Another vote for gas, groceries, and online purchases, mainly. I know they say it's dumb to use a credit card for something that you use up by the time you get the bill for the credit card (e.g., groceries and meals out), but I get airline miles for mine.
Have you ever successfully used the airline miles? We've almost never made this work.
We use a Discover card and get cash back each month that we apply to our bill. I like that. The only thing is that with Discover you have to be absolutely positively sure you paid it in full and on time, otherwise the double-cycle billing and fees and interest rate will kill you.
Maybe "airline" was the wrong thing to say. I got it specifically because it offered airline miles (I got out of college, and suddenly it wasn't feasible to drive everywhere anymore), but I don't accrue the points very fast, so I've only ever used it for hotel rooms. They say you can get other stuff, too, but I'm not sure what and have never really been interested in getting gift cards or whatever else they offer.
my parents have a Marriott points card (unsure of the provider) and a airline points card. we've taken quite a few mostly-free trips thanks to those cards.
it really depends on your income vs spending levels. if you can afford to spend a bit, then it can be quite useful. if you can't afford to spend a little more frivolously, then i don't think it would be worth it.
1. you don't have to use a credit card every single month to keep it open. 2. you want to have a zero balance as often as possible. 3. you never know when you might lose your job or have major bills.
With those 3 said, your best bet is probably to go on the first of every month (or every other or every 3rd month, however you prefer) and buy a pack of gum or a $10 item or something otherwise small. With only this small amount on your card, you will show the company you can spend and repay responsibly but you won't ever have to worry about a bill coming and not being able to afford to pay it in full.
Hm. Yes and no. There are cards which will start charging you if you don't carry a balance. Those are bad cards to have. For other cards, you want your balance to be zero because if your balance is not zero, you are in debt and paying interest on your happy meals.
Online purchases. Used to be for Amazon until they became such douchebags.
Only thing I can say, like the others, is to pay off ASAP, or at the very LEAST pay the minimum payment so you won't be charged interest and get bad credit.
I don't know what kind of credit card you have because that just goes against the basis of how they work. The whole idea behind credit cards is that if you carry a balance, you pay interest on it.
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We use a Discover card and get cash back each month that we apply to our bill. I like that. The only thing is that with Discover you have to be absolutely positively sure you paid it in full and on time, otherwise the double-cycle billing and fees and interest rate will kill you.
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it really depends on your income vs spending levels. if you can afford to spend a bit, then it can be quite useful. if you can't afford to spend a little more frivolously, then i don't think it would be worth it.
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2. you want to have a zero balance as often as possible.
3. you never know when you might lose your job or have major bills.
With those 3 said, your best bet is probably to go on the first of every month (or every other or every 3rd month, however you prefer) and buy a pack of gum or a $10 item or something otherwise small. With only this small amount on your card, you will show the company you can spend and repay responsibly but you won't ever have to worry about a bill coming and not being able to afford to pay it in full.
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I've read that this depends on the type of card.
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There are cards which will start charging you if you don't carry a balance. Those are bad cards to have.
For other cards, you want your balance to be zero because if your balance is not zero, you are in debt and paying interest on your happy meals.
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Everything else I use my bank credit card for because of the security clauses. Stolen, lost, weird charges, etc are covered.
Try to keep a zero balance if you can. If it gets too big the payment will just get eaten by interest.
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Only thing I can say, like the others, is to pay off ASAP, or at the very LEAST pay the minimum payment so you won't be charged interest and get bad credit.
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http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/credit-card8.htm
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