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[Jazzy Network]

Not true (assuming you mean you'd owe interest on the balance since purchase).

The Amex card promo is a true 0% interest. The only interest you will pay is if you are still carrying a balance when the promo expires—and you'll only pay it on that remaining balance.

I believe most credit card initial Promo APRs are the same.

Store cards, like the Best Buy one, offer deferred interest, meaning the interest you would have paid if it weren't 0% is kept track of.

Yea those cards are mad scams. They try to not tell you about it and then bam too late.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

Not true (assuming you mean you'd owe interest on the balance since purchase).

The Amex card promo is a true 0% interest. The only interest you will pay is if you are still carrying a balance when the promo expires—and you'll only pay it on that remaining balance.

I believe most credit card initial Promo APRs are the same.

Store cards, like the Best Buy one, offer deferred interest, meaning the interest you would have paid if it weren't 0% is kept track of.

When you say True 0% interest, does that mean after the promotional period is over, you can still purchase and pay back with 0% interest?

And deferred interest, is that basically charging you interest on all the purchases you made throughout the promotional period that they are now making you pay for?

 

[M-PG71C]

I have three credit cards but only two I really use. My Citi Dividend Card has a long history attached to it. It can stay around lol

My first one is the Amazon Chase card. Everyone is too familiar with it for me to delve but it's my go-to card. 3% on Amazon purchases, 2% on eateries, gas, and others and 1% for everything else. Can't beat it.

The other card is my Chase Freedom which I opened up back around December to take advantage of the $200 bonus cash offer. They gave me a Visa Signature card and it has about $11,000 credit limit. My Chase Amazon is sitting around $12,000 or so as well. It works lol

But yeah, I charge everything between those two cards depending on which one offers me a better cash back. I send online bill payments to zero the cards out every three to four days or so. Never have paid a single penny in interest but I have cashed out hundreds of dollars worth of rewards.

It's too damn easy! Let me be clear though, if you are disciplined I recommend it fully. It's leaving money on the table if you don't. But if you're not financially savvy, stick to cash. You'll be better off.

 

[Downhome]

It's too damn easy! Let me be clear though, if you are disciplined I recommend it fully. It's leaving money on the table if you don't. But if you're not financially savvy, stick to cash. You'll be better off.

My wife and I started YNAB on the first of this month as well to help us both get a better handle on our finances and to just overall keep up with everything a bit more. I highly, HIGHLY, recommend that program to everyone reading this thread.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

I use Manilla, Mint, and Personal Capital for budgeting apps.

Is applying for new credit card a soft inquiry or hard inquiry?

 

[Jazzy Network]

I use Manilla, Mint, and Personal Capital for budgeting apps.

Is applying for new credit card a soft inquiry or hard inquiry?

Any application for any type of credit product is a hard hit.

 

[Downhome]

Here is a very handy link for you to be able to type in an address or area and it'll list the businesses around and you can find out how your local stores are labeled with the merchant category codes. This is for Visa, but I believe it's the same for Mastercard (AMEX and Discover are different)...

https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/index.jsp

 

[Husker86]

When you say True 0% interest, does that mean after the promotional period is over, you can still purchase and pay back with 0% interest?

And deferred interest, is that basically charging you interest on all the purchases you made throughout the promotional period that they are now making you pay for?

So, what I call "true" 0%:
You get, let's say, 18 months of 0% APR. That means that you can charge whatever you want during that time, and as long as you make the minimum payments, you won't accrue any interest.
Once those 18 months are over, your APR goes to the normal rate (whatever that may be, depending on the card).
Scenario:
You buy $5,000 worth of stuff during the 18 months. By the time your promo APR expires, you have $800 balance left. If you don't pay that off by the statement date that your 0% APR expired on, you will have to pay interest on that $800, NOT on all the would-be-accrued interest during your promo period.

Deferred Interest Cards (store cards like Best Buy, Amazon (store card, not Visa), etc.)—
Scenario:
You get deferred interest for 18 months, during that time the company is keeping track of interest you would owe if you weren't on the promo. You buy $5,000 worth of stuff during that time. By the time your promo period is over, you have ANY balance left (even $1)...if you don't pay that off by the date your promo period expired, you will pay ALL interest that would have accrued during that entire promo period.

Is that kinda clearer?

Basically, promo 0% for credit cards are usually just that, your APR is 0% for that time, they don't keep track of any interest you would have paid.

Deferred Interest: Store cards. They are not scams (I have used the offers many times), but they can screw you with back-interest if you don't pay it off by the promo expiration date. These will not be advertised as 0%, they will likely say "Pay no interest for xxx months" or, "defer interest payments for xx months"

Jazzy is right though, many might try to hide what actually happens, but just understand what they are and you can take advantage of them without worry.

 

[GhaleonEB]

It sounds like you have a lot of cards. How many do you own?

My wife and I have three:

A credit/debit card linked to our checking account, a regular credit card for large purchases, and the Amex card from Costco. The last of those is new and was actually prompted by the last thread the OP made (thanks!), as we didn't have a cash back card.

We do most daily purchases on the Amex and pay it off weekly, and use the others at places that don't take Amex.

 

[Fletcher]

I hate the idea of credit cards, but have been thinking about getting and using one to rack up frequent flyer miles. Anyone have any suggestions on the best card to get for this? Maybe a great sign up deal on FF miles?

 

[commish]

I hate the idea of credit cards, but have been thinking about getting and using one to rack up frequent flyer miles. Anyone have any suggestions on the best card to get for this? Maybe a great sign up deal on FF miles?

Credit cards are great; everyone should have one and use one, if only to help build your credit (and you get free miles, etc). I don't know about FF mile CCs though

 

[Joco]

What is the best card for someone who has never owned a credit card before? I'm 20, was in college for two years but am not currently if that makes a difference. I have a debit card and am used to only buying things I can pay for right away, so I am confident I wouldn't rack up debt using one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Jazzy Network]

What is the best card for someone who has never owned a credit card before? I'm 20, was in college for two years but am not currently if that makes a difference. I have a debit card and am used to only buying things I can pay for right away, so I am confident I wouldn't rack up debt using one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would try Capital One first to get an unsecured. If that falls through, you'd have to go the secured route.

 

[giga]

What is the best card for someone who has never owned a credit card before? I'm 20, was in college for two years but am not currently if that makes a difference. I have a debit card and am used to only buying things I can pay for right away, so I am confident I wouldn't rack up debt using one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Discover It (my favorite)
Chase Freedom
Citi Forward

Chase probably won't approve you, but Citi and Discover probably will since they offer them to college students.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

So, what I call "true" 0%:
You get, let's say, 18 months of 0% APR. That means that you can charge whatever you want during that time, and as long as you make the minimum payments, you won't accrue any interest.
Once those 18 months are over, your APR goes to the normal rate (whatever that may be, depending on the card).
Scenario:
You buy $5,000 worth of stuff during the 18 months. By the time your promo APR expires, you have $800 balance left. If you don't pay that off by the statement date that your 0% APR expired on, you will have to pay interest on that $800, NOT on all the would-be-accrued interest during your promo period.

Deferred Interest Cards (store cards like Best Buy, Amazon (store card, not Visa), etc.)—
Scenario:
You get deferred interest for 18 months, during that time the company is keeping track of interest you would owe if you weren't on the promo. You buy $5,000 worth of stuff during that time. By the time your promo period is over, you have ANY balance left (even $1)...if you don't pay that off by the date your promo period expired, you will pay ALL interest that would have accrued during that entire promo period.

Is that kinda clearer?

Basically, promo 0% for credit cards are usually just that, your APR is 0% for that time, they don't keep track of any interest you would have paid.

Deferred Interest: Store cards. They are not scams (I have used the offers many times), but they can screw you with back-interest if you don't pay it off by the promo expiration date. These will not be advertised as 0%, they will likely say "Pay no interest for xxx months" or, "defer interest payments for xx months"

Jazzy is right though, many might try to hide what actually happens, but just understand what they are and you can take advantage of them without worry.

Very very clear. Thanks so much for this. Now this is certainly something to look out for. The most damning thing is the fact they don't tell you that if you don't pay it off within the promotion time, that that interest will kick the hell out of your payments. Really fucked up tbh but now I'm more educated. I really love this thread.

I have another question, how do you guys pay off your credit cards? Basically my vision is to have two or three different credit cards, each one dedicated for specific purchases. Then from there have the payments of those cards taken directly out of my bank account. Is that a good way to do it? I'm not horrible at paying bills but because I'm not exact stable all the time, it's very hard to get into a good routine with this. I never spend above my means with credit cards but sometime life happens. Any suggestions?

If it's okay, to also use examples of what you use your credit cards for and how you manage them.

 

[Jazzy Network]

You can definitely set up auto-pay, but I'm not a big proponent of that. I know pretty much when each of my cards are due and I just pay off the statement balance every month unless it's 0 APR.

I use my cards according to the amount of rewards I will get to maximize profit. So spend mostly my Amazon Chase at Amazon, my Freedom when they have the 5% quarterly bonuses, ditto with my Discover. It's all a matter of knowing what you have and utilizing it to your advantage.

 

[Joco]

I really need to learn more about this I guess. As I mentioned a few posts above, never had a credit card but I figure I should be trying to build a good credit score. Is having one card and paying it off every month sufficient for this or should I be using multiple cards?

 

[Rookje]

https://www.discovercard.com/cardmembersvcs/acqs/app/display?pageFileId=listingsite&sc=KCV6

No annual fee.
1% standard cash back.
Regular 5% cash back promos.
Higher percentages if you use Shop Discover (basically a Discover version of eBates).
FICO score on monthly statement.
$150 cash back when you make $750 in purchases during your 1st three months from account opening. Only valid for new applicants that use this offer link.

Just got approved for that card.

Time to take advantage of that 0% APR.

 

[TheBear]

Here's a question for you guys.
Finally earning some decent money and I want to pay out my debt.
I have two small debts:
- Personal loan for $1900 @ 16%
- Credit Card for $3450 @ 21%

what should I pay off first?
should I focus on one or split funds for both?

 

[RukusProvider]

Here's a question for you guys.
Finally earning some decent money and I want to pay out my debt.
I have two small debts:
- Personal loan for $1900 @ 16%
- Credit Card for $3450 @ 21%

what should I pay off first?
should I focus on one or split funds for both?

Get a 3rd card with 0% interest for some time and payoff both (or highest one first) then work to pay off the 0% card during the grace period.

 

[TheBear]

I could probably knock over the two loans in the next three months. How much interest would accrue in that time?

 

[tino]

Subscribed

I just got a Serve Amex "virtual debit card" recently. I think I am going to write a mini faq on how to spend money fast to meet the credit card signup bonus without actually buying anything.

 

[Husker86]

I have another question, how do you guys pay off your credit cards? Basically my vision is to have two or three different credit cards, each one dedicated for specific purchases. Then from there have the payments of those cards taken directly out of my bank account. Is that a good way to do it? I'm not horrible at paying bills but because I'm not exact stable all the time, it's very hard to get into a good routine with this. I never spend above my means with credit cards but sometime life happens. Any suggestions?

If it's okay, to also use examples of what you use your credit cards for and how you manage them.

This might seem somewhat obsessive to people, and it's unnecessary, even for me, but it does keep my mind at ease as far as making sure payments are taken care of. Plus, I have a weird obsession with tracking things over time (the previous years in the spreadsheet are there with how much principle I've paid towards my house each year, average utilities each year, etc.), I also have different "sheets" in that same spreadsheet doc for my investments.

I use this in Google Docs and just put a simple "x" in the corresponding cell when I make a payment (for utilities and home payments I put in actual dollar amount which is added for a yearly total in the year's row). Each year I just move the months down one cell each and start with the new year, slightly tweaking the formulas for the auto-calculating cells when needed. Super simple and feeds my statistics obsession! I love spreadsheets.

Here's my worksheet with some example numbers filled in:

 

[tino]

^^ Haha I do the exact same thing with google doc

 

[Husker86]

^^ Haha I do the exact same thing with google doc

It's awesome! I just personally really don't like doing automatic payments, so something like this just helps in making sure I've covered everything.

 

[webkid94]

Thanks for all the help guys - I got both my new checking account and the secured credit card!

 

[tino]

It's awesome! I just personally really don't like doing automatic payments, so something like this just helps in making sure I've covered everything.

I put little CC pictures in the spreadsheet to make them easier to read haha

 

[Downhome]

Let me ask you guys a quick non-cc question.

How long does it take for a home loan to show up on my credit history? Our loan was finalized at the beginning of last September and we've been making payments since November 1st, but nothing about it is showing up on my report yet.

 

[webkid94]

This may be a dumb question but essentially, say I only use my CC for really small things (like no more than $40 a month) so long as I pay that entire $40 before the due date, I never have to worry about interest rates and my credit goes up? Or am I wrong somewhere?

 

[Marty Chinn]

This may be a dumb question but essentially, say I only use my CC for really small things (like no more than $40 a month) so long as I pay that entire $40 before the due date, I never have to worry about interest rates and my credit goes up? Or am I wrong somewhere?

That pretty much is right.

 

[Jazzy Network]

Let me ask you guys a quick non-cc question.

How long does it take for a home loan to show up on my credit history? Our loan was finalized at the beginning of last September and we've been making payments since November 1st, but nothing about it is showing up on my report yet.

The inquiry should be immediate even before the closing. Make sure it's the correct credit bureau.

 

[webkid94]

That pretty much is right.

Awesome. One more thing, when would I start getting a credit score and how do I check for it?

 

[Husker86]

Awesome. One more thing, when would I start getting a credit score and how do I check for it?

Sign up at creditkarma.com to get a good idea of your score. It will update weekly if you login.

As for paying off a credit card, what happens is you get your statement, let's say your statement date is the 21st of every month. You have roughly three weeks to pay the full balance and not owe interest. It will tell you exactly when the due date is. If you pay with a checking account, the payment is usually posted the next business day.

 

[RumblingRosco]

Here's a question for you guys.
Finally earning some decent money and I want to pay out my debt.
I have two small debts:
- Personal loan for $1900 @ 16%
- Credit Card for $3450 @ 21%

what should I pay off first?
should I focus on one or split funds for both?

I could probably knock over the two loans in the next three months. How much interest would accrue in that time?

If my math is accurate, you'll be owing an additional $25 per month for your personal loan, and $60 per month for your credit card loan... so, $85 a month, or over $1,000 a year of interest. If you have the ability to pay these off, I would do it ASAP. Also, you should absolutely pay down the credit card first as each dollar you have of that is causing you to pay 21% extra instead of 16% extra. The credit card loan costs you ~25% more per dollar in interest each month than the personal loan, without taking into account the actual amount you owe right now.

Summary: Pay them both down ASAP, but focus on the credit card loan if you can knock it out within a month or two.

 

[Tekniqs]

Not true (assuming you mean you'd owe interest on the balance since purchase).

The Amex card promo is a true 0% interest. The only interest you will pay is if you are still carrying a balance when the promo expires—and you'll only pay it on that remaining balance.

I believe most credit card initial Promo APRs are the same.

Store cards, like the Best Buy one, offer deferred interest, meaning the interest you would have paid if it weren't 0% is kept track of.

ahhh. I always pay it off early though heh.

 

[TheBear]

If my math is accurate, you'll be owing an additional $25 per month for your personal loan, and $60 per month for your credit card loan... so, $85 a month, or over $1,000 a year of interest. If you have the ability to pay these off, I would do it ASAP. Also, you should absolutely pay down the credit card first as each dollar you have of that is causing you to pay 21% extra instead of 16% extra. The credit card loan costs you ~25% more per dollar in interest each month than the personal loan, without taking into account the actual amount you owe right now.

Summary: Pay them both down ASAP, but focus on the credit card loan if you can knock it out within a month or two.

Thanks for this, I'll pay out the CC ASAP

 

[XBP]

Most posts in this thread have been about US based CCs but does anyone know of any good credit cards in canada?

 

[Downhome]

I just had my standard Bank of America credit card that I have had for years converted over to their Better Balance Rewards card...

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/better-balance-rewards.go

If you typically pay off your card over time, this new credit card could be for you

• Earn $25 per quarter towards your balance when you pay more than the monthly minimum and on time each month...that can be up to $100 each year
• Get an additional $5 bonus per quarter if you have at least one other qualifying account with us
• Cash back is automatically credited to your card balance
• Pay down your balance faster with a low Intro APR offer
• No annual fee†

Long story short, if you get this card and don't use it for any other reason other than putting one small bill on it you can set it to auto pay and forget about it and at the end of the year you'll have $100 in cash back or $120 in cash back if you also have one other qualifying account with them.

 

[Mortemis]

So, after all the debating a few weeks back and listening to all the reasons I should get a CC, I applied for my first one with my bank (wells Fargo) and it came in the mail today! Its a student CC, $700 limit, 1% cash back on all purchases and 3% cash back on groceries and gas for the first six months. Pretty nice I guess.

Anyways any tips? I've read things around the internet and basically know to pay your bills on time (obviously) and try not to have a high utilization. So yeah, any tips about what to do, what utilization ratio I should aim for (I read 30% is good?), anything that can help please. =)

 

[Downhome]

So, after all the debating a few weeks back and listening to all the reasons I should get a CC, I applied for my first one with my bank (wells Fargo) and it came in the mail today! Its a student CC, $700 limit, 1% cash back on all purchases and 3% cash back on groceries and gas for the first six months. Pretty nice I guess.

Anyways any tips? I've read things around the internet and basically know to pay your bills on time (obviously) and try not to have a high utilization. So yeah, any tips about what to do, what utilization ratio I should aim for (I read 30% is good?), anything that can help please. =)

First off, congrats on your approval!

Well, first thing, yeah, pay your bill on time. Not only that, but pay your bill in FULL each month, don't let it carry over to the following month or you'll get screwed with interest.

If I were you, use the card however you like, but keep track when it says your statement will be issued. Before your statement will be generated make sure you don't have more than $63 reporting at the time they issue the statement ($63 is 9% utilization). At that time, by the time your bill is due, pay it all off. They say 30% or less is good, but go for better than that if you can. They say anything less than 10% looks great and can really pump your score up even quicker.

More important than anything else though is to make sure you pay off the entire balance every single month, do not let anything carry over. Don't pay any interest ever.

 

[Husker86]

So, after all the debating a few weeks back and listening to all the reasons I should get a CC, I applied for my first one with my bank (wells Fargo) and it came in the mail today! Its a student CC, $700 limit, 1% cash back on all purchases and 3% cash back on groceries and gas for the first six months. Pretty nice I guess.

Anyways any tips? I've read things around the internet and basically know to pay your bills on time (obviously) and try not to have a high utilization. So yeah, any tips about what to do, what utilization ratio I should aim for (I read 30% is good?), anything that can help please. =)

1-20% utilization is best, 30% would probably be fine but it will have an effect on score. 0% is worse than 20% (basically, make sure you don't pay off your full balance before the statement date).

With a $700 limit it will probably be pretty tough. You could always pay a portion off before the statement date though. Otherwise, I'd just wait for the statement and pay it off. I'm not like some others who like to pay it every week, there's really no point unless you are trying to keep utilization low.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I didn't realize you were only suppose to use a percentage of your cc limit. What's that about?

 

[Downhome]

I didn't realize you were only suppose to use a percentage of your cc limit. What's that about?

I'd get into it in detail, but just to save me time tonight give this a quick read...

https://www.creditkarma.com/article/credit-card-utilization

In short, high utilization is seen as a warning sign that you are at a higher risk of getting into trouble in the future since you are using your card so much and so often. Most of these things are based on trying to predict what may happen, sometimes it seems to matter as much as what has already happened in your credit history.

 

[Husker86]

I didn't realize you were only suppose to use a percentage of your cc limit. What's that about?

I'd get into it in detail, but just to save me time tonight give this a quick read...

https://www.creditkarma.com/article/credit-card-utilization

In short, high utilization is seen as a warning sign that you are at a higher risk of getting into trouble in the future since you are using your card so much and so often. Most of these things are based on trying to predict what may happen, sometimes it seems to matter as much as what has already happened in your credit history.

Yeah, basically they might think that you're trying to go further into debt if you're using a large chunk of your available credit already.

As for why using 0% is actually a negative...I guess they just think you have no need for another card, or won't make them any money since you don't use what you have? Not sure exactly.

 

[Downhome]

I think it all comes down to them wanting to see that you are a responsible borrower - that you can use credit responsibly, pay bills on time, etc... You can't really show that if you always report $0 utilization.

 

[Mortemis]

First off, congrats on your approval!

Well, first thing, yeah, pay your bill on time. Not only that, but pay your bill in FULL each month, don't let it carry over to the following month or you'll get screwed with interest.

If I were you, use the card however you like, but keep track when it says your statement will be issued. Before your statement will be generated make sure you don't have more than $63 reporting at the time they issue the statement ($63 is 9% utilization). At that time, by the time your bill is due, pay it all off. They say 30% or less is good, but go for better than that if you can. They say anything less than 10% looks great and can really pump your score up even quicker.

More important than anything else though is to make sure you pay off the entire balance every single month, do not let anything carry over. Don't pay any interest ever.

1-20% utilization is best, 30% would probably be fine but it will have an effect on score. 0% is worse than 20% (basically, make sure you don't pay off your full balance before the statement date).

With a $700 limit it will probably be pretty tough. You could always pay a portion off before the statement date though. Otherwise, I'd just wait for the statement and pay it off. I'm not like some others who like to pay it every week, there's really no point unless you are trying to keep utilization low.

Thanks for the responses! So what you guys are basically trying to say is, just make sure I have around 9% when the bill is due and then pay it off in full? So if I use around 30% but I pay around 20% off before the bill is due, and when the bill is due I have around 9% and I pay that 9% off afterwards, all that's going to be reported is that I had 9% utilization and I paid it off right? That was a mouthful, I'm still kinda confused but thankful for any answers!

 

[Downhome]

Thanks for the responses! So what you guys are basically trying to say is, just make sure I have around 9% when the bill is due and then pay it off in full? So if I use around 30% but I pay around 20% off before the bill is due, and when the bill is due I have around 9% and I pay that 9% off afterwards, all that's going to be reported is that I had 9% utilization and I paid it off right? That was a mouthful, I'm still kinda confused but thankful for any answers!

Yep, it may be a mouthful but you've got it!

You generally want something to report at least, just not too much and not too little. I know, it all sounds crazy, but that's the way it is. The key is to find the sweetspot.

How many of you guys use CreditKarma.com to track your scores? If any of you guys haven't done so already you really should sign up. It's free and gives you a good idea of what's going on. The scores posted there tend to be on the low side though, so keep that in mind. You can follow your growth on there though, it's pretty great.

With the turnaround that I have made I will just about be getting more in rewards and cash back for this year than I paid in interest in 2011, 2012, and 2013. I can't believe I ever let interest get built up, that was so stupid of me and when I go back to look at it I get scared to death. Never again, not if I can humanly help it now, ha.

 

[Mortemis]

Yep, it may be a mouthful but you've got it!

You generally want something to report at least, just not too much and not too little. I know, it all sounds crazy, but that's the way it is. The key is to find the sweetspot.

How many of you guys use CreditKarma.com to track your scores? If any of you guys haven't done so already you really should sign up. It's free and gives you a good idea of what's going on. The scores posted there tend to be on the low side though, so keep that in mind. You can follow your growth on there though, it's pretty great.

With the turnaround that I have made I will just about be getting more in rewards and cash back for this year than I paid in interest in 2011, 2012, and 2013. I can't believe I ever let interest get built up, that was so stupid of me and when I go back to look at it I get scared to death. Never again, not if I can humanly help it now, ha.

Haha, thanks again! I never really thought about using any of those credit score sites since I don't have a history at all, but I'll sign up and see any progress that I make.

 

[Zoe]

Thanks for the responses! So what you guys are basically trying to say is, just make sure I have around 9% when the bill is due and then pay it off in full? So if I use around 30% but I pay around 20% off before the bill is due, and when the bill is due I have around 9% and I pay that 9% off afterwards, all that's going to be reported is that I had 9% utilization and I paid it off right? That was a mouthful, I'm still kinda confused but thankful for any answers!

You want to optimize the percentage before the bill is cut, not due.

 

[Mortemis]

You want to optimize the percentage before the bill is cut, not due.

What do you mean by when the bill is cut? Anyways as long as I always monitor it and make sure the percentage isn't too high everything should be good right?