As some of you know, I am pretty anti-debt... so it may surprise you that I am an avid credit card user. The catch is that I ALWAYS pay off my credit card each month IN FULL. I never, ever carry a balance. A few years ago, I saw an opportunity to use this to my advantage. I have a Citibank rewards credit card that I use for my monthly bills (phone, satellite, internet) and to make all major purchases. We also put all of our gas fill-ups on the card. Because of the rewards program, we have gotten several $50 Target gift cards (which are a big help with diaper purchases!), and several $25 Amazon and restaurant gift certificates.
It takes tremendous discipline to use your credit card like this. It is very easy to rack up a $1,000 bill if you're not careful. But if you budget properly, you can make a little bit of money or some great gift cards just by using your card for your regular expenses.
I've also started using two other programs to earn free stuff and cash back. The first one is MyPoints. MyPoints basically grants you points for reading e-mails, signing up for offers, etc., and making purchases via their website. I haven't made any purchases yet in the two months I've been a member, but I already have enough points to get a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card. And that was just for reading my e-mail. (I would recommend creating a separate e-mail account for this, because it is a LOT of mail).
A friend of mine just turned me on to Ebates. Ebates is a website that gives you a percentage of your purchase in cash back just by shopping through their website. I used their website to purchase some things for about $5 (I also used a gift card). Because of their sign-up deal, my friend will get $5 for referring me, and I will get $5.57 and a $10 Target gift card just for signing up and making a purchase. My friend said she's made well over $150 using Ebates. What's cool is that if you have a rewards credit card, you'll earn points there, PLUS you'll earn the cash back. Pretty neat.
If any of you are interested in either MyPoints or Ebates, e-mail me at northerncheapskate@yahoo.com and I will refer you. (That way, I get some referral points/bucks.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Profiting from Purchases
6 comments:
Go ebates!
Another great way to use credit cards to your advantage is to sign up for airline cards. If you're someone who travels frequently, this can save you a bundle. Most airline cards do have an annual fee of $50 to $75, but compared to how much airline tickets are, it's worth it.
My husband and I each have an Alaska Air credit card account (Minnesotians would benefit more from Northwest Airlines). You can get 15,000 miles just for signing up. It only takes 25,000 miles to get a free ticket. We get a $50 companion ticket each year plus one mile for every dollar we spend. Double miles if we buy an Alaska Air ticket. We have thousands of miles on our account and are using our miles for our flights and even to help buy tickets for our loved ones to come visit us here. And, keeping in mind Christina's philosophy, if you pay them off each month, you're definitely getting the better end of the deal.
If you are into getting your Frequent Flier miles built up, my grandma (of all people) told me about Northwest University. If you go to www.nwa.com, look under World Perks - World Perks Program Information -- World Perks University you can enroll and earn up to 500 bonus miles in about 10 minutes.
btw, Alaska Air is on ebates, you can get $1 back each time you book a flight. =)
--AnnMarie
I have been using my NorthWest Visa for years. I too use my card to purchase nearly everything I buy and pay it off in full each month. My rule of thumb is that if I couldn't pay cash right for a item, I don't buy it. I earn about a free ticket a year and a half. Which, to me, is more valuable than a gift card.
Also, some cards will give you a discount or rebate for opening a card. I saved 50 bucks on a wedding gift for my brother when I opened my Kohls card and opened an amazon.com card just for the free $30. My dad save a bug bunch of money on his summer gas bill when he opened his Shell card and got 30 cents off each gallon. But he opened it right before we started driving the big truck (delivering fruit) for 8 weeks.
We do the same thing with our credit card, use it and pay it off in full. My husband posted about this card we are using to save for our daughters college on our site. You can read it here:
http://bethriftylikeus.blogspot.com/2008/01/easy-way-to-save-for-college.html
Ebates sounds neat. I've never heard of it before. I'm sending you an email to you can refer me. Thanks
I do the same with my credit card too and the way I make sure I'm staying in line is to still write each purchase in my checkbook register and delete the amount from my balance. Then when the credit card bill comes I just add up all those lines and write the check out.
We have a card that earns "Cabela's Buck" and so far my husband is the only one who has benefitted from it :)
Just wanted to let you know I've used ebates twice this week, so you should get the bonus from me. I love it! Thanks again.
S.B.
http://bethriftylikeus.blogspot.com/
It's so worthy.... too use World Perks Visa personal & business cards. They too are savvy.
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