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I’m frequently asked which credit card I recommend for the cashback benefits, and my answer is always Discover. I’ve been a Discover card customer for nearly ten years now and I’ve been able to earn thousands of dollars in cashback money by putting most of my purchases through them.
I love that they have a bunch of different card options, depending on what your spending habits are. I have the Discover More card that gives me 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change throughout the year. Some of the catagories that we’ve seen during the past year include things like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. I was pleasantly surprised today to find out that they are giving us 2% cashback on grocery store purchases made September 1st through the 4th. I guess I know when I’ll be doing my shopping next week. 🙂
I also want to add that I am very disciplined on paying 100% of the balance on my card every month. I do not recommend having a credit card if you are not able to do this and it is only going to cause temptation for spending.
Your Turn: Do you use a credit card in your household or are you all cash family/individual? If you use a cashback program, how do you like it?
Lisa S. says
After I heard you’re more likely to spend more (an average of about 30% more) when using a credit card, I have moved nearly everything to cash. Dave Ramsey has tons more info in his books, website and the class I took – Financial Peace University. I still use my Discover for gas, since I don’t often run around with several $100 bills to fill up the suburban when it needs gas. Don’t tell Dave I still have one of the evil credit cards. I should be all debit card and cash, but it’s not like I’m splurging on gas, and I pay it off early each month.
Hazel says
Do you have the special Discover gas card? I’m not sure if they still offer it, but they did a few years back. At the time, it did better on the points than the regular Discover.
I’ll admit I’m not average when it comes to credit cards. I know I don’t spend more because of them. Years ago I got into CC trouble with Home Shopping Club – it was just too easy to use Tootie! That was back in the early 80s and I’ve never forgotten the lesson I learned. It’s like dieting, I always wonder how I could gain 5 pounds over a weekend but have to diet 3 weeks to get it off. I could rack up oodles of debt in a week – then it took years to get rid of it. 30 years later it’s always a laugh when I visit my mumz and I look at the two (not one, but two!) sets of goofy china I bought.
I doubt I’ll ever have enough cash to buy a home outright, so, I’ll keep my credit card habits and unused cards since my little FICO likes those available balances for the income to debt ratio. But, my cash on hand goal is also a little silly, some might say. I always want to have enough cash on hand to cover at least two months worth of bills. I’m a gloom and doomer when it comes to the economic storm … I still have this feeling the forecast is for pain in the coming months.
But that’s okay … if it happens, I’ll be ready. Well, as ready as a person can be. If it doesn’t, I’ll be doing a major happy dawg leg shake 🙂
In these times, we all have to do what works best for the individual. If a strategy works, it’s a great thing!
Hazel says
That’s the only way to fly. I hate to type about it because I figure at some point, the credit card federales will catch on. Credit Card companies haven’t made a dime off of me in years, they actually pay me to use their card / cards. You would think that the bean counters would pull a report at the end of the year on people like me. I think they refer to me and people like me as “deadbeats”
I used to use Discover, but I didn’t like their tier thing, do they still do that? Like Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka, I want my bonus points and I want them now! I didn’t want to reach a limit and then monitor where I was at.
I currently use a Chase MC and a Visa I got thru King Soopers. Now, I have moral dilemmas about using cards thru the big companies. That’s a soapbox for a different day.
I will say that the King Soopers Visa was my favorite card in the first few months. The deal they offered was that if you reached 100 points, you automatically got $.25 off per gallon of gas. Plus, you get points and they send you King Soopers “checks” to apply to groceries. The gas deal was for a limited time which has run out, so I’m back to my Chase card. Currently they’re at 5% gas and groceries.
Takes discipline, ayup. But, I’ve lived broke most of my adult life (until I found Bargain Blessings!) and know how to tell myself no. My mind tells me that if I don’t have the cash to pay for it, I can’t get it. Then I plop down the card and it’s like supplementing my income with Credit Card cash rewards 🙂