I often get a new card before Christmas. Chase is offering their Flex card now with the deal if you spend $500 in the first 3 months you get $200 credit. So I'll pay the $500 the first month, buy $200 worth of stuff the second and apply the credit. Zero the balance and cancel the card. Wife and I both got cards this year. I don't much care for Chase but I thank them for the $400 this year.

Interest? My credit card company pays me 2% cash back on every purchase.

I got my first credit card in 1968 and still have the second one I got in 1971, though it has been through several iterations since then.

I don't believe I have ever, ever paid one cent of interest since I have always been very paranoid about owing money to someone.

But you almost gotta have a CC for certain things-airline tickets, rent a car, hold a hotel room. So I use 'em, but immediately pay them off. If I did not have the money, I wouldn't have used it.

I've financed the mortgage on a house three times, and bought a few cars on some payment plan when it was something I could do and come out ahead. It used to be, the car salesman got $ if you financed the car with his company (Ford, GMAC, etc.). I knew that and got them lower on the price, then paid the car off before the first payment was due.

I don't know if they still do that or not as I just pay for the darned vehicle now.

I have gotten rid of a number of credit cards, think I have five and have to struggle to used them a couple times each per year.

IMO, you oughta try to make the CC work for you rather than working to pay the interest on it.

Bob

Only reason that I worry about a good credit score is because auto/home insurance rates are better for people with good credit.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
I get cash back for using my CC. Costco. Credit score is 875.

You'll have to give us the secret as to how you picked up those 25 extra credit points.

Yeah, FICO goes to 850. Maybe it's one of the non-FICO models that go to 900.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
You guys who say you never pay interest on credit cards must be solely using debit check cards. Unless you have a zero-percent interest rate, even if you pay things off every month like I do, you still pay interest as creditors start it pro-rata on day one (not month one).

Mine doesn't.

Nor do any of ours. But our Visa card gives us reward points (just picked up our second Apple TV 4K for free that way) and my Apple Cash is up to $250 from my Apple Card cash back. By spring I may have enough in there to upgrade my (golf) driver

I can't remember the last time I had a card that charged an annual fee.

quote:

Originally posted by Lineman101:
I have a CC that has a 95.00 year use fee. I called them and told them how times are hard. Lots of people losing jobs. I told them I needed to cancel the card due to the yearly fee. They deposited 100$ to the account to cover the fee. And I’m still using the perks. Your mileage may vary.
Good luck.

No. Mine have a grace period. If you pay by the statement due date, no interest at all.

I once had a card that shortened that period from 25 to 15 days. I didn't notice for a month or two. When I did, I instantly cancelled that card.

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
You guys who say you never pay interest on credit cards must be solely using debit check cards. Unless you have a zero-percent interest rate, even if you pay things off every month like I do, you still pay interest as creditors start it pro-rata on day one (not month one).

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
You guys who say you never pay interest on credit cards must be solely using debit check cards. Unless you have a zero-percent interest rate, even if you pay things off every month like I do, you still pay interest as creditors start it pro-rata on day one (not month one).

My recollection is that if one carries even a tiny balance over from the previous statement period, then interest accrues from the date one purchases anything. However, if one starts the statement period with a zero balance, there is no interest charged as long as the bill is paid in full by the due date.

I paid some interest when I was in college, I’ve long since gone out of my way to avoid it.

Using a credit card like a charge card* is the way to go.

*Remember charge cards? They used to require you pay the whole bill off each month. They went away when the issuers figured out how much money they could make off interest.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Interest? My credit card company pays me 2% cash back on every purchase.

Blows my mind that people are willing to lose money on a daily basis. I have a 2% card for all purchases and several that rotate 5% categories.

They pay me several hundred dollars a year to use their cards that I pay off each month.

Zero liability, fraud protection. How can you go wrong

My wife and I have a joint CC account, that we use for most purchases (groceries, dinner out, online as well as in store purchases). I religiously pay in full every month, no interest, and get miles back.

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
You guys who say you never pay interest on credit cards must be solely using debit check cards. Unless you have a zero-percent interest rate, even if you pay things off every month like I do, you still pay interest as creditors start it pro-rata on day one (not month one).

Like the many others that have chimed in, I'm not sure what funky credit cards you've been using, but I've never had a credit card that did that. On all the credit cards I've ever had, interest is only paid on balances that are carried over past the first month.

And I always pay off my monthly balances in full.

So I never pay a cent of interest.