I have written here before of my love of credit card rewards.  I put the majority of my expenses onto credit cards (basically every expense that won’t charge me a fee for using a card) and I pay off the cards every month. The best way to use rewards cards Now, I’m far from an expert card user.  I have two credit cards with differing rewards.  Essentially, I have one card that I use for recurring bills and another card I use for everyday … [Read more...]

I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot of advertisements lately for apps and programs that can analyze your credit card account and bank account and notify you of recurring payments that you may have forgotten about.In general, this is an awesome idea.  You absolutely shouldn't be paying for services that you aren't using.  And I'm sure it's something that many people do.However, you don't need a special app to do it. Privacy … [Read more...]

I love rewards credit cards.  I'm not a hardcore user, one of those people who spends time opening and closing cards to max out benefits, but I have two rewards cards that I use regularly and appreciate the rewards coming to me.In choosing two cards, I picked rewards that would be easiest for me to earn and rewards that I would use.  My main card is a Chase Amazon.com Visa.  I use Amazon.com a lot, and I have Amazon Prime, so I earn 5% back … [Read more...]

With Thanksgiving behind us, we have officially entered the season of shopping.  I don't know about you, but I always end up spending so much money in December, picking up last minute gifts for people, dinners and drinks out with friends, and of course on holiday travel.I've talked about it here before, but I do most of my spending on credit cards.  I only use my debit card when I need to get cash back, and I very rarely have more than twenty … [Read more...]

When you go to the store, you're often asked what your payment method will be.  Cash, credit, or debit?  And people are very opinionated about which method is their favorite.  Let's take a look at the good and bad of each method of spending.Cash GoodWell, you can't overspend.  You either have the money to spend or you don't.I know a lot of people really like the envelope method of budgeting.  You have $X to spend each month on all … [Read more...]