Credit card working for you!

Ridin-High

Ridin-High

G'day folk,

I recently aquired my first credit card (never used one before). It came as apart of CBA's pro package (holdings over 150k)...i had a quick yarn to the homeloans manager about it (Gold card) as i have always held a negitive view towards them and considered them a tool for massing debt.

Does anyone have tips for making my new credit card work for me? I understand that i can make purchases/pay bills on it and accumulate points to redeem as rewards (which i could use to discount real life needs eg. car servicing)

So other then paying bills and getting points etc does anyone have creative ways of making it work for you?

Cheers,

Ridin-High
 
Hi Ridin-high,

Credit cards are great, their basically giving you free money, think about it if you buy $20,000 worth of stuff you only have to pay back $50-$60 a week what a bargain. I have 5 cards fully maxed out unfortunately the banks wont give me another, I don't know why I earn good money:mad:

Cheers Pablo.




































In case you didn't guess I'm only joking, get a pair of scissors and cut it up
 
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They are good for tracking expenses if you are using someone else's money. Heres the statement and this is what I spent your money on. Thats about it.
 
I spend everything I can on the card, but nothing I would not buy anyway. I pay it off each month and earn enough points to buy at least $600 worth of gift vouchers for Christmas gifts.
 
Everything I buy during the month, in addition to property expenses (where I can pay by card) all go on the credit card.

It used it like a monthly account and paid it off when its due. Its an interest free loan actually. :)

As for the points, well I think they are overated to be honest. What you get for them isn't much. But for me they're a side issue.
 
buzzlightyear said:
Everything I buy during the month, in addition to property expenses (where I can pay by card) all go on the credit card.

It used it like a monthly account and paid it off when its due. Its an interest free loan actually. :)

As for the points, well I think they are overated to be honest. What you get for them isn't much. But for me they're a side issue.
Click to expand...

I was thinking more about this, and if I didn't have a card with rewards attached, I would not use one at all, except for convenience.

To me, the rewards are the principal reason I chose this card. It is minimum $600 in my pocket each year, just for using the card. I don't pay an annual fee for the card as it is covered by the annual fee on our package.

Of course, I am disciplined. Anybody who is not could get into real trouble.
 
i'm with buzz and wylie ... we are not spenders, but we do put everything we buy on the card and pay it off every month - hence (depending on the month) $2-6,000 interest free for 55 days.

i also like the rewards. i usually get a return o/seas trip to visit the family once a year, a couple of hundred dollars worth of gifts at christmas (last year got 17yr old a $480 ipod thing and lots of movie vouchers) and just got myself a new, you beaut blender/mixer.

if you use it well, then they are great.

p.s. you can also use it for a house deposit if you know the money is coming in from another source - but don't tell anyone ... ;)
 
For me.. all of the above. Interest free loan if pay by due date, itemised monthly statement for free transaction recording, and where else can you get 3 return trips to London plus free travel insurance and conceirge service for a smallish amount of annual fee? (130 a year)
 
They are a great tracking tool. We use one for business. They must be paid in full by the end date on each statement otherwise they are not useful.
Debit cards can do the same thing and you dont have to worry about repayments.

We use a debit card for personal expenses and a credit card for the business.

They are a good tool to develop discipline. If you can't do it with a credit card you cannot do it with a $500,000 line of credit and therefore you need to think twice about being an investor!:D
 
Fun with credit cards

LadyLove plays "Fun with credit cards"
1 buy everything on credit card A
2 pay off credit card A with a transfer to credit card B (credit card B offers 6 months interest free on transfers)
Repeat steps above each month
at the 6th month pay the amount on credit card B
and each month after that,
6 months interest free rolling credit,
and 2 credit card companies vying to increase the limit

Perhaps a simplistic view, I have a ton of simple
 
Where's 'Welcome' when you need him? He's great with schemes like this! :D

As you've said RH, the rewards are the best feature. Assuming you pay on time and don't incur interest - you can get quite a lot of points racked up (especially if you run a business). Just make sure you get the card with the best possibel reward scheme - with CBA, that would be the platinum card over the gold card, especially when it comes to frequent flyer points.
 
I love my visa card - interest free money , convenient , and I have never paid one cent of interest

I have the bank take the money out on the due date , so I dont even have to remember to pay.

The rewards get cashed at christmas , easing the pressie purchases:D
 
AlmostBob said:
LadyLove plays "Fun with credit cards"
1 buy everything on credit card A
2 pay off credit card A with a transfer to credit card B (credit card B offers 6 months interest free on transfers)
Repeat steps above each month
at the 6th month pay the amount on credit card B
and each month after that,
6 months interest free rolling credit,
and 2 credit card companies vying to increase the limit

Perhaps a simplistic view, I have a ton of simple
Click to expand...


I actually did this using many different banks who were all offering 6 month interest periods of between 0% and a few %. Years ago this worked out to be an expensive overseas holiday paid off over several years with bugger all interest costs. I wonder whether the banks were surprised when I would immediately close the account just before the end of the low/no interest period only to transfer the debt somewhere else. :rolleyes:

These days I hate credit cards and avoid them whenever possible.
 
AlmostBob said:
LadyLove plays "Fun with credit cards"
1 buy everything on credit card A
2 pay off credit card A with a transfer to credit card B (credit card B offers 6 months interest free on transfers)
Repeat steps above each month
at the 6th month pay the amount on credit card B
and each month after that,
6 months interest free rolling credit,
and 2 credit card companies vying to increase the limit

Perhaps a simplistic view, I have a ton of simple
Click to expand...

Hi AlmostBob,

Can you please explain in a bit more detail. I understand some parts but not the entire process. Possibly with an eg.

Thank you

Regards,
Oracle.
 
it works like this

you rack up a debt e.g. $10k on Card A.

You apply for Card B and request a balance transfer 9 (at 0.0%) for amnt owing on Card A. Close Card A.

Just before the 6 months (typically) free balance transfer period, you apply for a new Credit Card C and request them to transfer the balance as well. Close Card B.

You now have $10k on Card C, and you haven't paid a cent in interest for the last 6 months...

Repeat process indefinately till no more credit card companies want to give you cards...
 
ermen said:
you rack up a debt e.g. $10k on Card A.

You apply for Card B and request a balance transfer 9 (at 0.0%) for amnt owing on Card A. Close Card A.

Just before the 6 months (typically) free balance transfer period, you apply for a new Credit Card C and request them to transfer the balance as well. Close Card B.

You now have $10k on Card C, and you haven't paid a cent in interest for the last 6 months...

Repeat process indefinately till no more credit card companies want to give you cards...
Click to expand...

I did the same thing with my credit cards, but I kept all of them . My crdit cards limit all together is about $50k.I never pay any interest on any purchases.
 
Generally speaking, the banks take into account minimum monthly payments and deduct this amount from your income - even if you clear the CCs in full every month!! (Though there are one or two banks which will take this into account).

If you have a number of CCs and/or high limits, this can seriously affect your serviceability - so it's often a good idea to get rid of unneeded cards and/or reduce limits before applying for loans.

Cheers
LynnH
 
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