Comments on: Arguments For And Against Carrying Multiple Reward Credit Cards

By: ideal4investors

ideal4investors — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:18:38 +0000

I like the American Express card because I get cash back from my Costco purchases. Thanks for the post, I will re-examine the rest of my cards!

By: Sam H.

Sam H. — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:15:57 +0000

Thanks for the post. I would love to see a post where you explain in detail how you keep track of the charges and pay each card off each month.

I’m looking into rewards credit cards but I’m worried that if I miss one payment or pay late, I get will get screwed over.

By: Trend Following

Trend Following — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:36:25 +0000

I only have one and always pay it in full at the end of the month. The problem with those cards, especially those offered by Sears and other department store is that they have a very high interest rate if one don’t pay them in full at the end of the month.

By: E.C.

E.C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:03:55 +0000

I don’t think that there’s really a single right answer. I have one credit card, a USAA Cash Rewards Mastercard that I pay in full each month. I might use multiple cards to maximize rewards at some point in the future, but I’m a college student with much lower expenses than the average adult and it doesn’t seem like I can charge enough for variation in reward rates to make a big difference. There are a lot of other things that I can focus on that have far more impact on my financial picture.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:02:02 +0000

My husband and I are both at points in our lives that we neither need nor have the interest in chasing every single penny. Still, it’s hard to imagine anyone turning down such easy and potentially generous quantities of cash. Let’s just look at some conservative numbers. We’ll disregard my grocery and Amex cards and look only at my household expenses on my new Capital One card. As I said, I’m being conservative here so we’ll assume I charge $1,000 per month. At 1% cash reward on every single purchase I make on the card, that’s $120 per year. For doing nothing extra — just using one card over another.

Different strokes is right but this one baffles me. I’m usually fairly good at putting myself in other people’s shoes but in this case I just don’t get it.

By: Raymond

Raymond — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 05:53:40 +0000

I asked my brother about this again and his glib reply was “I just don’t need them” – referencing the credit card cash back rewards….different strokes for different folks I guess

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:39:31 +0000

Yeah, they puzzle me more than the “no credit” people as well. Although I’m not among them, I do know people who just can’t control their spending if they have a credit card. And I respect people who know that about themselves. I agree that there doesn’t seem to be much logic to the type of person you describe — using a credit card but not maximizing their usage by having a rewards card. Maybe it’s a “don’t bother me with the details” kind of personality?

By: Raymond

Raymond — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:58:08 +0000

Hey Elizabeth,

Well, I wouldn’t refer to it as a “credit cards aren’t evil” torch…more of a flash light perphaps.

I totally get why some people are opposed to credit cards as they view them as the source of all evil, but what I just don’t quite get is why some of the avid credit card users refuse to carry multiple reward cards to maximize their cash back and card rewards.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:29:33 +0000

Raymond, I with you! I, too, carry a collection of credit cards, use specific cards for specific types of purchases, and maximize my reward points. At least 95% of my monthly purchases are made on one card or another. And we ALWAYS pay off the balances every month.

For groceries, I carry a Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards card. It combines my Kroger frequent shopper discount with cash and coupon rewards. I particularly appreciate the fact that the coupons generated are targeted toward my spending habits so they’re useful to me whereas the vast majority of manufacturer’s coupons in the paper and such are for cr*p I don’t buy.

For gas and Costco shopping, I use a Amex Blue Cash card.

And for every day household expenses I use my new Capital One Cash Rewards card.

I do carry two additional cards but they’re just spares for the times when my monthly spending is particularly large — helps spread the due dates out a bit. Those cards don’t offer any reward benefits though so I don’t use them often.

Kudos to you for helping carry the “credit cards aren’t evil” torch — a rarity among PF bloggers.

By: Raymond

Raymond — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:15:49 +0000

GL,

I think we are both avid credit card users probably because neither of us has been significantly slammed with credit card debt. Of course that’s likely due to our consistent history of paying them off on time.

As with any powerful tool, if you use it wisely and smartly, it can serve you quite well!

With people like my brother, there’s no point convincing them to bargain hunt or to seek out arbitrage credit rewards. They simply see things through a more cautious perspective when it comes to finances and money.

By: GL

GL — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:07:51 +0000

Finally, a PF blogger who dares to post in defense of credit cards. It’s only a matter of time (mere minutes, most likely) before the Anti-Credit Crusaders show up and start yelling that all credit is evil. *sigh*

I think that there are 3 types of credit card users: There are smart consumers like you and , who pay their bills in full and try to maximize the rewards. Then there are people like your brother, who pay off on time but don’t care about the rewards – or don’t have the drive to hunt for the best deal. And then there are those who get tempted by the availability of their credit. They buy more than they can pay for (my fellow college students are notorious for doing that…) and end up in debt. Some of them go online and become Anti-Credit Crusaders. :^D