my understanding Dave Ramsey is anti credit card, but using a rewards card for all of your purchases is a smart move.

It's like giving yourself a raise. I use my rewards card money earned to buy me new running shoes, inserts and socks from Fleet Feet Sports. Those running shoes and gear ain't cheap. By the time I wear my shoes down, the rewards balance is basically the equivalent for the next purchase. Works out well.

Just sweep the cc balance out once a week. That's the thing. You have to be disciplined to do that, pay the balance, but Ramsey knows it is a weakness for some so I think that's why he doesn't recommend it.

[disneysteve]

It's my understanding Dave Ramsey is anti credit card, but using a rewards card for all of your purchases is a smart move.

Agreed, though to be fair to Dave Ramsey, he's largely dealing with people who can't control themselves and can't handle credit cards properly without getting themselves in trouble. For folks like that, avoiding credit cards is probably a good idea.

I use my rewards card money earned to buy me new running shoes, inserts and socks from Fleet Feet Sports.

Have you compared prices at Dick's. Fleet Feet is great. I bought my first pair of "real" running shoes there and the service is top-notch, but you pay a premium for that service. Once you know what you want, you can usually save quite a bit by shopping elsewhere. The advantage of buying at Dick's is that I can buy discounted gift cards online with my rewards credit card to multiply the savings. Plus you still earn Dick's reward points on your purchase. Right now, Dick's cards are 19% off face value at Cardpool.com. When you're talking about dropping $150 or so on a pair of shoes, 19% off makes a big difference.

[ESMonitor]

Agreed, though to be fair to Dave Ramsey, he's largely dealing with people who can't control themselves and can't handle credit cards properly without getting themselves in trouble. For folks like that, avoiding credit cards is probably a good idea.


Have you compared prices at Dick's. Fleet Feet is great. I bought my first pair of "real" running shoes there and the service is top-notch, but you pay a premium for that service. Once you know what you want, you can usually save quite a bit by shopping elsewhere. The advantage of buying at Dick's is that I can buy discounted gift cards online with my rewards credit card to multiply the savings. Plus you still earn Dick's reward points on your purchase. Right now, Dick's cards are 19% off face value at Cardpool.com. When you're talking about dropping $150 or so on a pair of shoes, 19% off makes a big difference.

I looked at cardpool. I see you can get a $166.79 value gift card for $135. That's a nice deal. Thanks for the tip.

I don't know what shoe I want to get next. I will probably stick with a Brooks. Check out the Garmin vivoactive watch there. Of course, they have at Dicks too. After a lot of deliberation I bought that watch with the heart rate monitor. The rep, she did such a good job selling it, and it didn't hurt that she was really cute. I bought it so I could monitor my heart rate and all the other jogging stats as I am a bit of a numbers guy. I had no idea how many questions and compliments I would get on the watch at the office etc. I have been pleased with it. I would give four out of five stars rating.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

There are some unknown advantages of living with credit cards, for example they often come with insurance with rented cars and such. It's easier to dispute charges, whereas with a debit card it's "cash" which means once it's gone it's gone. I find the customer service with cards to be pretty good, esp. American Express.

Biggest downside is that it's so easy to get sucked into the "i'll just pay a little bit every month" mentality. You start to look at purchasing as "hey if I buy this item it will earn me lots of points", etc. With discipline they're good, without it, they're a trap for so many people.

[amigo1989]

good luck

[natasha.cornelius]

CC pay

I pay everything I can with my credit card. I have a CitiBank Double Cash Back CC, so every time I charge it I get 1% cash back and every time I pay off the card I get 1% cash back.
I always make sure to pay the full balance by the due date.

If I could use it to pay my car, mortgage, and student loans I would!

[hemoglobinRed]

As many others have pointed out paying things like taxes, mortgage, or rent will come with fees. Depending on the fee structure it might still make sense to use a card.

For example back when I was living in an apartment the fee was a fixed $7 to pay rent with a card. I realized that by paying two months rent ($1200) my 1% rewards card would give me $12 back. So 6 times a year I got a $5 victory plus the convenience of paying online and not having to write a check and mail it.

[natasha.cornelius]

As many others have pointed out paying things like taxes, mortgage, or rent will come with fees. Depending on the fee structure it might still make sense to use a card.

For example back when I was living in an apartment the fee was a fixed $7 to pay rent with a card. I realized that by paying two months rent ($1200) my 1% rewards card would give me $12 back. So 6 times a year I got a $5 victory plus the convenience of paying online and not having to write a check and mail it.

Thanks for sharing! I'll have to look into doing that.